Introduction
Organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) refers to discretionary activities that are not formally rewarded and extend beyond formal job duties but that can be instrumental to team and organizational effectiveness (Bachrach, Powell, Collins, & Richey, Reference Bachrach, Powell, Collins and Richey2006; Borman & Motowidlo, Reference Borman, Motowidlo, Schmitt and Borman1993; Lin & Peng, Reference Lin and Peng2010; Podsakoff, Ahearne, & MacKenzie, Reference Podsakoff, Ahearne and MacKenzie1997). They also can benefit employees themselves, by providing sources of personal satisfaction and meaningfulness (Borman & Motowidlo, Reference Borman, Motowidlo, Schmitt and Borman1993) that might fuel their career development and success (Lievens, De Corte, & Schollaert, Reference Lievens, De Corte and Schollaert2008; Russo, Guo, & Baruch, Reference Russo, Guo and Baruch2014). Prior research accordingly addresses why some employees appear more likely than others to engage in OCB, usually by focusing on positive factors that can spur OCB – whether personal factors, such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment (Williams & Anderson, Reference Williams and Anderson1991), work engagement (Rurkkhum & Bartlett, Reference Rurkkhum and Bartlett2012), proactive personalities (Li, Liang, & Crant, Reference Li, Liang and Crant2010), or personal values (Arthaud-Day, Rode, & Turnley, Reference Arthaud-Day, Rode and Turnley2012), or contextual factors, such as person–organization fit (Wei, Reference Wei2012), constructive feedback (Sommer & Kulkarni, Reference Sommer and Kulkarni2012), organizational justice (Schilpzand, Martins, Kirkman, Lowe, & Chen, Reference Schilpzand, Martins, Kirkman, Lowe and Chen2013), decision autonomy (Noblet, McWilliams, Teo, & Rodwell, Reference Noblet, McWilliams, Teo and Rodwell2006), ethical decision making (Shin, Reference Shin2012), or servant leadership (Ozyilmaz & Cicek, Reference Ozyilmaz and Cicek2015).Footnote 1
Alternatively, adverse working conditions might steer employees away from OCB, such as dysfunctional organizational politics (De Clercq & Belausteguigoitia, Reference De Clercq and Belausteguigoitia2017a), excessive workloads (Noblet et al., Reference Noblet, McWilliams, Teo and Rodwell2006), interpersonal conflicts (Pooja, De Clercq, & Belausteguigoitia, Reference Pooja, De Clercq and Belausteguigoitia2016), perceived contract breaches (Zhao, Wayne, Glibkowski, & Bravo, Reference Zhao, Wayne, Glibkowski and Bravo2007), and role stress (Eatough, Chang, Miloslavic, & Johnson, Reference Eatough, Chang, Miloslavic and Johnson2011). This consideration of negative factors is important because unfavourable, resource-draining situations can deprive employees of the energy they need to undertake discretionary work activities such as OCB (Hobfoll & Shirom, Reference Hobfoll, Shirom and Golembiewski2000; Priesemuth & Taylor, Reference Priesemuth and Taylor2016). What these factors have in common is that they create significant uncertainty about employees' ability to perform their regular job tasks, which might make them reluctant to take on additional activities. Because OCB requires residual work energy that cannot be devoted to formally prescribed job duties (Organ, Reference Organ1988; Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff, & Blume, Reference Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff and Blume2009), understanding whether and when uncertainty-inducing work conditions diminish OCB is critical for organizational decision makers (Tremblay & Gibson, Reference Tremblay and Gibson2016; Zhang, Walumbwa, Aryee, & Chen, Reference Zhang, Walumbwa, Aryee and Chen2013).
