Razi Journal of Medical Sciences

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.