Abstract
Despite growing interest in leadership–management integration (LMI), research remains fragmented across leadership, management, and capability literatures, limiting clarity on how joint functioning produces outcomes across organizational levels. This theory-building integrative review synthesizes 2020–2025 scholarship on LMI as a multilevel dynamic capability linked to innovation, organizational resilience, operational alignment, and sustainable performance. A systematic search of Scopus (primary), Web of Science, EBSCO, ProQuest, and PsycINFO identified 320 records; after deduplication and screening, 54 peer-reviewed studies were included, with empirical studies appraised using CASP. PRISMA 2020 was applied to transparently report search and screening decisions, while this study is a theory-building, integrative review distinct from conventional effectiveness-focused systematic reviews. Synthesis employed Braun and Clarke's six-phase reflexive thematic analysis, and theory construction applied Whetten's deductive axiomatic design, yielding five axioms (A1–A5) and eight propositions (P1–P8). Findings indicate LMI emerges as a distinct multilevel dynamic capability—not simple role overlap or recombination of dynamic managerial capabilities/ambidexterity—expressed through four microfoundations (cross-level coordination, adaptive decision-making, digital fluency/AI governance, flexible resource orchestration) that consolidate into three higher-order mechanisms (strategic-operational coherence, turbulence adaptation, enabling conditions sustaining integration quality)—associated with higher innovation, reliable implementation, and disruption continuity across contexts (though cross-sectional designs limit causal inference). This multilevel hierarchical LMI framework—integrating five axioms, eight propositions, antecedents, mechanisms, boundary conditions, and outcomes—advances theory and guides longitudinal testing plus capability-building practice.
