Innovation Management in Defensive Organizations

Innovation Management in Defensive Organizations

Identifying and Explaining the Antecedent and Consequential Factors of Talent Attrition in the Navy Using the FCM Method

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Ali Omidi
PhD in Public Administration, Organizational Behavior Orientation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/qjimdo.2026.562356.1775
Abstract
Background & Purpose: Talent stagnation refers to a condition in which individuals with high potential and exceptional capabilities are unable to fully develop, learn, and utilize their capacities within an organization due to various organizational constraints. Under such circumstances, their talents either remain unrealized or gradually deteriorate over time. In other words, the organizational environment fails to provide opportunities for employees' talents to flourish, thereby limiting their productivity, creativity, and value-creation potential. Accordingly, the primary objective of this study was to identify and model the antecedents and consequences of talent stagnation in the Navy of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with a particular focus on explaining the factors contributing to this phenomenon and its implications for organizational performance.
Methodology: This study was applied in terms of purpose and exploratory survey research in terms of data collection. A mixed deductive–inductive approach was adopted to guide the research process. The study population consisted of 20 senior executives and human resource managers of the Navy of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who were selected through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data were collected through interviews in the qualitative phase and questionnaires in the quantitative phase. The validity of the research instruments was confirmed through content validity, while reliability was established using inter-coder reliability for the interviews and test–retest reliability for the questionnaires. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis and coding, whereas quantitative data were analyzed using fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM).
Findings: The qualitative findings identified the major determinants and perceived consequences of talent stagnation in human resources. The quantitative findings further revealed that ineffective human resource management and ineffective organizational policies were the most significant antecedents of talent stagnation. Moreover, reduced organizational productivity and declining organizational competitiveness and reputation were identified as the most prominent consequences of this phenomenon.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that talent stagnation is fundamentally an organization-centered phenomenon, primarily rooted in deficiencies in human resource management and ineffective organizational policies. This phenomenon adversely affects organizational performance, productivity, and competitive position. Therefore, revising talent management systems and reforming human resource policies constitute essential prerequisites for effectively leveraging human capital and enhancing organizational effectiveness within the Navy of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Keywords
Talent stagnation
human resource management
productivity
talent development
fuzzy cognitive mapping
Subjects
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