JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.393, ISSN: , Volume 2, Issue 4, May 2014

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1 A STUDY ON ORGANISATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOUR AND BURNOUT AMONG THE AMONG THE SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS PROF.DR.S.MURUGESAN* *Associate Professor, Dept. of Social Work, Madurai Institute of Social Sciences, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India ABSTRACT The growth of India's Information Technology sector has brought many positive changes in the Indian economy. A large pool of skilled professionals has been a key driver of the rapid growth in Indian Information Technology Industry. The software industries demand so much of work and time from their employees. As a result they are experiencing a high level of burnout. The aim of the present study is to examine the relationship between Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) and Burnout among the software professionals. Data was collected by using the MBI(GS) instrument and CB scale. The results show that Organisational Citizenship Behaviour has positively correlated with Professional Efficacy whereas negatively correlated with Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism and was found statistically significant. The variables like age, experience and monthly salary were negatively correlated with OCB and Professional Efficacy whereas positively correlated with Emotional exhaustion and Cynicism. The mean difference on Professional Efficacy was found to be significant with regard to marital status and type of family and not significant with regard to sex and graduation. However, the mean difference on Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism were found to be significant regarding marital status, type of family and graduation of the software professionals and not significant with regard to sex. The software professionals working in MNCs are experiencing higher level of Burnout than the professionals from Indian companies. KEY WORDS: Organisational Citizenship Behaviour, Burnout, Professional Efficacy, Emotional Exhaustion, Cynicism, Software Professionals I. INTRODUCTION Industries are the important sources for the development of individuals, groups, and communities. Most countries in the world have experienced growth due to industrial revolution. In recent decades economic growth has occurred in the world as a result of innovations in IT technology. Like any other industry, IT industry has an increased productivity, particularly in the developed world, and hence it is a key driver of global economic growth. The IT industry helps many other sectors in the growth process of the economy including the services and manufacturing sectors. In India also development has 187

2 occurred due to IT industries. The information technology industry is one of the major sources of foreign currency of India. The growth of India's IT sector has brought about many other positive changes in the Indian economy. The purchasing power of a large section of Indian population has increased dramatically. This has resulted in an increase in the average standard of living of the majority of population of the country. The increase in purchasing power of the common people has propelled the growth rate of the other sectors such as construction, automobile etc. and the economy as well. Employers usually expect their employees to contribute more than what is put down in job description, maintaining a positive attitude all the times and promote their organisation to outsiders and at the same time maintain a healthy relationship within the organisation. During the turbulent economic times, the exhibition of Organisational Citizenship behaviour would help to improve the organisational performance. The organisational performance itself is determined by both external and internal factors. While external factors relate to global and national trends of the business, the internal factors relate to organisational climate, functioning of employees and their emotional states. Among the internal factors emotional state of employees is very important. Negative emotional state results in stress and which would results in Burnout. Burnout will result in occupational dysfunction of employees affecting productivity. It is better to prevent Burnout for improving performance and to prevent Burnout specific research studies related to specific industries are to be conducted. Burnout studies deserve the attention in view of increasing enormity of the problem and negative consequences at individual, family, organisation and society levels. In the turbulent economy, Downsizing and Outsourcing have considered as the causes of creating insecurity, anxiety and depression among the software professionals making them vulnerable to Burnout. Researchers have shown that the personal and organisational factors are correlates of Burnout. Autonomy, work overload, role conflict, role ambiguity, interpersonal conflict, and lack of management support are among the most commonly identified antecedents of Burnout. The Burnout among the software professionals is a serious factor in software industries that engaged in development of software. Burnout hit the software professional in different dimensions. Researchers have found that Burnout brings about enormous costs to both organisations and individuals because it negatively influences employees' job attitudes and leads to undesirable behaviours, such as lower job involvement, reduced task performance, and increased turnover intentions (Jackson & Maslach 1982, Leiter & Maslach 1988, Wright & Bonett 1997, Wright & Cropanzano 1998). The research of Sethi et al. (1999), which measured only the emotional exhaustion component of burnout, provides a starting point for 188

