Designing a Transformational Leadership Model at the Technical and Vocational University

The present study seeks to examine the functions of transformational leadership in knowledge-based organizations using the grounded theory. Research method is based on the qualitative method of grounded theory. Depth interviews were conducted with 16 experts of the Technical and Vocational University of Tehran selected through snowball sampling. After open, selective, and axial coding of collected data, 160 primary concepts, 29 subcategories and 5 main categories were extracted. The final outcome of this study is the design of a 5-dimensional model whose dimensions are categorized into four bases of strategy, outcomes, interventional conditions, ground-making conditions and causal conditions. The findings of this study indicate that the main function of transformational leaders is a capacity for organizational adaptability. In fact, transformational leaders at Tehran’s Technical and Vocational University resort to adaptability strategy to affect the performance of followers and manage organizational change. It is, therefore, suggested that transformational leaders strengthen corporate social capital by improving horizontal interactions between colleagues, building trust, engaging and collaborating with employees in decision-making, reinforcing the spirit of taking criticism among themselves and colleagues; empower the human labor by their involvement in important organizational decisions and ultimately encourage employees to adapt to changes through empowerment techniques.