Volume 32, Issue 1 (3-2025)
RJMS 2025, 32(1): 1-13 |
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Research code: 01
Ethics code: IR.IAU.SARI.REC.1404.162
Clinical trials code: 01
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Hadinejad F, Monzavi I. Investigating and Explaining Various Dimensions of Strategic Manager Development in Government Organizations with a View to the Cognitive Approach. RJMS 2025; 32 (1) :1-13
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-9046-en.html
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-9046-en.html
Assistant Professor Department of Management, Faculty of Medicine, Army University of Medical Sciences, Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran, Iran , hadinejadfarhad@gmail.com
Abstract: (13 Views)
Background & Aims: In today’s complex and dynamic world, strategic managers in public organizations face multifaceted and asymmetric challenges that require advanced cognitive capabilities for decision-making, crisis management, and adaptation to changing conditions. The development of these managers should go beyond traditional public leadership skills and be shaped based on a cognitive approach that includes critical thinking, mental flexibility, adaptive learning, and the ability to process complex information. This requires the establishment of an educational and developmental system grounded in cognitive sciences and modern technologies, such as artificial intelligence and advanced simulations, to enhance managers’ analytical, decision-making, and predictive capabilities. Research shows that high-level public managers, in addition to technical and tactical skills, must possess cognitive capacities such as emotional intelligence, future-oriented thinking, and the ability to understand complex systems. Accordingly, designing a managerial development model based on cognitive sciences can improve managers' efficiency in facing emerging threats. Particularly in public organizations operating within a strategic and security-oriented environment, employing this approach can play a decisive role in enhancing managers’ capacity for making rapid and accurate decisions. Therefore, the present study aims to design and formulate a model that, based on the principles of cognitive sciences, provides an optimal pathway for the development of strategic managers in public organizations. In other words, the main research question is how cognitive approach components can be enhanced among managers to support strategic and key decision-making.
Methods: This research employs a grounded theory approach to identify and explain the dimensions of developing strategic managers in public organizations based on a cognitive approach. Grounded theory is a qualitative research method that generates a new theory based on primary data collected without prior theoretical assumptions. In this method, data collection, coding, and analysis are performed continuously to extract the main concepts and new patterns from the data. Through open coding, 110 concepts were obtained, which, after categorization, formed 30 subcategories. In the axial coding stage, these were classified around 9 main categories and 6 overarching categories. Based on this, the relationships between the main categories and the paradigmatic model were formed. Finally, the identified categories were finalized within the six-dimensional paradigmatic model, along with the relationships between them. Data analysis consisted of descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 26 and PLS version 3.
Results: The results showed that various dimensions of cognitive development among strategic-level managers include analytical thinking, decision-making under uncertainty, complex information processing, and cognitive resilience. These dimensions can improve managerial performance under sensitive organizational conditions. In this regard, causal, intervening, contextual, central, strategies, and outcomes categories were identified through data analysis. The central category of this research was "Strategic Manager Development in Organizations Based on a Cognitive Approach," around which other categories were formed. Strategies such as revising the educational system, cognitive simulations, and the use of artificial intelligence to improve managers' decision-making processes were also proposed.
Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that strategic managers in Iranian public organizations, in addition to operational and physical skills, must possess advanced cognitive capabilities such as analytical thinking, decision-making under uncertainty, complex information processing, and cognitive resilience. This cognitive transformation is particularly crucial in the context of hybrid warfare and modern complexities that require rapid and precise decision-making. In alignment with these findings, this study also emphasizes the necessity of revising public sector education and establishing cognitive-based educational courses as key strategies for managerial development. One of the most important differences between this research and previous studies is its specific focus on bureaucratic structures and cultural resistance in the process of cognitive transformation within Iranian public organizations. Previous studies have mostly emphasized technology and scientific education, while this research addresses institutional and cultural barriers, such as senior managers’ resistance to new concepts and structural limitations within human resources. Many managers interviewed in this study stressed the need for structural and cultural changes in public organizations to embrace cognitive approaches. This finding indicates that transformation in managerial education and development should align with structural and cultural changes within public organizations to achieve desirable outcomes. Based on the findings of this study, it appears that the use of modern technologies and educational methods based on data analysis and cognitive simulations can enhance managers' cognitive capabilities. Decision support models based on artificial intelligence and data-driven analytical systems can help managers make effective decisions in wartime and complex crisis situations, reducing strategic errors and improving public sector performance. The final conclusion is that developing strategic managers based on a cognitive approach requires not only specialized, technology-based training but also cultural and structural transformation within the human resources of public organizations. Additionally, the synergy of cognitive sciences and modern technologies can play a significant role in improving decision-making and crisis management processes within public organizations. Finally, based on the obtained results, it is recommended that Iranian public organizations, in their efforts to develop cognitive managers, implement new educational programs, advanced simulations, and decision support systems to harness managers’ capabilities in confronting new and complex threats. A comparison with previous studies indicates that although many studies have been conducted on the application of cognitive sciences in public organizations, institutionalizing these concepts within the educational and operational processes of public organizations in Iran still faces challenges. In global research, especially within advanced public organizations such as those in the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics in strategic decision-making has become a growing trend. However, within Iranian public organizations, there is still a need for further studies and the adoption of modern technologies. These differences can create opportunities and challenges for improving public methods and developing strategic managers within the country.