3 further research into the phenomenon among software professionals. The researcher expanded the present research by investigating relationship between OCB and Burnout of software professionals and testing the relationship of these potential factors with each of the three components of Burnout, i.e. Emotional Exhaustion, Cynicism and Professional Efficacy. II. Burnout Burnout has been conceptualised by Maslach et al (1996) as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalistion, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who work with people such as teachers, counsellors, or nurses. Burnout syndrome has been clinically characterised by worn-out, and frustration at work. Potter (2005) enlightened that classic symptoms of Burnout include feeling constantly tired or emotionally drained with work. He also put forward that burned-out employees interact less with their co-workers and tend to withdraw from relationships in the job. He further added that burned-out employees feel constantly frustrated and depressed with their job and work environment which leads to a decline in their job performance. The software professionals start to suffer from health problems such as insomnia, colds, or gastrointestinal problems. The burnout has been characterised by three dimensions such as Emotional exhaustion, Depersonalisation and Professional efficacy. II.a. Emotional Exhaustion The first component of Burnout, emotional exhaustion, is characterised by high frustration, irritability, low energy, and depleted emotional resources (Cordes & Doughtery, 1993; Jackson et al 1987). Exhaustion is actions to distance one emotionally and cognitively from one's work, It refers to feelings of being over-extended and drained from one s emotional resources and this Burnout dimension is often considered to be the key aspect of the Burnout syndrome (Lee & Ashforth, 1996; Maslach et al., 2001). Fatigue, debilitation, loss of energy and wearing out are characteristics of this component. II.b. Depersonalization or Cynicism Depersonalization or Cynicism is an attempt to put distance between oneself and service recipients by actively ignoring the qualities that make them unique and engaging people. Outside of the human services, people use cognitive distancing by developing an indifference or cynical attitude when they are exhausted and discouraged. 189

4 II.c. Professional Efficacy Efficacy is the belief in one s capabilities to organize and execute the course of action required to produce given attainments. The negative meaning of professional efficacy is reduced personal accomplishment. The diminished personal accomplishment refers to feelings of decreased or insufficient progress toward job goals, and a sense a decline in personal job competency (Leiter & Maslach, 1988), leading to a negative selfcharacterization.. A work situation with chronic, overwhelming demands that contribute to exhaustion or cynicism is likely to erode one s sense of effectiveness. III. Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) is defined by Organ (1988) as individual behaviour that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organisation. The discretionary behaviour is not laid down in the job description. Organ (1998) has also pointed out the significance of OCB for organisational efficiency, effectiveness, innovation, and adaptability within diverse organisations. Behaviours that are part of the individual s formal job requirements are called in-role behaviour and behaviours that go beyond formal job requirements are called extra-role behaviour. OCB includes discretionary "pro-social" ethical behaviour, such as helping newcomers of the organisation, assisting co-workers on the job, not taking unnecessary breaks, and volunteering to do things not "required" by a job description. OCB is also voluntary, above the call of duty behaviours that not only contribute to company success but are discretionary and not directly or explicitly recognised by formal reward systems. The consequences of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour have been well documented in the literature. For instance, several researchers have found that OCB resulted in organisational effectiveness, efficiency and group performance (Podsakoff et al., 1997) and unit performance (Podsakoff & MacKenzie, 1994). Other consequences of OCB include higher salary and promotion, higher organisational commitment (Allen, 2006), lower turnover and intention to leave the organisation and reduced potential for Burnout in workers. Therefore, the researcher developed interest to study the relationship between Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and Burnout among the software professionals. 190

5 IV. Aim The aim of the study is to find out the association between Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and Burnout among the Software professionals. V. Objectives 1. To investigate the association between Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and dimension of Burnout. 2. To find out association between demographic conditions and dimension of Burnout, and OCB among the software professionals. 3. To find out the relationship between demographic conditions and dimensions of Burnout(Professional Efficacy, Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism). 4. To measure the difference in experiencing of Burnout among the professional working in MNCs and Indian companies. V. Hypotheses 1. There is no significant association between Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and Professional efficacy dimensions of Burnout. 2. There is no significant association between Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and Emotional exhaustion and Cynicism dimensions of Burnout 3. There is no significant association between age, and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour 4. There is no significant association between age, and Professional efficacy dimensions of Burnout 5. There is no significant association between age, and Emotional exhaustion and Cynicism dimensions of Burnout 6. There is no association between years of experience and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour of employees 7. There is no association between years of experience and Professional efficacy dimensions of Burnout 8. There is no association between years of experience and Emotional exhaustion and Cynicism of employees 9. There is no association between monthly salary and Professional efficacy dimensions of Burnout 191

