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This systematic review examines how organisational culture (OC) influences organisational change in developing countries, addressing a literature gap concentrated in Western, high-income contexts. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, we analysed 35 studies published between 2000 and 2025, spanning healthcare, manufacturing, higher education, public administration, and finance across 15 developing nations. The synthesis employed thematic analysis guided by the Competing Values Framework and institutional theory. Results indicate that organisational culture operates as a contingent mediator rather than a uniform driver or barrier. Clan culture consistently facilitates change through empowerment, trust, and participative decision-making. Conversely, a hierarchy culture typically impedes implementation through centralised authority, information hoarding, and suppressed psychological safety. Adhocracy and market cultures produce context-dependent effects, moderated by sectoral constraints and managerial practices. National cultural dimensions, political interference, and resource scarcity significantly moderate these relationships, often neutralising formal change policies. The findings demonstrate that change management practices mediate the culture-outcome link but require multi-level alignment to succeed. This review contributes a contextual model for OC-change dynamics, extending Western frameworks by showing that hierarchy in developing contexts is frequently an institutionalised norm rather than a managerial preference. Practically, the study provides evidence-based guidance for diagnosing cultural fit, adapting change strategies to national realities, and addressing systemic resource constraints.

Transformational leadership has been touted by several scholars as the real deal in necessitating organisational change. The approach encourages, inspires and motivates followers to be innovative and create change that necessitates growth and shapes organisational success. While several studies have confirmed that leadership plays a crucial role in effective change management, very few have gone further to identify the specific leadership style(s) necessary for effective change management. As such, the study sought to assess the influence of transformational leadership on organisational change in the mining industry with specific reference to ABC Mine in Zimbabwe. Guided by the interpretivism research philosophy and the inductive approach, the study adopted a qualitative research design where primary data was collected through semi structured interviews from 26 participants chosen through purposive sampling. The study found that transformational leaders act as key influencers in driving organisational change by fostering trust, inclusivity, and collaboration. It was also found that transformational leaders effectively address and mitigate employee resistance to change by fostering open communication and psychological safety. The study concluded that transformational leadership is effective and necessary in managing organisational change. The study also concluded that employee engagement and involvement, personalised employee relations and continuous training are key practices necessary for facilitating organisational change implementation.

This study examined the effect of organisational culture on employees' readiness towards change at two Eswatini state-owned enterprises. Guided by a positive research philosophy, the study adopted a quantitative, cross-sectional research design. Daya was collected from a stratified sample of 543 permanent employees using the Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) and the Readiness Toward Change Scale (RTCS). Reliability was assessed by using Cronbach's alpha, while confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, and multiple regression were employed to examine the relationship and predictive effects among the variables. The results revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between organisational culture and readiness towards change. Market culture emerged as the strongest predictor of readiness towards change, followed by hierarchical culture, Adhocracy culture, and clan culture. These findings suggest that performance orientation, structural clarity, adaptability, and relational cohesion jointly contribute to enhancing employee readiness for organisational change. From the business ecosystem and strategic management perspective, the findings highlight the importance of cultivating an adaptive organisational culture as a key enabler of sustainable performance, ethical governance, and stakeholder trust. At a broader socio-economic level, strengthening organisational culture and employee readiness for change within state-owned enterprises can enhance productivity, promote social equity, and support inclusive growth, reinforcing Eswatini's business and socio-economic ecosystem.

Makhanda Municipality, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, faces difficulties such as service delivery failures, infrastructure deficiencies, and government inefficiencies. This paper aims to assess the applicability and efficacy of Lewin's model in promoting organisational change and improving performance in this particular Municipality. This paper used VOSviewer's bibliometric analysis to synthesise 36 current literature and pinpoint important trends, seminal research, and knowledge gaps about change management. The findings show that Lewin's model, which includes unfreezing, change, and refreezing phases, provides a systematic framework that, when applied in Makhanda, can greatly improve stakeholder engagement and organisational adaptability. The paper's novelty stems from its adaptation of a traditional change model to a modern municipal environment, which provides valuable insights into local governance. To improve the transformation process, recommendations include tailoring training programs for local officials and establishing a feedback mechanism. This paper concludes that effective change management is critical for enhancing public service outcomes, and Makhanda Municipality will greatly benefit from the application of the Model.