An investigation of antecedents of organizational citizenship behavior in the Turkish hospitality industry: a structural equation approach

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the relationships between organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and its antecedents – job satisfaction (JS), affective commitment (AC), organizational justice (OJ) and charismatic leadership (CL); the relationships among its antecedents; and mediating roles of JS and AC in the relationships between CL and OCB and between OJ and OCB in the Turkish hospitality industry in Antalya region. Improving OCB in the hospitality industry, as in other industries, plays an important role in increasing service quality and organization performance. Design/methodology/approach – The sample used for this study consisted of 768 employees working in 18 hotels (4- or 5-Star) in the Antalya region of Turkey. The data collection methodology of the study was a questionnaire survey which was administered through drop-and-collect methodology. The analysis methodology of the study was structural equation modeling. Findings – The findings indicated that both AC and JS mediated the relationship between CL and OCB, as well as between OJ and OCB. Guiding employees by charismatic leaders as well as securing OJ at workplaces in hospitality organizations in the Antalya region of Turkey contribute to OCB positively; however, JS and AC mediate this relationship. Thus, it is assumed that managers should take steps to improve the AC and JS attributes of their employees. In addition, unlike empirical findings in hospitality management literature, this research could not find any direct relationship between CL and OCB. Research limitations/implications – The present study provides practical implications for hotel managers who may be searching for ways in which to increase OCB and firm performance. The sample is confined to the hospitality industry, thus the generalization of findings to other industries might be limited. Hence, the authors suggest future studies which better enable comparison among various industries. Originality/value – The novelty of the present study arises from two points: incorporating a CL variable into the study’s model regarding the antecedents of OCB and investigating the mediating roles of JS and AC between CL and OCB as well as between OJ and OCB within the hospitality management industry.