Background & Aims: In the competitive environment of organizations, management
practitioners are always trying to increase the prosperity of their institution by creating a
sustainable competitive advantage through improving organizational performance. Therefore,
organizational performance is a general construct that refers to how organizational operations
are carried out. Resistance to change can affect employee performance. Since change is
Cybernetic Management,
Organizational
Performance,
accompanied by some uncertainty, it affects the stability and security of employees and
managers who are exposed to change, and therefore it is obvious that at least the first
experience of change is not easy for employees of organizations and departments. This state
is called organizational inertia. Among the factors that can possibly affect both organizational
Organizational Laziness
inertia and the level of organizational performance simultaneously is cybernetic management.
This form of management has a hierarchical mechanism that is managed by a leader and plays
an effective role by creating self-correction mechanisms in members when events occur that
push the organization in an unpleasant direction, thus encouraging employees to make
Received: 14/03/2024
constructive changes and as a result, it can lead to higher and more efficient organizational
performance. It should be noted that in the relationship between cybernetic management and
organizational performance and organizational inertia, many mediating variables can play a
role. One of the effective factors in increasing and improving organizational performance and
Published: 16/01/2025
reducing organizational inertia is the management style and leadership style of the
organization. The current era has been called the era of intense and accelerated changes and
developments. Various organizations, including sports and youth departments, are in the path
of these changes and must inevitably coordinate with these rapid and unprecedented changes
in order to survive and survive, and update their knowledge in parallel with hardware and
software changes. In this process, changes in organizational management and leadership
methods are inevitable because traditional management and leadership methods lack the
necessary effectiveness in today's changing and dynamic conditions. There are several models
for managing organizations, one of which is the cybernetic model because it can be changed
and modified after being accepted. Today, in every different society, organizations have
important functions and play a vital role in economic, social, cultural life and the
administration of community affairs. This research aimed to investigate the effect of cybernetic
management on the inertia and organizational performance of employees of sports and youth
departments in Fars province, with the role of mediating knowledge management and
employee empowerment.
Methods: The present study is applied in terms of its purpose and results. From the perspective
of the method, it is also a descriptive research and a correlational research based on the
structural equation model that was implemented in the field. The statistical population includes
6 and 14 female and male directors and deputies of the General Directorate of Sports and
Youth of Fars Province; 3 and 44 female and male directors and deputies of the sports and
youth departments of the cities of Fars Province; 43 and 65 female and male experts of the
General Directorate of Sports and Youth of Fars Province; and finally, 46 and 145 female and
2Moosavi SE, et al.
male experts of the sports and youth departments of the cities of Fars Province. The total
number of experts of the General Directorate of Sports and Youth of Fars Province and also
experts of the sports and youth departments of the cities of this province is 299 people. In order
to determine the statistical sample size of this study, using the Krejci and Morgan table, and
using the stratified random sampling method, 59 people were selected from among the
directors and deputies; and 169 people were selected from among the experts. The
measurement tools in this study include the personal information questionnaire, the Ghorbani
Zadeh Cybernetic Management Questionnaire (2010), the Sritzer and Mishra Empowerment
Questionnaire (1992), the Hogg Organizational Inertia Questionnaire (2014), the Hogg,
Churchill, and McKenzie (2014) questionnaire, the Conrad and Newman Knowledge
Management Questionnaire (1999), and the Hersey and Goldsmith Organizational
Performance Questionnaire (2003). The partial square method was used to analyze the data.
Results: The variables of cybernetic functions, employee empowerment, and knowledge
management have a direct relationship with the organizational inertia and organizational
performance variables with 99% confidence. The cybernetic functions variable also has an
indirect effect on organizational inertia and organizational performance with 99% confidence.
Conclusion: The results showed that cybernetic management has a direct effect on the inertia
and organizational performance of employees, and an indirect effect on the inertia and
organizational performance of employees through knowledge management and employee
empowerment. The cybernetic model, as a science of guiding and monitoring the organization,
relying on appropriate feedback and loose and hard links, provides the basis for developing
communications and interactions with the environment and internal organizational units for
the purpose of self-regulation. Therefore, in the sports and youth departments of Fars province,
effective management requires decision-making based on clear facts and tasks, and most
importantly, accurate and meticulous feedback on the implementation of tasks and employee
performance. What has been determined is that psychological empowerment has complex and
ambiguous roles in relation to innovation and effectiveness. From a managerial perspective,
empowerment also has potential to face these consequences; because work processes require
empowered employees. In sports and youth departments, empowerment is generally defined
as the degree to which employees meet or exceed their job expectations. Since, by definition,
after empowerment, employees of Fars Province Sports and Youth Departments see
themselves as capable and competent to influence their work and career environments, and are
likely to actively carry out their job responsibilities independently and with anticipation of
problems, and thus appear effective, the role of cybernetic management in this regard is
undeniable. However, in an empowered organization, such as Fars Province Sports and Youth
Departments, employees participate fully and as a family and are in fact the leaders in doing
things. While they act individually, they also work in teams and have the authority to make
strategic decisions. According to this approach, the task of management is to shape a culture
of participation by providing a mandatory mission, a structure that emphasizes independence
and flexibility, which occurs as a result of cybernetic management of Fars Province Sports and
Youth Departments. Therefore, when employees of these departments feel more empowered
under their cybernetic management, they show less resistance to change and as a result
organizational inertia decreases. Therefore, cybernetic management has an effect on
employees' organizational inertia by mediating employee empowerment.