6 VI. Population and Sample of the study All Software professionals working in Software companies in Chennai which were registered with Software Technology Park India in Chennai Zone were considered as the universe of the study. The theoretical population for the study was all software professionals working in software companies in Chennai which were registered with software Technology Park India in Chennai Zone. A list of software companies in Chennai was drawn from the website of Software Technology Park India (STPI), Chennai Zone. There were 1501 software companies registered with STPI during the study period. These companies were stratified into Multinational companies and Indian companies. There were 264 Multinational companies and 1237 Indian companies. A group of 10 % of the companies was randomly selected by adopting lottery method from each category. Twenty six companies were drawn from Multinational companies and 123 companies were drawn from Indian companies. The researcher was told during his discussion with the HR professionals that the companies with more than 150 employees would have similarity in functions and accordingly the researcher selected companies with more than 150 employees from the list drawn. The final list came to 10 in Multinational companies and 20 in Indian companies. A requisition letter was sent to the id of HR Managers of these selected companies. Out of these companies only 3 units of Multinational companies and 4 units of Indian companies permitted the researcher to collect data without affecting their work schedule. There were 484 software professionals in Multinational companies and 654 were in Indian companies. The tools were distributed to all software professionals. Out of these professionals, 293 respondents from Multinational companies and 314 from Indian companies responded and returned the questionnaires. Incomplete questionnaires numbering 16 and 36 from MNCs and Indian companies respectively were discarded. Finally, 277 filled in questionnaires from 3 Multinational companies and 278 from 4 Indian companies were used for analysis. Thus total sample size of the study was 555 from both MNCs and Indian companies. VII. Tools for Measurement Along with the proforma of socio demographic details, Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Scale developed by Kumar & Bakhshi (2005) which has the reliability at.82. The OCB scale has 30 statements with 5 dimensions. The reliability of the whole scale was found out to be.82 The reliability of various subscale was measured by Chronbach alpha and are Conscientiousness(9, statements) was at 0.71, Courtesy (6,statements) at 0.75, Sportsmanship 192

7 (6,statements) at 0.81, Helping coworker(altruism) (5,statements) at 0.91, Civic virtue (4,statements) at A five point rating response was used; Never, Rarely, Sometimes, 2, sometimes-3, frequently-4, always-5.a new version of adapted MBI was developed, called Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS-Schaufeli, Leiter, Maslach, & Jackson 1996) which was used for collecting the data. It contains the same three dimensions as the original instrument, but the scale with 16 statements are more generic and do not refer to other people with whom one is working (Schaufeli et al, 1996). 5 item exhaustion subscale measure fatigue without referring to other people as the source of tiredness, 5 item cynicism subscale reflects indifference or a distant attitude towards work in general, not necessarily with other people; and the 6 item professional efficacy subscale encompasses of occupational accomplishments. The higher scores on Emotional Exhaustion, Cynicism and lesser scores on professional efficacy are indicators of Burnout. A seven point rating response was used; Never-1, Sporadic-2, Now and Then-3, Regular-4, Often-5, Very Often-6, Daily-7. Frequently, and Always. The response choices of the scale were as follows; Never-1, Rarely- Table No.1 Correlation of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour with Burnout Dimensions OCB PE EE Cynicism OCB 1 Professional Efficacy (**) 1 Burnout Emotional Exhaustion (**) (**) 1 Burnout Cynicism- Burnout (**) 0.311(**) 0.799(**) 1 Note: N= 555 Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level The results of Correlation analysis are presented in the Table.No:1. It indicates that Organisational Citizenship Behaviour has positively and significantly correlated with Professional Efficacy (r=0.588,p <0.01). Hence, the hypothesis (1) namely, there is no significant association between Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and Professional efficacy dimensions of Burnout is rejected. However, the Organisational Citizenship Behaviour has negatively and significantly correlated with Emotional Exhaustion (r=-0.563, P <0.01) and Cynicism(r=-0.587, P <0.01) which is also significant at 0.01 level. Hence, it is understood that the hypothesis (2) namely there is no significant association between 193

