Agility of Economic Activit ies of Defense Industries

Iran's defense industry, one of the country’s most productive and leading sectors in the field of science and technology,is engaged in the design and production of defense and non-defense products and technologies.According to experts, the Iranian defense industry with the mission to support the armed forces, has shown tremendous ability in this.However, due to the limitations imposed by the economic sanctions, the sector faces major obstacles in reaching its goals.As this case study’s focus is on the Iranian defense industry, it needs to include various sectors, sub-sectors, subsidiaries affiliated with the Defense Industries Organization of Iran (DIOI). The main question is what “Agility Strategies” DIOI must adapt in order to be able to reach its goals and mission? Accordingly, this study uses qualitative approach within the framework of  “Grounded Theory”,in order to identify the aspects of the Iranian defense industry and the economic environment in which it operates. It does so by studying and analyzing available documents, texts and doing interviews with experts and people with the knowledge of the industry. 
A model has been designed and presented to show how to make the domestic defense industry “Agile”?. The results show that in order to make these industries “Agile” from an economic point of view, it is necessary to increase speed and flexibility. Moreover, it is of utmost importance to employ intelligence more extensively, have better foresight and increase participation of  related experts and officials.Furthermore, eight factors have been identified which have direct affect on the industry! These include few Contextual factors. Also, intervening environmental factors are known to have indirect affect on the ability of these industries to increase their agility capabilities and to be effective in their economic activities.At last, based on these findings, agility solutions have been proposed.