JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PERSPECTIVE
Year:2024 | Volume:15 | Issue:2|Papers Count:7

Purpose: The global challenge of tackling corruption is a key concern for governments worldwide, irrespective of their developmental stage. It is a misconception to believe that corruption is limited to specific nations. Corruption, in its various manifestations, can inflict harm at different levels, from individuals to entire systems. It can establish intricate networks and exacerbate its institutional impact. Effectively addressing corruption demands a high level of intelligence, coherence, and precision in theoretical, analytical, and operational approaches. This article delves into the issue of network corruption and aims to develop a policy framework to combat corruption within metropolitan management networks and gardens. It underscores the universal nature of corruption and the need for a well-crafted strategy to combat it comprehensively.Design/ methodology/ approach: The article's methodology is qualitative and follows constructivist grounded theory. This theory, part of the second generation of grounded theories, offers more flexible and collaborative guiding principles to researchers compared to the first generation (such as Strauss and Glaser's approaches). The coding process in this methodology involves four key stages: initial, focused, axial, and theoretical coding. In this study, a semi-structured, in-depth interview was conducted with 20 participants from five main groups. Four coding stages were utilized, resulting in 465 initial codes, 196 focused codes, and 41 axial codes. These codes were then integrated into the main categories using the network theoretical coding framework to present the findings. To validate the results, the findings were assessed against the four criteria proposed by Charmaz and reviewed by experts to ensure their validity and reliability.Research Findings: The research findings regarding the development of a network to address network corruption in gardens encompass three key levels: the institutional-legal and economic aspects of the network; the network's structure, focusing on network types, member characteristics, relationships, obligations, and network performance against corruption; and the power dynamics and benefit distribution mechanisms. A significant discovery highlights the importance of aligning positions in network corruption with those in the anti-corruption network, which theoretically can exert pressure to control and mitigate network corruption effectively.Limitations & Consequences: The research focuses on the gardens of Tehran metropolis, primarily in the northern regions of the city, within the realm of policy-making in the context of policy formulation during the 1380s and 1390s. Corruption's elusive and intricate nature hinders access to precise and dependable information. Additionally, the study is constrained by its scientific research nature rather than a legal one, which would necessitate accusations and evidence of wrongdoing. Consequently, the research aims to uncover mechanisms without delving into legal implications to avoid potential legal ramifications.Practical Consequences: The current study introduces a range of proposed policies aimed at garnering interest from decision-makers. Within the policy domain, the focus is on pinpointing deficiencies in garden regulations and offering solutions that accommodate property owners' traditional construction practices. The anti-corruption network is directed towards identifying corrupt structures within gardens, such as gaps, concentrations, corrosive processes, procedures, and spaces. Institutional policy proposals involve activating passive administrative bodies to combat administrative corruption, increasing the risks and exposure of corrupt practices, imposing higher costs on city management officials involved in garden affairs, providing incentives for individuals and organizational support to prevent corruption, and leveraging media and legal resources to combat network corruption. Furthermore, procedural policy recommendations include restricting the avenues for network corruption and impeding its expansion by restructuring administrative processes to deter corruption, implementing case-specific interventions to prevent gardens from being converted into non-garden spaces, and preventing their gradual deterioration or removal.Innovation or value of the Article: This article has pursued innovations in two areas, which are: the first issue is the development of a network perspective in defining governance issues, especially in the field of corruption and the definition of corruption cycles in metropolitan management, the second aspect involves utilizing the dual nature of anti-network corruption efforts to counter networked corruption, setting up a battle between destructive and constructive networks.Paper Type: Original Paper 

Purpose: The transportation industry has the largest growth in the production of greenhouse gases, and reducing the share of pollutants produced by this industry is one of the most important challenges of climate change programs. As one of the most important and developing sectors in global transportation, air transportation plays an important role in economic growth, but this industry also has a great impact on climate change by producing greenhouse gases. Nowadays, much attention is paid to policies, and studies related to them have been done in order to reduce the effects of air transportation on weather. Improving the environmental performance of the aviation industry is one of the important issues of this industry. In Iran, attention to environmental issues in air transportation has recently been considered by researchers and managers. Due to the lack of research in this field, until now a specific model including the dimensions and components of the environmental policy has not been presented in the air transport industry. It is a partial view and the lack of a comprehensive model in which all environmental dimensions and components are taken into account, and the policy maker can respond to the growing demand for attention to the environment at the national and international level while developing. The present study has been conducted with the aim of presenting the structural equation model of green policy in air