Business and Management INK

The Cost of Being a Good Citizen

October 29, 2012 1309

In practicing organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), employees go above and beyond the call of duty to better the organization. However, according to a new study in the Journal of Management, “what is good for the organization may not always be good for the employee.” Diane M. Bergeron of Case Western Reserve University, Abbie J. Shipp of Texas A&M University, Benson Rosen of the University of North Carolina, and Stacie A. Furst of the University of Cincinnati explore the issue in their article “Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Career Outcomes: The Cost of Being a Good Citizen,” published on October 26 in JOM. The abstract:

Existing research suggests that relationships among organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), task performance, and individual career outcomes are necessarily positive. The authors question this assumption and hypothesize that in organizations with outcome-based control systems, time spent on OCB comes at a cost to task performance. Building on this idea, the authors propose not only that time spent on task performance is more important than time spent on OCB in determining career outcomes (i.e., performance evaluation, salary increase, advancement speed, promotion) in an outcome-based control system but also that time spent on OCB may negatively impact career outcomes. Results based on archival data from 3,680 employees in a professional services firm lend some support for these ideas. Specifically, time spent on task performance was more important than OCB in determining all four career outcomes. Further, controlling for time spent on task performance, employees who spent more time on OCB had lower salary increases and advanced more slowly than employees who spent less time on OCB. These findings suggest that relationships between OCB and outcomes are more complex than originally thought and that boundary conditions may apply to conclusions drawn about the outcomes of OCB.

Click here to read more and here to receive e-alerts about newly published articles in the Journal of Management.

Business and Management INK puts the spotlight on research published in our more than 100 management and business journals. We feature an inside view of the research that’s being published in top-tier SAGE journals by the authors themselves.

View all posts by Business & Management INK

Related Articles

The Role of Place in Sustainability
Business and Management INK
October 28, 2024

The Role of Place in Sustainability

Read Now
Turning to Glitter in Management Studies – Why We Should Take ‘Unserious’ Glitter Serious to Understand New Management Practices
Business and Management INK
October 24, 2024

Turning to Glitter in Management Studies – Why We Should Take ‘Unserious’ Glitter Serious to Understand New Management Practices

Read Now
Utilizing Academic-Practitioner Partnering for Societal Impact
Business and Management INK
September 17, 2024

Utilizing Academic-Practitioner Partnering for Societal Impact

Read Now
Trippin’ Forward: Management Research and the Development of Psychedelics
Business and Management INK
September 9, 2024

Trippin’ Forward: Management Research and the Development of Psychedelics

Read Now
Using Ethnography to Explore Entrepreneurial Extracurricular Activities

Using Ethnography to Explore Entrepreneurial Extracurricular Activities

Co-authors Birgitte Wraae and Nicolai Nybye reflect on the inspiration behind their research article, “Learning to Be “Me,” “the Team,” and “the Company” Through Entrepreneurial Extracurricular Activities: An Ethnographic Approach,” published in Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy.

Read Now
The Future of Business is Interdisciplinary 

The Future of Business is Interdisciplinary 

By actively collaborating with industry, developing interdisciplinary programs and investing in hands-on learning opportunities, business schools can equip graduates with the specific skills and experiences that employers are seeking.

Read Now
The Co-Creation Edge in Marketing Education

The Co-Creation Edge in Marketing Education

In this article, co-authors Maria Petrescu, John T. Gironda, Anjala S. Krishen, Adina Dudau, J. Ricky Fergurson, Steven A. Stewart, Philip Kitchen, and Monica Fine reflect on the inspiration behind […]

Read Now
5 1 vote
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments