Abstract The present study was aimed to identities and ranks the factors contributing to the effective meeting in Isfahan Ga

Afshin Jahanbazi

Ali Shaemi Barzoki

ESFAHANI Ali Nasr

Mojtaba Farokhi

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International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences 
Vol. 3, No.3, July 2013, pp. 72–77 
ISSN: 2225-8329 
© 2013 HRMARS 
www.hrmars.com 
 
 
 
Ranking the Factors Contributing to Effective Meetings in Isfahan Gas 
Company 
 
Ali Nasr ESFAHANI1 
Ali Shaemi BARZOKI2 
Mojtaba FAROKHI3 
Afshin JAHANBAZI4 
 
 
1,2,3
Department of Management, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, 
University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran 
3
E-mail: Mojfarokhi20@yahoo.com, Corresponding author 
4
Industrial consultant of Isfahan Gas Company
*
, Iran 
 
 
Abstract The present study was aimed to identities and ranks the factors contributing to the effective meeting 
in Isfahan Gas Company. Based on Streibel (2007), the factors contributing to the effective meeting 
include three groups of factors before, during, and after meeting. The statistical population of this 
study includes chairpersons, secretaries, and members that are present in the meetings. A self-
administrated questionnaire has been used to collect the data. The face validity has been employed 
to examine validity of the questionnaire. Also reliability of the questionnaire has been examined 
through Cronbachs’ Alpha Coefficient. The coefficient 0.90 confirms reliability of the questionnaire. 
In order to analyze the data, one-sample t test, Freedman test, and analysis of variance has been 
employed in the SPSS20. The results of one-sample t test reveal that the level of factors contributing 
to the effective meeting is less than average level. On the other hand, the results of Freedman test 
indicate that planning is the most important and following is the least important factor among 
factors contributing to the effective meeting. Finally, the results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) 
indicate that there are significant relationships between members’ position in meeting and their 
viewpoint about factors contributing to the effective meeting. 
*
This article is extracted from a thesis that is supported by Isfahan Gas Company. 
 
Key words Meeting, Effective Meeting, Agenda, Meeting Components, Isfahan Gas Company  
 
DOI: 10.6007/IJARAFMS/v3-i3/37 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARAFMS/3-i3/37 
 
1. Introduction  
In today’s world, the complexity in organizational structures and activities leads to implementation of 
several meetings for consultation and interaction with other members in order to exchange their information 
and adopt an effective decision. The effective meeting is an integrative part of organizational life. The 
managers implement several meetings to exchange information and solve organizational problems through 
consultation and interaction (Kendall, 2007: 54). When these meetings are managed result in the 
organization’s improvement and efficiency. The meetings not only results in information exchange and 
desirable decision-making, but also it results in the communications improvement and departments 
understanding from each other. These meetings should be managed properly similar to other organizational 
activities, unless not only they cannot be helpful in improving organization’s efficiency and effectiveness, but 
also they result in inter-organizational conflicts (Ventus, 2012: 45). An effective meeting helps managers and 
solves their problems. On the other hand, it can waste their time. It is obvious that meeting is an inevitable 
phenomenon in the organizations. It is necessary to pay attention to the effective factors on the effective 
meetings in order to achieve organization’s successfulness. Therefore, the present study was aimed to 
examine and rank the factors contributing to the effective meetings in Isfahan Gas Company.  
International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences 
Vol. 3 (3), pp. 72–77, © 2013 HRMARS 
 
 73 
2. Literature review  
Meeting  
In the third millennium, cooperation and reciprocal communication are the most important needs of 
modern organizations. Meeting is the singular method of creating cooperation and team-working spirit. 
Different definitions have been presented for meeting. Some of these definitions have been indicated in this 
section. Meeting refers to a group of individuals for discussing about a subject or related subjects in order to 
acquire a goal or different goals in a specific place and time (Brandenburg, 2008: 12). Also meeting refers to a 
group of two or more peoples who have common goals and use communications as an instrument for 
acquiring these goals (Mosavi and Karamlo, 2007). On the other hand, a meeting refers to the group of two or 
more individuals that have common functions and missions in a specific place or time in order to discuss 
about subject (solving an organizational problem or decision making) and acquire the appropriate solutions 
(Rooney, 2007: 43).  
Effective meetings: the process of effective meetings is a complex process that needs a special 
knowledge and skill that can be educated and practiced. Unfortunately, many of the managers are not 
educated formally in terms of meeting preparation, direction, and participation. They also do not know how 
to direct and coordinate a meeting. Meeting is a very cost-spending activity. Many of managers have not any 
knowledge about meetings costs and do not pay any attention to the costs of meetings such as monetary, 
time, and poor decision making (Hans Comb, 2012: 18). Effective meeting requires having knowledge about 
different techniques of meeting implementation. Meeting can be effective instrument in any workplace. This 
can motivates the employees, reinforces cooperation and team working spirit, develops the plan and design, 
predicts the futures trend, and finally improves productivity (Streinbel, 2007: 46). It is important to do 
necessary activities for effectiveness of meetings after deciding about its implementation. Which activities can 
be done for decreasing additional costs? It is necessary to implement the planning process in order to make 
meetings effectiveness (Streinbel, 2007: 46). 
Many authors have presented different viewpoints about the factors contributing to the effective 
meetings. Some of these have been indicated in table 1.  
 
