Examining Organizational Citizenship Behavior as the Outcome of Organizational Commitment: a Study of Universities Teachers of Pakistan

Organizational citizenship behavior becomes one of the important factors that enhance the organizational effectiveness. The main purpose of this study was to explore the importance of OCB of universities teachers of Pakistan as the outcome of organizational commitment. In this study the impact of training & development opportunities, work-life policies and empowerment practices on organizational commitment has also been analyzed. The data was collected from 160 universities teachers of Pakistan through questionnaires. The result of 134 respondents reveals that training & development opportunities, work-life policies and empowerment practices have significant positive relationship with organizational commitment and also organizational commitment impacts positively in enhancing the organizational citizenship behavior of the teachers and implications that can help universities of Pakistan in augmenting the OCB of teachers have also been discussed. INTRODUCTION Researchers almost for more than 65 years have been paying attention in employee’s cooperative types of behaviors. These behaviors are characterized as an individual attribute of the employee which enlightened that why some employees behave more considerately than others. (Koster & Sanders, 2006). Organizational citizenship behavior is not specified by any contract or not even expected by an average employee ,this behavior is organizationally desirable because this behavior assist resource transformation’, adaptability and innovation in order to increase the organization efficiency.(Turnipseed & Murkison, 1996).Organizational Citizenship behavior are the actions that are not nominated or demanded by the formal job responsibilities. (Farh, Zhong & Organ, 2004). Today organizations are facing the fierce competition due to the flow of intense awareness and knowledge. In order to cosset the competitive advantage the organizations have to make pace with the increasing change and for this high commitment from employees are needed (Lok and Crawford, 2001). Organizational commitment is significantly associated with the organizational citizenship behavior as its construct. (Gautam, Dick, Wagner, Upadhyay & Davis, 2004). According to Wilson &Western (2000) Training and development plans of individuals can be supportive for the organizational objectives if there is a clear sense of direction. The teachers who are empowered participate in decision making that affect the learning and teaching. If there is empowered work environments then it assist in improving the quality of work life, teacher leadership and professionalism. Teachers show more commitment when they perceive their work is meaningful. (Dee, Henkin & Duemer, 2002).The environment where work-life policies are provided it effect the learning taken place in the organizations so that the organizations transformed in to the fervent learning organizations.(Yong,2000).A good educational system of a developing country is considered as the backbone and teachers are the central part of the educational system. The capability and quality of the teachers determines the success of any educational system. (Joolideh & Yeshodhara, 2008). As Bienstock, DeMoranville & Smith (2003) argues that the way of delivery of the services by the employees determines the high quality level of the services. Previous studies reveal that the faculty members of educational institutes who are highly committed continue their involvement with their current institutions and they also put high level of efforts and show high performance for their institutions (Chughtai & Zafar, 2006). This research is carried out in the universities teachers of Pakistan as the importance of choosing this area lies in the fact that for improving the quality of education teacher plays a vital role. The Government of Pakistan is committed for improving the quality of education. According to the National Education Census 2005/06 there are 227,791 educational institutions providing varied educational opportunities to 33.4 million students. The system employs 1.356 million teachers from pre-primary to university stage. In Pakistan there are 49 general universities and 11,434 teachers are employed in these universities. In the last 30 years a number of studies have pointed out the key issues and problems of teacher education in Pakistan. (National Professional Standards for Teachers in Pakistan, 2009). According to Aycan etal., (2000) Pakistan is the under researched country. So the main aim of this research is to analyze the level of OCB amongst the universities teachers of Pakistan. As in universities high level education is provided so its quality and deliverance matters a lot. This research will reveal the reasons due to which some teachers show more cooperative and supportive behavior than the others. Quality is dependent on professional development so teachers' work can not be alienated from development. Participation of all the persons that are involved in teaching and learning is necessary for quality development. (Odhiambo,2008). This study will help the other researchers in analyzing the impact of organizational commitment on OCB particularly in the context of Pakistan universities teachers. It will also depicts the importance of OCB in increasing the effectiveness of the organization and also determines the factors that create or influence OCB.This study will also illustrate the relationship of training & development opportunities, work-life policies and empowerment practices with organizational commitment and then how organizational commitment influences the organizational citizenship behavior of Pakistan universities teachers. This study will also evaluate the importance of OCB of teachers in the success of the universities of Pakistan. LITERATURE REVIEW INDEPENDENT VARIABLES: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES In the past ten years, training and development adept to significant changes. (Garavan, Barnicle & Heraty, 1993). According to Adamson & Caple (1996) Training deals with the systematic approach that includes the various applications of processes, techniques