Change Management Strategies and Transformational Leadership at the Gunungsitoli City Education Office

Abstract

Purpose: This study examines change management strategies and the enactment of transformational leadership during a leadership transition at the Gunungsitoli City Education Office and develops an integrative framework for sustaining organizational change.

Research Method: A qualitative descriptive-analytical case study was conducted involving 12 participants, comprising three key informants and nine primary informants. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using NVivo through deductive-inductive coding, analytical memos, and matrix coding queries across five parent nodes.

Results and Discussion: The change process was driven by service consistency, data accuracy, cross-unit coordination, digitalization, and performance management. Transformational leadership facilitated change through role modeling, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. However, implementation was constrained by uneven digital competence, workload pressure, delayed information, passive resistance, and fragmented data.

Implications: Sustainable change requires stronger standard operating procedures, measurable performance indicators, systematic documentation, cross-unit learning, and succession mechanisms.

Originality: The study proposes the 4M framework—Mapping the Change Context, Matching Strategic Direction, Mobilizing Implementers, and Mainstreaming Outcomes—to integrate change management, transformational leadership, employee readiness, coordination, and organizational learning.