Quarterly Scientific-Research Goljaam

In this research we are to determine the maturity of electronic commerce (the amount of usage of electronic devices and tools for performing the organization’s activities) in the export of Iranian hand-knitted carpet, as a base for recognizing the current situation and thus offering methods for improving the level of electronic maturity (achieving higher levels of electronic maturity) for organizations supporting the exports, exporting companies and the organization for hand-knitted carpet. For this purpose the systematic model of maturity of product exporting process, which is of a systematic view and involves both aspects of organizational and applied, is used. The parameters are analyzed using the designed surveys (Likret Scale), with hypothetical mean of (µ=3), and the percentage of answered questions to each choice. The processes of acceptance and rejection were performed by T-test and Nova test, and since in two-dimensional maturity model, the grade of export electronic maturity corresponds to the organizations (companies) that have the least grade of maturity, in analyzing the results, it was found that the hand-knitted carpet export companies, though being in the first rank, have the lowest rank. Therefore the export maturity in the first rank will be determined, whilst the supporting companies and organization for hand-knitted carpet are in the fourth rank of electronic maturity.

The present study is an applied research using quantitative method. In the first step, the intended factors of marketing mix, production-export consortium and branding of Turkman carpet were studied in existing literature, and then, the quantitative method of questionnaire was used for collecting needed data and extracting basic factors. The questionnaire was prepared by the researcher. After gathering the questionnaires, the collected data were put in the SPSS software and were analyzed through various methods of inferential statistics. For measuring the significance of each component of the questionnaire, the five-point Likert scale, which has ordinal scales, was used to measure the factors and convert them to quantitative data, with giving each factor a number from 1 to 5. The data of the research was collected in a period from October of 2010 to September 2011, and the research was conducted in Golestan province. The population was constituted of five groups: 1. experts, who became expert in managing, scientific and research affairs related to carpet through working in this field; 2. exporters, who sell hand-woven carpets wholesale; 3. importers, who import Iranian hand-woven carpets from Iran into the target countries; 4. retailers, who sell the carpet to the consumers; and 5. weavers, consisting of all real or legal people who produce carpets in workshops or at homes, in cities or villages. For selecting the sample subjects from the first four groups, simple random sampling method was used; and the sample subjects of the fifth groups were selected through the Morgan table and simple random sampling. Therefore, 406 subjects were selected as samples with a balanced and appropriate proportion. By following up the project and informing about the research's goals, all questionnaires were filled out and delivered to the researcher. The Chronbach's coefficient alpha was 93%, and for prioritizing the variables, the Friedman test, and for supporting or rejecting the hypotheses, the binomial test was used. The conclusions show that all hypotheses were significant in export of Turkman hand-woven carpets. Among the hypotheses, the great potential of the province in producing hand-woven carpets was a strong point, and lack of attention to marketing mix, absence of a production- export consortium, and lack of attention to branding were of weak points, which need the especial attention of the provincial and export companies' managers and planners. At the end, besides presenting detailed conclusions and findings, the mentioned issues were summarized, and applicable suggestions were offered to the managers and experts, and also future similar researches.

This paper discusses how branding process of Persian carpet in the U.S. market does work and finally a model based on the performance of Persian carpet exporters has been derived. The population for this study consisted of Iranian exporters; about 130 exporters participated in this survey. A questionnaire including 59 questions was used to collect data and finally the data was analyzed using LISREL and the conceptual model was derived. The results show that Iranian exporters believe that they have control over the international branding activities in the U.S. Market; this has improved their level of brand orientation and international commitment to market development. The Persian carpet exporters view themselves as committed to the needs and requirements of the United States market and they perceive themselves totally brand oriented. In the Iranian exporters' opinion, marketing strategies used in the U.S. market, are working properly and these exporters are satisfied with the results of Persian carpet brand's financial performance in this segment. Finally, the model that emerged shows briefly the factors affecting performance of Persian handmade carpet brand in the U.S. market.

The handmade carpet of Iran with outstanding cultural and artistic qualities is a product that has been registered in the non-oil export basket of Iran for decades as a significant commodity. The purpose of this research is to determine the importance of indicators for assessing promotional and promotional tools for handmade carpets and to determine the priority of tools used to introduce this product to customers in foreign target markets. The statistical population of this research consists of 19 experts and expert experts in exporting handmade carpets in Tehran province. Fuzzy AHP method was used to determine the weight of each index as well as to determine the priority of promotional and promotional tools. Were placed. Also, according to the TOPSIS method, exclusive exhibitions, media, commercial ads, publications, tourism tours in Iran, sales, sales representatives, price discounts and sales awards are the top priorities. The research results include suggestions for exporters and planners in this area.