Agile Leadership Research: A Bibliometric Review and Development of an Integrated Conceptual Model
Keywords:
Agile leadership, bibliometric review, organizational agility, dynamic capabilities, digital transformation, qualitative research, conceptual modelAbstract
This study aimed to map the intellectual structure of agile leadership research and develop an integrated conceptual model explaining how agile leaders enable organizational adaptability, learning, and resilience in dynamic business environments. The study was designed as a qualitative, bibliometric-informed model-development research. First, the agile leadership literature was reviewed to identify dominant themes, conceptual clusters, and theoretical gaps. Then, empirical data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 senior managers, middle managers, agile coaches, digital transformation specialists, and human resource development experts working in Tehran-based organizations. Participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling, and interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis in NVivo software. Initial codes were compared, merged, and organized into first-order concepts, second-order themes, and aggregate categories. Credibility was enhanced through member checking, peer review, and maintaining an audit trail. The findings revealed four main categories of agile leadership: adaptive sensemaking, distributed decision authority, iterative learning governance, and human-centered digital coordination. These categories show that agile leadership is not limited to flexibility or rapid decision-making, but represents an integrated leadership capability through which leaders scan environmental changes, decentralize authority, support experimentation, and create psychologically safe conditions for digital collaboration. The proposed conceptual model positions agile leadership as a dynamic capability that links environmental turbulence and digital transformation to organizational agility, innovation, and resilience. Agile leadership research has evolved from agile software development and team-level responsiveness toward a broader organizational leadership paradigm. The integrated model developed in this study contributes to leadership theory by explaining agile leadership as a multi-level capability that combines strategic sensing, participatory governance, iterative learning, and human-centered digital enablement.
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