Organizational citizenship behavior: a case study of culture, leadership and trust

Abstract

The case will test two hypotheses regarding three variables influencing the level of employee satisfaction and organizational citizenship at GAMMA, a manufacturer of plastics. Two hypotheses were developed from a review of the literature and initial results from exploratory research ( H1: low employee satisfaction at GAMMA is a direct result of an autocratic leadership style, low trust environment and weak corporate culture; H2: low employee citizenship is a direct result of low employee satisfaction). Results suggest that although the perception was that employee satisfaction and organizational citizenship were low (from the exploratory research); both quantitative and descriptive data indicated these were not. Moreover, the hypotheses were not conclusively supported quantitatively. High trust was not obtained. Also a specific high leadership style and a specific culture resulting in high employee satisfaction were also questionable. Moreover, it was not observed that a strong correlation existed statistically. H1 is therefore not conclusive quantitatively. H2 does not demonstrate a high level of employee citizenship and employee satisfaction correlation. Despite these results, it is recommended management employ the following action plan: do not change current leadership style; develop an action plan to increase trust starting with increasing accessibility of management to employees; develop an action plan to move from current culture to preferred expressed culture starting by rewarding team activity rather than individual activities; improve employee satisfaction even if the observed level is medium to high.