Privatization in Iran: A warning Lesson to Learn to Avoid Crises

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the case of a privatized manufacturing company assigned under Article 44 of the Constitution, which after privatization entered a crisis for various reasons and caused numerous security and social challenges. Methodology: The research applied critical ethnography using the Carspecken method, based on which the researcher studied the company in detail for a period over a year long. Findings: Findings show that there are some tricky ways open to certain individuals to include a certain company in the list of companies to be privatized. This inclusion is a tricky process planned and monitored long enough before the actual privatization is implemented and it is basically meant to bring about illegitimate profits for the people involved. When the privatization is realized, crisis opens up due to mismanagement which supports special, non-productive interests of the new owners. Then it becomes clear that such companies not only do not help resolve the crisis, but also increase the dimensions of the crisis and in fact they themselves become a challenging factor to intensify tension among the companies involved. Implications: For the first time in Iran, this study tried to evaluate precisely and analytically the performance of a privatized company and pinpoint the problems it is faced with. It also clearly presents solutions to overcome such a challenge. Recommendations: The results and suggestions of this study provide a good platform to prevent corrupt privatizations; in addition, it helps companies involved in such crises find ways out of them.