Reevaluating the performance-enhancing narrative behind organizational citizenship behaviors: Collective outcomes at the individual’s expense

Abstract

Theconceptoforganizationalcitizenshipbehavior(OCB)aimstodescribe behaviorsthatgobeyondemployees’assignedresponsibilitiesandarebeneficialfor organizations’objectives(Organ,1990).In short,OCBreferstobehaviorsthatdirectly benefiteitheranorganization(OCBO)oritsindividuals(OCBI)throughbehaviorsthat arealtruistic,supportiveandarenotpartofonesofficialjob-description(i.e.in-role behaviors)(Smith,Organ&Near,1983).Meta-analyticstudieshavegenerallyfoundthat OCBislinkedtofavorableoutcomessuchashigherorganizationalperformance(Nielsen, Hrivnak&Shaw.,2009)aswellasreducedturnover(Sun,Aryee,&Law,2007),higher productivityandimprovedefficiency(Podsakoff,Whiting,Podsakoff&Blume.2009; Wei.2014).