ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR STUDIES QUARTERLY
Year:2025 | Volume:13 | Issue:4|Papers Count:7

Conflict of Interest is a familiar phenomenon among Public Administration experts yet research wise, it has not received much attention. While government officials are accused of corruption and having Conflicts of Interest more than any other individual, research shows that only 1% of Conflict-of-Interest studies has been devoted to investigating the subject in the field of Public Administration. A Conflict of Interest occurs when an official is forced to choose between carrying out his/her administrative duties or following his/her personal interests. These interests include an individual’s financial or non-financial interests as well as the financial and non-financial interests of his/her relatives or friends. The research method of this article is based on citation analysis and drawing a citation network. The findings show that Sah, Moore, Loewenstein, and Cain are key experts in the field. The study of Cain et al (2005) is the key one that has the most relevance to other studies in this field and the study of Miller (2001) is also central which has been cited a lot. American Journal of Bioethics, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology are esteemed scientific journals that have been most benefited from publications, communications, and citations, respectively. Ethics is the concept that has been co-occurrence with the conflict of interest. This means that a conflict of interest is inherently a normative and behavioral concept. Finally, it should be noted that given the results of this research, the concept of Conflict of Interest will remain a foundation for corruption in governments and public organizations if Public Administration experts and scholars remain as inattentive to the issue as before. Research into Conflict of Interest has been mainly focused on normative and behavioral approaches which means that there is a need for new researchers taking new approaches to break out of this cycle.

The aim of this study was to propose a model for the conceptual expansion of organizational culture with a digital transformation approach using the meta-synthesis method. This research is a systematic review, utilizing Noblit and Hare’s (1998) meta-synthesis guidelines to integrate and synthesize findings from previous studies. The statistical population included all qualitative studies (articles and dissertations) published in the last ten years on organizational culture and digital transformation. Through the search process, 18 final studies were selected for in-depth analysis. A structured and detailed checklist was used for data collection from primary research, and reflective thematic analysis was applied to analyze the data. From the analysis of 18 studies, 284 initial codes were identified, which were refined and consolidated into 110 final codes, ultimately resulting in 29 themes. The findings indicated that key characteristics and elements of organizational culture in the digital transformation process include innovation culture, agile-oriented culture, reference-based culture, risk-taking culture, alignment and coordination culture, and adaptability culture. Additionally, transformational leadership, organizational professional needs, change management, technological advancements, and digital needs were identified as key factors driving cultural change in digital transformation. Moreover, the study identified several outcomes of expanding organizational culture in digital transformation, including reconstructing shared beliefs and perceptions, transitioning to a participatory culture, reducing male dominance in organizations, fostering borderless work and communication, decreasing power distance, and shifting the organization’s orientation toward short-term goals. These findings suggest that digital transformation not only reshapes organizational structures but also leads to profound changes in organizational culture, which can enhance performance and facilitate adaptation to future challenges.

Organizations consist of different generations of employees, each with unique characteristics. Understanding these characteristics is essential for effective generational management. Performance management is a critical function of human resource management; therefore, this study examines performance management across different workforce generations. The current workforce generations in Iranian organizations include Generation X (born between 1972 and 1981), Generation Y (born between 1982 and 1991), and Generation Z (born from 1992 onward). The objective of this research is to identify the expectations of workforce generations regarding the performance management process at Tejarat Bank. The study adopts a qualitative research method using thematic analysis within an interpretive research paradigm. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect primary data, and participants were selected through purposive maximum variation sampling. From a total of 30 interviews and their analysis, 4 main themes, 42 sub-themes, and 148 conceptual categories were identified, all based on the core stages of performance management. The findings highlight the significance of all four stages of the performance management system for different workforce generations while also revealing variations in their expectations. The study concludes by discussing research limitations and providing recommendations for future studies.

