Organisational culture, transformational leadership, and emotional intelligence in change readiness

This study investigates the interplay between organizational culture (OC), transformational leadership (TL), and individual emotional intelligence (EI) in shaping employees' readiness for change (CR). While existing literature has explored these factors independently, this paper integrates them to understand how they collectively influence workforce adaptability within the aviation sector.

The researchers conducted a quantitative, cross-sectional study of 450 airline employees. They utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) via LISREL 8.72 to test a theoretical model where OC and TL function as antecedents to CR, with EI positioned as a mediating psychological construct.

The study confirms that both organizational culture and transformational leadership are positive, significant drivers of change readiness. A central finding is that emotional intelligence acts as a partial mediator for the relationship between organizational culture and change readiness, suggesting that a supportive culture enhances CR partly by nurturing emotional competencies. Conversely, the study finds no evidence that emotional intelligence mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and change readiness, implying that leadership influences employee adaptability through more direct behavioral channels rather than by developing emotional traits.

For practitioners, these results suggest that change management strategies should be multi-layered. Organizations cannot rely on leadership alone to foster readiness; they must simultaneously invest in creating an adaptive culture that builds the emotional intelligence necessary for employees to navigate transitions effectively. By identifying which pathways are direct (leadership) and which are mediated (culture through EI), leaders can better allocate their resources toward the most impactful interventions for ensuring organizational success.