Celestine Igwebe

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Effective change management is essential for navigating the constantly changing business environment. This study examines the impact of change management strategies on the performance of commercial banks in Nigeria, focusing on the moderating role of technology. The research employs a survey method, collecting data from 354 senior and management staff across 17 commercial banks. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to validate the research instrument, followed by an ordered regression technique to estimate the specified model due to the rank-ordered nature of the criterion variable. The results reveal that reactive, proactive, and incremental changes are significantly associated with the performance of commercial banks in Nigeria. However, transitional change does not affect performance substantially, unless moderated by technology. The study highlights the critical role of technology in bridging the gap between transitional change and improved performance, underscoring its importance in the Nigerian banking sector. The findings suggest that Nigerian commercial banks should adopt proactive change strategies and continuously invest in relevant technology to manage transitional changes effectively and enhance performance. The study’s generalizability may be limited due to its focus on commercial banks, which constitute a small subset of the financial sector. Nonetheless, the large sample size enhances the robustness of the findings.