International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences, 2(6) June 2013, Pages: 223-229

TI Journals

International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences

ISSN
2306-7276

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A Study of the Effects of Organizational Rights on the

Organizational Citizenship Behavior and
Customer Perceived Quality
Belghis Bavarsad 1, Mohammad Ebrahimi Dezfouli 2
1
2

Assistant Professor, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran.

Master of Management, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran.

AR TIC LE INF O

AB STR AC T

Keywords:

What is the best way for service organizations to evaluate and motivate their service staff, retain
their customers and attract new customers? Which incentives may lead the staff to provide quality
service? Is there anything to do to make them the organizations competitive advantage? Answer to
these questions requires a system which relates human resources to organizations performance.
Such a relationship will improve customer satisfaction and financial performance. The present
study investigates the organizational citizenship behavior within the framework of organizational
rights and responsibilities to answer the above questions. This research demonstrates that service
staffs perceptions of how their organization deals with them are positively related to their
organizational citizenship behavior. Moreover, it will be explained that such behaviors lead to
more effective service and better perceptions of service quality by the customers.

Customer Service Quality

Service Marketing
Organizational Rights
Citizenship Behavior

2013 Int. j. econ. manag. soc. sci. All rights reserved for TI Journals.

Introduction
Services, in contrast to goods between production and consumption of which there is a time interval, are consumed at the same time of
production. This has highly emphasized the role of operating staff in such organizations success. This situation has put the vital flow of
service organizations in hands of operating staff. Although there has been a lot of studies on the issue (Parasuraman et al., 1988; Babakus
and Mangold, 1989; Carmen, 1990; Finn and Lamb, 1991; Parasuraman et al., 1991; Babakus and Boller, 1992; Cronin and Taylor, 1992),
the research conducted has been mainly focused on customer services perceived quality and little attention has been paid to the factors
affecting the service staffs behaviors and assessment of the staff behavior stimulating relationships on the perceived service quality.
According to Zeithaml and Bitner (1996, page 304) since operating staff provide service and can affect the customer satisfaction directly,
their role is similar to a marketers while providing service the staff perform marketing tasks as well. Therefore, one of the most
important issues for service organizations managers is how to motivate the staff involved in service providing in order to perform their
roles well? The importance of this question is that its answer can lead to new customers' attraction and actual customers' retention.
Financial benefits of customer attraction and retention have been set forth in numerous studies (Fornell and Wernerfelt, 1987, 1988; Rose,
1990; Reichheld and Sasser, 1990; Rust et al., 1995; Zeithaml et al., 1996).
Which is the best way to evaluate and motivate service staff in order to retain actual customers and attract new ones? By which means are
service staff motivated? Is there any action that an organization may take to have service staff perform their marketing roles in line with the
organizations goals? Answer to above questions requires a system which links the human resources management policies to the
performance so that customers perceptions of service quality are improved. The necessity of this study is explained by the importance of
the service staffs roles in the quality of provided services and consequently, in the organizations financial life. The present paper uses the
citizenship behavior framework to investigate the factors affecting the service provision-involved staffs behavior.

Theoretical Foundations and Conceptual Model

Parasuraman (1985) developed the service quality model through interviews with managers and customers of service enterprises (Fig.1).
The purpose of this model is to explain the notion that how a gap in the performance of intra-organizational service providers (provider
gap) leads to a gap between customers perceptions and expectations of services they receive (customer gap). In this model 4 provider gaps
are linked with 4 organizational tasks. Provider gap 1 occurs when a service enterprise does not know what expectations the customers have
from the provided services. Provider gap 2 occurs when an enterprise is not able to match customers expectations with a designed service
form. Provider gap 3 occurs as a result of inconsistency between the provided services and the standard, designed services of an
* Corresponding author.
Email address: bita40@yahoo.com

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Int ernational Journal of Ec onomy, Mana ge me nt and Soci al Sc iences , 2(6) June 2013

organization. Provider gap 4 emerges when the provided services are not consistent with the organizations promises. The present paper
focuses on the provider gap 3; i.e. inconsistency between the provided services and the standards and designed services.
Figure1. Service Quality Conceptual Model (Source: developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry (1985)

