Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

Types of OCB

One of the most widely accepted conceptualizations of OCB is the one proposed by Organ in 1988. It includes five behavioral components. The first is altruism, or helping behavior targeted at a coworker. The second one, generalized compliance, can be thought of as employee conscientiousness that is beyond the call of duty. Enduring work-related hassles and annoyances without complaint is indicative of the third type of OCB, sportsmanship. Fourth, by initiating communication with others before embarking on some course of action that could affect their work, an employee displays courtesy. Finally, civic virtue behaviors are participatory in nature and are indicated by engagement with organizational issues and concerns.

Although researchers have often relied on this particular framework in their research, several others have also been used. Moreover, researchers have introduced a variety of other labels to describe different types of OCB, such as conscientiousness, job dedication, obedience, loyalty, loyal boosterism, participation, personal industry, self-development, voice, interpersonal facilitation, interpersonal helping, cheerleading, peacemaking, and individual initiative.

In addition, scholars in this area sometimes make a distinction between OCBs that are directed toward (or benefit) other individuals (OCB-I) and OCBs that are directed toward (or benefit) the organization (OCB-O). In most research, though, these different types of OCB are highly intercorrelated and, for this reason, are often aggregated into an overall measure of employee citizenship. Indeed, some scholars have argued that it is not worth making distinctions between specific forms of citizenship.

Causes of OCB

Much of the early research on OCB was directed toward the discovery of its causes, which can generally be grouped into four broad categories: job attitudes, dispositional factors, task characteristics, and leadership. Although the correlation between job attitudes and traditional indicators of productivity or performance is fairly weak, the relationship between job attitudes and OCB is clearly stronger. In particular, employees who are satisfied with their jobs, feel committed or attached to their organizations, and perceive they are fairly treated are more likely than other employees to exhibit OCB. It has also been argued that certain traits might be associated with good citizenship in organizations. Nevertheless, while some research indicates that employees who are conscientious, group oriented, and concerned for others tend to engage in higher levels of OCB, relatively few studies have been able to establish a significant link between personality and citizenship. With regard to task characteristics, previous findings indicate that employees tend to engage in relatively higher levels of OCB when they are assigned jobs that are intrinsically satisfying and provide feedback about their performance; conversely, OCB levels are likely to be considerably lower when employees have jobs that are repetitive or routine. Finally, organizational leaders are often able to inspire employees to go above and beyond the call of duty as well. In particular, citizenship behavior is more common among employees who work for transformational leaders who articulate a clear organizational vision and among employees who work for managers who establish a real connection with them.

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