Impact of Leader's Change-Promoting Behavior on Readiness for Change: A Mediating Role of Organizational Culture

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of the leader's behavior on employee's readiness for change and whether the organizational culture mediates this relationship. A sample of 205 responses is drawn from employees having junior or senior level of managerial responsibilities in Karachi. The method of both exploratory and confirma-tory factor analyses is employed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the measurement model. The structural equation modeling method was then applied to examine the theoretical framework with the help of seven frequently reported goodness-of-fit indices. The results indicate that leader's change-promoting behavior has a significant positive impact on change readiness and the organizational culture partially mediates the positive relationship between the leader's change-promoting behavior and change readiness. The present study supports the theory of one of the six conceptual formations of change readiness which is referred to as an employee's capacity to change. Therefore, managers should clearly advocate the desired change with the help of their own change-prompting behavior as well as establishing a trusting culture in their organization. Future studies may ascertain the impact of employees readiness for change on their commitment to change in the context of Pakistan which could further lead to passive or active change-related behaviors.