Determinants of Organizational Citizenship Behavior; a Study in a Research and Educational Organization in Iran

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1 Available online at Reef Resources Assessment and Management Technical Paper ISSN: RRAMT Vol. 40, 2014, 1 Determinants of Organizational Citizenship Behavior; a Study in a Research and Educational Organization in Iran Mojtaba Rajabbaigy a, Maryam Mohammadpour b *, Maryam Faridi Khorshidi c a Associate Professor,Public administration, Institute of Applied- Scientific Education of Jahad-e Agriculture Yaman St., Chamran Exp., Tehran, Iran b M.Sc, Management, Payame Noor University, Iran c Ph.D. Student, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Abstract This study is aimed to assess organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Findings suggest that according to the one sample T -test the OCB level for the staff of Education and Research Centers of Agricultural Jihad in Lorestan province was higher than the moderate norm with the average of In accordance with Friedman s ranking test, there is a significant difference between the views of staff of the mentioned Centers in terms of OCB components, as the highest and lowest ratings are in order dedicated to politeness, kindness, and. Findings from the analysis of the variances also indicate that there is a significant difference between the views of the mentioned staff regarding OCB components in terms of the demographic variables of gender, education level, and work experience Published by RRAMT France Ltd. Keywords: Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), Research Centers of Agricultural Jihad, Research and Educational Organization, Iran 1. Introduction In today s face-paced world, many organizations are trying to benefit from different patterns and methods and to gain new competitive advantages in order to achieve their organizational and economic goals so that they can stay safe and away from downfall and dangers of rapid environmental changes (Amirkhani & Aghaz, 2010). Today, in addition to these tangible facts, there are other intangible realities in the enterprise world, using which management graduates shall constructs a bridge between theory and practice, hence solving real organization problems through harmonizing theories with situational features (Alvani & Zahedi, 2002). One of the intangible realities of the enterprise world is the concept of organizational citizenship behavior. The ever-changing conditions governing organizations and the necessity of the effectiveness of such organization in these conditions, highlights the need for a valuable generation of staff, which are called organizational soldiers (Zeynabadi, Behrangi, Navaebrahim, & Farzad, 2007). This is what distinguishes effective and ineffective organizations, because these people consider their organizations to be their countries and wouldn t spare any effort for their organization to achieve its goals (Podsakoff, Mackenzie, Beth pain & Bachrach, 2000). Today, most managers are in search for staff which not only manage to do things out of responsibility margins, which plays an important role in an organization s progress towards its goals, but also has the necessary understanding of its own culture and norms and other cultures, and learns the necessary skills to interpret * Corresponding Author

2 and realize other behaviors, hence taking measures to establish an effective communication with others with same of different culture in a working environment (Early & Mosakowfski, 2004). Therefore, in order to achieve this important objective, in addition to variables such as cultural intelligent, they need to have high levels of OCB. This study sought to examine the question of whether the OCB level of the experts in the education and research Centers of Agricultural Jihad is in a good condition in each of its five components (tolerance, loyalty, altruism, and good nature), whether the employee s prospective towards the OCB components were of significant difference and whether there were any significant differences between the views of the staff of the education and research Centers of agricultural jihad in Lorestan province regarding OCB components in terms of variables such as age, gender, marital status, education level and work experience. The education and research Centers of agricultural jihad in Lorestan province were chosen as statistical community for two main reasons. Firstly, according to the novelty and importance of the topic, and the nature of these centers, they had expressed their interest in implementation of this project. condly, lack of awareness about the OCB component levels in these centers had led to the ignorance of the benefits of such elements towards achievement of organizational goals. 2. Principles and theoretical framework In the past, the criteria for evaluating employee s behavior, was adapting one s performance to his job descriptions. While today, more behavior s such as metafunctional and organizational citizenship behavior are considered (Hasankakhaki & Gholipour, 2006). The concept of OCB was first introduced in Bernard (1983) and Cutz s (1964) papers but Butman and Oregan (1983) were the first ones to use the term OCB in the analysis of the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational performance. They suggested that OCB consists of beneficial behaviors which are not mentioned in job descriptions but expressed by employees during legislative duties and delivering their responsibilities (Hossam, 2008). The conductive importance of the concept of OCB arises from the logical assumption that OCB is beyond formal job requirements and if such metafunctional behaviors and cooperation are repeated voluntarily over time, then organizational effectiveness will be increased (Organ & Konovsky, 1989) Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) OCB is taken from the Latin word ethics, which means morals and manners and from the word athos in Greek meaning personality trait or ethnic customs. The etymology and terminology of this word suggests its fundamental relationship with individual inner characteristics and shows a person s good deeds and the right and wrong social regulations that direct one s behavior (Solomon, 1984). The analysis of the theoretical literature suggests that there are two approaches in the basic concept of OCB. Oregan (1988), for instance, and other pioneers in this field study such behavior as metafunctional. Because their activities are beyond what is expected of their position and their behaviors are not directly or indirectly appreciated by the awarding system of the organization. Other scholars such as Graham believe that OCB must be analyzed alone and separated from job performance since in this case there will be no problem of differentiation between functional and metafunctional performance. In the latter perspective, OCB must be considered as an international concept covering all positive behaviors of employees in an organization (Moghimi, 2004). According to Oregan (1988), OCB is a spontaneous and conscious behavior which is not directly and indirectly recognized by an organization s awarding system but in general increases the organizational effectiveness. Being spontaneous and conscious means that there is no role-based or job-based obligatory necessity 220

