조직몰입과 조직시민행동의 선행자로서의 직무자율성

Job Autonomy as a Predictor of Organizational Commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behavior : The Moderating Influence of Innovation

본 연구는 매개적 조절모형(mediated moderation model)을 사용하여, 직무자율성이 조직몰입과 조직시민행동에 영향을 미치는 과정에서 기업 혁신성의 조절적 효과를 살펴보았다. 또한 직무자율성과 기업 혁신성 사이의 상호작용이 조직시 민행동에 미치는 영향을 조직몰입이 매개하고 있는지를 살펴보았다. 이러한 매개적 조절모형을 검증하기 위하여 본 논문은 2008년에 실시된 [근로자들의 태도와 행위를 위한 설문조사]를 이용하였다. 연구결과에 따르면, 한 기업의 혁신성이 직무자율성과 조직몰입, 직무자율성과 조직시민행동 사이의 관계에 조절적 영향을 미쳤다. 즉, 직무자율성은 보다 혁신적인 기업에서 개별 근로자들의 조직몰입과 조직시민행동을 더욱 향상시켰다. 또한, 본 연구는 조직몰입이 이러한 직무자율성과 혁신성 사이의 조직시민행동에 대한 상호작용 효과를 매개하고 있음을 발견하였다. 지금까지 직무자율성이 근로자 개개인의 태도와 행위에 영향을 미치는 과정에서 기업 상황적 요인에 대한 연구가 거의 없었다는 점에서 본 논문의 발견들은 직무자율성과 근로자들의 태도와 행위 사이의 관계에 영향을 미치는 기업상황적 요인들에 대한 연구에 기여할 수 있다.

In this study, job autonomy refers to the degree to which individual employees are provided with the freedom and discretion to determine how to conduct their jobs. Previous studies have found that job autonomy has positive effects on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, mental health, organizational citizenship behavior, and intent to stay. However, there has been no empirical study investigating the organizational contexts in which job autonomy can be more effective in improving those outcome variables. Thus, more research is needed that examines the external fit between job autonomy and innovation, one of organizational contexts. Therefore, this study investigates a moderating role of innovation on the relationships between job autonomy and organizational citizenship behavior and between job autonomy and organizational commitment. It also examines a mediating role of organizational commitment on the relationship between job autonomy and organizational citizenship behavior. Grant of job autonomy to its employees signals that the organization values the employees’ input and recognizes their contribution to its goal achievement. Therefore, job autonomy has a positive impact on perceived organizational support (POS). Social exchange theory implies that employees feel an obligation to reciprocate the organizational support. In other words, employees who perceive an organizational support are willing to reciprocate what they have received from the organization. As ways to reciprocate the organizational support, the employees may be committed to the organization's goal accomplishment (organizational commitment) and engage in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). H1 : Job autonomy will be positively related to organizational commitment. H2 : Job autonomy will be positively related to organizational citizenship behavior Given that job autonomy is an HR practice with which the organization utilizes employees' human capital by providing them with freedom and discretion in decision making, job autonomy fits with innovative organizational climate. Because more innovative companies need more inputs by their employees compared with less innovative companies, employees in more innovative companies are likely to have more opportunities to input their human capital. In contrast, employees in less innovative companies may not have enough opportunities to make innovative suggestions, even though they are provided with job autonomy. As a result, the effects of job autonomy on employees’ attitudes and behavior will be stronger in more innovative companies than in stable companies. H3 : The relationship between job autonomy and organizational citizenship behavior will be stronger in more innovative companies. H4 : The relationship between job autonomy and organizational commitment will be stronger in more innovative companies. Employees committed to the organization will more readily engage in organizational citizenship behavior. In other words, psychological attachment to or psychological identification with the organization will lead to organizational citizenship behavior. H5 : Organizational commitment will mediate the relationship between job autonomy and organizational citizenship behavior. To examine the proposed hypotheses, this study used a survey conducted in companies located in South Korea in 2008. More than 1,290 employees from 50 companies were involved in the survey. We chose 5 items among the 5-dimension scale that Niehoff and Moorman(1993) developed for OCB and 5 items from 15-item scale that Mowday et al.(1979) developed for organizational commitment. Three items from Job Diagnostic Survey and two items from Job Characteristics Inventory were selected for job autonomy. Innovation was measured by the extent to which a company develops or adopts new products or services.