Knowledge Management Support Policies and Practices for Policymaking in the Islamic Consultative Assembly
Keywords:
knowledge management, policymaking, Islamic Consultative Assembly, knowledge governance, policy memory, grounded theoryAbstract
In parliamentary settings, the quality of policymaking depends on the extent to which accumulated knowledge, evidence, and experience are accessible and effectively utilized. Despite the importance of this issue, there is no comprehensive understanding of the knowledge management support policies and practices employed in the policymaking process of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran. Accordingly, the present study aimed to identify the policies and practices through which knowledge management supports policymaking in the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran. This applied study adopted a qualitative approach and was conducted using Glaserian grounded theory. Data were collected through 27 semi-structured interviews with current and former members of parliament, experts from the Islamic Parliament Research Center, parliamentary committee experts, parliamentary staff, and university faculty members. The data were analyzed through constant comparison, open coding, and theoretical coding. The findings indicated that knowledge management support for policymaking requires the establishment of policies and practices in the areas of knowledge governance, policy memory, enhancement of knowledge trustworthiness, knowledge translation and packaging, expert networking, integration of knowledge resources, and institutional learning. The results suggest that the principal challenge facing the parliament is not a shortage of information, but rather the absence of institutional mechanisms for transforming fragmented knowledge into knowledge that can be used in decision-making.
Downloads
References
Ahmadi, M. M., Tavallaei, R., Mohtadi, M. M., & Taheri, A. (2021). Investigating the Trend of Knowledge Acquisition Developments: A Scientometric Analysis of Iranian and Global Research. Strategic Management of Organizational Knowledge, 4(1), 1-49. https://doi.org/10.47176/smok.2021.1288
Alavi, M., & Leidner, D. E. (2001). Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations and Research Issues. MIS quarterly, 25(1), 107-136. https://doi.org/10.2307/3250961
Ansell, C., & Geyer, R. (2017). Pragmatic Complexity: A New Foundation for Moving beyond Evidence-Based Policy Making? Policy Studies, 38(2), 149-167. https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2016.1219033
Azadiyan, M., & Vosoogh Moghadam, A. (2023). What Can We Do to Improve the Health Policy-Making Cycle in the Islamic Republic of Iran with a Good Governance Approach? Journal of Community Health Research, 12(28). https://doi.org/10.18502/jchr.v12i28.14502
Behbahani, A. A., Masoudiasl, I., & Hessam, S. (2020). Participation in Health Legislation: A Comparative Study of Participation Mechanisms in Selected Countries and Iran. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal. https://doi.org/10.5812/ircmj.101924
Birt, L., Scott, S., Cavers, D., Campbell, C., & Walter, F. (2016). Member Checking: A Tool to Enhance Trustworthiness or Merely a Nod to Validation? Qualitative Health Research, 26(13), 1802-1811. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732316654870
Cairney, P., & Jones, M. D. (2016). Kingdon's Multiple Streams Approach: What Is the Empirical Impact of This Universal Theory? Policy Studies Journal, 44(1), 37-58. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12111
Cairney, P., & Oliver, K. (2017). Evidence-Based Policymaking Is Not Like Evidence-Based Medicine, So How Far Should You Go to Bridge the Divide between Evidence and Policy? Health Research Policy and Systems, 15(1), 35. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-017-0192-x
Christensen, J. (2021). Expert Knowledge and Policymaking: A Multi-Disciplinary Research Agenda. Policy & Politics, 49(3), 455-471. https://doi.org/10.1332/030557320X15898190680037
Cong, X., & Pandya, K. V. (2003). Issues of Knowledge Management in the Public Sector. Electronic journal of knowledge management, 1(2), 181-188.
Craft, J., & Halligan, J. (2020). Advising Governments in the Westminster Tradition: Policy Advisory Systems in Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand. Cambridge University Press.
Dalkir, K. (2023). Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice. Routledge.