3 and no fine will be given if the behaviors are not observed (Organ, 1988). All investigations and studies have reached a consensus that OCB has outstanding results for organizational work (Rezaeian & Rahimi, 2007). Dimensions of OCB There are multiple definitions and classifications for OCB variables which despite their multitude, share great overlaps. In the current study the researcher took into the definition and classification of Oregan into account. Because according to many experts the most functional definition and classification for OCB is Oregan s. Oregan believes that OCB is thoroughly a voluntary behaviour which is not identified by awarding system directly or indirectly, but increases organizational effectiveness, and is consisted of good nature, loyalty,, tolerance and altruism. 1. Good nature indicates the individual contributions in organizational social life such as the extracurricular activities program. 2. Loyalty includes behaviors beyond the requirements set by the working environment. 3. Altruism is helpful behaviors such as intimacy, empathy among colleagues which directly and indirectly help solve business problems. 4. Tolerance indicates patience against adversity and inevitable difficulties as well as extortions without individual complaints. 5. Courtesy refers to sensibility to the effect of personal and individual actions on others. tolerance altruism OCB, loyalty good nature Figure 1. Dimensions of OCB Perhaps the most important reasons why we need to understand the significance of OCB can be sought in the following seven functions proposed by Podsakoff and colleagues (2000): 1. Increase the efficiency of management and employees 2. Release resources for more productive utilization 3. Reduce dedication of rare resources for daily, repeated maintenance 4. Assist in coordinating the activities in and between working groups 5. Strengthening the organization s ability to attract and maintain efficient staff 6. Increase stability of the organization 7. Empower organization towards more effective compliance with environmental changes In this study, the dimensions of OCB have been tested in the experts community. The research questions are: 1. Are OCB levels of the staff of the education and research Centers of agricultural jihad in good conditions in all 5 aspects (tolerance, loyalty, altruism, and good nature)? 2. Are there significant differences in the views of the staff of the mentioned Centers? 221

4 3. Are there significant differences in the view of the staff of the education and research Centers of agricultural jihad in terms of age, gender, marital status, education level and work experience? 3. Research Method In terms of applied research objectives and data collection methods, the present study is descriptive-survey. Five OCB variables are main research variables: (tolerance, loyalty, altruism, and good nature). The statistical community of the survey consists of 108 people (experts) of the education and research Centers of the agricultural jihad in Lorestan province who were all examined due to low population of the statistical community. The main tool for data collection in this study was the standard OCB questionnaire of Podsakov and colleagues (1990) Reliability and validity of the questionnaire was obtained considering its standards. However, a handful of professors and experts in the field were interviewed to confirm the authenticity and validity if the questionnaire. Also, Cronbach s alpha and split-half method were used for test preparation and verification. Cronbach alpha and Spirman coefficients were calculated in order 0.80 and 0.83 which confirm the high reliability of the questionnaire. In the statistical calculations of OCB, all aspects were considered. 3-1 Analyzing Data and Research Findings Demographic characteristics responses indicate that 87% of the community were men, 13% were women, 96% were married, 4% were single, 38% were Bachelors, 58% were Masters, 4% were PhD graduates, 3% were between years old, 22% were years old, 13% were years old, 9% had 1-10 years of experience, 52% had years of experience and 39% had years of experience. The answer the first question: Are OCB levels of the staff of the education and research Centers of agricultural jihad in good conditions in all 5 aspects (tolerance, loyalty, altruism, and good nature)? The results of the one sample T-test in table 1 are presented. OCB & Dimensions of OCB Table 1.one sample T-test related to the status of OCB variables Theoretical practical mean average average T tolerance, loyalty, altruism, good nature OCB In table 1, with regards to the fact that t in OCB variable of tolerance, loyalty, and is greater than table s critical value (1.645) and also at the level of p-value <0.05 there is significant difference between the practical and theoretical average, and practical average is greater than theoretical average in all four variables. Therefore, it can be suggested that the OCB level of experts of the education and research Centers of agricultural jihad were greater than the moderate norm and the mentioned centers had great performance in terms of tolerance, loyalty, and, which is greater than moderate norm. But regarding the variables of altruism and good nature, the observed t was lower than the critical value (1.645) and at p-value < 0.05 level there is significant difference between practical and theoretical average and practical average in both terms was lower than theoretical average, it can be suggested that the mentioned centers had poor performance in terms of altruism and good nature which was lower than the moderate 222