Table 1. The factors contributing to the effective meeting from different authors’ viewpoint 
 
Authors Year The effective factor on the effective meeting 
Mahmodi et 
al. 
2011 An effective meeting is one that its goals are perceived by members and there is compatibility 
between meeting entity and its members.  
Hanscomb 2012 There are three factors that should be attended in order to make a meeting effective. These 
include determining the expected outcomes of meeting, defining the agenda, and having 
preparation before meeting.  
Greta 
 
2009 He believes that 90% of a meeting success depends on the members’ preparation. He also 
indicates that the goals should be defined before begging of the meeting. He also believes that 
place, time, and members should are determined before begging of the meeting.   
Brandenburg 
 
2008 He indicates five effective factors on the effective meeting. these include readiness prior to the 
meeting, the beginning of meeting, direction of meeting process, the end of meeting, goal, 
expected results, time limitation, members, facilitators, evaluation of the meeting effectiveness  
Rooney 
 
2007 He recognizes six effective factors on effective meeting (such as concentration on the agenda, 
facilitators, conclusion, following).  
Streibel 
 
2007 He believes that the factors contributing to effective meeting can be categorized to three 
activities including before, during, and after the meeting activities. The before meeting activities 
include planning for better implementation. During meeting activities include the beginning of 
meeting, directing the meeting (meeting concentration and facilitation), and the result of 
meeting. After meeting activities refer to bill following.  
 
As indicated in the past sections, there are several viewpoints about the factors contributing to 
effective meeting. In the present study, the effective factors have been considered from Streibel (2007) 
viewpoint. As Streibel (2007) indicated, these factors can be categorized in three sets including before, during, 
and after the meeting activities. Before meeting activities include planning for better implementation. During 
International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences 
Vol. 3 (3), pp. 72–77, © 2013 HRMARS 
 
 74 
meeting activities include the beginning of meeting, directing the meeting (meeting concentration and 
facilitation), and the result of meeting. After meeting activities refer to bill following. These factors have been 
presented in figure 1.  
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 1. The effective factors on the effective meeting from Streibel (2007) viewpoint 
 
Hypotheses development  
The following hypotheses have been developed according to Streibel (2007) model.   
H1: level of the factors contributing to effective meeting is average.  
H2: average of factors contributing to effective meeting is similar to each other.  
H3: there are significant differences between chairpersons, secretaries, and members’ viewpoints 
about factors contributing to effective meeting. 
 
3. Research methodology  
As indicated in the previous sections, the purpose of this study is to rank the factors contributing to the 
effective meeting in Isfahan Gas Company. This study is a practical research from purpose perspective. The 
statistical population of this study includes all of 100 chairpersons, secretaries, and members of Isfahan Gas 
Company that were participated in 20 meeting in this company. In order to collect the data, a self-
administrated questionnaire with 56 items has been employed. The questionnaire has been provided for 
professors of management department of university of Isfahan and they were asked to indicate their 
corrections and modifications. The final version of the questionnaire has been developed after correcting and 
modifying it. Therefore, validity of the questionnaire has been examined and confirmed through face validity. 
Also Cronbachs’ Alpha has been employed to examine reliability of the questionnaire. The results of 
Cronbachs’ Alpha have been presented for every components of effective meeting autonomously.  
 
Table 2. The results of Cronbachs’ Alpha Coefficient 
 
Effective factors on 
effective meeting 
Cronbachs’ Alpha Effective factors on 
effective meeting 
Cronbachs’ Alpha 
Planning 0.85 End of the meeting 0.87 
Beginning of the meeting 0.89 Following 0.88 
Direction 0.79  
 
In order to analyze the data and test the hypotheses, one-sample t test, Freedman test, and analysis of 
variance (ANOVA) have been employed in SPSS20.  
 
3.1. Findings 
The findings of demographic characteristics of the sample members indicate that only 08% of the 
respondents were female and 92% of them were male. From educational levels perspective, 55% of the 
respondents had B.A. and 45% higher educational levels. Also the findings indicate that the average of job 
experience is 10 years. Finally, 20% of the respondents were participated in more than one meeting.  
The average of effective factors on the effective meeting has been presented in table 3.  
Before meeting  During meeting  After meeting  
Before meeting  Meeting direction Beginning of the 
meeting  
End of the 
meeting  
Following  
International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences 
Vol. 3 (3), pp. 72–77, © 2013 HRMARS 
 
 75 
Table 3. The average of effective factors on the effective meeting 
 
Effective factors on the effective meeting Average  Standard deviation  
Planning 2.58 0.431 
Beginning of the meeting 2.81 0.358 
Direction 2.73 0.498 
End of the meeting 2.35 0.413 
Following 2.60 0.368 
 
As the results of this of table 6 indicate, the beginning of meeting has the most average and the end of 
meeting has the least average. In order to examine level of factors contributing to on the effective meeting, 
one-sample t test has been employed. The results of one-sample t test have been presented in table 4.  
 
