International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences, 3(3) March 2014, Pages: 182-185

TI Journals

International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences

ISSN
2306-7276

www.tijournals.com

Change Management and Effectiveness of Leadership Behavior

of Principals
Behrouz Hosseinpour 1, Ali Khalkhali *2
1
2

Department of Educational Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon Branch, Mazandaran, Iran.
2Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon Branch, Mazandaran, Iran.

AR TIC LE INF O

AB STR AC T

Keywords:

Purpose of this paper is to explore the relation between change management and effectiveness of
leadership behavior of principals. This study was Descriptive/Correlational type. The statistical
population was all the principals of Astaneh Ashrafieh city schools in Iran. According to Morgan
table, and using simple random sampling method, 107 principals were selected as the sample of
this study. For gathering information, skill evaluation questionnaires of change management were
used Along with analysis of Blanchard effectiveness of leadership behavior. Indicators of central
tendency were used for data descriptive and Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to
inferential the data. The results showed that both change management and its dimensions have
significant positive linear relationship with leadership behavior effectiveness of principals.

Change management
Effectiveness
Leadership behavior
School principals
Astaneh Ashrafieh city

2014 Int. j. econ. manag. soc. sci. All rights reserved for TI Journals.

Introduction
The key factor in social, economic, cultural and political development in every society is Education. The Analysis of affecting factors in the
development of modern societies indicates that all these countries are enjoying efficient and effective education (Wiles, 2009). Nowadays,
the major problem that every organization is faced with is change and transformation and according to the belief that nothing other than
change itself is constant, change management is one of the most important topics of management science (Khachian, 2012). Also those
organizations which are considered as successful and efficient are the ones that, in addition to coordinating with the changes of modern
society are also able to predict the path of changes in the future and be able to lead these changes in order to create desirable
transformations to build a better future. It seems that change management is rooted in the human responses to changes in the surrounding
environment (Morovvati and Hayati, 2012). Therefore, managers are constantly searching for ways to streamline organizational changes
(Khanifar and Vakili, 2010). In fact, only with using the changes creatively for leading the changes themselves, we could stay immune from
the future shocking damage and achieve a better and more humane future (Toffler, 2011).
Due to the rapid pace of change and the focus on schools as the main base of influence on society and its development, reviewing the
managers attitudes toward change management In order to improve their performance is an inevitable necessity. Managing the change
process, mapping the movement of the current position to the desired status in future and Setting priorities, Duties and participation of
individuals in the change process are the functions of a change management program (Patton et al, 2008).
Basically, the first step in the change management process is diagnosis. Diagnosis includes an analysis of current realities and
environmental needs and the organization's ability to respond and satisfy the needs and create a clear picture of the situation which has
changed after achieving the changes. Having a picture of the final state is used as guidance for what has to be changed and The most
effective process in an effective change process is "learning while acting" (Beckhard, 1992).
The managers are the main key for change and must change their performance for better changes (Sharon and Sherman, 1994).
Maurer(2006) believes that for determining the managers readiness for change, we should use some factors such as history of change,
direction, cooperation and trust, culture, harmony, reward, respect, monitoring, Acceptance and understanding of the existing situation,
understand the optimum status and change management skills. Obviously, a significant change occurs when the change agents see their
interest in them. Also, resistance to change, low quality level of organization and less attention to preparation of staff through training is
identified as one of the main reasons for the failure of organizations (Anderson and Anderson, 2008). Leaders of organizations don`t
consider the change management as one of the main tasks of management yet and However, in today's world, every manager should think
about it carefully and Furthermore he shouldn`t be the only one that is able to adapt to changes but he should be able to explain it to
employees to prepare them to accept change and give them the necessary motivation (Lacte, 1995).
Meanwhile Nickols(2004) believes that changing skills is a leadership skill not a manager skill, so for change management the following
steps must be taken:
1) To determine a leader means the person is responsible for directing and organizing the change management activities
2) Training the leader and project team members and executives with special emphasis on methods, processes and principles of
change management
3) Evaluation of change and organization and selecting the Change Management group with the appropriate and expert based human
resource on change management.
* Corresponding author.
Email address: khalkhali_ali@yahoo.com

Change Management and Effectiveness of Leadership Behavior of Principals

183

Internat ional Jour nal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Social Sciences , 3(3) March 2014

4)
5)

Creating a supportive and group structure models

Creating change management plans.

