Authentic leadership in the context of organizational change, insights from Pakistani health sector organizations

Abstract

Objective and Background: Aim of this study is to measure impact of authentic leadership in developing affective commitment to change in health sector employees of Pakistan. Two positive beliefs related with change and employee factors i.e. Appropriateness of change and change efficacy are studied as mediator between authentic leadership and affective commitment to change. Methodology: Data was collected from 258 employees of four health sector hospitals undergoing major restructuring change. Structural equation modeling was used through AMOS 18.0 to test the hypothesis. Total of seven hypotheses were formulated. Results: Results revealed that authentic leadership was positively and significantly related with affective commitment to change. The positive relationship between authentic leadership and affective commitment to change was partially mediated by change appropriateness and change efficacy. Conclusion: This study offers theoretical as well as practical implication for researchers and practitioners as to focus on promoting authentic leadership style to foster positive perceptions in employees for the successful implementation of planned organizational change.