Analysis and Examination of Factors Affecting the Productivity of Mining and Mineral Industries Organizations for Performance Improvement and Productivity Enhancement Based on the Grounded Theory and Fuzzy DEMATEL Approach

Abstract

Organizations active in mining and mineral industries play an influential role in the economic growth and development of societies. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of analyzing and examining the factors influencing the productivity of mining and mineral industries organizations to improve performance and enhance productivity based on the grounded theory and fuzzy DEMATEL approach. The present study is applied in terms of purpose and mixed-method in terms of implementation. The research population consisted of industry experts and specialists, as well as university faculty members in the field of mining and mineral industries at the Iranian Mineral Processing Research Center and its parent organization (IMIDRO). The sample size in the grounded theory and fuzzy DEMATEL sections was estimated at 30 and 40 individuals, respectively, selected through purposive sampling. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were used in the grounded theory section, and a researcher-developed pairwise-comparison questionnaire was used in the fuzzy DEMATEL section. In this study, to identify influential factors, open, axial, and selective coding methods were employed based on the grounded theory approach, and to determine the degree of influence and influenceability, the fuzzy DEMATEL method was used. The results of grounded theory indicated that the factors influencing the productivity of mining and mineral industries organizations for performance improvement and productivity enhancement consisted of 51 open codes, 25 axial codes, and 12 selective codes. The causal conditions included 10 open codes and 6 axial codes categorized into 3 selective codes: improvement of organizational structure and processes, technological infrastructure, and technology and innovation. The contextual conditions included 12 open codes and 4 axial codes in 2 selective codes: human resource empowerment and macro-level economic and policy factors. The intervening conditions included 12 open codes and 7 axial codes in 3 selective codes: leadership, management and policymaking, organizational risk and safety management, and supply chain and resources. Strategies included 9 open codes and 4 axial codes in 2 selective codes: operational management and productivity, and human capital development. The consequences included 8 open codes and 4 axial codes in 2 selective codes: economic and financial performance, and sustainability and social responsibility. Moreover, the results of fuzzy DEMATEL showed that the criterion of leadership, management, and policymaking, with a value of 7.1404, had the highest level of influence. After that, the criteria of economic and financial performance and improvement of organizational structure and processes ranked next, with values of 6.9473 and 6.9315, respectively. In addition, the technology and innovation criterion, with a value of 7.1678, had the highest degree of influenceability, followed by operational management and productivity and technological infrastructure, with values of 6.8736 and 6.8535, respectively. Furthermore, criteria C6, C10, C5, C11, and C1 were identified as causal variables, while criteria C4, C9, C12, C2, C8, C7, and C3 were classified as effect variables. According to the findings of this study, in order to enhance the productivity of mining and mineral industries organizations for performance improvement and productivity enhancement, conditions can be created to improve the identified codes and variables reported in this research.