Washington and Marla (2005) in their study reached the conclusion that if the change agents have a positive attitude towards organizational
change, in the implementation of change he will do better. When the manager is more aware of the change he will show less resistance to
change and can better prepare employees for change and reduce employee resistance to change.
Cummings & Worley also mention five sets of necessary activities for effective management, including motivation to change, the image of
the desired future, strengthen new behaviors, planning for change, and supporting change (Alvani and Danaei fard, 2008). Every
organization to achieve its goals requires the participation of all employees (Zaeimdar et al, 2013). Hence, in the first stage the people
should be stimulated and encouraged to want to change and According to the change experts, creating readiness for change in the personnel
is the main prerequisites for successful change (Maleki, 2012) and create this believe that change is necessary make them commit to leave
the current situation in favor of an uncertain future.
The desire to change should become the dominant culture of the organization (Tourani, 2009), because activation and building enthusiasm
and motivation to work can be the main stimulating factor to work and This principle is more than capability (Gorgy and Taheri, 2010).
This will help to facilitate a common vision. According to Hesselbein et al (2000) common vision represents the identity in the minds of
employees, consumers and investors. Vision of the future will reduce the uncertainty and directs the behavior and Suggests that the future
will be to their benefit and that the future is achievable.
In the realm of education without common vision there will be no valuable work. Past experiences are vital and certainly will provide the
basis for this purpose but another important thing which is needed is enthusiasm and interest.
Also alongside the various schools of management that have developed nowadays, new topic has been raised as effective management,
which has made effectiveness and efficiency the biggest goal and the most valuable destination of all managers (Tohidi, 2012). As far as
everyone is in search of greater efficiency and higher efficacy and a significant amount of management's efforts are formed in this direction
(Wong et al, 2013).
This issue is more important in educational centers because in theory and operation the effectiveness of educational managers will improve
the educational condition and will provide a proper ground for personal development (Hasanian, 2004) and to accomplish these important
facts, Educational organizations need managers who act as the Brain of the training body (Kulkarni and Dabade , 2013).
Studies have emphasized that the school performance is a function of leadership behavior of school principals. However, several factors
affect the quality of leadership behavior of principals. Therefore this study will analyze the following questions:
1) Is there any relation between change management and the effectiveness of leadership behaviors of school principals?
2) Do the components of change management (motivation for change, creating an image of the desired future which is the outcome of
change, creating support for change, planning for change, reinforce new behaviors resulting from the change) have any relation with the
effectiveness of leadership behavior of school principals?

Research Methodology
The present study is a descriptive and correlational. The study sample included all school principals of Astaneh Ashrafieh city and
according to Morgan table, and using simple random sampling method, 107 principals were selected as the sample of this study. To collect
data, the following two questionnaires were used:
A) Change management questionnaire: The validity was 0.92 by Cronbach's alpha coefficient.
B) The Blanchard leader behavior analysis questionnaire: The validity was estimated about 0.74.
For Descriptive analysis of the data, statistic of central tendency was used and Pearson's correlation coefficient was used for inferential
analysis of research hypotheses.

Results and discussion

First, statistical description of the data was estimated and the results are reported in the table1.
Table 1. Descriptive of variables among the principals
variable

Mean

Standard deviation

Change management
Creating motivation for change
Creating a positive image of future resulted from change
Creating support for change
Plan for change
Strengthening new behavior resulted from change
Effectiveness of managers leadership behavior

65. 22
26.17
22.52
22.11
30.16
30.30
69.56

5.64
4.82
4.25
4.60
5.57
6.03
5.64

Also, Pearson's correlation coefficient was used for inferentially analyzed the research hypotheses. The results are reported in Table 2.

Behrouz Hosseinpour and Ali Khalkhali

184

Internat ional Journal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Social Science s , 3(3) March 2014

Table 2. The correlation of change management and principals leadership behavior (N = 107)
Effectiveness of principals leadership behavior
Variables
Change management
Creating motivation for change
Creating a positive image of future resulted from change
Creating support for change
Plan for change
Strengthening new behavior resulted from change

Sig

0.594
0.623
0.530
0.521
0.477
0.562

0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000

The data in Table 2 confirmed that there is a significant and positive correlation between the change management and its dimension and
effectiveness of principals leadership behavior.

