Exploring the views of leadership at Takoradi Technical University on change readiness after their upgrade

Abstract

Change is an integral part of everyday life. The environment is dynamic and not static, for which reason individuals and institutions must learn to adapt to these changes as and when they occur. For institutions, most change initiatives fail to materialise largely because of poor leadership, if leadership is forthcoming, institutions are bound to chalk great successes after change initiatives. The study used the case study approach to explore the leadership’s change readiness at Technical Universities after they were upgraded from Polytechnics. The study collected qualitative data from eight participants judgementally sampled from the Takoradi Technical University. The thematic analysis approach was used in analysing conversational interviews and textual data. Four main themes namely, preparations made, roles of leadership, challenges of the Takoradi Technical University and the leadership needs, emerged from the analysis to feed the overarching theme of change readiness of technical universities. The study concludes that the leadership of Takoradi Technical University is ready and has put the necessary tools in place to get the organisational members for the change. The results emanating from this study expand the understanding of change and change readiness and also contribute to existing knowledge on change readiness. The study recommends that the NCTE should evaluate the upgraded institutions to fine tune the new system. Also the institution should offer commercial services as a means of generating income. Finally, the leadership should liaise with industry to know and tailor curriculum to fit industrial wants.