Institutional Capacity Framework of Public Organizations (Study of the Basic goods of wheat)

Abstract
Public organizations should have a high institutional capacity to perform their tasks successfully and correctly. Institutional capacity helps them improve their current system's power in performing their tasks. To propose the framework of institutional capacity in public organizations, the present study investigates the supply of the basic goods of wheat as one of the most significant tasks of the government. The related upstream documents were coded with the thematic analysis strategy, and 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts. The results revealed that the institutional capacity framework in providing the basic goods of wheat includes five levels of organizational capacity, a network of organizations, inter-organizational partnership mechanisms, an institutional context, and an environmental context. Each of them has elements that play a role in achieving the goal of providing the basic goods of wheat. Also, the presented institutional capacity framework can be generally used for other public organizations to achieve their goals sustainably while making optimal use of existing resources by having a comprehensive and systematic look at other elements outside the institution.
Introduction
New definitions were proposed for the government and the field of its interventions after the failures of capitalist theories. The tasks of the government in the fields of economy and public services have expanded in recent years in the form of providing various types of commodities and services. One of these tasks is to provide basic goods as one of the primary needs in society. Basic goods are the goods and services that meet the primary needs of humans and are considered one of the factors of human welfare (Reinert, 2018: 29). A list of basic goods includes rich and nutritious food, clean water, sanitation, health services, educational services, housing, electricity, and security services (Reinert, 2015). Rich and nutritious food, in terms of basic goods, includes a wide range of commodities such as rice, wheat, sugar, oil, meat, etc. Among them, wheat is considered the world's most vital and valuable food. It directly and indirectly plays a significant role in providing people with food. Wheat is cultivated in various weather conditions and is considered a strategic commodity. Its world trade is more than the total of other crops. Iran has some barriers regarding wheat supply in various legal and policy-making, coordination and management, climatic and environmental dimensions, and in providing various financial and technological resources.
Institutional capacity is defined as the process of improving an institution's capability to perform its tasks and functions effectively using its resources as efficiently as possible. Institutional capacity deals with capacity building beyond the training of experts. It covers various political, technical, financial, and administrative components, which can overlap and complement each other (Krishnaveni & Sujatha, 2013). Deprivation of basic goods can significantly impact people's welfare, highlighting the significance of the government's tasks in providing and supplying these commodities. Wheat and its related products have a special place in the country's people's food basket. This issue has increased the sensitivity of the wheat supply in the country more than ever. Considering the crucial challenges mentioned regarding wheat supply in the country, the role of the institutional capacity of the public sector becomes more visible since, based on the challenges raised, it seems that a set of external factors, other than internal factors, are effective in the wheat supply. The purpose of this study is to propose the institutional capacity framework for providing the basic goods of wheat by using the opinions of specialists and experts of Iran’s State Trading Company as the mighty arm of the government in providing basic goods in the country to identify and present the significant elements of the institutional capacity regarding the adequate performance of this organization's tasks in providing wheat.
Case Study
A case study in this study is the supply of the basic goods of wheat from the documents and upstream rules and experts’ points of view.
Methods
Research blocks are used to provide interrelationships between different components of the research process so the researcher gains a general picture of the entire research process. Creating research blocks to explain the interrelationships between different components of the research process starts with ontology as the beginning of research (Singh, 2019). The six research blocks are ontological foundations, epistemological positions, research approach, research strategies, data collection methods, data analysis, and interpretation methods .(McNab,2015:68-69). Thus, according to the research blocks, the present study is an idealistic research ontologically, and its epistemological basis is closer to the metaphysical and theoretical position. The approach of this study is qualitative, and its strategy is thematic analysis. Data collection methods include reviewing documents and upstream rules and semi-structured interviews with experts. The method of data analysis is coding.
Data analysis
The documents and rules were analyzed using the thematic analysis method in MAXQDA2020 software. For this purpose, the propositions of the documents were entered into the software and coded. Descriptive coding is first performed in coding upstream documents and rules using the thematic analysis method. For this purpose, the texts of each selected document and rule are carefully studied, and the propositions related to the research goals are obtained. The interpretive coding stage is performed after obtaining the basic themes in the descriptive coding. In this stage, the basic themes are categorized based on the research goals. Accordingly, the basic themes are classified into five general categories, including financial resources, infrastructure and technology, training and empowerment, supportive policies and rules, and subsidized facilities. The study's statistical population in the interview section included the managers of Iran’s State Trading Company as the primary custodians of the supply of basic goods. However, some experts from the Ministry of Jihad of Agriculture were also interviewed to obtain more data. The researcher reached theoretical saturation in the tenth interview, so no new answers were obtained for the interview questions. However, the interviews were continued for six more to ensure no new data were obtained and saturation had been achieved. Thus, a total of 16 interviews were conducted. The minimum time of the interviews was about 20 minutes, and the maximum was about 90 minutes. The interviews lasted 500 minutes (equivalent to 8 and a half hours). The texts of the interviews conducted with the experts were entered into the MAXQDA software and coded. In the descriptive coding stage of thematic analysis, basic themes were extracted from the important propositions of the interviews.
The final institutional capacity framework in providing basic goods according to the results of data analysis of upstream documents and rules and interviews with experts in the present study included 5 levels including the organizational capacity of Iran’s State Trading Company; network of organizations; inter-organizational partnership mechanism, an institutional context, and an environmental context. The interactions between these levels lead to various outcomes such as the health and welfare of people, sustainable development of agriculture, reduction of wheat loss in the production chain, reduction of wheat and flour smuggling, reduction of non-human costs, the optimal pattern of consumption, and protection of natural resources.
Conclusion
Based on the assumptions of new institutionalism, this idea was raised that many events within organizations and the objective tasks in which organizations are involved are highly associated with social relations. This focus on the vast social structure in which organizations are placed has been a significant leap in analyzing the functions of organizations. According to this viewpoint, the concept of institutional capacity is beyond considering organizations as single entities and their tasks, structures, and processes. Institutional capacity refers to the organization's capability to achieve the desired goals sustainably and effectively. Institutional capacity is a multidimensional concept that includes various resources and capabilities enabling the desired institution to operate efficiently and provide its desired services or perform its tasks properly. Organizations can acquire a strong institutional capacity, enabling them to perform their tasks effectively and have minimal waste of resources by understanding and investing in key components. To propose a framework for the institutional capacity of public organizations in this study, the basic goods of wheat was investigated, and a framework with five levels including the organizational capacity of the state trading company, a network of organizations, inter-organizational partnership mechanism, an institutional context, and an environmental context was presented.