Journal of Human Resource Management

Journal of Human Resource Management

From Individual Genius to Collective Paralysis: The Formation of Apollo Syndrome in Knowledge-Based Organizations

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mohsen Aref Nezhad 1
Faezeh Hasanvand 2
1 Assistant Prof, Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management and Economics, Lorestan University, Tehran, Iran.
2 PhD Candidate, Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management and Economics, Lorestan University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/jhrs.2026.582914.2582
Abstract
Background & Purpose: The present study aimed to analyze the role of individual brilliance in reducing team effectiveness and the emergence of the Apollo Syndrome in knowledge-based organizations using a grounded theory approach.
Methodology: This study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive–exploratory in terms of data collection. It was conducted using a qualitative approach based on the systematic grounded theory methodology of Strauss and Corbin. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 senior managers, founders, and technical team leaders from knowledge-based organizations. Sampling began purposively and continued through theoretical sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were analyzed concurrently with data collection using open, axial, and selective coding based on Strauss and Corbin’s paradigmatic model, supported by ATLAS.ti software.
Findings: Apollo Syndrome is a multi-layered phenomenon centered on the “collapse of collective intelligence in the context of an abundance of individual intelligence”; a situation in which cognitive assets become their opposites through faulty interactions. Causal conditions include extreme cognitive hemophilia, the intellectual property paradox, and intergenerational disconnection. Contextual conditions (legacy of previous cooperation or conflict and intellectual property regime) and intervening factors (contradictory team maturity and stakeholder pressure for immediate results) moderate this trajectory. The final model shows that this cycle is perpetuated in the Iranian context with faulty strategies such as the sanctification of individual expertise, leading to the silent exit of knowledge, the decline in the quality of strategic decision-making, and the regression of innovation.
Conclusion: The higher the analytical capabilities of the members but the more inefficient the interaction structures, the more unhealthy competition to prove individual superiority replaces synergy. In contrast, paradoxical leadership, along with the redesign of rewards towards collective wisdom and the rotational appointment of the devil's advocate, breaks this vicious cycle. Therefore, the development of process strategies and coaching of team cognitive biases is a prerequisite for preventing this syndrome in Iranian knowledge-based organizations.
Keywords
Apollo syndrome
Belbin
Individual genius
Collective paralysis
Knowledge-based organizations.
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Journal of Human Resource Management
Volume 16, Issue 2
Summer 2026
Pages 125-160

  • Receive Date 23 May 2026
  • Revise Date 20 July 2026
  • Accept Date 24 July 2026