Organizational pathology in academic associations, as a bastion of soft power in universities; Case study: Gonabad University

Soft power involves shaping the preferences of others through attraction and attraction. Universities, in the international scene, are important components in attracting and creating the power of software. Scientific student associations are important institutions with their help, scientific boosters among students and support of research cores are formed. But some associations have not been very successful in this way. This research has been done with the aim of finding complications in the activity of scientific associations in universities, identifying and eliminating the root causes. In this research, as a case study, to identify the challenges of scientific associations and their root causes, an intellectual writing session was held based on the root conflict analysis method, with the presence of a team of six experts from University of Gonabad. After prioritizing the root causes using the IPA-FGAHP method and analyzing the improvement scenarios in the balance-ability gap matrix, priority root causes were identified and solutions were proposed to solve them using the TRIZ approach. Among the most important root causes, we can He mentioned the defects in the bylaws of the associations, voting without sufficient recognition, lack of attention and guidance of the department and university officials. Solutions to reduce the damage of root causes were suggested; As an example, we can refer to the review of the bylaws of the associations, changing the nature of the existing spaces to the association room. Finally, the university can use low-cost outsourcing to perform some activities related to programs.