Díaz, O., Medina, H., & Anfurrutia, F. I. (2019). Coding-Data Portability in Systematic Literature Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1145/3319008.3319025
El-Jardali, F., Bou-Karroum, L., & Hilal, N. (2023). Knowledge Management Tools and Mechanisms for Evidence-Informed Decision-Making in the WHO European Region: A Scoping Review. Health Research Policy and Systems, 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-01058-7
Emamian, S. M. S., & Bagheripour, R. (2024). The Iranian Policy Advisory System: Contained Politicisation and Emerging Technicisation. Australian Journal of Public Administration. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12628
General Policies of the Legislative System, Office for the Preservation and Publication of the Works of Grand Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei (2019).
Head, B. W. (2016). Toward More Evidence-Informed Policy Making? Public Administration Review, 76(3), 472-484. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12475
Hegger, I., Marks, L. K., Janssen, S. W. J., Schuit, A. J., Keijsers, J. F. M., & van Oers, H. A. M. (2016). Research for Policy (R4P): Development of a Reflection Tool for Researchers to Improve Knowledge Utilization. Implementation Science, 11(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-016-0496-1
Holton, J. A., & Walsh, I. (2016). Classic Grounded Theory: Applications with Qualitative and Quantitative Data. Sage Publications.
Howlett, M., Ramesh, M., & Perl, A. (2015). Studying Public Policy: Policy Cycles and Policy Subsystems (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Khalili, S. H., & Simbar, R. (2022). Analyzing and Examining the Concept, Dimensions and Indicators of Transparency in the Legislature with a Comparative Approach.
Leino, M., Jäske, M., & Setälä, M. (2025). Mini-Public's Statements and Media as Transmitters of Deliberative Judgments: A Field Experiment on a Citizens' Jury on Forest Policy. Policy Studies Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.70051
Massaro, M., Dumay, J., & Garlatti, A. (2015). Public Sector Knowledge Management: A Structured Literature Review. Journal of Knowledge Management, 19(3), 530-558. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-11-2014-0466
Namdarian, L., & Khedmatgozar, H. R. (2024). An Institutional Approach to Analyze the Multi-Level Policymaking System of Online Social Networks: A Case Study of Iran. Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-09-2023-0129
Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (2007). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. Harvard business review, 85(7/8), 162.
Nutley, S. M., Walter, I., & Davies, H. T. (2007). Using Evidence: Introducing the Issues. In Using Evidence (pp. 1-32). Policy Press.
O’Connor, C., & Joffe, H. (2020). Intercoder Reliability in Qualitative Research: Debates and Practical Guidelines. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, 160940691989922. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919899220
Oliver, K., Innvær, S., Lorenc, T., Woodman, J., & Thomas, J. (2014). A Systematic Review of Barriers to and Facilitators of the Use of Evidence by Policymakers. BMC Health Services Research, 14, 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-14-2
Parkhurst, J. (2016). Evidence-Based Policymaking: An Important First Step and the Need to Take the Next. In (pp. 28-52). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315675008-12
Rafiei Lak, M., Barzegar, A., & Hosseini Sadrabadi, I. (2024). Investigation of Behavioral Factors Affecting Legislation Processes in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Serenko, A. (2021). A Structured Literature Review of Scientometric Research of the Knowledge Management Discipline: A 2021 Update. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(8), 1889-1925. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-09-2020-0730
Shadmanfar, M. H., Tavallaei, R., & Rezaei, S. A. (2026). A Bibliometric Analysis of Knowledge Management Support for Public Policymaking: Trends, Gaps, and Future Directions. System Engineering and Productivity, 6(2), 79-112. https://doi.org/10.22034/sep.2025.2073858.1405
Tavallaei, R., Rezaeian, A., & Shadmanfar, M. H. (2025). Intuitive Knowledge Management: A Framework for Adding the Third Dimension of Knowledge. Academic Librarianship and Information Research, 59(3), 1-24.
Velarde Crézé, C., Duperrex, O., Lebon, L., Faivre, V., Pasche, M., & Cornuz, J. (2024). A Multi-Stage Approach to Support Timely Health Policy Decisions during Crisis: The Fast-Track Delphi. BMC public health, 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20903-0
Downloads
Published
Submitted
Revised
Accepted
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mohammad Hossein Shadmanfar (Author); Rouhollah Tavallaei (Corresponding author); Abed Rezaei (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