5 norm. Also, the greatest and the lowest practical average obtained regarding OCB variables are in order related to and good nature, which suggests that the mentioned centers have had better performance in terms of. The answer the second question: Are there significant differences in the views of the staff of the mentioned Centers? The results of the Friedman test are presented in table 2. Table 2.Friedman test results regarding the difference between employees perspective in terms of OCB variables. OCB & Dimensions of Ranking OCB tolerance, 4.40 loyalty, 3.94 altruism, good nature 1.65 As can be seen in table 2, according to the fact that the components of the OCB (tolerance, loyalty, altruism, and good nature) Friedman ranking test have values greater than the critical value (7.587), it can be suggested that at p-value < 0.05 level, there is a significant difference between the perspectives of the experts in education and research Centers. In addition, the greatest and lowest average obtained for OCB variables are in order related to and good nature. The answer the Third question: Are there significant differences in the view of the experts of the education and research Centers of agricultural jihad in terms of age, gender, marital status, education level and work experience? 3. The results of the analysis of the OCB variables for the experts of the education and research Centers of agricultural jihad on the basis of age F tolerance, loyalty, altruism, good nature With regards to the findings in Table 3, the F s observed for all OCB variables are not significant (meaningful). Therefore, it can be suggested that at p-value < 0.05 level, there is no significant difference between the perspectives 223

6 of the experts in terms of OCB components on the basis of age. In other words, the age of the experts in these centers does not have any impact on their views regarding OCB components Table 4.The results of the analysis of the OCB variables for the experts of the education and research Centers of agricultural jihad on the basis of education levels PhD Master Bachelor F tolerance, loyalty, altruism, good nature With regards to the findings in Table 4, the F s observed are only significant for the variable of tolerance. Therefore, it can be suggested that the difference between the views of the experts regarding OCB on the basis of education level is significant. The results of the Tukey test are presented in Table 5 for pair comparisons of mean scores of components in terms of tolerance on the basis of education levels. Table 5. Paired comparison of mean scores of components in terms of tolerance on the basis of education level (Tukey test) education level Mean Error Master - Bachelor PhD - Bachelor PhD - Master Based on the outcomes of the Tukey test, displayed in Table 5, the average difference of scores attributed to the tolerance of experts is significant at p-value < 0.05, suggesting that the highest average belonged to Bachelor s holders and the lowest to Master s holders. Table 6: OCB components variance analysis outcome based on work experience F - tolerance, loyalty, altruism,

7 good nature According to the findings of Table 6, the observed F s of tolerance and attributes are significant at p- value < 0.05 level. That is to say that there is a significant difference between the views of the experts towards OCB components based on their in-service years and work experience. Table 7 demonstrates the comparisons of even average differences attributed to tolerance and based on in-service years. Table 7. Paired comparison of mean scores of components in terms of tolerance on the basis of on in-service years (Tukey test) in-service years Mean Error 1-10, , , Based on the findings of Table 7, the average difference of scores associated with tolerance of staff with 1-10 and years of experience, as well as those with years of experience is significant at p-value < 0.05 in such a way that the highest average associated with the staff who had 1-10 years of experience and the lowest average belonged to the staff who had years of experience. Table 8. Paired comparison of mean scores of components in terms of tolerance on the basis of education level (Tukey test) education level Mean Error Master Bachelor PhD Bachelor PhD Master Based on the Tukey test results displayed in Table 8, the score average difference associated with of staff with 1-10 and years of experience and those with 1-10 and years of experience is significant at p-value < 0.05 in such a way that the highest and lowest average are attributed to the staff with 1-10 and years of experience, respectively. Table9: OCB components variance analysis outcome based on gender man woman F tolerance, loyalty, altruism,