Expected quality
Customer difference

Perceived quality
Provider gap 4

Service delivery
Provider gap 1

International
Communication
& Customer

Provider gap 3
Standard, designed
services

Provider gap 2
Perception of
customers' expectations

Provider GAP 3
This gap consists of the difference between organizations defined service standards and services eventually provided to the customers by
the staff. Zeithaml and Bitner (1996) and Zeithaml et al. (1990) identified three key factors affecting the staffs provision of standard
service: human resources policies; supply and demand homogeneity; and customers role. The present papers focus is the factor which
could be controlled more by mangers that is, human resources policies.
A suitable approach to eliminate the service providing gap is to make use of 3 concepts of organizational citizenship behavior. Previous
research has demonstrated that a higher level of internal services is related to a higher level of customer satisfaction through employees
satisfaction (Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991; Schneider and Bowen, 1993). Furthermore, Loveman (1998), using the service profit chain
model, suggested that a higher level of employee satisfaction was related to higher customer loyalty and customer retention.
Due to difficulties in the management of service provision by employees, an employee evaluation framework which enables service
enterprises to improve the service staffs motivations, may enhance the ability of such organizations to provide services and consequently,
the customers perceptions of quality. An internal evaluation system which is beyond the usual surveys of staff satisfaction helps the
organization determine the perceptions of its employees from various aspects of their services and specify various aspects of improvement.
A well-known evaluation system which relates the organizations service quality dimensions to the employees expected performance will
be the most useful instrument for service improvement. Citizenship behavior is one of such systems (Bienstock et al., 2003).

Organizational Citizenship Behavior

The organizational citizenship behavior concept (OCB) was first introduced in early 1980s in organizational literature (Bateman and
Organ, 1983; Smith et al., 1983). The main interest of OCB was to determine responsibilities and behaviors of staff which were often
ignored or unequally measured in traditional evaluations of staffs performance. As the staffs behavior is not explicitly defined in job
descriptions, the initial basis of OCB is generally related to extra-role behaviors. As stated by Graham (1991), OCB has to have a more
precise definition of political and individual citizenship. Grahams political citizenship-based definition of OCB concerns the rights and
responsibilities among a groups members (Marshall, 1965; Inkeles, 1969; Kanter, 1972; Janowitz, 1980; Barber, 1983; McNeil, 1986;
Bromley and Busching, 1988) classified based on the following features:
Noncompulsory behaviors, independent individual motives- based behaviors, organizational high objectives-aiding behaviors (McAlister,
1991). The most important aspect of Grahams definition of OCB, with attention to staffs performance, is the framework of organizational
rights and duties. Graham (1991) suggested three behavioral categories with OCB features. Organizational obedience or submission,

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Internat ional Jour nal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Social Sciences , 2(6) June 2013

identified through a behavior which appreciates and accepts the necessity and appropriateness of logical framework of an organizations
rules and regulations. Organizational obedience is characterized by behaviors such as respect for organizational rules, performing the
assigned tasks and responsible performance of duties with attention to organizational resources. Organizational loyalty consists of being
loyal to the organization which is opposite to loyalty to individuals and units, and is demonstrated by behaviors which lead to improved
organizational reputation and cooperation with others towards realization of organizational objectives.
Organizational participation is characterized by involvement in organizational governance. Attending the meetings (even if not necessary),
sharing ideas with others and being informed of organizational actions are examples of organizational participation behavior. Grahams
political framework recommends that the three behavioral categories (obedience, loyalty and participation) are directly influenced by the
rights presented by the organization. In Grahams framework, organizational civil rights include fair treatment at the time of recruitment,
work assignment, evaluation and complaint-related issues.

OCB and Provider GAP 3

The OCB structure tries to identify, manage and measure the staffs behaviors to improve organizational effectiveness. It is very
appropriate to use this measure for service employees as a result of unique problems raised in the service staffs performance evaluation
systems.
The first feature of OCB was that the behavior is involuntary. The multiple aspects of services require involuntary behaviors of service
employees in order to be perceived as qualitative.
The second feature of OCB is the behavior raised by independent personal incentives/motives. In the service providing division, various
aspects of service quality include independent personal motives which research has demonstrated to be effective on customer satisfaction.
In their SERVQUAL measure, Parasuraman et al. (1988) identified 5 dimensions of service quality, 2 of which indicate employees
behavior (empathy and responsiveness). For instance, listening to customers remarks is one of those behaviors. But it is more important to
listen to them so that they would feel themselves significant. The same applies about responsiveness. Mohr and Bitner (1995) found that the
staffs efforts typically had a positive effect on customer satisfaction. Bitner et al. (1990) found that quick and satisfactory response to the
shortcomings had a positive effect on customer satisfaction.
Service staff should give more weight to and act towards meeting customer's expectations and what that is good for the organization. It
appears that OCB behaviors may have a positive effect on successful provision of service. If organizations want to encourage
organizational citizenship behaviors they should provide for appropriate civil rights (to encourage obedience or humbleness), appropriate
social rights (to encourage loyalty) and appropriate political rights (to encourage participation).
Based on Grahams (1991) framework, the first three hypotheses are set forth as follows:
H1. There is a positive relationship between the employees perceptions of the organizations observance of civil rights and their obedience.
H2. There is a positive relationship between the employees perceptions of the organizations observance of social rights and their loyalty.
H3. There is a positive relationship between the employees perceptions of the organizations observance of political rights and their
participation.
The fourth hypothesis is presented as follows, given the link between citizenship behavior and provision of standard services:
H4a. There is a positive relationship between the employees citizenship behaviors and the extent to which the provided service complies
with the organizational standards of service and requirements.
The fifth hypothesis is presented as follows, based on Parasuamans (1985) service quality model:
H4b. There is a positive relationship between the extent to which the provided service complies with the organizational standards of service
and requirements with the customers perceived quality.

