Transformational Leadership of School Heads, Team Building Effectiveness, and Stress Management Competency: A Structural Equation Model on Attitude to Organizational Change of Teachers

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the best-fit model for teachers’ attitudes toward organizational change as influenced by transformational leadership of school heads, team building effectiveness, and stress management competency among 400 public elementary school teachers in Davao Region, Philippines. Using the Structural Equation Model Analysis, findings revealed very high levels of Transformational Leadership of school heads, team building effectiveness, stress management competency, and attitude of teachers to organizational change. Moreover, there is no significant correlation between the Transformational Leadership of school heads and the attitude of teachers toward toward organizational change. However, the result of team building effectiveness and the attitude of teachers toward organizational change have a significant relationship. The stress management competency and the attitude of teachers toward organizational change were also correlated. Meanwhile, the overall model needs to be more critical, indicating that these factors do not explain a significant portion of the variance in attitudes to organizational change. Further, results showed that Model 3 passed the criteria for the best-fit model since it showed that team-building effectiveness has a significant positive direct effect on attitudes toward organizational change, suggesting that effective team-building positively influences how teachers perceive organizational change. Its three observed retained indicators measured it: Self-oriented, Relationship Oriented, and Responsibility Oriented Roles. Stress Management Competency has a negative direct effect on Attitudes to Organizational Change measured by four observed retained indicators: Managing Emotions and having Integrity, Managing and communicating existing and Future Work, Managing the Individual within the team, and Managing Difficult Situations. Likewise, attitudes to organizational change are Influenced by both Team Building Effectiveness and Stress Management Competency measured by retained indicators: Attitude of Cynicism to Change, Attitude of Opposition due to Fear Uncertainty, and Attitude of Acceptance to Change. The findings were supported by the theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by Icek Ajzen. It posits that an individual’s intention to engage in a behavior is being used to understand how these factors influence employees’ intentions and attitudes toward organizational changes. Using TPB in this organizational change context often focuses on how these factors can predict the likelihood of employees accepting and adapting to changes.