Impact of Techno-Stress, Transformational Leadership and Change Management on Jordanian Government Accountants’ Commitment to IPSAS Implementation

Jordan's government has recently adopted International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), aligning with global trends. The Jordanian Ministry of Finance introduced cash basis IPSAS in 2015 and aimed to fully implement accrual accounting IPSAS by 1 January 2021. Unfortunately, this goal has not been achieved yet, indicating a considerable gap due to challenges in transitioning from current accounting practices to entirely new ones. This study aims to explore the difficulties faced in moving from established accounting practices to IPSAS, emphasising the importance of understanding the challenges encountered by government accountants to facilitate successful implementation. This study examines the impact of techno-stress (techno-overload, techno-invasion, techno-complexity techno-insecurity and techno-uncertainty) and transformational leadership on the commitment of Jordanian government accountants’ to IPSAS implementation. Additionally, the study investigates change management as a moderating variable. A quantitative methodology was employed with questionnaires distributed to government accountants at the Jordanian Ministry of Finance. The study's sample size was 403, yielding a response rate of 79%. Data was analysed using SPSS and PLS-SEM to confirm the correlations between the variables. The findings revealed that the most significant predictor of commitment to implementing IPSAS was transformational leadership, exhibiting a significant positive impact. In contrast, techno-stress, techno-overload, techno-invasion, and techno-complexity had significant negative effects on commitment, while techno-insecurity and techno-uncertainty were insignificant. Furthermore, the moderation analysis revealed that change management has a strengthening moderating effect on the relationship between techno-stress and transformational leadership on commitment to IPSAS implementation. Specifically, it moderates the effects of techno-complexity, techno-insecurity, and techno-uncertainty on commitment but not techno-overload and techno-invasion. This study contributes to the limited research conducted on IPSAS implementation in developing nations, particularly in Jordan and the Middle East. The insights highlight the critical role of transformational leadership and effective change management in overcoming implementation challenges. Further research is needed to validate these findings across different contexts and regions.