8 good nature Based on the findings of Table 9, the observed F s associated with the two components of tolerance and are significant at p-value < Therefore it can be suggested that there is a significant difference between the views of the staff towards OCB components based on gender. That is to say that the highest and lowest in both components are attributed to female and male staff, respectively. Table10: OCB components variance analysis outcome based on marital status married single F tolerance, loyalty, altruism, good nature Based on the findings of Table 10, the observed F s for none of the OCB components are significant. Therefore, it can be suggested that at p-value < 0.05, there is no significant difference between the OCB components on the basis of marital status. 4. Conclusion and Discussion The outcome of the present research are demonstrative that OCB levels Bachelor s holders, averaging 3.37 is well over the moderate norm, in such a way that they attained above-moderate averages in the three components of tolerance, loyalty and but in altruism and good nature, their score was below-moderate; which in turn shows the unfavorable condition of these two components in the organizations. This low might be due to the lack of staff s understanding of their current OCB statues and the positive benefits of these sorts of behaviors, particularly altruism and good nature to their organization. Based on Friedman ranking test, there is significant difference between Bachelor s holders view towards OCB components in such a way that the highest and the lowest averages are associated with and good nature, respectively. The outcomes of the variance analysis (F test) also indicate that there is a significant difference between the views of the Bachelor s holders towards OCB components based on demographic elements of gender, education, work experience, age and marital status which demonstrates that one cannot judge the OCB of the experts based on these two components. The findings of this research are compatible with that of Alen, Fatico (2004) only in terms of loyalty, with Naderi and Hoveyda (2009) in altruism, tolerance and loyalty, but it isn t compatible with Kim s (2006) in terms of altruism. Based on the obtained outcomes, the OCB level of the staff of the organizations are above average, which is in compliance with those of Tang and Ebrahim (1998), Blogger and Sumech (2004), Yan, Kuks, and Geyor (2007). Based on Friedman ranking test, there is significant difference between the views of the Bachelor s holders regarding 226

9 OCB components, in such a way that the highest and the lowest attained averages are related to and good nature, respectively. The findings of this analysis is compatible with that of Naderi (2007) in terms of. Variance analysis outcomes also indicate that the two variables of age and marital status of staff did not have any effect on their opinion regarding OCB components, which is not in compliance with Naderi and Hoveyda s (2007) research. Encouraging the staff and the appearance of higher OCB help organizations avoid costly mechanism to monitor the daily and respective duties, and on the other hand, with the cooperation of the staff, the jobs would be done more smoothly and positions would become more effective. The higher the awareness of staff of each other s thinking, working, and culture, the better they could help each other (altruism) either when they are absent or when there is a heavy work-load. On the other hand, the more good-natured a staff, the better an image they display of their organization. The more loyal the staff, the higher the organization s inner practicality. Considering the acquisitioned nature of a good portion of OCB capabilities, organizations of the education and research Centers of agricultural jihad can consider a special position for empowering their staff, accordingly. Also, these components could be used for annual assessment of an organization s performance, leading to higher effectiveness and practicality. Considering increasing OCB levels of staff, particularly in the two components of and good nature (which were below-moderate), the above mentioned organizations could use the following strategies: a) Making staff aware of their organization s behavior and encouraging them to try to improve it through holding classes and using media such as pictures, posters etc. to help them get to know the positive effects of their organization s citizenship behaviors, including altruism and good nature, on its inner and outside practicality and providing a better image if it. b) Providing necessary ground to improve the potentials of experts to improve the organization s citizenship behavior, particularly and good nature, and to activate it. Measures like using key cultural intelligence, the improvement of which could boost OCB. c) Creating intrinsic and extrinsic motivations in staff such as financial rewards and promotion for those in whose performance such behaviors are visible. d) Doing projects and assessment using the positive effects of OCB for improving loyalty and altruism of staff and satisfying them and also financially supporting such assessments and projects to help improve the organization 4.1. Offers 1. Building and customizing a valid and reliable tool to measure and assess OCB of staff in compliance with local and cultural features and standards governing governmental and non-governmental organizations in Iran. 2. To examine the relationship between cultural intelligence with organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). References Alvani, M., & Zahedi, Sh. (2002). Special topics in public administration (eighth edition). Tehran: Payame Noor. Amirkhani,T., & Aghaz.A. (2010). Development of social capital in the light of human capital: national petrochemical. Research in Management in Iran, 1. Ang,S., Van Dyne, L., Koh, C. & Ng, K.Y. (2004). The measurement of culture intelligence: paper presented at the 2004 Academy of management Meeting Symposium on culture intelligence in the 21 st century, New Orleans, LA. Barnard, C.I. (1938). The functions of the executive. Cambridge, MA: Harvard university press. Bateman, T.S., & Organ, D.W. (1983). Job satisfaction and the good soldier: the relationship between affect and employee citizenship. Academy of Management Journal, 26, Early P.C & Mosakowfski, E. ( 2004). Cultural Intelligence, Harvard Business Review, Hasankakhaki, A., & Gholipour, A. (2006). Organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Business Research,45,

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