Participation, Engagement, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior Among Public Employees

Abstract

Despite considerable research on the importance of a management practice emphasizing the relational aspect such as participative management, little is known regarding the mechanism through which this relation-oriented management practice motivates public employees to cultivate pro-organizational work behavior such as organizational citizenship behavior. Using data from public employees in South Korea, this study examines the association between participative management and organizational citizenship behavior. We also explore how participative management sparks public employees to be engaged in their job, which in turn leads to higher organizational citizenship behavior. By identifying employee engagement as a mediating mechanism that links participative management and organizational citizenship behavior, this study offers insights into the role of relational management practices in public settings.