transportation. Design/ methodology/ approach: This research is exploratory-applied in terms of purpose, and in terms of sequential exploratory design, in terms of type, it is mixed (qualitative, quantitative), and in terms of descriptive-survey method. This research is sequential in terms of time, and in terms of weight, it is more towards the first stage. The statistical population in the qualitative section includes 14 air transportation experts and climate change researchers. The statistical population in the quantitative part includes experts and managers of the civil aviation organization as the main policymakers of the air transport industry, with a number of 331 people and a sample size of 178 people. Sampling was done in the qualitative part by a targeted method and in the quantitative part by a simple random method. The data collection tool in the qualitative part is a semi-structured interview, which continued until theoretical saturation was reached and was analyzed using Brown and Clark's theme analysis, in the form of six stages of getting to know the data, forming primary codes, searching for selective codes, and forming themes. Secondary, naming the main themes, and reporting were done, and the initial model was prepared using the three-pronged model. The model was examined in the quantitative part using a questionnaire and the partial least squares method and SmartPLS software. In order to make a green policy in the aviation industry, it is better to pay attention to the structural, contextual, content, and environmental dimensions, respectively. Research Findings: The findings show that green policymaking in aviation has 4 main dimensions and 14 components. The structural dimension (0.889) is the most important; the contextual dimension (0.865), the content dimension (0.756), and the environmental dimension (0.466) are in the next position. The goodness of fit criterion of the research conceptual model (0.662) shows a strong fit of the model. In order to make a green policy in the aviation industry, it is better to pay attention to the structural, contextual, content, and environmental dimensions, respectively. Limitations & Consequences: If research is done in airlines, other results may be obtained; airlines pay more attention to economic issues, and environmental issues are of secondary importance. Practical Consequences: The current research can serve as a practical guide for policymakers to pay attention to various dimensions of environmental issues in the direction of sustainable development. Innovation or value of the Article: For the first time, this research presents the green policy model in aviation in Iran and makes it available to this industry. Paper Type: Original Paper

Purpose: One of the challenging topics among public administration theorists is the relationship between the two concepts of politics and administration. Various theories have been proposed regarding these two concepts; however, no consensus has been reached, and political science and public administration theorists still struggle to define the boundaries between administration and politics. Today, the concept of the state encompasses both bureaucracy and politics. However, understanding the nature of politics and bureaucracy and their interrelationship is difficult, as each can influence the other. This paper aims to separate the concept of politics from bureaucracy to better understand the extent of their influence. This influence can have positive or negative consequences, depending on the conditions and contexts of different societies. In practice, however, distinguishing between administration and politics is very difficult, and some theorists believe that separating these two concepts is not feasible in practice. Furthermore, this relationship may differ in developed and developing countries, taking on a distinct form. The aim of this paper is to examine and study the relationship between politics and bureaucracy in the public administration of Iran. Design/ methodology/ approach: The current research adopts a qualitative approach. To achieve the defined objectives, research data were collected through purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews with 11 executive experts from the Ministry of Energy. An inductive thematic analysis method was used to analyze the data and address the research question. Research Findings: After collecting and analyzing the data, 95 initial codes were identified. These were categorized and re-examined to extract 24 basic themes, ultimately leading to the identification of 7 organizing themes and a network of themes. The organizing themes include the dependency of decisions on personal opinions, consideration of political power in decisions, nepotism in selecting bureaucrats, the short-term nature of bureaucrats' service, the presence of formalism in selecting bureaucrats, the weakness in utilizing scientific findings and experts, and the weak connection between experts and decision-makers. The findings indicate that the public administration and bureaucracy in Iran have deviated from Weber’s ideal bureaucracy. Previous research has shown that most developed countries have closer alignment with Weber's ideal bureaucracy in their public administration, implementing structural features such as administrative hierarchy, specialization, and meritocracy. Studies have shown that better results in public administration can be achieved if politicians' decisions and policies can be separated from the execution and administration of public affairs. Limitations & Consequences: The final model presented by the researcher may not be generalizable to all public sector organizations. Practical Consequences: The findings of the current research are based solely on one ministry due to the broad scope of the topic, which may pose limitations in terms of generalizability. Innovation or value of the Article: Most studies and research conducted to date on the relationship between politics and administration have been focused on developed countries, and the existing literature is predominantly related to developed countries and modern states. Therefore, the results of studies conducted in developing countries can offer both theoretical and practical innovation. The current research examines the relationship between politics and administration in the public administration of Iran, which, as a developing country, allows for deeper and more precise studies. Ultimately, the results can be used to reform the administrative and political systems. Additionally, this research can help address existing challenges in the country's public administration from a comparative studies perspective. Paper Type: Original Paper

