Academic Librarianship and Information Research

Academic Librarianship and Information Research

Designing a Knowledge Management Network Ecosystem Model to Support Policymaking in the Islamic Consultative Assembly

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
1 Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management, Imam Hossein University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Department of Knowledge Management, Faculty of Management, Imam Hossein University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22059/jlib.2026.415215.1823
Abstract
Objective: This study examined the nature, characteristics, and knowledge needs of policymaking in the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran. Given the increasing complexity of public issues, the study aimed to explain how knowledge is generated and utilized in parliamentary policymaking and to identify policymakers’ knowledge needs across different stages of the policy process.
Method: The study adopted a qualitative approach based on Glaserian Grounded Theory. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 27 participants, including current and former members of parliament, parliamentary experts, commission specialists, staff members, and university faculty. Participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Data analysis was conducted using the constant comparative method, including open, selective, and theoretical coding. Initially, 670 primary codes were extracted and later refined into 113 final conceptual codes.
Results: The findings revealed that parliamentary policymaking is multi-source, context-dependent, interactive, and time-sensitive. Decision-making is shaped not only by formal evidence and expert analysis but also by political dynamics, stakeholder pressures, and institutional constraints. Knowledge needs vary across policymaking stages, ranging from baseline data and situational awareness to specialized analyses, concise policy-oriented knowledge, and implementation feedback. Credibility, reliability, rapid accessibility, standardization, and decision-support capability were identified as key characteristics of effective knowledge.
Conclusion: The study concludes that effective parliamentary policymaking requires moving beyond fragmented information management toward a networked knowledge management ecosystem capable of integrating knowledge flows, institutional memory, and interactions among diverse actors to strengthen evidence-informed policymaking.
Keywords

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