Organizational Citizenship Behavior Research in Hospitality

ABSTRACT

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are discretionary workplace behaviors not recognized directly by a formal reward system; yet they promote effective functioning in the organization. Exhibition of OCBs has been linked to improved organizational performance and employee performance evaluation scores. Although approximately 200 articles have been published since the term OCB was first coined in 1983, fewer than a dozen articles have appeared in the area of hospitality. This article discusses various theories underlying OCB research, summarizes OCB research in hospitality, and suggests future research directions for OCB research in the hospitality industry.     

Linking employee attitudes and behaviors with business performance: A comparative analysis of hotels in Mexico and China

Organizations have been studied extensively through the lenses of employee attitudes and behaviors, yet links with organizational performance have not often been considered. This research uses established measures of commitment, job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) to analyze data obtained from workers in a multinational hotel chain operating in Mexico and China. Mexico and China are selected due to their importance as emerging global markets. Quantitative analysis shows significantly different levels of commitment, job satisfaction and OCB in line with low and high performance in these national hotel groups. The research finds that commitment, job satisfaction and OCB are associated significantly with financial performance, but not with guest satisfaction.     

How to motivate your older employees to excel? The impact of commitment on older employees’ performance in the hospitality industry

This study examined the relationship between employee age and performance, defined as in-role performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB), using a sample of 599 hospitality employees from Hong Kong. Results of a regression analysis indicated a negative relationship between age and in-role and OCB. We also examined whether organizational commitment is a necessary condition for older workers to perform well. Findings indicated that organizational commitment moderated the relationship between age and work performance, such that the relationships were strong and negative only when commitment was low.     

Identity judgements,work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior: The mediating effects based on group engagement model

The group engagement model (Tyler & Blader, 2003) suggests that organizational identification is based on both the individual's evaluation of the status of their group as perceived by outgroups (i.e., pride) and his/her view about their status within the group (i.e., respect). However, prior research has not examined the factors which influence organizational identification, and subsequently lead employees to feel engaged and exhibit positive extra-role behaviors that benefit the organization. Using time-lagged data from both service employees and their supervisors, our findings demonstrate that both pride and respect are positively related to organizational identification, and organizational identification is positively related to work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). More importantly, organizational identification mediates the relationships between the antecedents (i.e., pride and respect) and consequences (work engagement and OCB). Overall, the study provides compelling support for the group engagement model in predicting key job attitudes and behaviors amongst service employees.     

When does an employee not help coworkers? The effect of leader–member exchange on employee envy and organizational citizenship behavior

Using a sample of 233 front-line hotel employees, we examined leader–member exchange (LMX), envy, and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The results from path analysis support the research model that employees who have a relatively poor working relationship with their supervisor (i.e., low-quality LMX relationship) were more likely to show higher levels of envy than employees who have relatively closer working relationships with the same supervisor (i.e., high-quality LMX relationship). Ultimately, higher levels of envy decreased employee voluntary helping behavior (i.e., organizational citizenship behavior, OCB) toward coworkers. This finding suggests that employees perceiving a poor working relationship with their supervisor committed less voluntary helping behavior toward coworkers than their counterparts. Implications for managers and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Pushing forward high-performance work systems in the hotel industry: A procedural-justice climate to promote higher unit-level outcomes

In this study, we examine how the high-performance work system (HPWS) can be used to promote positive employee behavior leading to higher organizational service performance in the hotel industry. Specifically, we suggest that the collective organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) of employees links the HPWS to organizational service performance, and a stronger procedural-justice climate of a hotel strengthens the relationship between the HPWS and the collective OCB. Using multi-source data drawn from 5290 employees across 180 independent franchise hotels in North America and customer feedback on each surveyed hotel, we found that the collective OCB mediates the relationship between the HPWS and organizational service performance, and when hotels have a stronger procedural-justice climate, the mediating effect is more salient. The implications of these findings for tourism researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Perceived organizational diversity and employee behavior

While the impact of organizational diversity on employee work outcomes has received significant research attention, there is a dearth of literature in hospitality settings, particularly in Eastern cultures. Integrating the Social Identity Theory and diversity literature, this study, using data collected from 22 hotels in Taiwan, examined the relationship of perceived organizational diversity with Job Performance (JP), Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB) and Turnover Intention. The results indicated that the level of diversity perceived by hotel employees, significantly influenced employee JP and OCB. Ethnicity status also moderated the relationship between the perception of diversity levels and employee turnover intention. Specifically, a negative relationship between perceived diversity and turnover intention was observed among indigenous employees while a positive relationship was observed among non-indigenous employees.     