This study aimed to develop and test a model examining the effect of secure, anxious, and avoidant organizational attachment styles on job effort, mediated by the fulfillment of basic psychological needs in organizations. The research design was applied in nature and used a descriptive method. The statistical population consisted of employees of the Ahvaz Water and Wastewater Company. A sample of 200 employees was selected using a simple random sampling method. To collect data, the Organizational Attachment Questionnaire (Skrima, 2020), the Fulfillment of Basic Psychological Needs in Organizations Questionnaire (Van den Broeck et al., 2010), and the Job Effort Questionnaire (Brown & Leigh, 1996) were used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-24, structural equation modeling in AMOS-24, and the bootstrap method. The results indicated that the designed model had a good fit. The findings also showed that the paths from secure, anxious, and avoidant organizational attachment styles to the fulfillment of basic psychological needs and job effort were significant. Additionally, the path from the fulfillment of basic psychological needs to job effort was also significant. The results of indirect path analysis further demonstrated that the fulfillment of basic psychological needs mediated the effects of secure, anxious, and avoidant organizational attachment on job effort.

Nowadays, the quality of communication in organizations, especially interpersonal relationships, plays an important and decisive role in achieving organizational goals, in which promoting positivity can be a solution. The development of positivity in organizational communication can lead to increased convergence among individuals and enhance the organization's status. Therefore, the research problem of the present study is how to use the capacity of the scientific foundations of positive organizational behavior to improve the quality of organizational communication. Accordingly, the aim of the present study is to design a model for enhancing organizational communication by utilizing the foundations of positive organizational behavior. This research is considered exploratory. In the qualitative phase, the thematic analysis method was used, and in the quantitative phase, the confirmatory factor analysis method and Smart PLS software were employed. In the qualitative phase, in order to design the research model, interviews were conducted with 24 academic and executive experts who were purposefully selected. Based on the findings, three categories of variables were identified, including communication drivers, communication networks, and communication actions. Additionally, five dimensions—ethical, human, functional, developmental, and emotional—were identified for social networks. Moreover, three categories of actions, including facilitating, moderating, and enabling actions, as well as three categories of drivers, including organizational, employee-related, and external drivers, were identified. In the quantitative phase, to validate the model, opinions were collected from 189 managers and experts in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The sampling method was simple random sampling, and the data collection tool was a questionnaire. The findings showed that the identified variables were confirmed. The research results indicated that utilizing the foundations of positive organizational behavior in enhancing organizational communication is highly complex, and success in this area can yield valuable outcomes.

The presence of digital social responsibility in an organization serves as a model and inspiration for employees. When an organization seriously considers digital social responsibility and utilizes technology to serve society, employees are influenced and become more inclined to adhere to social values and standards in their work. This research is applied in nature and falls under mixed-method studies. The research data was collected using library research and semi-structured interviews. In the qualitative phase, thematic analysis was used, while in the quantitative phase, the ISM method was employed to classify behavioral damages. The statistical population includes all experts in organizational behavior and social responsibility in executive bodies of Mazandaran province. In the qualitative phase, the snowball sampling method was used, while in the quantitative phase, purposive sampling was applied. Data analysis was conducted using MAXQDA and Excel software. The research results identified six types of damages: individual, cultural, organizational, security-related, sustainability-related, and political. Among these, individual, cultural, and sustainability-related damages had the highest impact at the organizational level and require significant attention.

The aim of this study is to design and validate a model for organizational counterproductive work behaviors in public healthcare centers in Sanandaj. This research follows an exploratory mixed-methods approach. The statistical population in the qualitative phase includes 15 senior managers and faculty members from healthcare centers in Sanandaj, selected using the snowball sampling method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with these participants, and the data were analyzed using grounded theory coding. In the quantitative phase, to evaluate the research model, 278 employees from hospitals and healthcare centers in Sanandaj were surveyed. Structural equation modeling and Smart PLS software were used for quantitative model evaluation. All significance values were greater than 1.96, and standardized coefficients exceeded 0.4, confirming the model's validity. Additionally, the results of model validation demonstrated its reliability, showing with 95% confidence that causal factors influence the core category (organizational counterproductive work behaviors) by 0.874. The core category impacts strategies by 0.652, intervening factors affect strategies by 0.668, contextual factors influence strategies by 0.577, and finally, strategies impact outcomes by 0.743.