From Managerial Authority to Collective Intelligence: Evolution of Leadership Logic in Modern Organizations
Keywords:
managerial authority, collective intelligence, shared leadership, modern organizations, qualitative research, leadership logic, organizational transformationAbstract
This study aimed to develop a qualitative model explaining how leadership logic in modern organizations evolves from managerial authority toward collective intelligence. This qualitative study was conducted using a grounded theory approach. Participants included 24 senior managers, middle managers, team leaders, innovation officers, and human resource specialists working in technology-oriented, knowledge-intensive, and service organizations in Tehran. Participants were selected through purposive and theoretical sampling based on their direct experience with organizational transformation, collaborative decision-making, digital work systems, and leadership development. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews lasting between 45 and 75 minutes. Interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved, which occurred after the twenty-first interview; three additional interviews were conducted to confirm category stability. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding with the assistance of NVivo software. Credibility was strengthened through member checking, peer review, constant comparison, and maintaining an analytic audit trail. The analysis produced five main categories explaining the evolution of leadership logic: decentralization of managerial authority, emergence of collective sensemaking, digital mediation of intelligence, psychological safety as an enabling condition, and governance of distributed decision-making. The core category was identified as “leadership as the orchestration of collective intelligence.” The findings showed that leadership in modern organizations is no longer experienced primarily as command, control, and unilateral decision-making; rather, it is increasingly enacted through facilitation, boundary-setting, knowledge integration, collaborative interpretation, and the activation of dispersed expertise. The study suggests that leadership transformation in modern organizations requires a shift from authority-centered management to intelligence-centered coordination. Effective leaders do not disappear in collective systems; instead, their role changes from controlling people to designing conditions in which collective cognition, shared responsibility, and adaptive action can emerge.
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