A specific source of uncertainty for employees is the experience of role ambiguity or the extent to which they are unclear about what their job responsibilities entail (Fried & Tiegs, Reference Fried and Tiegs1995; Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek, & Rosenthal, Reference Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek and Rosenthal1964). It represents a significant source of stress and frustration for employees because it obscures what they should do to comply with employer expectations (Schmidt, Roesler, Kusserow, & Rau, Reference Schmidt, Roesler, Kusserow and Rau2014; Trépanier, Fernet, & Austin, Reference Trépanier, Fernet and Austin2013). Notably, ruminations about unspecified job obligations likely diminish the personal energy that employees have available to devote to discretionary work behaviours (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001; Quinn, Spreitzer, & Lam, Reference Quinn, Spreitzer and Lam2012). The key objective of this study accordingly is to investigate how role ambiguity might diminish the likelihood that employees engage in OCB, with a particular focus on the potential mitigating effects of two personal resources: employees' political skill, or their social competencies to understand and influence their organizational environment (Perrewé et al., Reference Perrewé, Zellars, Rossi, Ferris, Kacmar, Liu, Zinko and Hochwarter2005),Footnote 2 and their organizational identification, or the extent to which they feel a strong sense of belonging to their organization and experience its successes and failures as their own (Brammer, He, & Mellahi, Reference Brammer, He and Mellahi2015).
Our theoretical arguments are anchored in the conservation of resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll1989, Reference Hobfoll2001). According to this theory, negative job experiences tend to divert employees from discretionary work behaviours because they suffer depletion of their energy resources as a result of their experiences (Hobfoll & Shirom, Reference Hobfoll, Shirom and Golembiewski2000). This theory also predicts an essential role of employees' personal resources, in that they may function as buffers of this process (Abbas, Raja, Darr, & Bouckenooghe, Reference Abbas, Raja, Darr and Bouckenooghe2014; Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001; Witt & Carlson, Reference Witt and Carlson2006). The predicted moderating roles of the two focal personal resources in our conceptual model (political skill and organizational identification) are consistent with this buffering logic. That is, both resources provide employees with the energy needed to maintain some level of OCB, despite the presence of resource-draining role ambiguity (Chen, Lin, & Lien, Reference Chen, Lin and Lien2011; Schmidt et al., Reference Schmidt, Roesler, Kusserow and Rau2014).
We seek to make several contributions to this study. First, we examine role ambiguity as an inhibitor of OCB, with a central focus on when this resource-depleting work condition might be less likely to exert a negative effect. We accordingly respond to calls for more applications of contingency approaches to study role stress outcomes (Chen, Takeuchi, & Shum, Reference Chen, Takeuchi and Shum2013; De Clercq & Belausteguigoitia, Reference De Clercq and Belausteguigoitia2017b; Ralston et al., Reference Ralston, Lee, Perrewé, Van Deusen, Vollmer, Maignan and Wan2010) and for explications of how resource-draining work conditions may prevent employees from performing voluntary work behaviours (Naseer, Raja, Syed, Donia, & Darr, Reference Naseer, Raja, Syed, Donia and Darr2016; Noblet et al., Reference Noblet, McWilliams, Teo and Rodwell2006; Paillé, Reference Paillé2011). We postulate that employees' negative responses to unclear role descriptions, in the form of reduced OCB, may be mitigated by two distinct personal resources: their capabilities to cope with workplace adversity (i.e., political skill; Ferris, Treadway, Perrewé, Brouer, Douglas, and Lux, Reference Ferris, Treadway, Perrewé, Brouer, Douglas and Lux2007) and their positive emotional perspective that makes them more forgiving of organizational hardships (i.e., organizational identification; Liu, Loi, and Lam, Reference Liu, Loi and Lam2011). Notably, these two personal resources complement each other, in that they speak to employees' ability and motivation, respectively, to undertake discretionary work behaviours in the presence of role ambiguity. Investigating these two contingency factors thus creates a consistent, comprehensive portrait of how employees' personal resources may mitigate the risk that they avoid OCB in the presence of unclear job descriptions.
