Developing a Structural Model of Organizational Health with a Focus on Islamic Lifestyle and Moral Intelligence in the Municipalities of Mazandaran Province

Abstract

This study aimed to develop and validate a structural model of organizational health focusing on Islamic lifestyle and moral intelligence in the municipalities of Mazandaran Province. This developmental–applied study employed an exploratory mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 12 academic experts and senior municipal managers in Mazandaran Province selected through purposive sampling. Theoretical saturation emerged after the ninth interview, although interviews continued through the twelfth participant to ensure adequacy. Data were analyzed using Attride-Stirling’s thematic analysis method. In the quantitative phase, a researcher-developed questionnaire based on the identified themes was administered to 256 municipal employees and managers after its validity and reliability had been established. The quantitative data were analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling using SmartPLS. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that all hypothesized direct relationships were statistically significant. Islamic lifestyle exerted the strongest direct effect on organizational health, while the multidimensional components of organizational health also significantly contributed to the final construct. Moral intelligence, particularly its affective–behavioral dimension, played a significant partial mediating role in the relationship between Islamic lifestyle and organizational health. Cultural–individual and structural–managerial implementation barriers significantly moderated the relationships incorporated into the model. Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability indices confirmed satisfactory internal consistency for all constructs. Average variance extracted values exceeded the acceptable threshold, and the Fornell–Larcker criterion supported the model’s discriminant validity. Moreover, the positive predictive-relevance indices demonstrated moderate-to-strong predictive power, with Islamic lifestyle exhibiting the greatest predictive capacity. The goodness-of-fit index indicated an excellent overall fit between the empirical data and the proposed structural model. Institutionalizing Islamic lifestyle principles and strengthening employees’ moral intelligence, while addressing cultural, individual, structural, and managerial barriers, can provide an effective context-sensitive framework for improving organizational health in municipalities.