Design and Validation of a Competency-Based Individual Empowerment Model in Law Enforcement Organizations: A Case Study of the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Keywords:
Individual empowerment, professional competence, law enforcement command, human resource management, structural equation modeling, data-driven theory.Abstract
This study aimed to design and validate a competency-based individual empowerment model for personnel of the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This developmental-applied study employed an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, grounded theory based on the systematic Strauss and Corbin approach was used, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 10 senior managers, commanders, and experts in human resources and training until theoretical saturation was achieved. Qualitative data were analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding. In the quantitative phase, 371 law enforcement personnel were selected using proportional stratified sampling. A researcher-developed questionnaire derived from the qualitative findings was used for data collection. Confirmatory factor analysis, the Friedman test, and partial least squares structural equation modeling were used for data analysis. Qualitative analysis yielded 87 open codes, five major dimensions, and 25 components. The dimensions included value-cultural foundation, individual competencies, organizational facilitating factors, empowerment barriers, and outcomes. All factor loadings were statistically significant. Organizational facilitating factors ranked highest among the dimensions. Commander trust and support, ethical competence, and piety and integrity were the highest-ranked components within their respective dimensions. Organizational facilitating factors had a significant positive effect on individual competencies (β=0.53, p<0.001), while individual competencies had the strongest direct effect on outcomes (β=0.62, p<0.001). The overall goodness-of-fit index was 0.578, indicating satisfactory model fit. Competency-based individual empowerment in law enforcement is a multidimensional process shaped by the interaction of employees’ ethical and professional competencies with commander trust, appropriate autonomy, empowering training, organizational learning, and value-based organizational conditions. The proposed model demonstrated satisfactory empirical validity and can provide a framework for competency-oriented human resource development in law enforcement organizations.
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Copyright (c) 2026 میثم عزیزآبادی (نویسنده); مژگان محمدی نائینی (نویسنده مسئول); ذبیح پیرانی (نویسنده)
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