Leadership Challenges in the Transition from Hierarchical to Network-Based Management Systems: A Qualitative Study of Managerial Experiences in Tehran

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the leadership challenges experienced by managers during the transition from hierarchical management systems to network-based management systems in organizations in Tehran. This qualitative study was conducted using an exploratory phenomenological design. Participants included 24 managers, senior specialists, project leaders, and organizational development professionals working in private and semi-private organizations in Tehran that had recently attempted to move from centralized hierarchical structures toward more collaborative, network-based management arrangements. Participants were selected through purposive sampling, and recruitment continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews lasting between 45 and 75 minutes. Interviews focused on participants’ lived experiences of structural transition, leadership role changes, decision-making practices, resistance, communication patterns, accountability, and coordination challenges. All interviews were audio-recorded with consent, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analysis. NVivo software was used to organize transcripts, code data, compare categories, and develop final themes. Analysis of the interviews resulted in four main categories: role ambiguity and identity disruption among leaders, resistance to decentralization and loss of control, coordination difficulties in distributed decision-making, and trust-building challenges in cross-functional networks. Participants described the transition as a complex process in which formal authority weakened before collaborative norms became strong enough to replace it. Leaders struggled to redefine their roles from command-and-control decision-makers to facilitators of connection, sensemaking, and shared accountability. Resistance was particularly visible among middle managers who perceived network-based systems as a threat to status, authority, and performance visibility. Participants also reported that horizontal collaboration increased flexibility but created uncertainty regarding responsibility, conflict resolution, and decision ownership. The transition from hierarchical to network-based management systems is not merely a structural redesign but a deep leadership transformation. Successful transition requires leaders to develop relational, facilitative, and adaptive capabilities while simultaneously redesigning governance mechanisms, communication routines, and accountability systems. Organizations should avoid assuming that decentralization automatically produces collaboration; instead, they must actively support leaders in managing ambiguity, building trust, and balancing autonomy with coordination.