Innovation Management in Defensive Organizations

Innovation Management in Defensive Organizations

Competence Trap and Innovation Reduction; A Fuzzy Cognitive Map of Dimensions and Consequences in a Military Organization

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Ali Ahmadhosseini 1
saeed mir 2
1 PhD student in public administration, Department of Management, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
2 Ph.D. Student inMarketing management,Azad Islamic University of Kermanshah, kermanshah, Iran
10.22034/qjimdo.2025.512983.1741
Abstract
Background & Purpose: Competency traps represent predetermined, predictable, repetitive, and comforting behaviors that prevent individuals from accessing opportunities and force them to choose repetitive and immediate responses. By trapping leaders in traditional and conventional ways, the competency trap creates an environment in which the spirit of initiative and innovation is silenced. Therefore, considering the importance of the subject of the present study, with the aim of competency traps and reducing innovation, a fuzzy cognitive map was presented using the FCM approach.
Methodology: The present study is applied in terms of its purpose and is classified as exploratory research in terms of its data collection method. This research is a mixed research (qualitative-quantitative) and was conducted based on a deductive-inductive approach. The statistical population of the study consists of experts who were selected using purposive sampling method and based on the principle of theoretical adequacy. The data collection tool in the qualitative part is an interview, the validity and reliability of which was confirmed using content validity and theoretical validity, as well as through intra-coder and inter-coder reliability testing. Also, in the quantitative part, a questionnaire was used as a data collection tool, the validity and reliability of which were confirmed using content validity and test-retest reliability, respectively. Finally, the qualitative data were analyzed using the content analysis method and the quantitative data using the fuzzy cognitive map.
Findings: The most important aspects of the competency trap among commanders include the lack of sufficient opportunity to develop and implement innovations, the weakness in understanding and analyzing environmental changes in the military arena, and the lack of continuous strengthening of knowledge and skill capacities in the army. In addition, the findings indicate that the weakening of the innovation flow, the reduction of organizational dynamism and creativity, the sacrifice of the army's flexibility and agility to the continuation of obsolete competencies, and the commanders' being trapped in a cycle of unbalanced and non-innovative learning are among the most important consequences of the emergence of the competency trap at command levels.
Conclusion: The competence trap in army commanders leads to a decrease in innovation, flexibility, and the ability to respond quickly to environmental changes, and ultimately threatens the effectiveness and military dynamism of the organization.
Keywords
Competence
Competence Trap
Innovation
Army Commanders
Fuzzy Cognitive Map

Subjects

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