8 Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism dimensions of burnout is accepted. The result also reveals that professional efficacy dimension is negatively significantly associated with Emotional exhaustion (r= ,P<0.01) and however, it is positively, significantly associated with Cynicism dimensions of burnout (r=-0.311, P<0.01). The Emotional exhaustion is positively and significantly associated with Cynicism (r= P < 0.01) dimensions of burnout. Table No:2. shows the Correlation of study factors with age, experience and monthly salary of the software professionals Factors Total OCB Score PE EE Cy Age (**) (**) 0.282(**) 0.310(**) Experience (**) (**) 0.266(**) 0.291(**) Salary (**) ** Correlation is significant at the level of 0.01 levels From the Table no:2, it has been found that age has negatively, and significantly associated with Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (r= P < 0.01).This clearly proves that as age increases the, exhibition of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour decreases. The increase in age resulted in lesser exhibition of OCB of employees. Hence, the hypothesis (3) namely, there is no significant association found between age, and OCB is accepted. The age has negatively, and significantly associated with Professional Efficacy (r= P < 0.01) dimension of burnout. The higher the age lesser will be the experience of Professional Efficacy. Therefore the hypothesis (4) namely, there is no association between age and Professional efficacy dimension of burnout is accepted. On the other hand, age was positively, and significantly associated with Emotional Exhaustion (r= P < 0.01), and Cynicism(r=0.310 P < 0.01). This clearly confirms that with increase in age, the Emotional Exhaustion, and Cynicism of the respondents also increases. It has been found from the Table No;2, that the increase in age resulted in high level of experience of burnout of employees. Hence, the hypothesis (5) namely, there is no association between the age and the Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism dimensions of Burnout is rejected. It has been found that years of experience of the respondents, has negatively, significantly been associated with Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (r= P < 0.01) and with the Professional Efficacy (r= P <0.01).This clearly shows that as years of experience increases, exhibition of OCB and feeling of having Professional Efficacy decreases. Hence, the hypothesis (6) namely, there is no association between years of 194

9 experience and the exhibition of OCB is accepted and also hypothesis namely (7) there is no association between years of experience and Professional efficacy of employees is accepted. On the other hand, years of experience has been positively, and significantly, associated with Emotional Exhaustion (r= P < 0.01), and with Cynicism(r=0.291 P < 0.01). This shows that as years of experience increases, the Emotional Exhaustion, and Cynicism also increases for the respondents. Hence, the hypothesis (8.) namely, there is no association between years of experience and Emotional exhaustion and Cynicism of employees is rejected. It has been found that monthly salary of the respondents, has been negatively associated with Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (r= P<0.01), and negatively, and significantly associated with Professional Efficacy (r= P <0.01). This clearly reveals that as monthly salary increases, exhibition of OCB and experience of Professional Efficacy decreases. Hence, the hypothesis, namely (9) there is no association between monthly salary and experience of Professional efficacy is accepted. On the other hand, monthly salary has positively associated with Emotional Exhaustion (r= 0.003), and with Cynicism (0.019) but it is not significant. Table No.3, showing the relationship between the socio-demographic factors such as sex, marital status, type of family, graduation and Professional Efficacy Variable Demographic factors n Mean SD t Values Statistical Results PE Male Female P>0.05 NS PE Unmarried Married P < 0.05 Sig PE Joint Family Nuclear Family P < 0.05 Sig PE Under Graduate Post Graduate P > 0.05 NS From the table 3, it is evident that the observed mean difference for professional efficacy with marital status (3.557 P < 0.05), and type of family (4.262 P < 0.05) is significant. It can be concluded that unmarried, software professionals from nuclear families have a feeling of higher level of Professional Efficacy. However, it reveals that the observed mean difference is statistically not significant with regard to sex and graduation. Hence it could be stated that the male and female respondents, graduates and post graduate do not differ with regard to Professional Efficacy dimension of Burnout 195

10 Table No.4, showing the relationship between the socio-demographic factors such as sex, marital status, type of family, graduation and Emotional Exhaustion, Cynicism Variables Demographic details n Mean SD t Values Statistical Results EE Male P>0.05 NS Female CY Male P>0.05 NS Female EE Unmarried P < 0.05 Sig Married CY Unmarried P < 0.05 Sig Married EE Joint Family P < 0.05 Sig Nuclear Family CY Joint Family P < 0.05 Sig Nuclear Family EE Under Graduate P < 0.05 Sig Post Graduate CY Under Graduate P < 0.05 Sig Post Graduate From the table No 4; it is evident that the observed mean difference is significant ((P < 0.05 sig) for Emotional Exhaustion, Cynicism is significant with marital status, type of family, and graduation of the software professionals. It shows that married, software professional from joint family, and post graduates have a feeling of higher level of Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism. Table no: 5, Shows the Burnout of employees of MNCs and Indian Software companies Sl.No Factors of Burnout MNC (277) Indian companies(278) t Values Statistical result Mean S.D Mean S.D. 1 Professional P < Efficacy S 2 Emotional P> Exhaustion NS 3 Cynicism P< 0.05 S Significant at 0.05 level It has been found out that the mean score of Professional Efficacy of respondents of MNCs is higher than the mean score of those from Indian Companies. This observed difference is statistically significant, since t value is significant at 0.05 level (t= P < 0.05). This 196

