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LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

Over the years, the concept of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has been elevated as to be an area of interest in academic and corporate research.  Researchers have conducted several empirical studies in a bid to identify the consequences as well as the antecedents of a behavior so important within the organizational context. True as it were, the aim of management everywhere is to make workers as productive as possible. Understanding the literature surrounding the organizational work environment would give insight as to what means can be employed to increase the productivity of workers.  This literature review explores various dimensions and antecedents of OCB, even in the manner they have been addressed by other scholars.

The Concept of OCB

Understanding various factors that influence the performance of workers is important from the perspective of employment relations. Players in the current economy that is knowledge-base appreciate that organizations that have the highest quality and degree of knowledge are able to increase profitability and grow fast. This implies that the growth prospects of organizations to a great extent depend on workers’ knowledge because they can use it to yield information, get meaning from it and use it to come up with solutions as may be appropriate. However, such success would not be possible if the factors that affect the performance of workers are not understood (Davoudi, 2012).

According to Harper (2015), the notion of OCB was initially articulated to refer to the willingness of individuals to co-operate within the organizational context. Later on, it was defined to mean the co-operation which is a genuine and voluntary restraint of oneself and a true commitment to service even with no reward in mind, sometimes putting the organization’s interests above those of oneself.  Hakim and colleagues (2014) present that in a bid to differentiate OCB from other obligatory roles makes it clear that such behavior s can be only be distinguished on the basis of if or not they are contained within one’s job description, referred to as in-role performance, or if they are directed at supporting the organization, much as they may not be detailed in an employee’s job description (called extra-role performance in this context). This presentation is also supported by Hakim et al. (2014).OCB examples include helping orient new employees, co-operating with colleagues, helping others perform their roles, and willingly doing more than what one’s job requires just to mention but a few.

Allameh et al. (2012) assert that it has been established that the relationship between Organizational Citizenship Behavior(s), environment-supporting dynamics and individual work performance determines how well an organization performs. In their assertion, they stress the importance of distinguishing the different kinds of OCB as well as the antecedents and outcomes. In their study, they focused on employee attitude and employee engagement in the context of OCB and inferred that these antecedents are directly related to input and performance.

Dimensions of OCB 

Frooqui (2012) explains that OCB emerges as the main variable of concern where variance is explained through different dimensions of the climate within the organization. Different kinds of citizenship-like have been examined and used as the basis for developing an model consisting a number of dimensions namely; sportsmanship, helping behavior, organizational loyalty, individual initiative, organizational compliance, self-development ,and civic  virtue. Helping behavior has two parts, with the first one covering interpersonal helping, altruism, interpersonal facilitation, and assisting co-workers. As for the second part, it coincides with the courtesy dimension that involves assisting others by preventing problems for them (Davoudi, 2012).

In the context of the sportsmanship dimension, (Frooqui, 2012) puts forth that employees are expected not to complain when others inconvenience them. They are also expected to remain optimistic even when things go wrong. They should also not feel offended if co-workers do not act on their ideas or suggestions, and they should be ready to sacrifice their own interests for those of the organization. Last, if other people reject their ideas, they do not take such a development personally. Vaijayanthi and co-authors (2014) argue that organizational loyalty goes hand in hand with loyal boosterism and goodwill, which are concerned with supporting, defending, and endorsing an organization’s objectives, thus promoting the firm to those who do not know it while defending and protecting it from external threats. Organizational compliance comprises of generalized compliance, organizational obedience (which entails following the rules and procedures of an organization), job dedication. This dimension involves workers religiously following and acting per the rules and regulations of an organization (Jahangir, & Akbar, 2004).

The dimension of individual initiative requires that an employee works beyond and above duty (Hakim et al., 2014). It entails behaviors like volunteering for extra duties/responsibilities, as well as working with an enthusiastic spirit to complete one’s work (Harper, 2015). Notably, the dimension coincides with conscientiousness, individual initiative, and personal industry. It is also in line with the job dedication dimension where an employee volunteers to perform some responsibilities, offering constructive suggestions, and persisting in one’s duties with enthusiasm.

