Understanding the Risks of Human Resource Management in Iran's Gas Industry

Mohammadi, Hamed; Hosseini, Aboalhasan; Abedin, Bahareh

doi:10.22050/pbr.2025.550788.1411

Understanding the Risks of Human Resource Management in Iran's Gas Industry

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Hamed Mohammadi ¹

Aboalhasan Hosseini ²

Bahareh Abedin ²

¹ PhD Public Administration, Head of Training Mazandaran Gas Company, Sari, Iran

² Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22050/pbr.2025.550788.1411

Abstract

Iran's gas industry plays a strategic role in supplying and distributing natural gas energy to society. The project-based, operational, and service-oriented nature of this industry, combined with its large workforce, underscores the necessity to address the risks confronting its human resource management system. This study was conducted to identify and analyse these human resource management risks. This study employed a mixed-methods approach. In the qualitative phase, the researcher's lived experience was utilized to identify and categorize 35 human resource management risk factors in Iran's gas industry. For the quantitative phase, a risk management framework was applied to evaluate each identified factor based on two key dimensions: risk probability and risk impact. The assessment results were subsequently visualized through a heat map. The study results demonstrated that none of the indicators fell within the low-risk zone, with 15 indicators classified as medium-risk and 20 as high-risk, while two critical indicators - imposition of salary and benefit restrictions with a risk rating of 9 and dependence on political affiliations for filling key positions with a risk rating of 8 - were identified as the most substantial challenges facing the human resource management system in Iran's gas industry.

Highlights

1. Identifying HRM risks at the entry stage

2. Identifying HRM risks at the retention stage

3. Identifying HRM risks at the exit stage

4. Using a mixed method

5. Filling the research gap in the field of HRM risks in the Iranian gas industry

6. Understanding HRM Risks Using Heat Mapping

Keywords

Entry Stage Risk

Maintenance Stage Risk

Exit Stage Risk

Mixed Method

Heat Map

Subjects

Oil and Gas Economics and Management

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