Purpose: Given the dynamics of the current century's environment, service organizations, including educational institutions, require creative behavior from their employees. Considering the importance of employee creative behavior, researchers have examined individual and contextual factors and barriers that either facilitate or hinder such behavior. Studies have shown that the level of employee creativity decreases under adverse conditions. Thus, the present study focuses on one of the barriers to creative behavior, namely, workplace ostracism. Workplace ostracism can be a stressor that depletes individual resources, thereby seriously hindering employee progress and thriving. Additionally, ostracism in the workplace is a factor that diminishes employees' enthusiasm for their work, indicating a lack of job engagement, which negatively impacts their creative behaviors. However, the severity of the negative effects of ostracism may vary depending on individual differences, such as organizational-based self-esteem. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of workplace ostracism on employee creative behavior, emphasizing the role of thriving, work engagement, and organizational-based self-esteem at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.Design/ methodology/ approach:  This research is applied in nature and employs a descriptive-survey methodology for data collection. The study population consisted of all administrative staff at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (400 individuals), from which 196 were selected through simple random sampling. The data collection tools used in this study were standardized questionnaires, including the Workplace Ostracism Scale by Ferris et al., the Work Engagement Scale by Schaufeli and Bakker, the Workplace thriving Scale by Imran et al., the Employee Creative Behavior Scale by Yasini, and the Organizational-Based Self-Esteem Scale by Pierce et al. The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by a panel of experts, and the reliability of the measurement tools was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient and composite reliability. Structural equation modeling was the analytical technique used in this study.Research Findings: The findings from the research revealed that workplace ostracism has a significant negative relationship with work engagement and workplace thriving. Additionally, the relationship between work engagement and workplace thriving, as well as between work engagement and employees' creative behavior, was confirmed. The relationship between workplace thriving and employees' creative behavior was also validated. Moreover, workplace thriving and work engagement mediate the relationship between workplace ostracism and employees' creative behavior, while work engagement mediates the relationship between workplace ostracism and workplace thriving. Finally, workplace thriving serves as a mediator in the relationship between work engagement and employees' creative behavior.Limitations & Consequences: The inability to generalize the research findings to all populations and the use of questionnaires to measure individuals' attitudes are among the limitations of this study.Practical Consequences: The practical implications of this study, according to self-determination theory, suggest that employees with intrinsic motivation seek learning and progress, which enhances their thriving and creative behavior. By integrating the conservation of resources theory with the social embeddedness model of thriving, it can be argued that workplace ostracism is more detrimental to individuals with high organizational-based self-esteem in terms of their positive self-concept within the organization, posing a significant threat to their sense of thriving. Moreover, the decline in workplace thriving and work engagement due to workplace ostracism has negative consequences for employee creative behavior, as ostracized individuals feel less progress and thriving within the organization. Given the reduction in their vitality and learning, they also display lower levels of creative behavior. However, organizational managers can mitigate the negative effects of workplace ostracism on employee creative behavior by enhancing employees' thriving and work engagement.Innovation or value of the Article: The study presents a model demonstrating the consequences of workplace ostracism.Paper Type: Original Paper

Purpose: Employee safety and health is a key and influential concept in the industry. This concept, within the framework of human resource maintenance systems and organizational safety and health, has the potential to minimize the risks faced by organizations, managers, employees, and even society. It also provides the groundwork for the organization's human capital to experience a desirable level of overall well-being, leading to job satisfaction and improved performance. With this premise in mind, the present study aims to design an appropriate model for employee safety and health with a human capital management approach in the oil industry of Iran.Design/ methodology/ approach:  This research is interpretive in terms of its paradigm and applied in terms of its objective. The research strategy is qualitative in terms of the execution process, utilizing the grounded theory method and the Strauss and Corbin approach for data collection. The research strategy is exploratory in nature and inductive in its logic. To implement these research methods, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted purposefully by the researcher. These interviews involved 15 managers and experts in the field of safety and health in the oil industry, as well as academic experts in human resources. The interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. The validity of the qualitative research was assessed using the Lincoln and Guba method, and its reliability was confirmed through the test-retest method. The data analysis process in the grounded