Designing a Conceptual Model for Organizational Stupidity Using a Combination of Grounded Theory and Interpretive Structural Modeling

While concepts such as organizational intelligence and critical thinking are continually studied by different scholars, Organizational Stupidity (OS) has received less attention in academic researches. This conceptual study investigated OS and different characteristics of it to present a model for OS. To this end, a combined method including Grounded Theory (GT) and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) was adopted. The qualitative part was comprised of face-to-face in-depth interviews with 12 respondents who worked in Iran Revenue & Agency (IRA), Isfahan Province Branch. A snowball sampling was employed in which the early participants were asked to introduce other people with information about OS. The data collected from interviews was analyzed using open coding, axial coding, and selective coding, and the conceptual model of OS was proposed using the GT assumptions (i.e., casual conditions, intervening factors, contextual factors, strategies, and consequences of the OS). In the quantitative part, the proposed model was restructured using ISM. For this purpose, two questionnaires were deigned, and the experts of senior faculty of academics (including 8 individuals) were asked to answer them. The proposed model shows the main reasons for OS by level of importance, and predicts the strategies for reducing the OS and its consequences. This model can be used to plan strategies for managing and reducing OS in organizations.