Hotels’ environmental leadership and employees’ organizational citizenship behavior

Expanding on a stream of literature connecting employee motivation to environmental practices, this research investigated why hospitality employees participated in organizational citizenship behaviors related to company sustainability efforts. The results of this study suggest that employees’ environmental belief partially mediates the influences of both environmental-transformational leadership and environmental policies on organizational citizenship behavior toward the environment, while it fully mediates the association between environmental training and the outcome. The findings also demonstrate that employees’ perception of organizational support moderates the relationship between environmental belief and organizational citizenship behavior toward the environment. Pointedly, hospitality workers reported they were increasingly more likely to engage in ecologically friendly organizational citizenship behaviors as their environmental beliefs increased, and as such, organizational support moderated the association so that the more support received, the more likely workers would engage in such behaviors, and the less support received, the less likely they were to do so.     

Social exchanges as motivators of hotel employees’ organizational citizenship behavior: The proposition and application of a new three-dimensional framework

This study developed and empirically tested a three-dimensional framework of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in the hotel industry. Using a social exchange perspective, the study expanded social exchange theory's emphasis on leader–member exchange to include coworker exchange and customer–employee exchange. The three types of social exchanges were tested as motivators for three types of OCB; organizational, interpersonal and customer. The findings support the distinctiveness of the three types of OCB and the importance of social exchanges as motivators for OCBs. This study contributes to the literature on OCB dimensionality in service organizations, as well as social exchange theory's application to discretionary performance in the hotel industry.     

Transformational leadership and employee performance: The role of identification,engagement and proactive personality

This study investigates the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions that explain the relationship between transformational leadership and frontline employee performance. Specifically, it explores the mediating role of organizational identification and work engagement in the relationship between transformational leadership and job performance and organization-directed citizenship behaviors. Additionally, it examines whether proactive personality moderates the effect of transformational leadership on identification and engagement. Data from 323 frontline hotel employees were analyzed using partial least square regression. Results show that identification and engagement fully mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors, whereas engagement partially mediates the link between transformational leadership and job performance. Results indicate a sequential mediation effect of identification and engagement on employee performance. Finally, findings show that proactive personality strengthens the effect of leadership on identification and engagement. The study provides information for hotel managers about why and under what circumstances employees perform the way they do.     

Green human resource practices and organizational citizenship behavior for the environment: the roles of collective green crafting and environmentally specific servant leadership

Green behavior among employees can contribute to the green performance of organizations. Regardless of the salience of human resource (HR) practices in translating organizational strategy into employee behaviors, this role of green HR practices in shaping employee green behavior has been under-explored. Through surveys of the participants from tour operators in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, our study seeks to investigate how green HR practices impact organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE) at team and individual levels as well as the mechanisms underlying such effects. The results demonstrated the positive relationships between green HR practices and collective as well as individual OCBE. Collective green crafting was found to mediate these relationships. Besides, environmentally specific servant leadership served as a moderator to strengthen the effects of green HR practices on collective green crafting as well as OCBE at team and individual levels. We anticipate our research to solicit further investigations into mechanisms underlying the nexus between green HR practices and employee green behavior. Discussion on the implications for tourism practitioners is presented.     

Promoting service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors in hotels: The role of high-performance human resource practices and organizational social climates

Integrating social exchange and information processing theories, this study examines the influence of high-performance human resource (HR) practices on service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) through two climates—justice climate and service climate. This field study of 1133 customer contact employees and 119 human resource managers from 119 hotels in Taiwan has shown that social climates of justice and service mediate the influence of high-performance HR practices on service-oriented OCB. The study demonstrates that high-performance HR practices affect employees’ cognition on how they are treated by hotels and what service behaviors are expected, which in turn can positively influence collective service-oriented OCB.     

An examination of the links between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its internal consequences

The purpose of this study is to examine the links between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its internal consequencesusing the hotel employees' CSR perception, Quality of Working Life (QWL), affective commitment, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and job performance. Although CSR has been widely studied from the perspective of employees, no previous study has related it to QWL in the field of hospitality research. Applying relevant theories, the study empirically substantiates the connection between the constructs and provides theoretical and practical implications. The results, drawn from data collected from hotel employees in upscale hotels in South Korea, show that hotel employees' CSR perception of the firm positively influences their QWL, affective commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior, which, in turn, enhance their job performance.     

Employee performance outcomes and burnout following the presentation-of-self in customer-service contexts

This study examines how emotional intelligence and occupational commitment have a moderating effect on the relationship between emotional labour and its potential outcomes. Two acting strategies reflect emotional labour, namely surface and deep acting, with burnout and performance as the prospective outcomes. Burnout is operationalized into emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and diminished personal achievement; whereas performance is operationalized into task performance and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The study investigates employee responses from several tourism and hospitality organizations in Florida, USA. The results show that emotional labour relates most positively to task performance and to burnout in the case of surface acting. Tests of moderation show that occupational commitment enhances performance outcomes by facilitating emotional labour strategies, and the prevalence of higher emotional intelligence amongst employees reduces burnout. These findings contribute to the literature on emotional labour by incorporating emotional intelligence and occupational commitment as moderators and by incorporating OCBs within performance analyses.     