to an order of wide variety of activities and skills. Researchers define training as a valuable learning in any profession. . While Development is a process of gradual growth (Garavan, 1997).The truth of twenty-first century is that it become must to develop human resources because it has been realized that the workforce who is well-trained is the key to competitiveness, training and education of employees becomes impending as organizations seek more excellence. (Khayyat, 1998). Training is also very important in developing positive impact between the employee and management relationship. (Kallenberg and Moody, 1994).Organizations invests in training in order to achieve their objectives (Antonacopoulou, 2000).Training satisfaction is one of the antecedents of organizational commitment that shows considerably positive relationship with the organizational commitment. (Liu, 2006).Training and development plans of individuals can be supportive for the organizational objectives if there is a clear sense of direction. (Wilson &Western, 2000).In retaining the professional employees training is very important. (Stassen & Templer, 2004). According to Baalen & Hoogendoorn (1999) Training methods can enhance the training effectiveness when the focus is to integrate the practical work and for this need analysis is very important. Many researchers’ notices that continuous learning of teachers is normally overlooked while the improvement in practices and continuous learning is the core of the teacher professionalism. For achieving the competitive advantage acquiring new knowledge and skills are very important(Brown,Boyle & Boyle,2001) .The main constraint in implementing the quality management is continuous training (Masters,1996).The main purpose of T&D is to provide Skills, attitudes and knowledge to the workforce that are necessary in performing the tasks effectively. (Berge,Verneil,Berge,Davis & Smith.,2002).Previous researchers shows that training affects the psychological state of the employees, when training is provided the employees feels that the organization have concerned about them and their commitment level increases.(Chang, 1999).Many researchers indicated that training and development is significantly related to organizational commitment. (Dockel, Basson & Coetzee, 2006). H1:-Training and Development opportunities have significant positive relationship with the organizational commitment. WORK-LIFE POLICIES Many researchers study the links between job characteristics, workplace organization and parenting behaviors and the family responsibilities and employment conflict. .(Glass & Riley, 1998).Studies reveals that excessive work, afternoon shifts, frequent overtime, inflexible hours, inability to leave for emergencies and physically or mentally demanding work are the most important in creating job-family conflict.(Pleck,Staines & Lang,1980).Previous studies reveals that work life policies includes flexible working hours ,trrainig,breaks from work and arrangements of better work support. (Maxwell, 2005). Work family policies and programmes have been flourished over the past decade and the interest of employers in this area continues to grow. (Schwartz, 1996). Employee decision remain with the organization is effected by the work and life balance because if there is the conflict between work and life balance then dissatisfaction arises which effects the employee performance and family life. Many organizations implement the strategies to minimize these tensions but still considerable improvements and extensive initiatives are needed to ensure a better balance. (Deery, 2008) Today the major concern is workplace flexibility. So money alone is not enough because in fulfilling the family, community and work requirements, time is a major currency. (Hall, 2001). Many researchers tested the impact of work and family benefits which includes flexible schedules, parental leave, childcare information and childcare assistance on organizational commitment. They have founded that when the employees had access to work/life policies showed appreciably greater organizational commitment and expressed lower intention to leave their jobs. Grover and Crooker (1995).Work/life policies are significantly positively related to organizational commitment. (Dockel et al., 2006). H2:Work-Life Policies has significant positive relationship with the organizational commitment. EMPOWERMENT PRACTICES Over the 50 years empowerment or participation is the subject of research. (Nykodym, Simonetti, Nielsen &Welling, 1994).Empowerment is the ability of the employee to make the choices which are perceived as the difference for the employer. One element of this ability is that at any given time choices are open to the employee and after making the choice employee will be able to continue making choices. (Guy, 2003).A number of researchers define empowerment; the original meaning of empowerment is giving power to the other person or authorize. (Tulloch, 1993).It is being considered that empowerment is the part of a process and it is the combination of the subordinate psychological state that is affected by the supervisor behavior of empowering the subordinate. (Pastor, 1996). In providing quality of services employee empowerment is the major factor that has the significant impact. (Samat, Ramayah & Saad, 2006).Services providing organizations are paying more attention towards employee empowerment in order to improve the service quality. (Cacioppe, 1998).Empowerment is the process that basically motivates the employees to make use of their experiences and skills by providing the power and authority so that the employees work effectively. (Eccles, 1993). Empowerment includes employee commitment and involvement level. (Val & Lloyd, 2002).Previous researches show that empowerment is positively linked with work satisfaction. Empowerment was envisaged by an individual locus of control, availability of information and self esteem. Spreitzer’s (1995) .Empowerment significantly impacts the employee intention to leave the organization. (Avey, Hughes, Norman, Luthans, 2007).Empowerment should be divided in two components that are psychological and behavioral. ( Meyerson & Kline, 2007). Employees develop higher level of trust in their managers when they feel empowered (Moye & Henkin,2006).By giving power to the employees in decision making can lead to greater responsibility on the behalf of employees in achieving job and customer satisfaction.