DOI 10.5281/zenodo.7259741 1236 | V17.I10 IMPACT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLES ON CHANGE AT SELECTED AUTOMOBILE DEALERSHIPS IN DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA NONYE EMMANUELLA CHUKWUMA Entrepreneurial Studies & Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, Durban University of Technology. South Africa. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0508-5723 FULUFHELO NETSWERA Faculty of Management Sciences, Durban University of Technology. South Africa. LOGANATHAN GOVENDER School of Management, Information & Governance, University of KwaZulu-Natal. South Africa. EMEM.O. ANWANA Applied Law Department, Faculty of Management Sciences, Durban University of Technology. South Africa. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3209-721X STANLEY CHIBUZOR ONWUBU Department of Chemistry, Durban University of Technology. South Africa. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4499- 1534 ABSTRACT Leadership effectiveness is a major area of concern in a political, social and organizational context (Park, 2021:1- 22). Leadership is a core component of organizational management, but its functions are getting more complex with the increasing involvement of changes taking place in the world (Sung & kim, 2021). As such, the complicated operation of managing resistance to change amongst employees is very critical. Resistance to change, on the other hand, is described as one of the impediments to organizational expansion due to its negative consequences. To cope with change, there is a need for an effective leadership style (Moradi, Jefari, Doorbash & Mirzaei, 2021:171-179, Malhotra, Zietsma, Morris & Smets, 2021:475-520). This study focuses on organizational change and associated leadership styles, i.e., transformational and transactional leadership styles as an embodiment of other leadership styles. The study further seeks to investigate the impact of these leadership styles on employee resistance to change at the selected automobile dealerships in the Durban Metropolitan Region of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Theories on change and leadership styles have been considered in this paper. A descriptive survey design was adopted to collect information from a stratified sample size using self-administered questionnaires to 170 staff at automotive dealerships in the metropolitan of Durban in South Africa. Pearson correlational and regression analysis were employed to analyze data. Results indicated significant correlations between these leadership styles and resistance to change. However, the transactional leadership style revealed a stronger possibility of increasing resistance to change. The study recommends that management should practice the transformational leadership style with a view to encouraging employee participation in the decision, building confidence, accepting constructive criticisms, effective communication and transparency.