Organisational behaviour is the study of individual and group dynamics in an organisational setting, as well as the nature of the organisations themselves. It examines employee behaviour, decisions, perceptions and responses. Whenever people interact in organisations, many factors come into play. Individual behaviours such as task behaviour, organisational citizenship, counterproductive work behaviours, joining and staying with the organisation, and work attendance (McShane, Olekalns and Travaglione, 2010), are the five main types of behaviours that employees display. This essay will be focusing on two of the above behaviours, organizational citizenship (OCB) and counterproductive work behaviour (CWB).
Organisational Citizenship Behaviour
Organ (1988) defines OCB as “behaviour that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognised by the formal reward system, and that in aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organization......the behaviour is not an enforceable requirement of the role or the job description......the behaviour is a matter of personal choice”. This view is supported by Allison, Dryer and Voss (2001) who refers to OCB as an “employees’ extra-role behaviour, that is, behaviour that is voluntary and extends beyond normal role expectations.” OCB describes the type of behaviour when employees go beyond their job scope to improve the overall performance of the organisation. Examples are, being punctual, helping others, making suggestions to improve things and not wasting time at work (Schnake, 1991).
OCB can be categorised into five types: Altruism, Civic Virtue, Conscientiousness, Courtesy and Sportsmanship (Allison, Dryer and Voss, 2001). Altruism is behaviour that practices unselfish acts for the welfare of others. Civic Virtue can be described as a voluntary participation in support of the company’s best interest. Conscientiousness is the act of going well beyond one’s required effort. Courtesy is the act of