Developing a Green Knowledge Management Model for Governmental Organizations in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

This study aimed to develop and explain a comprehensive, context-sensitive, and indigenous model of green knowledge management tailored to the characteristics of governmental organizations in Iran. This applied qualitative study employed thematic analysis. The study population comprised university academics, scholars, managers, and experts in knowledge management, public administration, human resource management, and environmental management. Participants were recruited through purposive sampling with a maximum-variation strategy, and data collection continued until theoretical saturation was achieved, resulting in 17 expert participants. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, transcribed, and coded using MAXQDA. Analysis followed Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis framework. Trustworthiness was established according to Lincoln and Guba’s criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability through participant review, peer debriefing, and inter-coder reliability assessment. Inter-coder agreement was 87%, indicating satisfactory analytical reliability. The thematic analysis yielded 20 basic themes, eight organizing themes, and five overarching dimensions. The five dimensions comprised cultural and human, structural and infrastructural, process, operational and performance, and environmental monitoring and learning dimensions. The eight organizing themes were green organizational leadership and governance, environmental policymaking and strategic systems, institutionalization of environmental culture and values, empowerment and motivation of green human resources, green knowledge management processes, green knowledge infrastructures and networks, green operations and resource management, and environmental monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Analysis of interrelationships demonstrated that the model operates as a systemic, dynamic, and cyclical architecture. Cultural, human, and structural drivers establish the conditions for green knowledge flows; knowledge acquisition, creation, sharing, storage, and application constitute the central process; operational mechanisms translate knowledge into environmentally responsible action; and monitoring and learning provide a feedback mechanism for continuous organizational improvement. Green knowledge management in governmental organizations should be conceptualized as an integrated, context-dependent, and learning-oriented system whose effectiveness depends on the synergy of cultural and human capacities, institutional structures, knowledge processes, operational practices, and continuous monitoring and learning. The proposed model provides a theoretical and practical framework for institutionalizing green knowledge management and advancing environmental sustainability in the public sector.