Identifying and Characterizing the Shadow Management Environment in Iran’s Public Sector

Abstract

This study aimed to identify and explain the dimensions, components, and indicators constituting the shadow management environment in Iran’s public sector. This exploratory qualitative study employed conventional content analysis based on the Graneheim and Lundman approach. Participants consisted of 15 public administration experts holding the academic rank of assistant professor or higher, with scholarly experience in shadow management, hidden management, and political behavior, as well as senior managerial or executive experience in governmental or public organizations. Participants were recruited through snowball sampling, and semi-structured interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding. Cohen’s kappa coefficient was used to assess the reliability and consistency of the coding process, yielding a value of 0.81, indicative of a high level of agreement. Analysis of 15 interviews and 155 meaning units generated 72 open codes, 20 axial codes, and five selective codes. The five principal dimensions identified were parallel and hidden institutional structures, hidden networks of power and communication, covert decision-making, a hidden cultural-normative environment, and a hidden economy and budgeting system. These dimensions indicated that shadow management operates through multiple power centers, loyalty-based appointments, informal lobbying and influence networks, unequal access to information, decision-making outside formal administrative procedures, prioritization of political considerations over technical criteria, normalization of bypassing bureaucratic procedures, organizational silence, and nontransparent resource allocation. Shadow management in Iran’s public sector represents a multilayered and network-based organizational environment operating alongside formal administrative structures. Its mechanisms can undermine transparency, accountability, organizational justice, and the effectiveness of decision-making and resource allocation. Identifying its dimensions provides a basis for mapping actual organizational power structures, strengthening oversight mechanisms, and developing strategies for the constructive management of informal networks within public organizations.