The Evolution of Organisational Leadership (OL) in Iran: A Historical and Theoretical Analysis

Document Type : Original Article

Author

babak moradi

PhD Candidate, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK.

10.22067/ips.2026.95504.1016

Abstract

This article traces the evolution of organisational leadership (OL) in Iran from ancient Persia to the contemporary Islamic Republic. It develops a contextualised theoretical framework that explains how historical legacies, religious legitimacy, and managerial logics combine to form sector-specific hybrid leadership models. Using an interdisciplinary, historical-theoretical approach that synthesises primary chronicles, secondary historiography, leadership theory (Weber; Burns & Bass), and cross-cultural studies (Hofstede; GLOBE), the study maps continuities and ruptures across Achaemenid, Sassanid, Safavid, Qajar, Pahlavi, and post-1979 regimes. Findings show persistent high-power distance and centralisation alongside episodes of secular technocracy and post-revolutionary religious-technocratic hybridity. Strategic sectors (military, nuclear/technology, and state bureaucracy) display transactional-authoritarian cores augmented by technocratic and religious legitimisation, while private-sector actors increasingly exhibit transformational and participative leadership. The paper contributes (1) a layered contextual framework linking history, religion, culture, and organisational form; (2) the conceptualisation of sectoral hybrid leadership models; and (3) a research agenda for empirical validation (archival case studies, elite interviews, and content analysis). Implications concern the adaptation of Western leadership theory to non-Western contexts, policy for leadership development in high-stakes sectors, and directions for cross-cultural comparative research.

Keywords

Organisational Leadership

Iran

Leadership Evolution

Historical Analysis

Theoretical Framework

Transformational Leadership

Transactional Leadership

Servant Leadership

Hofstede

Hybrid Leadership Models

Cultural Dimensions

Authoritarian Leadership

Islamic Leadership

Bureaucracy

Modernisation

Globalisation

Gender and Leadership

Political Authority

Revolutionary Change

Continuity and Rupture

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