The management of professional employees: linking progressive HRM practices,cognitive orientations and organizational citizenship behavior

Abstract

The present research examines the relationships between progressive HRM practices and the organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) of professional employees. Drawing on recent HRM literature, our research model includes a perceived organizational support (POS)-commitment mediation hypothesis. Taking into account previous studies on professional employees, a job satisfaction-commitment pathway is also integrated. We tested both mediational pathways as part of a single structural equation model using a sample of 329 professional employees. Our results show that the relationship between recognition and OCB is mediated by the POS-commitment pathway, while the relationships between fairness of rewards, skills development and OCB are mediated by the job satisfaction-commitment pathway. The specificities of the HRM of professional employees related to their multiple cognitive orientations are discussed.     

The linkage between profit sharing and organizational citizenship behaviour

The study investigated the effects of profit sharing (cash-based, stock-based and combined-total profit sharing) on organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). It also examined the mediating role of organizational commitment on the relationship between profit sharing and OCB. Data were collected from 426 employees of 35 information electronics companies in Taiwan. Results showed that whereas cash-based profit sharing had no effect on OCB, both combined-total profit sharing and stock-based profit sharing positively influenced OCB. We also found that organizational commitment mediated the relationship between profit sharing (stock-based and combined-total profit sharing) and OCB.     

The roles of OCB and automation in the relationship between job autonomy and organizational performance: a moderated mediation model

This study examines the mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in the relationship between job autonomy and organizational performance in the manufacturing industry. The study also investigates the moderating role of automation in those relationships. Although it is well known that job autonomy has an intimate relationship with employees’ attitudes at the individual level, no studies have yet elucidated the relationships of job autonomy with OCB and organizational performance at the organizational level. Moreover, no research has investigated the role of automation in an OB discipline, although automation constitutes an important contextual variable. Using a moderated mediation model, this study found that OCB mediated the relationship between job autonomy and performance, and that these relationships were stronger in less automated organizations. The findings offer implications regarding how job autonomy can improve organizational performance and which organizations benefit more from job autonomy.     

Employment security and employee organizational citizenship behavior: does an ‘iron rice bowl’ make a difference?

Empirical evidence linking employment security to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is equivocal. Limited research has considered the effect of employment status. Using data from 217 subordinate–supervisor dyads in a large state-owned enterprise in China as basis, our research found significant association between overall perceived employment security and employee OCB. However, this relationship may vary depending on employment status. Further analysis suggested a curvilinear relationship for permanent employees with an ‘iron rice bowl’ (lifetime employment) and a linear relationship for contractual employees without an ‘iron rice bowl’. Our study contributes to a thorough understanding of the relationship between employment security and positive behaviors in terms of OCB by integrating the literature on social exchange, psychological contract, and proactive behavior.     

The Costs of Exhibiting Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has been associated with positive organizational outcomes and with higher managerial ratings of employee performance. However, concerns have been raised about the possible personal costs of performing such activities. This paper examines the relationship between OCB and emotional exhaustion and work‐family conflict and explores the moderating role of job performance in shaping those relationships. In a time‐lagged field study of customer‐contact center employees the research found that one particular dimension of OCB—conscientiousness—was associated with higher emotional exhaustion and with work‐family conflict. The study also revealed that conscientious employees who performed their in‐role job responsibilities at a high level experienced greater emotional exhaustion and work‐family conflict than conscientious employees who performed their in‐role job responsibilities at a low level. Our findings suggest that organizational pressures to increase the level at which both discretionary and formal role obligations are performed can carry negative consequences for employees. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The impact of socially responsible human resource management on employees' organizational citizenship behaviour: the mediating role of organizational identification

Based on insights from social exchange and social identity theories, this paper examines the influence of three dimensions of socially responsible human resource management (SR-HRM), namely legal compliance HRM, employee-oriented HRM and general CSR facilitation HRM, on employees' organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Structural equation modelling of dyadic data collected from Chinese employees and their direct supervisors in three phases revealed that whilst organizational identification fully mediated the relationship between employee-oriented HRM and employee OCB, general CSR facilitation HRM had a direct effect on employee OCB. In contrast, legal compliance HRM neither influenced employee OCB directly, nor indirectly through organizational identification. The findings highlight the important but complex role played by SR-HRM in eliciting positive employee work outcomes, and contribute to our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying this relationship.     