Table 4. The results of one-sample t test 
 
Factors Average Confidence distance Hypothesis 
status  Down level Upper level 
Planning 2.58 -0.503 -0.139 Confirmed  
Beginning of the meeting 2.81 -0.842 -0.445 Confirmed 
Meeting direction 2.73 -0.497 -0.497 Confirmed 
End of the meeting 2.35 -0.391 -0.075 Confirmed 
Following 2.60 -0.605 -0.244 Confirmed 
 
3.2. Prioritization of factors contributing to the effective meeting 
In order to rank factors contributing to the effective meeting, Freedman test has been employed. The 
results of this test have been presented in table 5.  
 
Table 5. The results of Freedman test 
 
Test X2 Sig Status  
Freedman 30.63 0.007 Confirmed  
 
The results of table 5 indicate that the Freedman test can be used to rank the factors contributing to 
the effective meeting. The ranks of factors contributing to effective meeting have been presented in table 6.  
 
Table 6. Ranks of the effective factors on the effective meeting  
 
Ranks  Factors  Average  
1 Planning 3.30 
2 Meeting direction 3.22 
3 Following 3.10 
4 Beginning of the meeting 3.02 
5 End of the meeting 2.66 
 
In order to compare the viewpoints of chairpersons, secretaries, and members about the factors 
contributing to effective meeting, analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been employed. The results of this test 
indicate that there are significant differences between chairpersons, secretaries, and members’ viewpoint 
about the factors contributing to effective meeting (p≤0.05). These results have been presented in table 7.  
 
Table 7. The results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) 
 
Position in the meeting Average  Standard deviation  F  P  
Chairperson 67.00 2.82 0.879 0.320 
Secretary  62.95 9.60 
Other member 64.09 10.40 
 
International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences 
Vol. 3 (3), pp. 72–77, © 2013 HRMARS 
 
 76 
4. Conclusions 
The present study was aimed to identity and ranks the factors contributing to effective meeting in 
Isfahan Gas Company. Based on Streibel (2007), the factors contributing to effective meeting include three 
groups of factors. These include before, during, and after meeting activities. The statistical population of this 
study includes chairpersons, secretaries, and members that are present in the meetings. A self-administrated 
questionnaire has been employed to collect data. The face validity has been employed to examine validity of 
the questionnaire. Also reliability of the questionnaire has been examined through Cronbachs’ Alpha. The 
coefficient 0.90 confirmed reliability of the questionnaire. In order to analyze the data, one-sample t test, 
Freedman test, and analysis of variance has been employed in the SPSS20. The first hypothesis of this study 
indicates that level of the factors contributing to effective meeting is average. In order to test this hypothesis, 
one-sample t test has been employed. The results of this test indicate that the meetings are not implemented 
on a regular basis in Isfahan Gas Company. These results also reveal that the factors contributing to effective 
meeting are not attended in this company. The second hypothesis of this study indicates that average of the 
factors contributing to effective meeting is similar to each other. Also Freedman test has been employed to 
rank the factors contributing to effective meeting from chairpersons, secretaries, and members’ viewpoint. 
The results of Freedman test indicate that the planning before meeting has the most important and the 
following has the least important in this company. As the results show the planning before meeting is most 
important effective factor on the effective meeting from chairpersons, secretaries, and members’ viewpoint. 
It seems that the planning before meeting is not attended by managers significantly. Therefore, it can be 
considered as one of the factors contributing to effective meeting. The third hypothesis of this study indicates 
that there are significant differences between chairpersons, secretaries, and members’ viewpoints about the 
effective factors on the effective meeting. In order to test this hypothesis, analysis of variance (ANOVA) has 
been employed in SPSS20. The results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) reveal that chairpersons, secretaries, 
and members have different viewpoint about the factors contributing to effective meeting. With regard to the 
results of this study, it is suggested that the managers pay attention to the following statements for improving 
effective meeting in their organization.  
 The meeting members must be determined before beginning of the meeting and the meeting time 
must be specialized.  
 Meeting must is predetermined and it must has specific agendas.  
 Meeting members must be informed before meeting.  
 Meeting is began and finished in a specific time.  
 The agendas and goals of the meeting must be attended.  
 The necessary followings must be done about bill after meeting. 
 Meetings must be implemented for chairpersons, secretaries, and other members.  
 
References  
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4. Hanscomb, A., (2012). Strategies and Skills for Running Meetings، Expert Solutions to Everyday 
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9. Rooney, J., (2007). Conducting Faculty Meetings: A New Direction for Principals, International 
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Ranking the Factors Contributing to Effective Meetings in Isfahan Gas Company

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Ranking the Factors Contributing to Effective Meetings in Isfahan Gas Company

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