Conclusion and suggestions

As can be seen, there is a meaningful relationship between the two variables, the motivation to change and the effectiveness of leadership
behaviors of principals. In fact, it can be seen that the more the scores of principals increases in creating motivation for change, the more
positive change can be seen I the amount of effectiveness of their leadership behavior at the same time. These findings are in line with
research of Nickols (2004), Lacte (1995), Washington and Marla (2005) which point out that, if the agent of the change has a positive
attitude toward the change, he will do better In the process of implementing change, and in today's world, every manager should think
carefully about change and administer it. And also the manager himself should not be the only one who is able to cope with changes, but he
should be able to explain it to his employees and prepare them to accept change, and give them the necessary Motivation. the hypothesis
test results also indicate that the more principals offer better images of the future, the more increase will appear in the effectiveness of
leadership behavior. This result is aligned with the Nickols (2004) and Maurer (2006) research.
Also the results acknowledged that the more support for change increases, it will have influence on the effectiveness of managers and at
this point it is aligned with the findings of the Nickols (2004). also the results of third hypothesis showed that if the support of changes
increases, the effectiveness of school principals will be also changed. This is consistent with findings of Nickols (2004).analysis of
hypotheses 4 and 5 also indicated that Efforts of school administrators to plan for change and reinforce new behaviors resulting from the
change, with the change in status of the effectiveness of leadership behavior of managers are parallel. Nickols (2004) and Maurer (2006)
reached the same results.
It is proposed that for managers to learn the knowledge of change and change management, creating a positive attitude towards change and
developing skills in the use of change management procedures in them, special training courses should be designed and implemented. We
suggest that School managers through training motivation, update their knowledge and knowledge of school members To have a passion
and enthusiasm for the changes in the various programs. Also using the principles of encouragement, empowerment and motivating
managers to prepare them for the change is proposed. It is suggested that school administrators should take steps to increase their
perspective in order to reduce the uncertainty associated with changes and by focusing on the overall goals and mission of the organization,
lead themselves and members of the school to greater efficiency. It is suggested that senior management of education to adapt themselves
to the changing needs and prevent focus on changes by managers and by Creating a culture of preparedness and infrastructure to implement
changes and estimating requirements, provide conditions for principals and other members of the school to have more freedom to express
new ideas and implementing changes and welcome to new ideas with an open mind. Also we suggest that When necessary, to do the proper
planning and revise basic assumptions of change plans and To implement the change, a detailed action plan and budget estimate and
requirements as well as time scales for the plans should be considered. People should be given the opportunity to design, start and run their
own small businesses. Also, school principals and members should first set their small-scale and large-scale targets, develop new projects
and freely discuss with each other about the results of change programs. Also they can use implementation of programs, classrooms and
workshops in various subjects to strengthen individuals entrepreneurial spirit.

References
Alvani, S. Mehdi and Danaeifard, Hassan. (2008). Change management in the organizations. Tehran: Saffar publications
Anderson, Dean and Anderson, Linda Ackerman. (2008). Beyond Change Management (advanced strategies for transformational leaders). Translated by Ali
Naghavi Tehran: Arg Publications
Beckhard ,R. (1992). Changing the Essence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publisher.
Gorji, Abdul Rahim, Taheri, Mohammad Ali (2010). Managing conflict. Eslaho Tarbiat magazine, Issue 104.
Hasanian, Marziyeh. (2004) Leadership styles in managers of educational groups in Hamedan University of Medical Sciences Journal of Medical Education
Year 4 No. 12 Pp. 122-117.
Hesselbein, Francis, Goldsmith, Marshall, and Beckhard, Richard. (2000). Tomorrow organization. Translated by Fazlullah Amini. Tehran: Farda
Publication.
Khachian, Alice. (2012). Challenges of Change Management, managers' experiences in Schools of Nursing and Gynecology. Qualitative study. Shahid
Beheshti University of Medical Sciences
Khanifar and Vakili (2010): The relationship between organizational structure and economic and organizational entrepreneurship in small and medium-sized
financial firms, Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, first year, second edition, pp. 35.
Kulkarni AB, Dabade B. (2013).Technology (IJDMT). J Impact Fac.;4(1):14-29.
Lacte, John. (1995). Effective management. Translated by Seyyed Amin Allah Alavi. State Management Training Center.

Change Management and Effectiveness of Leadership Behavior of Principals

185

Internat ional Jour nal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Social Sciences , 3(3) March 2014

Maleki Mohammad Reza. (2012). The relationship between structural empowerment and nurses readiness for a change. Journal of Nursing Care Research
Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Volume 25, Number 76.
Maurer, Rick.(2006). Building a foundation for change. Journal for Quality Participation. 24(3): 38 9
Morovvati, Marzieh and Hayati, Zahir. (2012). Investigate the situation of Producing science in the field of change management documents databases.
Research of change management. Fourth year. No. 8.
Nickols, F. (2004) .Change management 101: A primer Distance consulting.
Paton, B, Beranek, L& Smith, I. (2008). The transit lounge: a view of -organizational change from a point in the journey. Library Management, 29(1 / 2), 87103. Sharon &Sherman. (1994). designing organization
Toffler, Alvin. (2011), Relocation In the power, translated by Shahindokht Kharazmi. Publication: Forouzesh, Twentieth Edition.
TohidiH .(2012). Management style and insider feeling of increasing human resources productivity.AwerProcedia Inform TechnolComput Sci.;1:427Tourani, Heidar. (2009). Passion for change Tehran: Madreseh publications.
Washington M, Marla H. Why change fails: Knowledge counts. JLeadership Organ Dev 2005, 26:400-11.
Wiles, Kimball. (2009). Educational leadership and management. Translated by Mohammad Ali Tousi. Tehran: Baztaab publications, Sixteenth Edition.
Wong I, Mahar DP, Titchener K, Freeman JE. (2013). The impact of anxiety on processing efficiency : implications for the attentional control theory. Open
BehavSci J.;7:1-6
Zaeimdar M, Nasiri P, Taghdisi M, Abbaspour M, Arjmandi R.( 2013). Determining proper strategies for health, safety, security and environmental (HSSE)
management system. Work: J Prevent Assess Rehabilitation.