Designing an Organizational Development Model Based on the School of Martyr Hajj Qasem Soleimani in the Basij Sports Organization

Abstract

This study aimed to design and explain an organizational development model based on the managerial school of Martyr Hajj Qasem Soleimani within the Basij Sports Organization. This developmental-applied qualitative study employed grounded theory using the systematic approach of Strauss and Corbin. The study population comprised university academics specializing in sport management and organizational behavior, commanders and senior managers of the Basij Sports Organization, and researchers specializing in Martyr Soleimani’s managerial approach. Participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling, with data collection continuing until theoretical saturation was achieved with 16 experts. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with an average duration of 58 minutes. Content validity was confirmed by three experts. To assess reliability, 20% of the interviews were independently recoded, yielding an inter-coder agreement coefficient of 0.82. Data were analyzed using MAXQDA 2020 through open, axial, and selective coding. The analysis indicated that organizational development based on Martyr Soleimani’s managerial school could be conceptualized within a paradigmatic model comprising causal conditions, a central phenomenon, contextual conditions, intervening conditions, strategies, and consequences. The causal conditions included the absence of an indigenous development model, the need to revitalize spiritual capital, the necessity of learning from the managerial conduct of martyrs, and inadequacies of imported organizational development models. Contextual conditions encompassed the Basij organizational culture, the religious-revolutionary social context, a community-based jihadi structure, and the historical legacy of the Sacred Defense, whereas intervening conditions included resource constraints, administrative bureaucracy, frequent managerial changes, and external pressures. Six principal strategies emerged: developing a jihadi competency model, conduct-based training, developing human-spiritual capital, redesigning flexible structures, institutionalizing sincerity and self-sacrifice, and strengthening strategic prudence and foresight. These strategies were associated with sustainable organizational effectiveness, stronger revolutionary-jihadi identity, improved Basij sports performance, organizational role modeling, and enhanced social capital. The proposed model suggests that sustainable organizational development in mission-oriented and value-based organizations depends on the simultaneous interaction of spiritual and value capital, jihadi-transformational leadership, human and social capital, strategic foresight, and flexible organizational infrastructure, providing an indigenous framework for the Basij Sports Organization and comparable organizations.