Developing A Trust-based Organizational Health Model for the Iranian Aviation Industry

Organizations are considered living entities whose character and identities, either healthy or unhealthy, are quite independent of their members. In this regard, it could be argued that a healthy organization can act efficiently to attract the citizens’ satisfaction, thus developing social trust. On the other hand, the Aviation Industry consists of companies and organizations, playing a pivotal role in the economic, social, cultural, technological, and developmental programs in both developed and developing countries. Therefore, the organizational health of this industry can increase the citizens’ social trust. Accordingly, this applied-developmental qualitative study sought to present a model of social trust-based organizational health to be used in Iran’s Aviation Industry using a grounded theory method. The required data were collected via semi-structured interviews made with twenty experts. The collected data were then analyzed using the NVivo software, according to which 218 open and 32 axial codes were extracted through open coding. The findings of the study suggested that factors related to service quality, customers (the passengers), the Aviation Industry, and staff and managers (human resources) were among the causal conditions. Furthermore, the background conditions involved in the organizational health of the Aviation industry were the status of the managers, staff, airports, aviation fleet, and the industry. Moreover, the intervening conditions identified in this regard included political, economic, technological, social, and legal factors. On the other hand, the study found that strategies such as promoting strategic thinking, improving communications, increasing technological utilization, and improving organizational structure could help enhance the organizational health of the Aviation Industry. Finally, the outcomes of such an enhancement could affect customers (passengers), the Aviation Industry, the staff, and the managers (human resources).