theory approach began with open coding, followed by axial and selective coding. It is noteworthy that the study sample was drawn from the southern oil-rich regions.Research Findings: Based on the data derived from the interviews and their qualitative analysis using the grounded theory method, 641 open codes, 50 axial codes, and 23 selective codes were identified. These codes were used to categorize causal factors, the central phenomenon, contextual factors, intervening factors, strategies, and outcomes, ultimately leading to the development of the employee safety and health model. Thus, the causal, intervening, and contextual conditions for employee safety and health were determined. The results also indicate that through the three stages of strategic management—strategy analysis, strategy formulation, and strategy implementation—employee safety and health strategies were identified. Furthermore, the model's outcomes, including reduced safety incidents, improved health and safety, enhanced materials and equipment development, improved workplace safety and health, and ultimately, improved environmental safety and health, were highlighted. Therefore, by applying and implementing the resulting model, it is expected that a significant portion of the risks and hazards related to employee safety and health can be mitigated. Additionally, the human capital in the human resource maintenance system and their workplace and environmental conditions will witness growth and development, leading to the advancement of the oil industry and the improvement of societal conditions.Limitations & Consequences: Among the limitations of this research was the difficulty in accessing sample members for specialized interviews. Additionally, the lack of similar research in this area and the existence of only quantitative studies without qualitative investigation posed challenges. Regarding implications, this study, by employing a qualitative approach, attempts to fill the theoretical and conceptual gaps to the extent possible.Practical Consequences: The application of this model will lead to improved employee safety and health, with threats identified and mitigated. Furthermore, hazardous materials will be identified and categorized, and the safety and health of both internal and external organizational environments will be enhanced. Moreover, the results of this research, owing to the grounded theory method, can be generalized to other industries and organizations.Innovation or value of the Article: To date, no research has been conducted to improve employee safety and health using a qualitative research approach based on grounded theory, nor has an appropriate paradigmatic model been provided to managers in the oil industry.Paper Type: Original Paper

Purpose: Today's organizations face unforeseen events that affect the workforce and the organization's performance and ultimately the organization's survival. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a challenging environment, especially in the field of human resource management, and has increased the need to implement technical, physical, psychological, and social activities for human resource management. On the other hand, due to the rapid development of technology and information and the fierce competition of organizations, the stress of people at work has increased, and concerns for the mental health of employees have become more important. The COVID-19 pandemic and the stress and anxiety caused by it can negatively affect the working lives of employees and disrupt the company's performance, so as to prevent the process of knowledge sharing, which is the essential need of any organization to survive in the tight competition of today's world. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of socially responsible human resource management on knowledge sharing and fearlessness of external events with the mediating role of perceived respect and organizational trust and the moderating role of role conflict and role ambiguity during the outbreak of COVID-19.Design/ methodology/ approach:  The current study in terms of paradigm; post-positivism, in terms of approach; quantitative, in terms of purpose; practical, and in terms of method; It is a descriptive survey. The statistical population of this research includes 2350 employees of Megamotor Company, and the sample size was determined by using the power analysis method to be 226 people, and considering the expected return rate of 0.7, in order to avoid reducing the generalizability of the sample, it was increased to 323 people. Finally, after the necessary pre-processing, the data of 319 people entered the process of descriptive and inferential analysis. The sampling method is also simple random. Inferential analysis was done through structural equation modeling with the partial least squares variance-based approach in the SmartPLS software version 3.3.9 due to the presence of quantitative constructs as moderators.Research Findings: All twelve proposed hypotheses were confirmed, among which the effect of socially responsible human resource management on organizational trust has the highest path coefficient (0.747). In addition, promoting perceived respect more than organizational trust can help improve knowledge sharing and fearlessness of external events. In other words, the implementation of socially responsible human resources management policies through creating an environment based on respect and trust as a complete mediator role transfers its effect to the final endogenous structures of the model. Increasing role ambiguity can reduce the impact of socially responsible human resource management policies on organizational trust. Similarly, role conflict is able to reduce the effect of socially responsible human resource management on perceived respect.Limitations & Consequences: The limitation of this research is that it is carried out in a specific organization, which makes it difficult to generalize it to other organizations. Therefore, conducting studies in this field in other organizations is recommended. On the other hand, the use of questionnaires to measure people's attitudes is one of the other limitations of this research.Practical Consequences: The prerequisite for the success of an organization is the success of knowledge-based agents in that organization. In this regard, managers