Methodology
The present investigation is of a descriptive nature, in terms of data gathering method applied; and a survey-type research conducted in a
cross sectional manner.

Research Population and Sample

The population consists of employees and customers of service firms in Natural Gas Supply Industry. Questionnaires were sent to all
regional gas companies and their affiliates in boroughs among which 75 firms collaborated with the researchers. Questionnaires were
distributed among employees and customers of these 75 firms. It must be noted that 300 questionnaires were administered to the employees
and 500 to the customers. The analysis was based on 245 questionnaires received from the employees, including about 85% male and 15%
female respondents; and 330 questionnaires received from the customers including 56% male and 44% female respondents. The results of
descriptive statistics and rate of return are presented in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.

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Int ernational Journal of Ec onomy, Mana ge me nt and Soci al Sc iences , 2(6) June 2013

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of respondents sex and number

Questionnaire
OCB
Perception of services quality

Number of male respondents

208
145

Number of female respondents

37
185

Total Respondents
245
330

Table 2. Return rate of research questionnaires

Questionnaire
OCB
Perception of services quality

Number of questionnaires distributed

300
500

Number of questionnaires collected & completed

245
330

Return rate
81%
66%

Research Variables Measurement Tools

To measure organizational rights, a questionnaire developed by Graham (1991) was used. This questionnaire encompasses the three
components of social rights, civil rights and political rights. For each component 5 items have been considered in the questionnaire,
summing up to 15 items. Items were measured by 7-point Likerts scale (1=totally agree; 7= totally disagree).
To measure citizenship behavior, the OCB scale developed by Van Dyne et al. (1994) was used. Also, this questionnaire includes 15 items.
The three main components include loyalty, obedience and participation, 5 items for each component. Also this questionnaire has been
rated by 7-point Likerts scale (1=totally agree; 7= totally disagree).
To measure the realization degree of organizational standards, the results of operational inspection provided to the researchers by the
organization's managers were used. It must be noted that such inspections were performed simultaneously with questionnaires distribution.
The customers perceptions of quality were collected from the customers of sample firms during the questionnaires distribution period.
Data collection tool in this case included 11 items rated by a 5-point scale (1=very weak; 5= very good). This tool had been previously used
by researchers such as Crosby (1979), Lambert (1990) and Brown et al. (1993).
Reliability of the tool used to measure organizational rights and citizenship behavior were assessed using SPSS and calculation of
Cronbachs alpha. Results are as displayed in Table 3, indicating a desirable reliability of tools (0.7).
Validity and reliability of the tool used to measure the customer perception of service quality has been already assessed by Crosby (1979),
Brisingr and Lambert (1990), Brown et al. (1993) and Bienstock et al. (2003) and the results are available in their respective papers.

Results Analysis and Suggestions

AMOS software was used to test H1, H2 and H3. This software was used to analyze the structural model and to describe the relationships
between three dimensions of organizational rights (social, individual, political), three dimensions of citizenship behavior (loyalty,
obedience and participation) and a differential and convergent validity measurement tool for organizational rights and the organizational
behavior measurement tool. As illustrated by overall results, the analysis indicates that the data fit the assumed model well. The
measurement model indicates significant items for 3 dimensions of rights and 3 dimensions of behavior (CFI=0.904 and NFI=0.846).
Squared multiple correlation for the observed variables describe the proportional variance explained by the model. In addition, the
hypothesized relationships between organizational rights and behaviors (social rights loyalty behavior; civil rights obedience behavior;
political rights participation behaviors) (Fig.2) are fully significant. Moreover, squared multiple correlations for dependent variable
illustrate that civil, social and political rights account for 81.3% of loyalty behaviors, 70.3% of obedience behaviors and 43.1% of
participatory behavior. Therefore H1, H2 and H3 are supported.
Table 3. Reliability of the scales of organizational rights, organizational behavior and customer perception of service quality
Coefficient Alpha
Employees' organizational rights dimensions
Social rights
Civil rights
Political rights
Employees' organizational behavior dimensions
Loyalty behavior
Obedience behavior
Participation behavior
Organizational citizenship behavior
Customer perception of service quality

