Politicization has different consequences for public administration and public services in different countries. This study seeks to identify the consequences of politicization in the Iranian public service. After reviewing the theoretical foundations of politicization, the authors reflect on different researchers' and political experts' views about the consequences of politicization. In the first phase of the study, qualitative data were gathered and categorized into structural, content-behavioral, and environmental dimensions, and Rouban's framework was used to organize themes. In the second phase, statistical analyses were performed to corroborate the results of the first phase. Results indicated that the consequences of two types of politicization were perceived to be negative ones, and there was one type of politicization in which the consequences were assumed to be more constructive than destructive. Implications and recommendations for future studies are advanced.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of organizational goal ambiguity (OGA) on public service motivation (PSM) considering the mediating role of job satisfaction (JS), performance appraisal (PA) and perceived organizational fairness (POF) in the Iranian public sector. This research also seeks to answer this question: to what extent PSM confirmed in Western countries is generalizable to the Iranian public sector?Design/methodology/approachA survey of 779 employees working in 16 ministries of Iran was administered. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and hierarchical regression were applied to test the model and the mediators.FindingsThe results indicate that OGA negatively affects PSM, and this relationship is mediated by JS, PA and POF. Furthermore, the research findings have varied across ministries, contract type, positions and gender. Most importantly, the generalizability of the PSM construct is limited in the public sector of Iran since two of four dimensions of PSM were confirmed, that is, an attraction to public service and self-sacrifice (compassion).Practical implicationsThis paper provides managers and decision makers with a clear understanding of the effects of context (including goal ambiguity, the importance of employee's attitudes and HR systems in shaping unique intrinsic motivation for public organizations) on employee's PSM. Also, these findings show how they can manage and motivate employees to engage in PSM. By clarifying organizational goals or making an association between job tasks and higher-level goals, practitioners can stimulate PSM at work.Originality/valueThis paper advances a new and further understanding of antecedent and mediators of PSM in Iran. Also, it provides an explanation of its generalizability and the role of organizational climate in fostering it.

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Privilege a manager promises to bring by himself/ herself to an organization.

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