Second, to achieve an even better understanding of the harmful outcomes of role ambiguity, we consider the interplay of the personal resources of political skill and organizational identification. That is, we explicate their interdependent, reinforcing effects in terms of buffering the negative effect of role ambiguity on OCB, an issue that has received relatively little attention in previous empirical applications of COR theory (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2011). In particular, we show that organizational identification can buffer the harmful effect of role ambiguity on OCB, but its relative usefulness increases to the extent that employees can draw from their political competencies. This finding, in turn, implies the presence of positive resource spirals that can mitigate employees' negative responses to role ambiguity (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001).
Third, our study takes place in Mexico, an understudied context that is relevant to the research objectives. This country is characterized by high levels of uncertainty avoidance, and people in this culture likely feel distressed by ambivalent, unstructured situations, so they might suffer when they confront a lack of relevant information about how to perform their job tasks (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, Reference Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov2010). The central issue of this study – the usefulness and influence of relevant personal resources for buffering the relationship between role ambiguity and OCB – thus should be particularly pertinent in our study context, as well as for other countries with cultural profiles similar to Mexico's.
The conceptual framework is in Figure 1. We detail its constitutive hypotheses next.
Figure 1. Conceptual model.
Research Hypotheses
Role ambiguity and OCB
When employees receive insufficient information about their job responsibilities, they tend to grow concerned about their organizational functioning and long-term success (Singh, Suar, & Leiter, Reference Singh, Suar and Leiter2012; Zhou, Martinez, Ferreira, & Rodrigues, Reference Zhou, Martinez, Ferreira and Rodrigues2016). We explicitly acknowledge that such role ambiguity may diminish both the ability and the motivation of employees to undertake OCB. First, employees who face uncertainty-inducing work conditions tend to react with cognitive coping mechanisms that consume substantial energy (Hobfoll & Shirom, Reference Hobfoll, Shirom and Golembiewski2000; Lazarus & Folkman, Reference Lazarus and Folkman1984), such that they have less energy available to dedicate to discretionary activities that are not formally required by their job descriptions (Quinn, Spreitzer, & Lam, Reference Quinn, Spreitzer and Lam2012). Voluntary work behaviours require substantial energy (Podsakoff et al., Reference Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff and Blume2009), and employees who are preoccupied with information shortages about their job responsibilities may not possess that level of energy (Schmidt et al., Reference Schmidt, Roesler, Kusserow and Rau2014). Notably, employees tend to feel exhausted when trying to figure out what their employer expects from them (Singh, Suar, & Leiter, Reference Singh, Suar and Leiter2012), so they may consider OCB a significant distraction that prevents them from fulfilling their job duties. In the presence of role ambiguity, undertaking OCB might be beyond employees' reach or capability.
In addition to thwarting their ability to undertake voluntary work behaviours, unclear role descriptions may diminish employees' motivations to perform them. That is, the resource drainage that comes with role ambiguity might translate into lower OCB because employees have a desire to avoid further resource losses, as might be manifested in an inability to perform their formal job duties (Trépanier, Fernet, & Austin, Reference Trépanier, Fernet and Austin2013), so they conserve their work-related energy, including energy that they otherwise would devote to voluntary efforts to enhance organizational well-being (Curran & Prottas, Reference Curran and Prottas2017; Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001). Moreover, incomplete job information may signal disrespect from the organization (Kahn et al., Reference Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek and Rosenthal1964; O'Driscoll & Beehr, Reference O'Driscoll and Beehr2000), to which employees may respond with a reduced willingness to contribute to organizational effectiveness (Podsakoff et al., Reference Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff and Blume2009). If employees sense that their employer cares little about their well-being because it fails to provide adequate guidance about their job duties, they might have little reason to devote themselves to its success (Zhang, Tsingan, & Zhang, Reference Zhang, Tsingan and Zhang2013). Instead, they might conserve their energy resources and only allocate personal energy to activities that are formally rewarded (Eatough et al., Reference Eatough, Chang, Miloslavic and Johnson2001; Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001).
