Assessment of Factors Affecting the Formation of Academic Inertia Using the Combined Approach of Interpretive-Fuzzy Structural Modeling

This research was done aiming at designing a comprehensive model of organizational inertia at Lorestan university. It is an applied research and in terms of the research method, it is qualitative-quantitative; the data were analyzed using the interpretive-fuzzy structural modeling method. To this end, in the first step, factors causing organizational inertia were extracted from theoretical literature and were approved by interviewing 23 selected faculty members from different departments using a purposeful sampling method. The output of this stage was the extraction of 12 main factors. In the next step, to connect and sequence the dimensions and present their structural model, an interpretive structural modeling technique was used in the fuzzy environment to resolve the language ambiguity of the experts' judgments, which is based on expert opinions and analysis. In this study, the results of the research led to the design of an integrated organizational inertia model at five levels, in which leveling the factors influencing the inertia formation in the organizations of the Lorestan province were conducted at eleven stages. Lack of competitive space and equal-based performance evaluation  were identified as a basis for the model and the most effective factors in creating organizational inertia; they were placed in MICMAC matrix with high conductivity and low dependency power.