Designing a Competency-Based Leadership Model for Managers with a Cultural City Approach in Mashhad Municipality

Extended Abstract
Abstract
The effectiveness and efficiency of managers basically depends on their competence, skill, level of knowledge, insight and abilities, and due to the importance of these factors in the success of managers, a continuous search and continuous effort is made to find and train those who have this type of competence, ability and skill. to turn them into effective managers and useful leaders is ongoing. A mixed research method (qualitative-quantitative) has been used in this research. The theme analysis method is used in the qualitative part. First, interviews were conducted with 25 professors, managers and experts of Mashhad Municipality. Then the collected data was analyzed using NVivo software. Based on the results of the analysis of interviews with the members of the expert group, the model of meritocracy of Mashhad municipal managers has 122 free codes, which were categorized into 15 core codes and 4 optional codes.Further, based on the results obtained from the qualitative part, a questionnaire was compiled and after verifying its validity and reliability, it was given to the members of the examined sample (348 employees (official, contract and contracted), Mashhad Municipality). Based on the results of structural equations; Individual competence with a coefficient of 0.87 has the greatest impact on the construction of the meritocracy model in Mashhad municipality. Also, the lack of evaluation system with a coefficient of 0.81 is the most important obstacle to meritocracy in Mashhad municipality.
Introduction
One of the foundations of development and competent governance in any society and country is the administrative system, evaluation, the quality of appointment and dismissal of managers, and human resource management. Other researchers have concluded in their studies that competency-based leadership is a system that implies the application of rules and the use of science and logic (not relationships and emotions) in selections and appointments so that individuals are chosen based on their capabilities and skills. Equal opportunities are given to all candidates, discrimination is prevented, and scientific tools are used to assess and evaluate people's talents and capabilities. The research issue has two aspects: first, the competency-based leadership of managers, and second, city management with a cultural city approach for better governance of the second-largest metropolis in Iran, Mashhad. Mashhad was recognized as the cultural capital by UNESCO in 2017. The researcher's concern is that city management in Mashhad, as a cultural city in Iran and the world, faces challenges and issues in the establishment of the competency system in the process of employing managers, the evaluation system, appointment and dismissal, efficiency, and the like, which we need to investigate regarding the dimensions and components of the competency-based leadership model.
Despite the extensive efforts made to identify the dimensions and components of the competency model for managers in organizations, less applied and empirical research has been conducted on the competency model needed for managers with a cultural city approach. The fundamental issue in Mashhad Municipality has been that due to the lack of a competency-based leadership model for managers in appointment, promotion, evaluation, and career advancement, the city is highly administratively expensive, and the large organization of the municipality is unable to optimally utilize all human, financial, and managerial resources for the progress and establishment of the cultural city of Mashhad.
Case study
The researcher aims to fill this theoretical gap by identifying and presenting the competency-based leadership model for managers in Mashhad Municipality. In explaining the importance and necessity of the subject, two theoretical and practical gaps can be mentioned. This means that other researchers in Iran and the world, as we will discuss in the following sections, have focused on research on competency models for managers in organizations but we face a lack of research and study in the context of municipalities, especially the metropolis of Mashhad. We aim to demonstrate that due to the absence of a competency-based leadership model for managers in Mashhad Municipality, a hierarchy system has mainly replaced competency-based leadership. In the practical gap, the presentation of this model can assist the officials of Mashhad Municipality in establishing a competency-based system, appointing managers based on competence, proper performance assessment, and career advancement.
Materials and Methods
This research aims to design a competency-based leadership model with a cultural city approach in Mashhad Municipality. In this research, a mixed research method was used. Initially, interviews were conducted with 25 professors, managers, and experts of Mashhad Municipality. The collected information was analyzed using NVivo software. Based on the results of the interviews with the expert group members, the competency-based leadership model for Mashhad Municipality has 122 free codes, categorized into 15 axial codes and 4 select codes. After conducting interviews and designing questionnaires, the quantitative part of the research began. The statistical population of this section included all employees (official, contractual, and temporary) of Mashhad Municipality in 2020, with a total of 2,667 individuals. Using the Cochran sampling formula, 384 individuals were selected as the research sample. A two-stage stratified sampling method was used to select the sample members proportionally.
Discussion and Results
The results of the structural equations that were done using Amos software showed that in order to establish the meritocracy model of managers in Mashhad municipality, attention to four main categories (individual, managerial, occupational and value) seems necessary. The most important obstacle in the realization of meritocracy in Mashhad municipality is the weakness of the evaluation system (urban management and cultural city approach).
Also, individual competence with a coefficient of 0.87 has the greatest impact on the construction of meritocracy model in Mashhad municipality. The most important obstacle in meritocracy research is the lack of an evaluation system in urban organization and management, the capital and the cultural city (cultural approach), which was examined in the form of two main dimensions of obstacles and characteristics; It showed that the most important cultural obstacle is the lack of coordination and the existence of ambiguity in the duties of the trustees and the most important feature should be taken into account; Paying attention to urban services