(Jarrar & Zairi,2002). So by empowering teachers it assist them in improving leadership skills, improves work-life quality, and improve professionalism. (Dee, Henkin & Duemer, 2003). Empowerment plays a significant impact on organizational commitment of the employee. (Lee, Nam, Park & Lee, 2006). The success of the organization depends upon the organizational commitment that can be gain by the involvement of the employee. (Denton, 1994) In the innovation process it is very important employ the knowledge and skills of the employees. (McEwan & Sackett, 1997).The degree to which employees inquire about empowerment varies significantly. (Greasley ,Bryman, Naismith & Soetanto, 2008).Previous researches founded that organizational commitment increases accordingly as the work empowerment perception increase.( Liu ,Chiu &Fellows, 2007).organizational learning is facilitated by the empowerment which ultimately enhances the commitment level. (Bhatnagar, 2007). H3:-Empowerment practices have significant positive relationship with the organizational commitment. INTERVENING VARIABLE: ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT From 30 years the concept of organizational commitment is evolving. (Putterill & Rohrer, 1995).Organizational commitment of the employees get positively influences if there are opportunities to work challenging tasks.(Chew & Chan, 2007).According to Parish, Cadwallader & Busch (2008) Employees commit more positively to the change occurring at workplace only when they judge the role autonomy. Depending upon the level of attachment of an individual the consequences of commitment varies accordingly (O’Reilly & Chatman, 1986). Previous studies reveals that organizational commitment is very beneficial for the organization as it reduces the absenteeism rate and turn over ratio and enhances the organization productivity.(Jernigan, Beggs & Kohut,2002).Organizational commitment is very important because it is linked with absenteeism, work effort and turnover. (Joiner & Bakalis, 2006).According to Boon & Arumugam (2006) culture of the organization and management practices should be scrutinize in order to sustain high level of organizational commitment, because high commitment is examined as the essential component of employee relations. (McCabe & Garavan, 2008).It is the goal of the organization to estimate the commitment level of their employees and probe the ways to increase the commitment (Liu, 2006). An individual having the organizational commitment shows loyalty and intention to stay with the organization and shows personal interest towards the employment. (Brewer, 1996).An employee who is highly committed to the organization contributes to the organization performance. (Freund & Carmeli, 2003).Support should be provided for enhancing the commitment to the organization. (Aube, Rousseau & Morin, 2007). For retaining the employees the organizations should enhance the organizational commitment. (Stallworth, 2004).Extrarole behaviors are the results of the organizational commitment. (Foote, Seipel, Johnson & Duffy, 2005).Results of previous researches shows that commitment is the predictive of organizational citizenship behavior because it significantly impacts OCB. (Liu, 2008). H4:-Organizational commitment has significant positive relationship with the organizational citizenship behavior. DEPENDENT VARIABLE: ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR Previous studies reveals that the climate of the organization is significantly associated to OCB because climate cause perceptions among the employees that manipulate their willingness of working harder and involved with their work and become enthusiastic to enroll in organizational citizenship behaviors.(Dimitriades,2007).Managers should give more concentration in increasing OCB because organizational effectiveness & customer perceptions of service quality are positively related with OCB.( Torlak & Koc, 2007). Teachers organizational citizenship perceptions did not fluctuate according to field of study ,seniority and gender and the teachers had positive opinion concerning about organizational citizenship.(Yýlmaz & dan,2008).Improvement of OCBs is vital erect for managers because they have an effect on organizational outcomes and service quality (Gonza ́lez & Garazo,2005).OCB is characterized by the surfeit workload that is produced by the individuals.( Schepman, & Zarate,2008).Generous interest is paying by both and academic and professional literature of management in understanding the of extra-role employee behaviors that are considered as the contributor to organizational performance. (Ertürk, Merkezi & Gölcük, 2007).The lecturers’ optional behaviors at work are seen when they have the related competencies. (Kagaari & Munene, 2007). During the past decade the topic of organizational citizenship behavior is greatly discussed in management research. (Cohen & Kol, 2004).Lower OCB is generated when there are greater unfavorable attitudes. (Lara & Rodrý ́guez, 2006).Teaching satisfaction services are influenced by the non-task behaviors. These behaviors enhance the teaching quality and benefit the universities (Lara, 2008).For reinforcing learning behavior high commitment and mutual human resource policies are needed. (Yong, 2000).According to Tayyab (2005) the contributions boosts the organizational effectiveness. OCB basically determines the employees’ readiness to give up their effort and cooperate with the organization in order to contribute to the productivity, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and quality. Improved OCB represents employees’ accessibility and keenness to experience changes for the successful implementation of novel methodologies of management.( Jung & Hong,2008).Organizations realized that for surviving in this competitive scenario organizations have to develop employee work efforts and for effective functioning of the organization employee efforts are needed that can be beyond the official requirements of the role.( Garg & Rastogi,2006).