should pay attention to the issue of increasing the motivation of employees and creating interest in them to share knowledge. Knowledge sharing plays an important role in innovation and improving the organization's competitive advantage. If organizations provide the necessary infrastructure for knowledge sharing, they provide a platform for sharing and applying knowledge to a large extent. Socially responsible human resources management activities, including communication between compensation and performance evaluation, transparency in performance evaluation criteria, lack of gender and ethnic discrimination in performance evaluation, and long-term attention to training, lead to increased employee trust and employees' voluntary willingness to share knowledge. By implementing socially responsible human resource management policies and, as a result, creating an atmosphere full of respect and trust, it is possible to reduce the stress and fear of employees caused by external events and strengthen action and knowledge sharing.Innovation or value of the Article: So far, no research has investigated the impact of socially responsible human resource management on the two variables of fearlessness of external events and knowledge sharing. Also, the effect of variables of organizational trust and perceived respect as a mediator in the causal relationship between socially responsible human resource management and knowledge sharing and fearlessness of external events and the moderating role of role conflict and role ambiguity have been examined in this research for the first time.Paper Type: Original Paper

Purpose: In the organizations of developing countries, some managers do not have the necessary competence and try to make themselves appear as competent and justified managers by engaging in external and promotional work and finally cover up their incompetence by displaying a showcase style of performance. Showcase managers are among the managers who cause long-term and irreparable damage to the organization with their performance and non-functional behaviors. Therefore, the current research was carried out with the aim of typology of managers' showcase performance and its consequences in government organizations.Design/ methodology/ approach:  The present study is applied research in terms of its purpose, and it is exploratory research in terms of gathering information. Also, this research is a type of mixed qualitative and quantitative research based on comparative and inductive philosophy. The statistical population of the present research includes the experts who were selected by the purposeful sampling method and based on the principle of theoretical adequacy. The data collection tool is in the qualitative part of the interview, whose validity and reliability were confirmed using content validity and theoretical validity and intra-coder and inter-coder reliability methods. Also, the data collection tool in the quantitative section is a questionnaire whose validity and reliability were confirmed using content validity and retest reliability. Qualitative data was analyzed by the content analysis method, and quantitative data was analyzed by the fuzzy cognitive mapping method.Research Findings: The research findings indicate that the use of harvest management tactics, conducting directed and demonstrative organizational citizenship behavior, and rhetorical managers are among the most important showcase functions in government organizations. Also, being on the sidelines of the organizational mission, reducing individual and organizational performance and productivity, and spreading cheating and lying in the organization are among the most important consequences of managers' showcase performance in government organizations.Limitations & Consequences: Considering the purpose and type of research that should be used from the interview process and experts' opinions, this included the limitation in the number of samples and the difficulty of accessing experts, and there was also the possibility of bias in answering the questions and presenting and recording the findings. Another limitation is that because the statistical population of the present study is the managers of government organizations in Lorestan province, the generalizability of the research results to other societies is limited.Practical Consequences: Considering that today the emergence of some deviant behaviors by managers in organizations has become a big challenge and because managers, due to their position, are able to create valuable successes and failures for the organization under their management, therefore, selection and appointment Competent managers are one of the significant issues in government organizations. Because it is very likely that at this point it is possible to distinguish between worthy and unworthy managers. Therefore, organizations should identify managers based on their competence and moral qualifications and other considered indicators and prevent their deviant and fake performance and actions in order to cover up their incompetence. Therefore, the present study helps organizations by identifying the types of showcase performance of managers to be aware of such people and to avoid the employment and appointment of incompetent people who only take steps to advance their personal interests and the harmful consequences that are shown in this research. It was pointed out to them to stay safe and finally be able to take an important step towards spreading meritocracy in government organizations.Innovation or value of the Article: In most governmental and non-governmental organizations, despite a lot of investment to improve performance, achieving high performance levels is slow. One of the main reasons for this problem is showcase performance. This performance style focuses on the performance of performance instead of focusing on actual performance and productivity. In other words, visible performance indicators are taken into consideration by the employees, and this issue causes the evaluation of real performance indicators to be neglected. Therefore, the present research aims to take an important step in the direction of spreading meritocracy and improving performance in government organizations by creating awareness and introducing the types of showcase performance.Paper Type: Original Paper