Designing a Model to Explain Organizational Procrastination in Insurance Organizations

Abstract

The present study aimed to explain and validate a conceptual model of organizational procrastination in the insurance industry by employing a mixed-methods approach and identifying the conditions underlying its formation, action strategies, and consequences. In terms of purpose, the study was applied, and in terms of methodological nature, it employed a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, data were collected through 15 semi-structured interviews with experts in the insurance industry, and sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were analyzed using grounded theory through open, axial, and selective coding. In the quantitative phase, a researcher-developed questionnaire was constructed based on the findings of the qualitative phase. The statistical population consisted of 2,500 employees and managers of insurance companies, of whom 350 were selected through random sampling. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling, and the validity and reliability of the instrument were confirmed through indicators of convergent validity, discriminant validity, and construct reliability. The qualitative findings indicated that organizational procrastination develops through the interaction of causal, contextual, and intervening conditions and is reproduced through strategies such as responsibility shifting, decision postponement, linguistic ambiguity, and ceremonial documentation. These strategies lead to consequences such as weakened substantive accountability, the expansion of organizational silence and conservatism, reduced organizational learning and innovation, and diminished institutional trust. The quantitative results also confirmed the satisfactory fit of the proposed model and the significance of the structural paths among causal conditions, organizational procrastination, action strategies, and consequences. The results demonstrate that organizational procrastination is a structural, cyclical phenomenon grounded in the logic of rational action that, in the absence of effective corrective interventions, reproduces organizational inefficiency. Accordingly, reforming accountability systems, revising performance evaluation mechanisms, and creating a psychologically and organizationally safe environment for accepting responsibility are among the fundamental requirements for reducing organizational procrastination in the insurance industry.