A Qualitative Study on Employee Experiences in Indonesian Service Organizations: Understanding Drivers of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64530/ijbams.v1i3.41Keywords:
Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Employee Engagement, Organizational Culture, Human ResourcesAbstract
This research examines the dynamics of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) among employees in a public-service organization in Indonesia, emphasizing the influence of leadership support, employee engagement, and organizational culture on voluntary behaviors that exceed formal job expectations. Employing a qualitative methodology through semi-structured interviews with ten employees from various functional units, the study reveals intricate insights into the psychological and organizational precursors of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). The thematic analysis identifies three principal themes: (1) leaders’ supportive behaviors that enhance emotional security and motivation; (2) employees’ inherent sense of responsibility and collective orientation; and (3) organizational cultural norms that prioritize collaboration, trust, and mutual assistance. Results show that OCB is not just a personal trait; it is also shaped by how people interact with each other and the rules that govern the workplace. Human resource managers should strengthen relational leadership practices, set up recognition systems that value discretionary contributions, and promote a culture of collaboration to keep OCB levels high, according to practical implications. This study adds to the body of research by giving a detailed qualitative picture of OCB in Indonesian public organizations, which is an area that has not been studied enough in the past.
References
Afsar, B., & Umrani, W. A. (2020). Transformational leadership and innovative work behavior: The role of employee engagement. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 31(4), 485–505.
Allen, T. D., & Rush, M. C. (1998). The effects of organizational citizenship behavior on performance judgments: A field study and a laboratory experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(2), 247–260.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W.H. Freeman.
Bass, B. M., & Riggio, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership (2nd ed.). Psychology Press.
Borman, W. C., & Motowidlo, S. J. (1993). Expanding the criterion domain to include elements of contextual performance. In N. Schmitt & W. C. Borman (Eds.), Personnel selection in organizations (pp. 71–98). Jossey‐Bass.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Sage.
Cropanzano, R., & Mitchell, M. S. (2005). Social exchange theory: A critical review with theoretical remedies. Academy of Management Review, 30(3), 799–811.
Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R., Hutchison, S., & Sowa, D. (1986). Perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3), 500–507.
Farh, J. L., Podsakoff, P. M., & Organ, D. W. (1990). Accounting for OCB: Leader fairness and task scope versus satisfaction. Journal of Management, 16(4), 705–721.
George, J. M., & Brief, A. P. (1992). Feeling good–doing good: A conceptual analysis of the mood at work–organizational spontaneity relationship. Psychological Bulletin, 112(2), 310–329.
Goldstein, H. W., Pulakos, E. D., Passmore, J., & Semedo, C. (2017). The Wiley Blackwell handbook of the psychology of recruitment, selection and employee retention. Wiley.
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Sage.
Jain, A. K., & Cooper, C. L. (2012). Stress and organizational citizenship behaviors in Indian business process outsourcing organizations. IIMB Management Review, 24(3), 155–163.
Lee, K., & Allen, N. J. (2002). Organizational citizenship behavior and workplace deviance: The role of affect and cognition. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(1), 131–142.
Liden, R. C., Wayne, S. J., & Stilwell, D. (1993). A longitudinal study on the early development of leader–member exchange. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(4), 662–674.
Lin, C. P. (2008). Clarifying the relationship between organizational citizenship behaviors, gender, and knowledge sharing. Journal of Business & Psychology, 22, 241–250.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (3rd ed.). Sage.
Moorman, R. H. (1991). Relationship between organizational justice and OCB: Do fairness perceptions influence employee citizenship? Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(6), 845–855.
Organ, D. W. (1988). Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Good Soldier Syndrome. Lexington Books.
Organ, D. W. (1997). Organizational citizenship behavior: It’s construct clean-up time. Human Performance, 10(2), 85–97.
Podsakoff, N. P., Whiting, S. W., Podsakoff, P. M., & Blume, B. D. (2009). Individual- and organizational-level consequences of OCB: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(1), 122–141.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Paine, J. B., & Bachrach, D. G. (2000). Organizational citizenship behaviors: A critical review. Journal of Management, 26(3), 513–563.
Saldaña, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). Sage.
Smith, C. A., Organ, D. W., & Near, J. P. (1983). Organizational citizenship behavior: Its nature and antecedents. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68(4), 653–663.
Tjahjono, H. K., & Palupi, M. (2017). Perceived organizational support and OCB: The mediating role of job satisfaction. Journal of Organizational Behavior Research, 2(1), 12–21.
van Dyne, L., Cummings, L. L., & McLean Parks, J. (1995). Extra-role behaviors: In pursuit of construct and definitional clarity. In L. L. Cummings & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 17, pp. 215–285). JAI Press.
Wibowo, A. (2017). The effect of organizational culture on employee performance. Journal of Management Development, 36(9), 1151–1163.
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications (6th ed.). Sage.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Muhammad Arya
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
