Local government managers’ change-oriented leadership and employees’ change-supportive behaviour during COVID-19: utilizing the theory of planned behaviour

ABSTRACT

Past research has provided important insights on the role of public leaders in fostering employees’ change-related behaviour, but the psychological mechanisms and boundary conditions underlying this relationship remain unclear. This research relies on the theory of planned behaviour and the value-congruence model to shed light on when and how local government managers’ change-oriented leadership influences employees’ change-supportive behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on survey data collected from 758 local government employees in Thailand, our structural equation modelling analyses revealed that local government managers’ change-oriented leadership had a positive relationship with employees’ change-supportive behaviour via the mediating roles of employees’ attitude for change, perceived climate for change and self-efficacy for change. Furthermore, perceived value congruence between managers and employees was found to enhance the indirect relationship between change-oriented leadership and change-supportive behaviour. This research highlights the importance of change-oriented leadership and value alignment in fostering change-related behaviours among government employees.

KEYWORDS:

• Change-oriented leadership
• change-supportive behaviours
• theory of planned behaviour
• value congruence
• COVID-19

Acknowledgement

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Professor James L. Perry for his valuable suggestions during the review process.

Disclosure statement

The authors whose names are listed above certify that they have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wisanupong Potipiroon

Wisanupong Potipiroon is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Management Sciences, Prince of Songkla University in Thailand and has served as Director of the PhD Program in Management since 2015. He conducts research on leadership, work motivation, and public-sector corruption. His work can be found in several leading journals in public management. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration and Public Personnel Management.

Worasan Thawornprasert

Worasan Thawornprasert is a lecturer at the Faculty of Management Sciences, Songkhla Rajabhat University in Thailand and is currently a PhD candidate in the PhD Program in Management at the Faculty of Management Sciences, Prince of Songkla University. He conducts research on the issues of leadership and organisational change.