0.89
0.88
0.92
0.80
0.76
0.77
0.70
0.96

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Internat ional Jour nal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Social Sciences , 2(6) June 2013

Figure 2. Structural and measurement model for testing the organizational rights and organizational behaviors scales and the relationships between
organizational rights and organizational citizenship behaviors

SOCIAL
R

LOYAL B

CIVIL R

OBED B

POLIT R

PARTIC
B

Positive relationship

Notes: SOCIAL R = Social Rights; CIVIL R = Civil Rights; POLIT R = Political rights; LOYAL B = Loyalty behavior; OBED B =
Obedience behavior; PARTC B = Participation Behavior.
To test H4, also, the AMOS software was used. The employed technique was the analysis of the course of relationships between citizenship
behavior and average customer perception of quality. Overall fit of statistics (CFI and NFI) indicate that the data fit the model logically and
that there is a positive relationship between citizenship behavior and providing standard services. The complete results of statistical analysis
are as in Table 4.
The results provide evidence of the fact that if an organization pays respect to its employees social rights, they will respond with
showing their loyalty as well as the loyal behaviors such as saying good things about the organization and alike. Also if their civil rights
are respected, they will respond showing obedience behaviors such as punctual attendance in workplace. If their political rights are
respected, they will respond with participation behaviors such as giving suggestions to colleagues and sharing their ideas for improving the
work performance. In addition, this research demonstrated that a higher level of OCB among service staff was positively related to a higher
level of commitment to organizational service standards and customer perceptions of higher-quality service. This has important
implications for management and other organizational divisions. Managerial applications result from the fact that if employees provide
services which are in compliance with the organizations standards, the customers perception of service quality will be improved.
This important finding positively affects the attraction of new customers and retention of previous ones, the positive financial
outcomes of which are obvious.
As discussed in this paper, the use of a 5-point scale for assessing the obedience behavior was less reliable. Further studies are necessary in
order to improve the reliability of OCB framework used by managers to evaluate, reward and motivate the employees.

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Int ernational Journal of Ec onomy, Mana ge me nt and Soci al Sc iences , 2(6) June 2013

Table 4. Results of the model assumptions test

Organizational Rights Dimensions

A
B
C
D
R2
a
S1
0.917
0.801
S2
0.913*
0.795
S3
0.948*
0.890
S4
0.898*
0.850
S5
0.910*
0.763
C1
0.889a
0.824
C2
0.933*
0.866
C3
0.899*
0.941
C4
0.952*
0.906
C5
0.966*
0.928
Po1
0.832a
0.797
Po2
0.932*
0.869
Po3
0.886*
0.901
Po4
0.911*
0.788
Po5
0.825*
0.765
Standardized Results
for the Relationships between
Dimensions of Organizational Rights and Organizational
behaviors
Social Rights Loyalty Behavior
0.920*
Civil rights Obedience Behavior
0.883*
Political Rights Participatory Behavior
0.675*
Overall fit Statistics
2= 1,148.67; df= 71; p=0.000
Comparative Fit Index (CFI): 0.904
Normal Fit Index (NFI): 0.846
RMSEA=0.104

Organizational Behavior Dimensions

F
G
H
I
R2
a
L1
0.932
0.855
L2
0.821*
0.736
L3
0.792*
0.745
L4
0.912*
0.911
L5
0.951*
0.611
O1
0.821a
0.746
O2
0.822*
1.510
O3
0.891*
0.811
O4
0.810*
0.677
O5
0.700*
0.400
Pa1
0.741a
0.679
Pa2
0.863*
0.815
Pa3
0.712*
0.411
Pa4
0.597*
0.398
Pa5
0.726*
0.494
Squared multiple correlations for Dimensions of Organizational
Behavior (R2)
Loyal Behavior
Obedience Behavior
Participatory Behavior
D

0.831
0.730
0.436
C

Social Rights

0.911

0.969

1.000

Civil rights

0.897

1.000

Political Rights

1.000

Notes: A= Organizational Rights Items; B= Social Rights; C= Civil Rights; D= Political Rights;
F= Organizational Behavior Items; G= Loyalty Behavior; H= Obedience Behavior; I= Participation Behavior; R2= Squared Multiple Correlations. * p<0.05

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