Moderating effect of environmental dynamism on leadership practices and employees’ response to change in South Africa

Abstract

Purpose The environment has become increasingly dynamic, characterised by hyper turbulence and high-velocity. While research has confirmed the influence of leadership on the effectiveness of change, the author knows less about how increased environmental dynamism influences the relationship. This study aims to investigate how this relationship is impacted under highly uncertain and dynamic external conditions. Design/methodology/approach To investigate the moderating effect of environmental dynamism on leadership practices and employees’ response to change, 1,536 employees’ survey responses were analysed from various organisations in South Africa. Moderator regression models were used to examine relationships. Findings Environmental dynamism has a slight significant strengthening effect on the relationship between leadership practices and response to change, with regard to commitment to the change; efficacy, that is, the belief in whether the change will lead to the efficacy of the organisation; and valence or attractiveness of the change. However, no significant positive moderator effect on the impact of leadership practices on active support for change. Tenure as control variable also did not have a significant influence on the model. Practical implications Organisations must take note that under dynamic conditions: employees’ belief about the efficacy of change is influenced by leadership practices, but not the active support for the change. Leadership must, thus, check whether employees’ positive responses are indeed going over in action to implement change. Originality/value This study contributes an important moderator effect: the more dynamic the environment, the greater the impact leadership practices have on employee response to change.

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“…This result is consistent with the social cognitive theory ( Bandura, 1986 ), in that personal, environmental, and behavioral determinants have a dynamic, bi-directional interaction with each other ( Cai et al, 2022 ). Our findings present unanimous support for the strengthening role of environmental dynamism on employees' change-oriented initiatives ( Surty and Scheepers, 2020 ; Lin, 2021 ). Our findings thus advance the current understanding of employee behavior in response to external change.…”

“…It is commonly accepted as a profound force that can strongly influence not only organizational capabilities and innovation outcomes ( Xiao et al, 2020 ) but the agility and resilience of the industrial open innovation system ( Akgul, 2015 ). Although happening in external contexts, employees' perceptions of workplace dynamism reflect their inability to predict the direction in which their work may change ( Waldman et al, 2001 ), where uncertainty may cause their behaviors to change ( Surty and Scheepers, 2020 ). Therefore, it is necessary to further explore how environmental dynamism influences employees' actions of searching for and developing solutions in response to an unstable work environment.…”

“…Another research, by Lin (2021) , focused on team-level proactive actions and confirmed the moderating role of environmental dynamism on the relationship between leadership and team initiative, where proactive initiatives were found to be more likely to occur in highly dynamic environments. Regarding work behavior at the individual level, the study by Surty and Scheepers (2020) indicated that environmental dynamism has a strengthening effect on the relationship between leadership practices and employees' response to change. Their findings specifically show that environmental dynamism can encourage employees' change-oriented actions.…”

“…Research on investigating how employees react to external unexpected turbulence still needs more attention. Recently, a few studies have tried to understand how environmental dynamism shapes human behavior in organizations (i.e., Surty and Scheepers, 2020 ; Lin, 2021 ). Surty and Scheepers (2020) found that environmental dynamism has a slight significant strengthening effect on the relationship between leadership practices and employee response to change.…”

“…Recently, a few studies have tried to understand how environmental dynamism shapes human behavior in organizations (i.e., Surty and Scheepers, 2020 ; Lin, 2021 ). Surty and Scheepers (2020) found that environmental dynamism has a slight significant strengthening effect on the relationship between leadership practices and employee response to change. Lin (2021) found ethical leadership influences team initiatives in highly dynamic work environments.…”