11 shows that the respondents of MNCs have higher level in Professional Efficacy than the Indian companies. Further, the mean score of Emotional Exhaustion of respondents of MNCs is found to be (S.D. =21.01) whereas for the Indian Companies it is 29.20(S.D= 19.18). It confirms that the mean score of Emotional Exhaustion of respondents of MNCs is higher than the mean score of those from Indian Companies. However, this observed difference is not statistically significant, since t value is not significant at 0.05 level (t=1.922 P > 0.05). Hence, it could be displayed that the IT professionals from MNCs and Indian Companies do not differ with regard to Emotional Exhaustion. The feelings of being over-extended and drained from one s emotional resources were considered as emotional exhaustion. The employees from both types of organisation presumably work long hours. Long term involvement in deadline related work may lead to the feeling of being emotionally drained and hence both the groups are experiencing the same level of emotional exhaustion. It has been proved that the mean score of Cynicism of respondents of MNCs is higher than the mean score of those from Indian Companies. This observed difference is statistically significant, since t value is significant at 0.05 level (t=2.205 P < 0.05). It is evident that IT professionals from MNCs experienced higher level of Cynicism than the IT professionals from Indian companies. Discussion The higher score on OCB is correlated with higher scores on Professional efficacy. The OCB influences the software professionals to feel to have more on professional efficacy. The higher score on OCB is correlated with lesser score on Emotional exhaustion and Cynicism. Hence, the respondents exhibiting more on OCB will have lesser Burnout. The exhibition of OCB is a positive quality of individuals and so their relationship will lessen Burnout. Stephen and Zarate (2008) study found strong relationship between OCB and burnout. So, it is suggested that the management can look into the factors contributing OCB and encourage employees to exhibit more OCB. It is understood that as the age increases, exhibition of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour decrease. The increase in age resulted in lesser exhibition of OCB of employees. This finding coincides with Moore and Loue (2005) that software professionals tended to demonstrate significantly lower OCB than the professionals in the non-it areas. The study finding contradicts with findings of Pettit et al (2004) that age was related to employee engagement in OCB. Chou and Pearson (2011), found that older IT professionals demonstrated higher 197

12 levels of OCB. With the increase in age, the employees have exhibited low on Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and low on Professional Efficacy. A low level of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour may be a result from organisational climate factors and also have reduced feeling of Professional efficacy. The employees experience high scores on Emotional Exhaustion, and Cynicism with the increase in age. This finding coincides with that of Ahola et al (2006) and Cordes and Dougherty (1993). They reported a higher level of burnout among the older employees. The finding of increase in age lead to increase in Burnout contradicts the findings of Maslach et al (1996) which display that the Burnout seems to occur more among the young age group who have relatively little work experience. The employees have exhibited low level of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and suffered from reduced professional efficacy with the increase in experience. Even after having more years of experience, the employee s interest towards exhibition of Citizenship Behaviour decreases which lead to reduced professional efficacy. However, the employees had high scores on Emotional Exhaustion, and Cynicism with the increase in experience. This contradicts with the findings of young experience groups who have high score on Burnout. It is therefore suggested that management could relook at roles and responsibilities of senior employees with an aim of redefining their roles to suit their current interest and capability. This could be achieved by organising well planned training programmes based on the results of assessment of current training needs with the help of internal supervisory staff and also with external experts. From the Table we can infer that with the increase in monthly salary results in lesser exhibition of OCB of employees and lesser experience of professional efficacy. The finding contradicts with the findings of Cordes and Dougherty (1993) that salary was related to burnout. This clearly exemplifies that as monthly salary increases, Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism also increase for the respondents. This contradicts with the earlier findings of Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism. Further, research can be carried out on this issue. It can be concluded that unmarried, and software professional from nuclear families have a feeling of higher level of Professional Efficacy. The professional efficiency measures are expectations and accomplishments (Maslach et al, 1996). The software professionals from nuclear family are enjoying more freedom, more comfort and fewer burdens. These make their lives easier and leave more energy and spirit. However, the joint family has played a negative score with regard to the Professional Efficacy. The results reveal that married, software professional from joint families, post 198

