Change Leadership Styles in SMEs: Participative or Exclusionist?

By:
Dr Retha Wiesner,
Jim McDonald,
Ms Nicci Poole
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This study attempts to fill some of the gaps in existing studies by considering change leadership styles employed in the introduction of organisational change initiatives in Australian SMEs. Four styles, adapted from Dunphy and Stace’s change leadership model were measured. SME managers were asked to indicate a range of four possible approaches including: widespread involvement of employees in decisions; consultation with employees with possible limited involvement in goal setting; managerial authority and direction as the main form of decision-making; and managerial initiation and implementation of change.

In addition to considering the change leadership styles of SME managers, three common practices which are said to provide opportunities for employee involvement in decision-making are identified and the relationship between each of the practices with the presence or absence of consultation on the relevant issues. The practices discussed here are the use of joint consultative committees (JCCs), total quality management (TQM), and self-directed work teams. Owing to the dearth of national data on organisational change in SMEs, the results of this study are used to determine whether SMEs could be characterised as “participative” or “exclusionist” in introducing change. The results reveal low levels of consultation in Australian workplaces, but also identify that at best around a half of Australian SMEs are consistent in both consulting employees and putting in place one or other of the three common participative practices.


Keywords: Organisational Change, Change Leadership Styles, Small and Medium Size Enterprises
Stream: Change
Presentation Type: Virtual Presentation in English
Paper: Change Leadership Styles in SMEs

Dr Retha Wiesner

Associate Professor, Department of Management and Organisational Behaviour
Faculty of Business, University of Southern Queensland
Toowoomba, Queensland, AUSTRALIA

Dr. Retha Wiesner is currently conducting a major national and international study on management and organisational change in small and medium size enterprises. Dr Wiesner has published extensively in Australia and overseas. She is still involved as consultant in Australian organisations. She has completed four books during the last four years including two edited books with Bruce Millett, titled Management and organisational behaviour: contemporary challenges and future directions and Human resource management: challenges and future directions. She co-authored the text books Management: an Asia Pacific perspective and Management: 2nd AsiaPacific Edition.

Jim McDonald

Griffith University
AUSTRALIA

Ms Nicci Poole

Managing Director, Management Futures
Toowoomba, Queensland, AUSTRALIA

Ref: M06P0398