Integrating Visionary Leadership and Islamic Strategic Planning- A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Educational Institutions

Abstract

This study addresses a theoretical gap in the literature regarding the lack of integration between Visionary Leadership and Islamic strategic planning in explaining sustainable competitive advantage in educational institutions. Although these constructs have been examined separately, limited attention has been given to their combined explanatory mechanism within value-driven educational contexts. The study adopts a conceptual qualitative approach based on systematic literature review and thematic synthesis to develop an integrated theoretical framework. The proposed model explains how Visionary Leadership generates strategic direction and innovation, which is subsequently translated into sustainable competitive advantage through Islamic strategic planning grounded in Maqasid al-Shariah. The framework advances four theoretical propositions, positioning Islamic strategic planning as a mediating value-based mechanism. The conceptual analysis indicates that Islamic strategic planning operationalizes leadership vision into ethically aligned and sustainability-oriented institutional strategies. This integration reconceptualizes competitive advantage as a multidimensional construct encompassing organizational performance, ethical coherence, and institutional sustainability. The study contributes a novel value-based mediation model to the leadership and strategic management literature and provides a foundation for future empirical validation in educational contexts.