Organizational citizenship behaviour: a study of young executives in Canada, Iran, and Turkey

Abstract

One of the most interesting constructs in organizational studies and human resource management is perhaps the concept of organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). OCB emphasizes constructive and cooperative employee behaviours that contribute to the organization, yet do not fall within the domain of mandatory in-role behaviours. While researchers have investigated the role of contextual attitudes and dispositional attributes on the OCB, there is a lack in cross-cultural examination of this concept. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of individuals' job-related attitudes and dispositional characteristics on their OCB in three different societal cultures, that is, Canada, Iran, and Turkey. Data reported were collected from 220 young executives in these three countries. The results reveal similarities and differences among these cultures on cognitive and affective predictors of OCB.

Keywords:

• affect
• Canada
• citizenship behaviour
• cultural values
• Middle East
• work-values

Acknowledgements

Assistance of Mohammad Habibi from IMI in Tehran in data collection from Iran is gratefully acknowledged. We are also grateful to Claudia Steinke and Yasamin Baniasadi for their assistance in data collection and analysis.