From the Castle to the Margins: A Process Model of Organizational Marginalization
(A Meta-synthesis of Qualitative Studies in Iranian Public Organizations)
Employee marginalization is a complex and multidimensional organizational phenomenon that can affect individual performance, workplace relationships, and organizational effectiveness. Despite growing attention to organizational ostracism, organizational silence, and cronyism, the processes through which employee marginalization develops and is reproduced in public organizations remain insufficiently understood. Accordingly, this study aimed to develop a process model of employee marginalization in Iranian public organizations. The study adopted a qualitative meta-synthesis approach. Following a systematic search and screening process, 18 relevant articles were identified. Of these, 16 studies containing synthesizable qualitative findings constituted the core meta-synthesis corpus, while two structurally oriented studies were used solely as supplementary evidence. The findings of the core studies were analyzed through three levels of conceptual extraction, organization, and abstraction. The results indicated that employee marginalization is not merely an individual-level phenomenon but develops within organizational structures and informal relationships. The synthesis yielded an interpretive, cross-contextual model comprising five stages: (1) the formative context, (2) triggering factors, (3) ostracizing actions, (4) employee reactions, and (5) individual and organizational consequences. The model captures shared patterns across the organizational settings examined and should not be interpreted as a fixed, entirely linear sequence or as universally generalizable to all Iranian public organizations. The findings suggest that interactions between organizational structures and employee reactions may contribute to the reproduction of marginalization within organizations.
Habibi, M. J. , Faeghi, S. , Etebarian, A. and Piasceki, S. (2026). From the Castle to the Margins: A Process Model of Organizational Marginalization
(A Meta-synthesis of Qualitative Studies in Iranian Public Organizations). Strategic Research on Social Problems, (), -. doi: 10.22108/srspi.2026.148850.2225
MLA
Habibi, M. J. , , Faeghi, S. , , Etebarian, A. , and Piasceki, S. . "From the Castle to the Margins: A Process Model of Organizational Marginalization
(A Meta-synthesis of Qualitative Studies in Iranian Public Organizations)", Strategic Research on Social Problems, , , 2026, -. doi: 10.22108/srspi.2026.148850.2225
HARVARD
Habibi, M. J., Faeghi, S., Etebarian, A., Piasceki, S. (2026). 'From the Castle to the Margins: A Process Model of Organizational Marginalization
(A Meta-synthesis of Qualitative Studies in Iranian Public Organizations)', Strategic Research on Social Problems, (), pp. -. doi: 10.22108/srspi.2026.148850.2225
CHICAGO
M. J. Habibi , S. Faeghi , A. Etebarian and S. Piasceki, "From the Castle to the Margins: A Process Model of Organizational Marginalization
(A Meta-synthesis of Qualitative Studies in Iranian Public Organizations)," Strategic Research on Social Problems, (2026): -, doi: 10.22108/srspi.2026.148850.2225
VANCOUVER
Habibi, M. J., Faeghi, S., Etebarian, A., Piasceki, S. From the Castle to the Margins: A Process Model of Organizational Marginalization
(A Meta-synthesis of Qualitative Studies in Iranian Public Organizations). Strategic Research on Social Problems, 2026; (): -. doi: 10.22108/srspi.2026.148850.2225
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