Held captive in the office: an investigation into long working hours among Korean employees

Although working long hours is a common practice, scholars still know little about what really causes employees to work long hours. Drawing on social information processing and social learning theory, this study examines the role of social contextual antecedents (i.e. supervisor working hours and the perceived overtime climate of one’s workgroup) in influencing employee working hours, after controlling for individual background and job characteristics. Further, we examine whether such relationships are contingent on employees’ individual differences in their identification with leader and a collectivist tendency. A field study of 200 supervisor-subordinate dyads in South Korea revealed a strong positive relationship between the contextual antecedents and employees’ working hours, as well as the moderating effects of the two individual difference variables. Specifically, we found that the relationship between supervisor working hours and employee working hours was more positive for low identifiers than for high identifiers, while the relationship between the perceived overtime climate and employee working hours was more positive for those low in collectivism than for those high in collectivism. Finally, we found that working long hours was associated with lower job satisfaction, higher psychological distress, lower in-role performance, but not with organizational citizenship behavior.     

High-performance HR practices and OCB: a cross-level investigation of a causal path

This study investigates the relationships between high-performance human resource (HR) practices and individual outcome variables from a cross-level perspective. It also identifies the mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationship between psychological climate and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Drawing on a sample of 576 employees from 11 manufacturing plants in Taiwan, our results show that psychological climate perceptions are positively and significantly associated with job satisfaction and OCB, and job satisfaction mediates the relationship between psychological climate perceptions and OCB at the individual level. At the plant level, high-performance HR practices have a positive and significant relationship only with job satisfaction. The theoretical and managerial implications and contributions of these findings are discussed.     

Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Role Breadth: A Meta‐Analytic and Cross‐Cultural Analysis

We provide a meta‐analysis of the empirical literature concerning role breadth, defined as the degree to which employees consider organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) to be an inherent part of their job. Results based on a combined sample size of 9,222 showed: (a) Confucian Asians consider OCB as part of their job to a greater extent than do their Anglo counterparts; (b) affiliative kinds of OCB (e.g., helping, conscientiousness, and courtesy) are more likely to be considered part of one's job than are change‐oriented OCB (e.g., voice, taking charge, and initiative); and (c) OCB‐inclusive role breadth correlates strongly with OCB (r_c = .43). The implications of these findings for human resources practice, such as competency modeling, employee selection and training, organizational rewards, and employee‐employer/supervisor relations, are discussed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

How mass layoffs are related to lower job performance and OCB among surviving employees in Chile: an investigation of the essential role of psychological contract

This study aimed to investigate how mass layoffs impact surviving employees in organizations. More specifically, this study ascertained the relationships between mass layoffs and employee work behaviors. It was theorized that mass layoffs will be negatively related to employee performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) through its relationships with job insecurity and psychological contract breach. Moreover, it was expected that perceived manager support would buffer against the negative relations of contract breach with employee performance and OCB. A study among 615 employees in multiple Chilean organizations showed support for the hypotheses: job insecurity and psychological contract breach mediated the relationships between mass layoffs and employee performance and OCB. We also found moderating relationships of manager support, but the relations of breach with performance and OCB were particularly negative when manager support was high, indicating feelings of betrayal among high-support employees in response to contract breach. Moreover, the relation of contract breach with performance was positive for low-support employees, and non-significant for high-support employees. Our study advances understanding of the processes underlying how mass layoffs influence employee behavior in the workplace, through introducing the psychological contract as a way of understanding the relationships.     

