Identification and Analysis of Challenges and Drivers of Commercialization of Rural Knowledge-based Businesses with the Fuzzy Delphi Method

A B S T R A C T
This study aims to identify and analyze the challenges of commercializing knowledge-based businesses in the villages within Mashhad's sphere of influence. The research employs a mixed-methods approach. In line with the principle of theoretical adequacy, the statistical sample comprises 75 rural business owners and 25 experts. In the qualitative phase, the coding method was utilized to identify effective factors, which were then screened using the fuzzy Delphi method. Ultimately, the most critical key drivers were extracted using MICMAC software. The primary variables influencing the failure of commercializing knowledge-based businesses were examined across six categories: "human resource management" factors, "Tax and Customs," "marketing and sales," "licensing and monitoring," "Financial problems and supply and demand market," and "Intellectual property system." Among the 54 extracted indicators, 44 were confirmed after expert screening. The results of the prospective study revealed that drivers such as "not utilizing creative, suggestive, and problem-solving human resources according to business needs (A1), "Financial instability in relation to paying expenses and debts (B6)," "Lack of importance in monitoring changes in customers' attitudes, tastes, and beliefs (C8)," "Expansion of corruption in the form of administrative bureaucracies (D1)," "Problems in product matching with customer needs," and "Lack of financial support for patenting in the field of knowledge-based products" have the most significant impact on the failure of rural knowledge-based businesses
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The villages within the Mashhad metropolitan area possess unique environmental capabilities, influenced by the significance, credibility, nature, and diversity of the role and function of religious tourism in Mashhad. Additionally, these villages are shaped by their cultural, recreational, commercial, and agricultural production backgrounds. Despite these advantages, they can attract populations from Mashhad and other cities to their products. However, rural businesses in the study area have struggled to effectively market their achievements and establish meaningful interactions with the market and industry to reach their full potential in promoting local culture, production, and reproduction. This is largely due to a disconnect between entrepreneurial intentions in commercialization and the actual outcomes in the field of action and execution. In other words, there is not only a significant gap but sometimes a deep conflict between what is outlined in business development programs based on technology and knowledge and what rural business owners in Mashhad are involved in. This raises questions about whether rural businesses in the study area have the potential for commercialization. If the answer is no, which seems to be the case, the intention is to fundamentally examine the drivers and challenges involved in the failure of their commercialization.
 
Methodology
The statistical population of this research comprises 115 identified businesses. Based on the principle of theoretical adequacy and in proportion to the main sectors of the country's economy, 75 businesses were studied. This included 42 in the industrial sector, 23 in the service sector, and 10 in the agricultural sector (not 50 as initially mentioned, to maintain consistency with the total of 75). Efforts were made to ensure that the sample selection and distribution were equitable across the 24 villages studied. Additionally, 25 experts, including university professors and senior and middle managers of marketing and public relations, were consulted from knowledge-based companies in Razavi Khorasan province. These experts possessed sufficient knowledge in the field and had at least two years of relevant work experience.     
 
Results and discussion
Using the content analysis method, core codes were initially extracted from six categories: "human resource management," "Tax and Customs," "marketing and sales," "licensing and monitoring," "Financial problems and supply and demand market," and "Intellectual property system." A total of 54 core codes were identified. In the subsequent step, these core codes were screened using expert opinions and the fuzzy Delphi process over multiple rounds. According to the results obtained from two rounds of the fuzzy Delphi process, 10 indicators were removed, reducing the number of indicators in the conceptual model from 54 to 44. Additionally, since the absolute difference between the dephased or definite values in the first and second rounds for all indicators was less than 0.2, it can be concluded that the fuzzy Delphi process was completed in these two rounds. Indicators such as lack of employee attention to the company's legal personality, little attention to competitive strategies, weak monitoring of discipline and adherence to labor laws, and the lack of returnability of rural elites in setting up knowledge-based businesses (related to the human resource management variable) were excluded. Other excluded indicators included a lack of coordination between institutions involved in exports and imports (related to the tax and customs variable), a lack of training in negotiation techniques and effective customer communication, and a lack of training in providing appropriate prices based on market analysis and competitive strategy (related to the marketing and sales variable). Furthermore, the occurrence of fundamental changes in laws and policies after each election (related to the licensing and monitoring variable), low investment in market research to achieve innovation, and failure to understand customer needs and preferences (related to the variable of financial problems and market supply and demand) were also excluded from the next stage process.
Unlike traditional businesses, which often focus on tangible assets like physical products or services, knowledge-based businesses rely on intangible assets such as research, development, data, and specialized skills. These businesses prioritize innovation and invest heavily in research and development activities to create new products, services, or processes. They continually strive to stay ahead of competitors by adapting to market trends and emerging technologies. Knowledge-based businesses handle vast amounts of information and data, utilizing data analysis, market research, and insights to make informed decisions and drive business strategies. However, commercialization failure in knowledge-based businesses occurs when companies fail to effectively bring intellectual property, innovative ideas, or research results to market. This failure highlights the challenges these businesses face in translating their intangible assets into successful market offerings.
 
Conclusion
The results of this section revealed that several key factors have the most significant impact across different dimensions. In the dimension of poor human resource management, the factor "not employing creative, suggestive, and problem-solving human resources according to the needs of the established business (A1)" stood out. For the tax and customs indicators, "Financial instability in relation to payment of expenses and debts (B6)" was prominent. In the marketing and sales dimension, "Lack of importance in monitoring changes in customers' attitudes, tastes, and beliefs (C8)" was noted, although it was incorrectly labeled as B8. "Expansion of corruption in the form of administrative bureaucracies (D1)" was identified for the licensing and monitoring dimension. In the dimension of financial problems and the supply and demand market, "problems in matching the product with the customer's needs (E1)" were highlighted. Finally, for the intellectual property system dimension, "Lack of financial support for patenting in the field of manufacturing knowledge-based products (F4)" had the highest calculated column value and the most impact.
 
Funding
This work is based upon research funded by Iran National Science Foundation (INSF) under project No.4013515.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
 We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.