Investigating the Drivers of Managers’ Conspiracy Illusion in public Organizations using the Method of Interpretive Structural

The illusion of conspiracy in managers makes them think that employees are secretly and maliciously seeking to conspire and achieve selfish goals, which leads to increased pessimism about employees and organizational trauma. Therefore, identifying the factors affecting the delusion of managers in state organizations and eliminating them leads to facilitating the path of organizational development and transformation. Accordingly, the purpose of the present study is to identify and level the drivers of the conspiracy illusion of managers.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The illusion of conspiracy has been described as a conspiracy carried out by a number of powerful agents to achieve destructive goals. conspiracy theories have symptoms such as anomie, distrust of authority, political pessimism, machiavellianism, and disability. conspiracy theories can change the way people think about social events. the illusion of conspiracy occurs in conditions of uncertainty, and due to low access to accurate information people are more likely to have the illusion of conspiracy. factors such as openness and intellectual curiosity, inclination to new ideas, and effective communication are among the factors that reduce the illusion of organizational conspiracy. the illusion of organizational conspiracy can be expressed for powerful groups in the workplace (managers) who seek to achieve goals that are done in secret. managers may deliberately hire or fire their preferred candidate. the illusion of conspiracy in organizations leads to the dismissal of employees and key members of the organization. organizations as social institutions are among the most important places for the formation of conspiracy theories, and conspiracy theories, in addition to the destructive effects they will have on the organization, also have harmful effects on society.

 METHODOLOGY 

The present research is a descriptive survey in terms of data collection, and it is an applied study in terms of purpose. it was conducted in two steps. in the first step, using the qualitative content analysis method, the factors affecting the illusion of organizational conspiracy were identified and extracted through semi-structured interviews with 15 professors of management and psychology. the validity and reliability of the interviews were confirmed by the method of relative content validity and the kappa cohen index, respectively. coding of interviews using atlas software led to the identification of 11 drivers in the formation of conspiracy theories. in the second step, in order to level the identified drivers, the opinions of 26 senior managers of public organizations located in the province of west azerbaijan were obtained using a questionnaire distributed based on purposive sampling method and analyzed by structural equation modeling. the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed by content validity and test-post-test methods, respectively.

Encryption of interview data led to the identification of 11 drivers, cultural weakness, lack of transparency, norm-breaking, incompetence, political behavior, conscientious leadership style, dysfunctional communication, poor performance, corruption, power gap, and managerial weakness. in the interpretive structural model, the interrelationships and influence between the criteria of different levels were well shown, which leads to a better understanding of the decision-making space by managers. the modeling performed with an interpretive structural approach has classified the identified propulsions into six levels. the sixth level is related to the most effective drivers and the first level is related to the most effective drivers. according to the micmac matrix, the results indicate that there is no criterion in the autonomous sector, and this indicates that among the factors affecting the conspiracy illusion, there is no factor that does not affect the conspiracy illusion, and all factors are effective. in the field of influence, there is only a conscientious leadership style, which has low dependence and high influence. in the dependency sector, where the dependency rate is high and there is weak influence, the variables of non-transparency, inefficient communication, and managerial weakness are located. in the link section, which is high dependency and influence, there are variables of cultural weakness, norm-breaking, meritocracy, political behaviors, poor performance, power distance, and corruption meaning that they have high influence and power in terms of dependence.

CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS

The illusion of conspiracy in the managers of organizations leads to a kind of contradiction, paranoia, pessimism, and conflicts that cause irreparable damage to the organization. according to the findings of the research at the sixth level, cultural weakness and managerial weakness have had the greatest impact compared to other factors, however, cultural weakness has been the most influential factor. at the fifth level of the model is corruption, which is somehow affected by cultural weakness and managerial weakness. at the fourth level, there is a conscientious leadership style and distance from power and undesirable performance, which is influenced by cultural weakness, poor management, and corruption in organizations. at the third level is norm-breaking, which is influenced by conscientious leadership style, distance from power, and undesirable performance. in the second level, there is a lack of meritocracy in political behaviors and games, and in the first level, there is a lack of transparency and inefficient communication, which is due to the lack of transparency of information and procedures, as well as inefficient communication between managers and employees. the illusion of conspiracy increases in managers. in this regard, it is suggested that the culture of participation and support be replaced, which paves the way for more space for the presentation of views and self-openness of employees. increasing organizational competencies through the implementation of training courses, holding think tanks, and using the methods of the nominal and delphi groups can lead to an increase in knowledge, experience, and managerial abilities. reducing corruption and the need to comply with organizational norms leads to unity and integrity of members of the organization. transparency in organizational affairs and accountability for performance can reduce the illusion of conspiracy. in this regard, they should pay attention to the factors that create the illusion of conspiracy of managers in organizations and try to weaken these factors in order to achieve a moral organization with a healthy atmosphere.