Fatemeh Leilidoost

Hossein Damghanian**

Seyed Abbas Ebrahimi***

Purpose: Meritocratic organizational behavior, as a novel concept in human resource management, combines structural meritocracy with extra-role behaviors of employees, serving as an organizational remedy that can ensure performance and survival in today's complex conditions. Despite the critical importance of the electricity industry in Tehran province as one of Iran's most vital energy infrastructures, no systematic study has yet identified Determinants of meritocratic organizational behavior in this specific context. Therefore, this study aims to identify the determinants of meritocratic organizational behavior among employees in the electricity industry companies of Tehran province. Specifically, it investigates whether the antecedent factors of meritocratic organizational behavior can be identified and categorized in this industry and what role (causal or effect) each factor plays in shaping these behaviors.

Methodology: This study employed a mixed-methods approach with a sequential exploratory design. For the qualitative phase, grounded theory with the systematic approach of Strauss and Corbin was utilized, and for the quantitative phase, a survey method using Fuzzy Dematel technique was applied to determine causal relationships among factors. The research population included all employees of the electricity industry in Tehran province. Participants in the qualitative phase consisted of 18 experts (managers and specialists familiar with the research topic) selected through purposive judgmental sampling, with interviews continuing until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data collection was conducted through and semi-structured interviews with three main questions and several generative questions during the interviews. Qualitative data analysis involved three stages of open, axial, and selective coding. To ensure the trustworthiness of the data collection tool and analysis process, the four criteria proposed by Guba and Lincoln credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability were employed. In the quantitative phase, after identifying the Determining factors, a questionnaire to measure the impact and influence of criteria on each other was designed and administered to 5 experts to determine the intensity of influence and susceptibility of each factor using the Fuzzy Dematel technique.

Findings: The qualitative findings revealed that Determinants of meritocratic organizational behavior can be categorized into three main categories: 1) Individual factors including: individual motivation and orientation, organizational thinking and attitude, perception of role and individual impact, and individual and job competencies; 2) Managerial factors including: leadership support, change and innovation management, human resource management,and relationship and participation management; and 3) Organizational factors including: transparent structure and relationships, organizational order and regulations, justice-based motivational system, promotion and meritocracy system, and performance evaluation system. In the quantitative phase, based on the Fuzzy Dematel results, the most influential (causal) factors on meritocratic organizational behavior, in order are: Leadership support, human resource management, organizational discipline and rules, individual and job competencies, and the promotion and meritocracy system. Additionally, the justice-based motivational system, a performance evaluation system, individual motivation and orientation, etc were identified as susceptible (effect) factors, indicating that these factors are more influenced by others than being sources of influence.

Conclusion and Implications: The results indicate that managers and authorities in the electricity industry can promote meritocratic behaviors among employees by focusing on the identified factors (particularly the causal ones), thereby improving organizational performance. Practically, it is recommended that managers create transparency in organizational relationships and facilitate employees' access to job-related information to strengthen trust and participation.