13 graduates have a feeling of higher level of Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism. The findings of Maslach and Jackson, (1985) and Schwab,(1986) reveal that unmarried had experienced higher level of Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism and this finding contradicts with the findings of the present study. Shzimi, (2007) found that marital status has significant relationship with Emotional Exhaustion and cynicism of primary school teachers. Johnson, (1989), and Bilici et al.,(1998) found that marital status are strong predictors of Burnout among the teachers. It is also inferred that respondents from joint families experienced higher Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism than those from nuclear family. Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism are high among the software professionals from joint families indicating the prevalence of problems, stress and increased commitment in their job. Hence, the software professionals from joint families suffer more in Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism areas. The respondents with postgraduate qualification had suffered more in the areas of Emotional Exhaustion, Cynicism, and Burnout. By having discussion with a few Human Resource Managers, it was realized that this high score on Burnout among the respondents with Post Graduate qualification might be due to their higher expectation, low level of autonomy, and feeling of superiority and poor accommodation of Post graduate software professionals in IT industries. The degree of Emotional Exhaustion and Cynicism that one experiences depends on individual s personal resources, coping skills and organisational cultures. This finding coincides with Maslach and Jackson s (1981) study that personnel with high educational background experience higher level of burnout than others. They have to perform more responsibilities and have higher expectations than the others. So, it is suggested that the HR department shall prepare a special programmes to orient the family members about the culture of the company. Of course, it has been noted in one company such a programme is available but it ends with just a recreational activity and not a programme meant to impart the culture of the company. The professional efficacy otherwise known as feeling of competence may be the vehicle for acquiring a sense of personal accomplishment. The respondents from MNCs have higher professional efficacy than the respondents from Indian companies. This may be due to the fact that MNCs are having better task planning which makes respondents to be more inclined to take on a task and develop a feeling of competence. The MNC s also have specific task related training which would also make the respondents to have a feel of competence. The respondents from MNCs have high level of cynical attitude than the respondents from Indian companies. The respondents become depersonalised and develop indifference in 199

14 attitude to work, because of strain experienced by them. They may continue to work as the salary is attractive. As per survey by World economic forum, the Indian youth seem to believe that multinational companies (MNCs) are more value-driven in their approach than domestic companies. MNCs were generally perceived to be better paying, having congenial working conditions, and progressive, even though the respondents working in MNCs are experiencing higher level of Burnout than the Indian Companies. Some HR managers expressed the idea that higher level of Burnout among the employees of MNCs is due to their work culture. MNCs work culture calls for the skill of adapting work-life balance; MNCs are multi-cultural dominated mostly by western cultures. They believe in taking appropriate breaks for weekends and vacations to rejuvenate and they are also serious about strict exercise schedules and are health conscious that help them to contribute more at work and take tough jobs and handle with grit. In Indian culture, we take work only or leisure only and our difficulty in balancing both may be a reason for such Burnout, wherever noticed. But, this cannot be generalized because Burnout wouldn t be an exclusive phenomenon for MNC alone; it s true for all competitive companies in contemporary business scenario. Therefore, it is suggested that organisations may follow healthy work environment practices such as encouraging the professionals to take appropriate breaks and follow green therapy for relaxation of their eyes and mind during the regular working hours. Conclusions The study attempted to understand the relationship between Organisational Citizenship Behaviour and Burnout among the software professionals. The OCB is correlated with three dimension of burnout. The exhibition of OCB is positive quality of individuals and so their relationship will lessen burnout. The research study was carried out with limited samples in Chennai city which had large volume of workforce. So, it cannot be generalized. Further research can be done with large volume of workforce which would give different results. The Burnout research can be extended by relating Emotional Intelligence, and Leadership styles of IT professionals Acknowledgement I would like express my sense of gratitude to CPP for providing me the MBI-GS scale and also mind garden for providing scoring key at free of cost. 200

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