Implicit change leadership, change management, and affective commitment to change

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine differences in implicit change leadership schemas and their relationship with change management (CM) of employees of academic institutions and business enterprises. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative approach through surveys with 645 employees in academic institutions and business enterprises. Path analysis and regression were conducted to determine the relationships between the constructs. Findings Results show that CM mediates the relationship of change leadership schemas and affective commitment to change in both business enterprises and academic institutions. However, differences were found in the change leadership schemas that predict perceived effectiveness of CM. Execution competencies predicted effectiveness of CM in business enterprises whereas strategic and social competencies predicted perceived effectiveness of CM in academic institutions. Research limitations/implications The limitations of the study were the use of self-report data and its cross-sectional design. Future research may use longitudinal designs and multiple sources of data to explore the relationship of change leadership schemas and perceived effectiveness of CM. Moreover, leadership schemas may be examined in other types of organizations such as non-profits, government agencies and social enterprises. Practical implications Results suggest that change leadership schemas are context-dependent. Thus, it is important to consider organizational culture and follower schemas when choosing change leaders and executing change. Moreover, differences in the saliences of change leader schemas by type of organization suggest the need to adopt contextually nuanced approaches to the selection and development of change leaders. Originality/value This paper contributes to organizational change literature by providing evidence of differences in change leadership schemas among academic institutions and business enterprises.

Crisis leadership from the perspective of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Second, this study focused on the experiences of workers in the Philippines. Studies have suggested that national culture and organizational context may influence employee preferences on leadership traits (Subramaniam et al , 2010; Hechanova et al , 2018). Future studies on crisis leadership may be conducted in other contexts.…”

“…In this study, we take inspiration from implicit leadership theory (ILT), which is “a follower-centric perspective that assumes that followers have their own schemas of an ideal leader” (Hechanova et al , 2018, p. 917). Particularly, ILT examines patterns of preferred leadership characteristics that followers carry in their minds (Eden and Leviatan, 1975).…”

“…The context can also refer to the specific situation faced by the organization or its followers. For example, an ILT was developed for organizations experiencing change (Magsaysay and Hechanova, 2017; Hechanova et al , 2018).…”

Leadership and change mobilization: The mediating role of distributed leadership

“…Cases had to belong to specific industries (for example, manufacturing, services, and commerce and tourism) and range in size, as we sought to include very different kinds of change implementation, in line with previous research (e.g. Paglis & Green, 2002;Hechanova, Caringal-Go, & Magsaysay, 2018). As a result, 1,280 middle managers (with a change implementation experience in the previous three years) were contacted, of whom 459 provided complete and valid data, producing a response rate of approximately 36 per cent.…”

Transitioning to the New Normal in Education: A Case Study of Chinese School Leaders in the Philippines

“…October 2021 edition Vol.17, No.35 www.eujournal.org 132 leaders must be skillful in engaging with the people to achieve organizational goals (Hechanova et al, 2018).…”