Change Readiness in Higher Educations: The Influence of Emotional Intelligence, Leadership Behavior, and Organizational Commitment

Change phenomenon is the main concern of the current organizations regardless of the nature of their businesses. This current study examines the moderating impact of organizational commitment towards the emotional intelligence, leadership behavior and organizational readiness for change. The survey was conducted to the participants from various higher education institutions in Malaysia. The findings showed that both emotional intelligence and leadership factors were significantly impact the readiness for organizational change. In addition, organizational commitment moderates the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership behavior to the change readiness. The study contributes to the understanding of the organizational readiness to change particularly on the key aspects which are leadership style, emotional intelligence and organizational commitment. It is recommended that future research to be taken in other similar context such as the public sectors which mainly on the service operation. It is appropriate to include the hard factors such as infrastructure, technology and systems for further research.