This study aims to explore the impact of transformational, transactional and servant leadership on organizational success, with specific attention to the moderating role of technology adaptation and potential mediating role of organizational culture in the Iranian healthcare system.
A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was conducted with 340 healthcare professionals across public and private sector, using judgmental sampling and analyzing the data using correlation, regression analysis and PROCESS MACRO to test mediation and moderation.
Results confirm that leadership strategies, when considered as a composite construct have a statistically significant positive impact on organizational success, encompassing patient care quality, operational performance and employee engagement. Contrary to the theoretical expectations, the mediating role of organizational culture in this relationship was not supported, suggesting that cultural change may be less responsive to leadership efforts in bureaucratic healthcare systems. However, the study revealed that technological adaptation moderates the relationship between leadership and success, amplifying the effectiveness of leadership strategies in technologically adaptive environments.
By extending leadership theory to a non-Western, resource-constrained healthcare setting, this research contributes to the global discourse on healthcare leadership and highlights the importance external contextual enablers in enhancing leadership effectiveness. It also challenges the assumed universality of cultural mediation models in leadership theory.