Methods: This research employs a grounded theory approach to identify and explain the dimensions of developing strategic managers in public organizations based on a cognitive approach. Grounded theory is a qualitative research method that generates a new theory based on primary data collected without prior theoretical assumptions. In this method, data collection, coding, and analysis are performed continuously to extract the main concepts and new patterns from the data. Through open coding, 110 concepts were obtained, which, after categorization, formed 30 subcategories. In the axial coding stage, these were classified around 9 main categories and 6 overarching categories. Based on this, the relationships between the main categories and the paradigmatic model were formed. Finally, the identified categories were finalized within the six-dimensional paradigmatic model, along with the relationships between them. Data analysis consisted of descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 26 and PLS version 3.
Results: The results showed that various dimensions of cognitive development among strategic-level managers include analytical thinking, decision-making under uncertainty, complex information processing, and cognitive resilience. These dimensions can improve managerial performance under sensitive organizational conditions. In this regard, causal, intervening, contextual, central, strategies, and outcomes categories were identified through data analysis. The central category of this research was "Strategic Manager Development in Organizations Based on a Cognitive Approach," around which other categories were formed. Strategies such as revising the educational system, cognitive simulations, and the use of artificial intelligence to improve managers' decision-making processes were also proposed.
Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that strategic managers in Iranian public organizations, in addition to operational and physical skills, must possess advanced cognitive capabilities such as analytical thinking, decision-making under uncertainty, complex information processing, and cognitive resilience. This cognitive transformation is particularly crucial in the context of hybrid warfare and modern complexities that require rapid and precise decision-making. In alignment with these findings, this study also emphasizes the necessity of revising public sector education and establishing cognitive-based educational courses as key strategies for managerial development. One of the most important differences between this research and previous studies is its specific focus on bureaucratic structures and cultural resistance in the process of cognitive transformation within Iranian public organizations. Previous studies have mostly emphasized technology and scientific education, while this research addresses institutional and cultural barriers, such as senior managers’ resistance to new concepts and structural limitations within human resources. Many managers interviewed in this study stressed the need for structural and cultural changes in public organizations to embrace cognitive approaches. This finding indicates that transformation in managerial education and development should align with structural and cultural changes within public organizations to achieve desirable outcomes. Based on the findings of this study, it appears that the use of modern technologies and educational methods based on data analysis and cognitive simulations can enhance managers' cognitive capabilities. Decision support models based on artificial intelligence and data-driven analytical systems can help managers make effective decisions in wartime and complex crisis situations, reducing strategic errors and improving public sector performance. The final conclusion is that developing strategic managers based on a cognitive approach requires not only specialized, technology-based training but also cultural and structural transformation within the human resources of public organizations. Additionally, the synergy of cognitive sciences and modern technologies can play a significant role in improving decision-making and crisis management processes within public organizations. Finally, based on the obtained results, it is recommended that Iranian public organizations, in their efforts to develop cognitive managers, implement new educational programs, advanced simulations, and decision support systems to harness managers’ capabilities in confronting new and complex threats. A comparison with previous studies indicates that although many studies have been conducted on the application of cognitive sciences in public organizations, institutionalizing these concepts within the educational and operational processes of public organizations in Iran still faces challenges. In global research, especially within advanced public organizations such as those in the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics in strategic decision-making has become a growing trend. However, within Iranian public organizations, there is still a need for further studies and the adoption of modern technologies. These differences can create opportunities and challenges for improving public methods and developing strategic managers within the country.
Keywords: Strategic Manager Development, Cognitive Approach, Crisis Decision-Making, Artificial Intelligence, Public Sector Training
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Clinical Psychiatry
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