Construction of Synergistic Leadership Scale for Universities and its Validation in University of Isfahan

This study aimed to construct the synergistic leadership scale in Iranian universities and validate it in Isfahan's University.

From a methodological point of view, this research is a sequential exploratory mixed study.  A purposeful sampling method was used to collect information in the qualitative part. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 14 faculty members with executive experience and expert in management and leadership knowledge in the country's universities. However, an interview was deleted due to a lack of effective information. The interviews stopped with theoretical saturation. In the quantitative section, the statistical population was 650 faculty members of the University of Isfahan. The sample size was determined according to Krejcie and Morgan's table; it was done by stratified random sampling and the designed questionnaire based on the findings of the qualitative section was distributed among them. To determine the validity of the qualitative section, a re-study was used by peers and researchers and the reliability of this section was confirmed by theoretical saturation in the data collection stage and with retest reliability, which becomes 90%. And to determine the validity of the researcher-made questionnaire, content validity, divergent validity, and construct validity were used. Cronbach's alpha (0.951) was used to determine the questionnaire's reliability.

The analysis of the qualitative section was based on the grounded theory approach and the analysis was based on open, axial and selective coding. To test the validity of the questionnaire, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, including construct validity, convergent validity, and divergent validity, were used, and for reliability, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and combined reliability were used. The results of factor analysis showed the optimal fit of each of the items with the factors. They showed that each of the load-bearing factors is a suitable factor to predict the questionnaire's main dimensions. As a result, the designed scale has high validity and reliability and can measure the realization of synergistic leadership in universities. Finally, as a result, the final form of the questionnaire was set as follows: causal factors through 11 items, coherent phenomena or synergistic leadership components through 8 items, context factor which appropriate for executing synergistic leadership through 12 items, Intervening factors through 7 items, strategies for executing synergistic leadership through 13 items, and The Consequences of implementation of synergistic leadership were measured through 12 items. Quantitative data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS and Smart PLS software. Due to the lack of native measurement tools for synergistic leadership, the designed questionnaire seems to be able to address this gap, Therefore, this questionnaire can be used in future researches on synergistic leadership in universities. Finally, the researcher explained the six factors of the paradigmatic pattern of synergistic leadership with their axial codes and provided practical suggestions for the realization of synergistic leadership in universities.