Abstract:
Organizational citizenship behavior has been studied in various organizational settings, but few have examined the construct within the context of higher education. In addition, evidence (DiPaola, Tarter, Hoy, 2007), has suggested a relationship between organizational citizenship and effectiveness within schools, but has not been fully examined in higher education. Thus, this study's purpose was to gain an understanding of organizational climate, specifically citizenship, and organizational effectiveness at a public liberal arts institution. The researcher investigated, through survey instrumentation, how full-time faculty, staff and administrative professionals perceived the level of engagement in organizational citizenship behaviors, perceptions of organizational effectiveness within their work units and the relationship between citizenship and effectiveness. The results provided insight to the site institution regarding organizational behavior, particularly employee perceptions and the potential impact on organizational operations. The majority (over 80%) of employees reported high levels of organizational citizenship behavior within their institutional division. At the same time, these employees also held high perceptions of organizational effectiveness. Data analysis provided further evidence of organizational behavior and characteristics through a strong correlation and significant relationship between citizenship and effectiveness. An ancillary objective of this study was to test the instrumentation for use in higher education institutions. A Pearson's r correlation coefficient and factor analysis established the reliability and validity of the instrumentation within the context of higher education. Consequently, these measures have the potential to equip other public liberal arts colleges and universities with tools to consider utilizing in both planning and assessment. Through increased research efforts, higher education scholars can call attention to the importance of employee behavior on overall organizational operations and provide data to inform both practitioners and policymakers. Practitioners, particularly institutional leaders, should use this information to improve operations and policymakers should utilize the empirical evidence to implement valuable programs and encourage effective practices. All parties should work together to ensure that colleges and universities are in a position to truly achieve their mission of higher education.
