Strategies of Political Entrepreneurs in Creating and Exploiting Windows of Political Opportunity in Iran’s Energy Sector: A Case Study of IGT25 Turbine Production

Iran's energy industry has been investigated from different points of view such as innovation systems, technological catch-up and corporate strategies. The purpose of this research is to understand the role of leadership, regardless of the structural and functional elements of innovation systems, in technological developments in Iran's energy sector. In fact, this research has sought to clarify the role of the policy entrepreneur and his interaction with other key players in the process of policy changes in specific time periods that are referred to as windows of opportunity. Therefore, in addition to understanding the policy entrepreneurship process, the interaction between the policy entrepreneur and the innovation leader in recognizing the problems and providing solutions in order to create and exploit windows of opportunity has also been examined. In this regard, the case study method has been used to investigate one of the most important experiences of capability development in Iran's energy industry, i.e. the production of IGT25 turbine, and thematic analysis method has been used to analyze the data. The results of the research show that the evolution of technological capabilities, sanctions and entrepreneur's strategies such as persuasion of opponents, ideation and display of capabilities have created a window of opportunity to develop turbine production and design capabilities. In addition, the simultaneous occurrence of political entrepreneurship and innovation leadership, common backgrounds and their interaction is an important factor in the success of policy changes.