A Proposed Model of the Effects of Organizational Citizenship Behavior on Sustained Information Technology Innovations

Electronic business (e-business) presents several new opportunities and challenges to business organizations through the expansion and enhancements of their markets. However, competing in global electronic markets (e-markets) has forced organizations to continually invest in information technology (IT). Although IT can provide a competitive advantage, its edge is only temporary and lost as competitors adopt it. Therefore, success in e-business might be linked to an organization’s ability to continually innovate IT applications, especially those that leverage and exploit its information and knowledge. To effectively innovate, though, the organization must foster good citizenship among its people and direct their activities toward building its knowledge. This paper proposes that sustained IT innovation results from organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and absorptive capacity, and absorptive capacity mediates the effects of OCB on IT innovation.