Examining Change's Impact on Public Sector Organizational Performance in the VUCA Era

Objective - In the new Normal era which is filled with uncertainty and ambiguity termed Volatility, Uncertainty, Complex, and Ambiguity, leaders of public organizations are faced with various contradictory conditions (paradoxes) especially to prepare the organization and its employees to change to become more effective and efficient in serving the community. For this reason, a paradoxical leadership style is needed that uses the integration of paradoxical things to meet the needs of the organization and the needs of employees simultaneously. Moreover, the organizational performance can improve and be more adaptive to change. Methodology/Technique - The scope of the questionnaire distribution was Bengkulu Provincial Health Office employees with a planned sample size of 311 respondents using the census method, namely taking all population members as samples. This study applies Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the stages of testing construct validity (convergent validity, and discriminant validity) and reliability using SmartPLS 3.0. Findings – The results showed that paradoxical leadership had an effect on employee readiness and organizational performance, either directly or through a mediator. While organizational ambidexterity is not able to affect employee readiness to change and affect organizational performance. This is because public organizations have not been able to carry out the function of exploration and exploitation as an ambidexterity function. Novelty - The model of research that we examine provides a more complete picture of how readiness to change can become a mediator not only on how paradoxical leadership influences change-oriented performance but also on the organisation's overall performance. Based on the research that has been conducted, we believe that the sensitivity of leaders with a paradoxical leadership style can encourage their followers' acceptance and embrace of constant change Type of Paper: Empirical JEL Classification: J24, J28 Keywords: Paradox Leadership; Organizational Ambidexterity; Employee Readiness to Change; rganizational Performance Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Praningrum; Suryosukmono, G; Irfansyah, I; Chandra, B.D. (2023). Examining Change's Impact on Public Sector Organizational Performance in the VUCA Era, J. Mgt. Mkt. Review, 8(2), 86 – 93. https://doi.org/10.35609/jmmr.2023.8.2(3)