Decisive mechanism of organizational citizenship behavior in the hotel industry – An application of economic game theory

This paper applies an economic game theory model to explain the decisive mechanism of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The Sub-game Perfect Nash Equilibrium (SPNE) indicates that an employee's unique motivation of OCB is to maximize his or her own performance outcome. The findings also suggest that workload, importance of work to performance outcomes and cost of OCB jointly determine the amount of OCB that each individual employee exhibits. An empirical test utilizing frontline hotel employees was performed (N = 175). Using a partial related test and logistical model, the results supported three propositions, suggesting that the amount of OCB exhibited by each employee is jointly influenced by the workload, cost of OCBs and OCBs performed by coworkers.     

Multilevel model of management support and casino employee turnover intention

This study proposed and tested a trickle-down model that manager support at the functional department level affect frontline employees' attitudes toward supervisor support at the operational level and subsequently influence leader-member exchange (LMX), organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and turnover intentions. Three mediators were identified from the cross-level analysis, namely, supervisor support, group trust, and OCB. A survey collected valid responses from 336 line level casino employees who represent 112 work groups from 39 departments nested in 17 casinos. The hierarchical linear model (HLM) results indicate that (1) supervisor support mediates the relationship between departmental support and individual level LMX, (2) group trust mediates the relationship between supervisor support and hence employee turnover intention, and (3) OCB mediates the relationship between LMX and employee turnover. Our findings have important implications for casino management and operators by developing an efficient management support system to reduce the intention of frontline employees to quit.     

When and why organizational dehumanization leads to deviant work behaviors in hospitality industry

This study investigates when and why organizational dehumanization leads to deviant work behavior. Accordingly, aims to investigate the impacts of organizational dehumanization on perceived incivility and deviant work behavior. In addition to this, also investigates the psychological capital as moderator between organizational dehumanization and perceived incivility, while perceived incivility as a mediator between organizational dehumanization and deviant work behaviors (employee time theft and knowledge hiding). A time lag approach: with three-time intervals T1, T2 and T3 respectively was used to collect the data from hotel employees. Results indicate that organizational dehumanization leads to perceived incivility and thereof, perceived incivility propels deviant work behaviors amongst employees. Moreover, employee’s psychological capital played a protective role of reducing the detrimental effects of organizational dehumanization on perceived incivility. This research contributes to literature by considering behavioral outcomes of organizational dehumanization. For managers this study provides insights to minimize organizational stressors to buffer employee deviant behaviors. This study also provides new research avenues in hospitality industry.     

An investigation of the role of justice in turnover intentions,job satisfaction,and organizational citizenship behavior in hospitality industry

The relationship of organizational justice perceptions of hotel employees in North Cyprus with various work-related variables was investigated. A total of 208 employees and their managers filled out questionnaires. It was found that distributive justice tended to be a stronger predictor of all of the study variables compared to procedural justice. Findings suggest that the fairness of personal outcomes that employees receive may have more impact on turnover intentions, job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) than the perceived fairness of a firm's procedures. It was also found that even though improved job satisfaction seems to be related to OCB, organizational justice seems to be the key factor that has a strong effect on both OCB and job satisfaction.     

An examination of restaurant employees’ work-life outlook: The influence of support systems during COVID-19

The main objective of this research paper is to examine the influence of perceived support (i.e., organizational support and social support) on life satisfaction (i.e., current and anticipated life satisfaction), which is hypothesized to increase restaurant employees’ loyalty organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and decrease their intentions to leave the restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the moderating effects of employees’ resilience and employment status are also examined. Analyzing the responses of 609 restaurant employees using structural equation modeling (SEM), findings revealed that all direct effects were supported, except for the effect of anticipated life satisfaction on intention to leave the restaurant industry. Lastly, the moderating role of resilience in the relationships between current life satisfaction and restaurant employees’ loyalty OCB and intentions to leave the industry was confirmed. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in detail.     

Crafting and testing a central precept in service-dominant logic: Hotel employees’ brand-citizenship behavior and customers’ brand trust

Employees play an important role in hotel service branding. Their enactments of positive brand-supportive behaviors help nurture positive customer–brand relationships. This study explores the relationship between employee perceived organizational support, brand citizenship behavior, and customers’ perceptions of brand trust. Two questionnaire surveys were carried out in high-contact hotel service firms collecting employee and customer data by matched-questionnaires. The results of the study indicate that brand-citizenship behavior consists of three components: willingness-to-help, brand enthusiasm, and propensity for further development. Propensity for further development has a significant direct positive effect on the other two components, and the other two components both have significant direct positive effects on customer's brand trust. Employee-perceived higher levels of organizational support increase performance of brand citizenship behavior. The study includes empirical findings, contributions to theory, limitations, and direction for future research.