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.