Cultural differences in organizational citizenship behavior: a comparison between Chinese and American employees

The present study examined the differences in the perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) between Chinese and American employees. Survey responses concerning the presence of OCB in their organizations were collected from a total of 393 employees. Analyses showed that Chinese and American employees reported similar levels of personal support and conscientious initiative in their organizations, but Chinese employees reported higher levels of organizational support in comparison with American employees. In addition, results indicated that perceptions of personal support, organizational support, and conscientious initiative were a function of job/hierarchical level such that management reported lower levels on all three dimensions of OCB. Finally, the results showed that country and job/hierarchical level do not interact to influence perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior. Implications and directions for future research on cultural differences in organizational citizenship behavior are discussed.     

Competency Models at Work: The Value of Perceived Relevance and Fair Rewards for Employee Outcomes

The purpose of this study was to generate empirical knowledge on how employees perceive and respond to competency models at work. A cross‐sectional survey of 278 employees in four Norwegian organizations showed that competency models perceived as strategically and personally relevant and fairly rewarded were positively related to supervisor‐rated work effort and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and self‐rated “employability” outcomes. Exchange relationships mediated the link between competency model perceptions and work effort and OCB. Social exchange relationships marginally mediated the link between competency model perceptions and employees' openness to job‐related changes and engagement in activities aimed at improving one's employability. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Exploring Organizationally Directed Citizenship Behaviour: Reciprocity or ‘It's my Job’?*

ABSTRACT This study sets out to examine two explanations for why employees engage in organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The first explanation views OCB as a form of reciprocation where employees engage in OCB to reciprocate fair or good treatment from the organization. The second view is that employees engage in OCB because they define those behaviours as part of their job. The research methodology consisted of survey data from 387 hospital employees on their perceptions of procedural and interactional justice, mutual commitment, job breadth and OCB. The results suggest that procedural and interactional justice are positively associated with mutual commitment that in turn, is related directly to OCB and indirectly through expanding the boundaries of an individual's job. These findings suggest that together the reciprocation thesis and ‘it's my job’ argument complement each other and provide a more complete foundation for our understanding of OCB. The difference between the two perspectives lies in the process by which individuals respond; that is, role enlargement and role maintenance. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Leader–Member Exchange and Relational Quality in a Singapore Public Sector Organization

An objective of Singapore’s ongoing public sector reform (PS21) requires agencies to focus on getting the best out of its employees. One way of doing this is by creating a positive leader–member exchange (LMX) relationship, enabling supervisors to motivate their subordinates towards the development of organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs). This article reports the extent of LMX and relational quality in a public sector agency experiencing PS21 reform and high staff turnover. In addition, we examined the effects of organizational justice perceptions and job satisfaction towards a subordinates’ OCB. A path model was developed to examine the relationships between LMX, organizational justice, job satisfaction, and OCB and tested by applying LMX theory. The path analysis results showed that LMX mediates the relationship between organizational justice perceptions and OCB. The results also showed that one’s job satisfaction led to higher level of OCB. The study findings have implications for theory and practice which have been presented in the discussion section.     

The role of organizational citizenship behaviour and rewards in strategy effectiveness

Abstract

In this paper we contribute to the strategy and OCB literature by empirically exploring how middle managers as strategic actors in product-market strategy making are enabled or constrained in the strategy process. We explore the role of organizationally targeted organizational citizenship behaviour (OCBO) as a conduit for strategy effectiveness. This is a departure from most OCB studies which concentrate on organizational effectiveness. We assess the mediating role of social and extrinsic rewards as organizational structural processes underlying the OCBO-strategy effectiveness relationship. Our results reveal that while OCBO has no direct influence on strategy effectiveness, participation as a form of social reward partially mediates the OCBO strategy effectiveness relationship. However, the negative mediation effect reveals that excessive participation reduces strategy effectiveness. In terms of extrinsic reward practices, process rewards partially and positively mediate the relationship. Focusing on OCBO our results contribute to the call for more nuanced studies into OCB relationships and performance and to the recent debate surrounding whether certain OCB behaviours are perceived as rewarded. We highlight that whilst OCBO is not in itself an important precondition for fostering effective strategy performance, organizational structural processes in the form of reward practices can foster beneficial OCBO which supports strategy effectiveness.     

