Effect of Leadership Styles on Change Management in Selected County Governments in Kenya

Abstract

The main aim of the study was to assess the leadership styles on change management in county governments using organization culture as a moderating variable. The study was guided by the following research variables; to establish the effect of transformational leadership, transactional leadership, laissez faire leadership, autocratic leadership, democratic leadership on change management in county governments in Kenya. The study had a moderating variable which is organizational culture. This study would be of benefit to civil society, managers in the county government and future scholars. The study used descriptive study design. The study used the following theories to explain the relationship between the independent research variables and the dependent research variable: Fiedler’s Contingency Theory, Behavioral Theory, Great Man and Trait Theories, Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory, The Vroom-Yetton-Jago Normative Contingency Model, Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model and The Path-Goal Leadership theory. The target population for this study comprised of county chief officers, county executives and county assembly members. The target population of the study was 501 respondents. The sample size for this study was 218 respondents. The study focused on the following counties: Machakos, Kiambu, Nairobi and Kajiado in Kenya. These counties have had leadership issues and have been in the limelight due to the leadership wrangles. These counties were chosen because they form the Nairobi metropolitan which makes them homogenous. This study used simple random and convenience sampling methods. Both questionnaires and, interviews were used to obtain primary data while the review of the county reports provided secondary data. The data obtained was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Regression Model was used as the overall model to determine the relationship between the dependent and all the independent variables. Autocorrelation of residuals in the dependent variable was tested using the Durbin Watson test. The study also did other tests for inferential analysis like the correlation analysis to establish the nature of relationship between each independent variable and the dependent variable. Q-Q plot was used for checking for the normality of dependent variable and the outliers. Heteroscedasticity and multicollinearity tests were also done. The study used t-statistics to test whether the hypothesized model was significant at 95% significance level. The findings were presented in the form of frequencies, percentages, bar graphs, tables and pie charts. There was a significant positive correlation between transformational leadership and Change management at an r value of 0.581, there was also a positive correlation between transactional leadership and change management at an r value of 0.463. There was a negative correlation between laissez-Faire Leadership with change management at an r value of -0.286. There existed a significant positive correlation between autocratic leadership and change management at 0.699. Finally, the relationship between democratic leadership and change management had a positive correlation at an r value of 0.549. The result of the regression analysis showed that R=0.790 and R^2=0.624. This result indicates that 62.4% of the changes in the dependent variable (Change Management). The remainder 37.6% of the changes are explained by other factors not captured in the study. The study concluded that transformational leadership did have a significant influence on the change management in county governments in Kenya. The study further concluded that transactional leadership did influence the change management in Kenyan counties. The study concluded that laissez-faire leadership had an influence on the change management in counties in Kenya. The study concluded that democratic leadership did have an influence on the change management in county governments. The study concluded that autocratic leadership had an influence on the change management of counties; this conclusion is based on the findings of this study. The study concluded that organization culture had a moderating effect on the relationship between leadership styles and change management.