Perceived Support as a Moderator of the Relationship between Stress and Organisational Citizenship Behaviours

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of organizational stressors on organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and how perceived organizational support (POS) will moderate in the relationship between stressors and citizenship behavior.

Design/methodology/approach – The sample for this research involves operators from call center organizations located around the national capital of India. A questionnaire survey was carried out involving 402 operator level employees from five different organizations.

Findings – The results highlight a significant negative relationship between organizational stressors and OCB, a significant positive relationship between POS and OCB, and confirmation that POS moderates in the relationship between organizational stressors and OCB.

Research limitations/implications – This research has been carried out in an emerging economy and in a sector which is seen as an attractive area of work. However, as this study is limited to the BPO sector in India, these results may not be generalized to other areas such as the public and manufacturing sectors and in other national contexts. Future research in this area should also consider using different data collection approaches to maximize participation and enrich findings.

Practical implications – The analysis suggests that change management initiatives in organizations may not be implemented as effectively as they can under high stressor conditions because employee extra‐role work behavior and commitment may not be at full capacity.

Originality/value – There is limited research examining the relationship between organizational stressors and OCB in the presence of POS, especially within high demand environments such as the Indian BPO sector.