OJRE Home

2025 - Volume 8 - Number 2

Dynamic Differentiation: An Adaptive Model of Multi-dimensional Leadership for Real-time Adjustment of Management Styles in Complex Crises within Heterogeneous Industrial Environments

Ali Faisel * ORCID: 0009-0008-9801-9741
South-West University "Neofit Rilski", Faculty of Economics, Department of Management, Blagoevgrad, BULGARIA

Open Journal for Research in Economics, 2025, 8(2), 71-102* https://doi.org/10.32591/coas.ojre.0802.02071f
Received: 28 May 2025 ▪ Revised: 10 November 2025 ▪ Accepted: 26 December 2025

LICENCE: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ARTICLE (Full Text - PDF)

ABSTRACT:

The research examines the phenomenon of dynamic differentiation as a leadership mechanism enabling managers to adapt their leadership styles in real-time during crises in heterogeneous industrial environments. While existing theories focus on a single leadership style, this research concentrates on the need for dynamic adaptation throughout crisis stages and in different sectorial contexts. Through Mixed Methods methodology, 127 crisis cases in 42 industrial organizations were investigated. The findings show that effective managers employ a diverse leadership repertoire according to the crisis stage, organizational characteristics, and sector type. The proposed integrative model identifies four dimensions of dynamic differentiation: cognitive (decision-making processes), behavioral (style adaptation), contextual (environmental adaptation), and temporal (dynamics over time). The research identifies sense-making and sense-giving processes as central to real-time adaptation, and offers implementable strategies for developing these capabilities. The theoretical contribution expands knowledge on adaptive leadership, and the practical contribution provides tools for developing effective leadership in complex crisis environments. Cross-sectorial analysis indicates unique adaptation patterns in different sectors, with significant implications for management training and organizational intervention design.

KEY WORDS: dynamic differentiation, multi-dimensional leadership, crisis management, real-time adaptation, industrial environments, sense-making, organizational adaptation.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:
Ali Faisel, South-West University "Neofit Rilski", Faculty of Economics, Department of Management, Blagoevgrad, BULGARIA.

REFERENCES:

Araújo, M. S., Leonardi, J. C., & Carvalho, C. P. (2023). The role of adaptive leadership in times of crisis: A systematic review and conceptual framework. Leadership and Organization Development, 5(1), 2-18. https://doi.org/10.3390/leadership5010002

Bundy, J., Pfarrer, M. D., Short, C. E., & Coombs, W. T. (2017). Crises and crisis management: Integration, interpretation, and research development. Journal of Management, 43(6), 1661-1692. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316680030

Bushmanova, N., & Sawang, S. (2023). Synergistic triad of crisis management: Leadership, knowledge management and organizational learning. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 31(3), 901-914. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-03-2021-2672

Chen, Y., & Fulmer, I. S. (2022). Dynamic differentiation and integration: A meta-framework for leadership adaptation in complex environments. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107(9), 1623-1642. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000972

Combe, I. A., & Carrington, D. J. (2015). Leaders' sensemaking under crises: Emerging cognitive consensus over time within management teams. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(3), 307-322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.02.002

Eggers, F., Heucke, L., & Kraus, S. (2024). Innovation in crisis: The role of leadership and dynamic capabilities for a more innovative hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 118, 103704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2024.103704

Firestone, S. (2020). What is crisis leadership? In S. Firestone (Ed.), Biblical principles of crisis leadership (pp. 7-21). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44955-1_2

Heifetz, R., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2019). Leadership in a (permanent) crisis: Adaptive approaches to complex environments. Harvard Business Review, 97(4), 62-69. https://doi.org/10.1225/R0907F

Karim, S., Nasir, J., & Ibrahim, M. (2024). Digital leadership in the age of AI: Crisis management and virtual organizational strategies. International Journal of Academic and Industrial Research Innovations, 4(10), 125-142. https://doi.org/10.35940/ijrte.F7391.0510124

Khan, S., Irum, S., & Noor-ul-Ain, M. (2021). Role of adaptive leadership in learning organizations to boost organizational innovations with change self-efficacy. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 723729. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.723729

Klemm, A., Gergersen, H., & Norris, S. (2022). Assessing situational leadership within a crisis context in hotel operational settings. International Journal of Hospitality Leadership, 3(2), 115-138. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHL-04-2021-0006

Maruhom, A. B., Minoza, D. J., & Zosa, J. C. (2024). The role of leadership in crisis management: A literature review. Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 9(3), 48-65. https://doi.org/10.35630/2023/13/5.21

Roberts, C., Waldmann, T., Dryden-Palmer, K., & Willows, M. (2022). Developing local crisis leadership: A research and training agenda. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 1014590. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1014590

Williams, T. A., Gruber, D. A., Sutcliffe, K. M., Shepherd, D. A., & Zhao, E. Y. (2017). Organizational response to adversity: Fusing crisis management and resilience research streams. Academy of Management Annals, 11(2), 733-769. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2015.0134