Hypothesis 1
There is a negative relationship between employees' experience of role ambiguity and their organizational citizenship behaviour.
Moderating role of political skill
According to COR theory, the resource-depleting effect of employees' exposure to unfavourable work conditions on their likelihood to undertake discretionary work behaviours is attenuated to the extent that they can compensate for the resource loss through their personal resources (Abbas et al., Reference Abbas, Raja, Darr and Bouckenooghe2014; Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll1989). We propose that their political skill is a useful resource in this regard because it mitigates the reduced ability of employees to engage in OCB in the presence of an adverse work condition such as role ambiguity (Hochwarter, Ferris, Gavin, Perrewé, Hall, & Frink, Reference Hochwarter, Ferris, Gavin, Perrewé, Hall and Frink2007) Politically skilled employees can cope more effectively with information deficiencies in job descriptions, by exerting their personal influence over other organizational members and soliciting advice about how to deal with the stressful situation (Bing, Davison, Minor, Novicevic, & Frink, Reference Bing, Davison, Minor, Novicevic and Frink2011; Ferris, Davidson, & Perrewé, Reference Ferris, Davidson and Perrewé2005). Politically competent employees possess strong abilities to get other members to provide them with valuable insights, such as about ways to combine regular job duties with voluntary activities successfully, even in the presence of energy-draining role ambiguity (Kolodinsky, Treadway, & Ferris, Reference Kolodinsky, Treadway and Ferris2007). Ultimately these employees should feel less drained by the absence of clear job descriptions (Schmidt et al., Reference Schmidt, Roesler, Kusserow and Rau2014) and have greater means to undertake voluntary work behaviours.
The social astuteness of politically skilled employees (Munyon, Summers, Thompson, & Ferris, Reference Munyon, Summers, Thompson and Ferris2015) also may grant them a greater understanding of how they could benefit from voluntary work efforts (e.g., personal reputation building, career advancement; Russo, Guo, and Baruch, Reference Russo, Guo and Baruch2014) when their job descriptions are vague and grant them leeway in terms of how to allocate their personal energy (Fuller, Marler, and Hester, Reference Fuller, Marler and Hester2006; Morrison, Reference Morrison1994). That is, the depletion in energy due to this adverse work situation might be compensated for by an enhanced ability to perceive how personal resource gains can arise from engaging in OCB (Hobfoll & Shirom, Reference Hobfoll, Shirom and Golembiewski2000). In contrast, employees with less political skill cannot protect themselves as well against the energy drainage that results from role ambiguity, due to their minimal ability to understand or leverage this situation (Ferris, Davidson, & Perrewé, Reference Ferris, Davidson and Perrewé2005; Zhao & Xia, Reference Zhao and Xia2017). For example, they might be less able to find effective ways to deal with role ambiguity through feedback obtained from colleagues (Kolodinsky, Treadway, & Ferris, Reference Kolodinsky, Treadway and Ferris2007), so instead they must ruminate more about what their job responsibilities might entail, eventually leaving them with less energy for discretionary work activities such as OCB (Quinn, Spreitzer, & Lam, Reference Quinn, Spreitzer and Lam2012).
Overall, employees' political competencies should function as a buffer against a reduced ability to engage in OCB in the presence of role ambiguity; the relationship between these two factors should be weaker among employees who are more politically skilled (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001). Conversely, absent adequate political skills, the energy depletion resulting from enhanced ruminations about information shortages (Trépanier, Fernet, & Austin, Reference Trépanier, Fernet and Austin2013) likely escalates into a diminished inclination to carry out voluntary work behaviours because of the employees' reduced ability to perform these behaviours in the adverse work situation.
Hypothesis 2
The negative relationship between employees' experience of role ambiguity and their organizational citizenship behaviour is moderated by their political skill, such that the relationship is weaker at higher levels of political skill.