Civic virtue is another dimension that is concerned with the responsibilities employees have by virtue of being ‘citizens’ of an organization.  Harper (2015) presents that it effectively corresponds to organization participation, civic virtue, and the dimension of protecting the organization. More precisely, in the context of this dimension, members of an organization are expected to consider themselves as being part of a bigger whole, the same way citizens belong to a country and accept the responsibilities that come with such a capacity. Behaviors that are covered by this dimension include attending meetings, being punctual, and keeping up with any new developments that may occur with the ultimate goal of protecting the interests of the organization.

Last but not least is the dimension of self-development. In this context, an individual is expected to remain as competent and updated as possible so that he or she can be in a position to contribute towards achieving the objects of the organization.  For instance, an individual is expected to work towards self-improvement such as by training as well as adjusting or catching with changes in a given field of work.

Antecedents of OCB

In various occupations, different forms of OCB are consistently predicted by an array of leader, employee, task and organizational characteristics. In this context, many researchers such as Allameh et al. (2012), Hakim et al. (2014) and Vaijayanthi and colleagues (2014) have carried out studies in an attempt to determine how different organizational and individual variables affect the willingness of an employee to engage in Organizational Citizenship Behavior. These variables can be as many as the arguments that various schools of thought can put forth, but those to be discussed here shall be limited to the scope of the requirements of this literature review.

Job satisfaction and organizational commitment

Job satisfaction is related to job performance and engagement in OCB.  Jahangir and Akbar (2004) explain that employee turnover, absenteeism, and psychological turmoil/stress are all influenced by job satisfaction. Employees with high job satisfaction are less likely to look for another job, or think of quitting. It also breeds affective organizational commitment where an employee feels values at the organization and thus wants to stay.

Role perceptions

Perceptions like role ambiguity and role conflict are mentioned in this breath. It has been established that they are negatively linked to OCB since they directly affect satisfaction.

Leader behavior

The manner a leader treats other members within the organization influences engagement in the OCB context (Jahangir, & Akbar, 2004). If a leader shows appreciation to members for what they do then it is obvious such employees will want to stay and be proud to be associated with the organization. The behavior of leaders will also determine if subordinates perceive the organizational climate to be fair or otherwise.

Individual dispositions

According to Vaijayanthi et al. (2014), personality may sometimes influence job satisfaction.Considering that OCB primarily involves a set of behaviors that influence a worker’s perception of the work place, it is clear such a worker’s personality variables are of central concern when exploring the concept of OCB in the organizational climate. In other words, the personality of individual gains determines how he or she perceives the organizational climate and to what degree they are willing to engage in OCB.

Motivation

A worker’s motive’s motive is likely to determine the way he or she conducts herself within the organization. This is related to OCB since the actions can also shape relationships with others in the organization. The manner such would shape OCB would be in terms of intrinsic processes which would affect a worker’s willingness.

Employee age

Jahangir and Akbar (2004) argue that the manner a worker views work or perceives the organizational climate may be influenced by age. They support their argument by making reference to a 2000 study by Wagner and Rush which sought to investigate the role age plays. The said authors inferred that early years are the years people establish themselves and settle down. However, they say, later years constitute a time of string self-sense and location where one is serious and committed to work and life in general. As regards the notion of OCB, the authors present that younger people are more likely to coordinate and fuse their needs with those of their organization, whereas older people display much rigid to alter their needs to suit or at least be in sync with those of the organization.

Conclusion

It must be appreciated that the scope of this literature review could only allow uncovering of the dimensions and antecedents of OCB as discussed thus far. Imperatively, this review is not as exhaustive.. Nevertheless, it is helpful in giving insight into various factors at play within the organizational climate, and how such factors are likely to shape a worker’s willingness to engage in OCB.  Managers should take into account some of the issues discussed here, as that could be the key to organizational success.

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