Discovering the antecedents of virtual leadership in universities and higher education institutions of Iran during Covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative study

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to discover the components of virtual leadership in universities and higher education institutions during Covid-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses the qualitative research design, and semi-structured interviews with senior leaders were conducted with non-random purposeful and snowball sampling methods. Also, grounded theory was used for analyzing, coding and classifying the data.FindingsAfter analyzing data, five main components influencing virtual leadership including leader's personality traits, followers' characteristics, technological, environmental and organizational components were identified.Research limitations/implicationsAs leadership, particularly virtual leadership, highly depends on context such as the level of technology in that certain region, the results cannot be generalized to other sectors or countries.Originality/valueThe research advances leadership development theory by highlighting the main components of virtual leadership in educational sector as a comprehensive perspective and complement the other aspects of virtual leadership such as consequences and challenges investigated by other studies.