The relationship between corporate reputation and organizational citizenship behavior: a comparative study on TV companies and banks

Corporate reputation (CR) is an increasingly emphasized issue in the management and organizational studies. Many research studies on the corporate reputation have revealed the impact of that issue on the informal performances of employees. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between corporate reputation and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The survey method has been conducted through random sampling. Four TV companies and four banks have been included in the survey. Results have been evaluated comparatively across two different sectors. The research has been composed of two parts; in the first part the corporate reputations of the chosen companies have been measured according to the Cravens et al. (2003) index. In the second part of the research the organizational citizenship behaviors of the employees in the eight companies have been measured and the relationship between corporate reputations of the companies and the employees’ OCBs have been analyzed through the correlation and regression analysis. It is revealed that there is a statistically significant effect of CR on OCB.     

社会交换视角下组织支持感跨界增益的情感性路径研究

随着经济的快速发展,员工在追求事业成就的同时,也越来越关注工作与家庭的平衡。过往有关工作领域支持性角色资源跨界影响工作-家庭增益的研究中较少关注个体对资源的情感性评估和给个体心理资源带来的改变。本文采用问卷调查法获取了443名在职企业员工的样本数据,探讨了组织支持感影响工作-家庭增益的情感性路径。结果表明:组织支持感显著正向影响工作-家庭增益;组织认同和核心自我评价分别在组织支持感与工作-家庭增益的关系中起部分中介作用,诠释了组织支持感跨界增益的多重中介路径。本文为管理者从社会交换视角理解工作家庭正向互动的过程提供了理论借鉴。管理者应将“组织、员工、家庭”视为一个更大的资源交换系统,从组织支持角度去促成员工工作与家庭的积极关系。     

How German employees of different ages conserve resources: perceived age discrimination and affective organizational commitment

The literature claims that perceived age discrimination functions as a stressor. Using conservation of resources theory, this paper examines the moderating effect of employees' age on the relationship between employees' perceived age discrimination and affective organizational commitment. We collected survey data from 1255 German employees. Results show a negative relationship between perceived age discrimination and affective organizational commitment. This relationship was stronger for older employees than for younger employees. Older employees appear to be more vulnerable to the stressor of perceived age discrimination and more motivated to conserve resources by reducing their affective organizational commitment than their younger colleagues. These findings have important implications for organizations' retention management in times of demographic change.     

The impact of perceived corporate social responsibility on organizational commitment and the moderating role of collectivism and masculinity: evidence from China

This study examines the relationship between employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility practices and their organizational commitment. Hierarchical regression analysis was utilized to analyze survey data on 280 employees from five export-oriented manufacturing firms in China. Employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility practices towards internal stakeholders were found to relate positively to their organizational commitment. In contrast, employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility practices to external stakeholders had a nonsignificant or marginally significant impact on organizational commitment. In addition, the collectivism and masculinity orientations of employees were found to moderate this relationship. These findings provide an insight into how corporate social responsibility practices may be utilized to motivate diverse groups of employees within China-based organizations.     

Linking organizational identification and employee performance in teams: the moderating role of team-member exchange

This study examined the influence of organizational identification on employee performance in teams. Drawing on social identity theory and self-verification theory, we predicted that organizational identification would have positive effects on employee in-role and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) performance. Building on social exchange theory, the study further theorized that the quality of team-member exchange (TMX) would amplify the impacts of organizational identification on both types of performance. Using data from automotive dealer employees in China, we found positive relationships between organizational identification and both types of performance. In addition, TMX altered the impact of organizational identification on OCB.