Concept of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour

Question: Undertake a Literature Review on the dimensions and antecedents of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The review is to focus solely on refereed academic publications? Answer: Introduction This literature review is aimed at analysing the dimensions and antecedents of organisational citizenship behaviour. However, in analysing such dimensions and antecedents, it is essential that a thorough understanding of the concept of organisational citizenship behaviour is achieved which should be followed by the analysis of these dimensions and antecedents. As a result, the structural analysis including the introduction of such concept of organisational citizenship behaviour and followed by its analysis of antecedents and dimensions is performed as follows: Concept of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour An analysis of the concept of organisational citizenship behaviour in the existing literature suggests that it is mainly known as the discretionary workplace behaviour that exceeds ones basic job requirements. As indicated by Bonaparte (2008), organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) is an old concept that is being studied since 1970s and it is defined as the voluntary contribution as made by individuals within organisations aimed at leading the organisation to higher success levels. It is a kind of behaviour on the part of employees of the organisation that goes behind what has been indicated in their job requirements. It is therefore largely discretionary and the focus is towards benefitting the organisation in attaining higher success levels. The employee contribution aimed at facilitating the efficient functioning of the organisations is defined as OCB according to Gemmiti (2008). As indicated by Hinrichs, Prieto and Howell (2010), there can be positive level of performance bei ng possible within organisation from applying OCB and these include organisational success in the form of enhancement in the productivity levels, group activity coordination, efficient resource utilisation, and also the benefits in terms of achieving employee adaptability to environmental changes. Overall, it can be defined as the contribution by the employees of the organisation on their own willingness and abilities aimed at enhancing organisations performance. Dimensions of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour An analysis of the existing literature indicates about various major dimensions of the concept of organisational citizenship behaviour. A study by Hinrichs, Prieto and Howell (2010) has identified that there are five important dimensions of organisational citizenship behaviour and these can be best defined as conscientiousness, civic virtue, sportsmanship, courtesy and altruism. These are the important five dimensions of OCB and they are crucial in helping co-workers in following their company rules without involving into any kinds of complaint processes and it involves their active participation in the organisational activities. Although these five dimensions of OCB have been identified, yet an analysis indicates that they have different level of meanings and understanding. An analysis of each such dimension is performed as follows: Altruism: This has been an important dimension that is concerned with the discretionary behaviour and the main purpose has been to help other people in respect to their specific tasks or problems within organisation. This could be in the form of working for other employees or performing his/her task in case of his absence within organisation on a particular day (Solan, 2008). Conscientiousness: This dimension is focused towards going beyond the minimum role requirements from employees within organisation and this could be in the form of not taking any extra breaks or complying with the rules and policies of the company all the time (Organ, Podsakoff and MacKenzie, 2005). Sportsmanship: This particular dimension of OCB indicates that it is concerned with measuring discretionary behaviour that involves the employee willingness in tolerating an ideal situation without performing excessive levels of complaints (Organ, Podsakoff and MacKenzie, 2005). Courtesy: This is another important dimension of OCB and it requires discretionary behaviour on the part of employees with a view to preventing any kinds of occurrences of work related problems. This could be in the form of adverse effect of a situation on other employees of the organisation (Solan, 2008). Civic Virtue: This particular dimension of OCB indicates that the employees of the organisation are highly responsible and they participates in a responsible manner in the activities undertaken within organisation, and their main focus area is towards the political life of the organisation which could be in the form of keeping up with the developments of the company (Organ, Podsakoff and MacKenzie, 2005). These are the important dimensions of the concept of OCB and they are aimed at achieving voluntary contribution on the part of employees of the organisation with a view to ensure enhanced overall organisations performance. Antecedents of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Having understood the important dimensions of OCB, this section of literature analysis is now aimed at analysing the antecedents of this concept. There are different studies in the past that have examined various important antecedents of OCB. According to a study as conducted by Suresh and Venkatammal (2010), there are different important antecedents of this concept of OCB. An analysis of the study findings suggests that job satisfaction is the most significant antecedent of this concept of OCB and this has been revealed in a study conducted by Organ and Ryan (1995) which suggested findings that there has been the existence of modest relationship between job satisfaction and OCB. However, it is not only the job satisfaction, but there are other important antecedents that have been noted apart from job satisfaction and these attitudinal measures include organisational commitment, task characteristics, organisational justice and leadership behaviour. Apart from this, a study by Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Paine and Bachrach (2000) indicated about a large range of personality characteristics that have direct level of support as the antecedents of OCB. These are mainly identified as agreeableness, conscientiousness, and positive and negative affectivity. These important personality characteristics are aimed at supporting the practising of OCB within organisation. In addition to the personality characteristics, a study by Todd and Kent (2006) has indicated about a large range of task characteristics and these are identified as routinisation, feedback, and intrinsic satisfaction. There has been a positive level of correlation being identified in respect to these important task characteristics and the dimensions of OCB including altruism, courtesy, civic virtue, conscientiousness, and sportsmanship. Overall, the analysis suggests about the existence of large number of antecedents of the concept of OCB and they are crucial to achieving OCB w ithin organisation in a positive manner, and thereby in leading it to higher success levels. Conclusion This literature analysis was aimed at analysing the concept of OCB and the important dimensions and antecedents of the same. The performance of analysis revealed significant findings which suggest that OCB is voluntary contribution as made by individuals within organisations aimed at leading the organisation to higher success levels. There are important dimensions of this concept being noted and these are identified as conscientiousness, civic virtue, sportsmanship, courtesy and altruism. Apart from this, the analysis of the literature has also resulted into the identification of important antecedents of OCB and these include job satisfaction, organisational commitment, task characteristics, organisational justice and leadership behaviour. These important antecedents are the crucial determining factors of practising OCB in a highly efficient manner across the organisation. There are specific task characteristics as well as personal characteristics that have been identified and it was found that there has been positive level of correlation and support of these characteristics over OCB. References Bonaparte, W. (2008), The Impact of Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Organizational Commitment on Organizational Performance, ProQuest. Gemmiti, M. (2008), The Relationship Between Organizational Commitment, Organizational Identification and Organizational Citizenship Behavior, BoD Books on Demand. Organ, D.W., Podsakoff, P.M. and MacKenzie, S.B. (2005), Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Its Nature, Antecedents, and Consequences, SAGE Publications. Organ, D. W., and Ryan, K. (1995), A meta-analytic review of attitudinal and dispositional predictors of organizational citizenship behaviour, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 48 (4), 775-802. Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Paine, J. B., and Bachrach, D. G. (2000), Organizational citizenship behaviours: A critical review of the theoretical and empirical literature and suggestions for future research. Journal of Management, Vol. 26 (3), 513-563. Solan, A.M. (2008), The Relationships Between Emotional Intelligence, Visionary Leadership, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Continuing Higher Education, ProQuest. Suresh, S. and Venkatammal, P. (2010), Antecedents of Organisational Citizenship Behavior, Journal of Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, Vol. 36 (2), pp. 276-286. Todd, S. Y., and Kent, A. (2006), Direct and indirect effects of task characteristics on organizational citizenship behaviour, North American Journal of Psychology, Vol. 8 (2), 253-268. Wang, L., Hinrichs, K.T., Prieto, L. and Howell, J.P. (2010), Five dimensions of organisational citizenship behaviour: Comparing antecedents and level of engagement in China and the US, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Vol. 1, pp. 1-20.