Moderating role of organizational identification
We also hypothesize a buffering role of organizational identification; the likelihood that role ambiguity escalates into lower OCB should be subdued to the extent that employees have a stronger sense of belonging to their organization. In contrast with political skill, this buffering role speaks to the lower motivation that employees might have to stay away from OCB in the presence of role ambiguity. Employees who strongly identify with their organization experience their work environment as safer and more accommodating of their needs (Mael & Ashforth, Reference Mael and Ashforth1992; Riketta, Reference Riketta2005), so they tend to accept how their employer manages its workforce, even if certain practices might seem frustrating or hinder their organizational functioning (Ashforth, Harrison, & Gorley, Reference Ashforth, Harrison and Gorley2008). This sense of organizational identification should help counter employees' desire to conserve resources by not contributing voluntarily to their organization's success in response to role ambiguity (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001) because they are more forgiving of their employer, even if it creates stressful, resource-draining work conditions by failing to provide sufficient information about their job responsibilities (Brickson, Reference Brickson2013; Liu, Loi, & Lam, Reference Liu, Loi and Lam2011).
Similarly, high levels of organizational identification tend to shift employees' attention, from expecting personal comfort while undertaking their daily job tasks – which might be compromised in the presence of unclear job descriptions (Schmidt et al., Reference Schmidt, Roesler, Kusserow and Rau2014) – to sensing the need to contribute to organizational well-being with discretionary work behaviours (Van Knippenberg, Reference Van Knippenberg2000; Wang, Tang, Naumann, & Wang, Reference Wang, Tang, Naumann and Wang2019). That is, employees who strongly identify with their organization likely assign less weight to the hardships associated with information deficiencies about their job descriptions, so consistent with the COR logic, it becomes less likely that their frustration about role ambiguity undermines their motivation to undertake OCB (Hobfoll & Shirom, Reference Hobfoll, Shirom and Golembiewski2000). In contrast, employees with a low sense of organizational identification likely feel offended by the hardships associated with persistent job-related information shortages, and they accordingly may be less motivated to maintain some level of OCB in the presence of role ambiguity.
In summary, employees who strongly identify with their organization perceive their work environment as more supportive (Riketta, Reference Riketta2005) and should be more accepting of the notion that their organization may need to maintain some unfavourable practices, such as those that create uncertainty about their organizational functioning (Liu, Loi, & Lam, Reference Liu, Loi and Lam2011). These employees are less likely to avoid OCB in the presence of role ambiguity. In contrast, employees who do not possess a sense of organizational identification may be motivated to conserve their resources and reduce any work behaviours for which they are not formally rewarded in the presence of role ambiguity (Hobfoll & Shirom, Reference Hobfoll, Shirom and Golembiewski2000).
Hypothesis 3
The negative relationship between employees' experience of role ambiguity and their organizational citizenship behaviour is moderated by their organizational identification, such that the relationship is weaker at higher levels of organizational identification.
Finally, we hypothesize that the buffering effect of organizational identification on the negative relationship between role ambiguity and OCB is particularly strong for employees who also can rely on adequate political skills. That is, we predict a three-way interaction among role ambiguity, organizational identification, and political skill. This argument is based on the concept of positive resource spirals from COR theory (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001), according to which energy-enhancing personal resources reinforce one another in mitigating the negative consequences of resource-draining work conditions.
That is, in Hypothesis 3, we postulated that when employees possess positive emotions about their employer (i.e., organizational identification), they experience the adverse work situation of role ambiguity as more acceptable and remain motivated to engage in some OCB (Riketta, Reference Riketta2005; Van Knippenberg, Reference Van Knippenberg2000). If they also can count on adequate political skill, the positive feelings associated with their strong sense of organizational identification should be particularly useful for helping them reserve some discretionary energy for voluntary activities in the presence of role ambiguity because they have an increased ability to channel these positive feelings into solutions, by obtaining valuable insights from organizational peers (e.g., Ferris, Davidson, & Perrewé, Reference Ferris, Davidson and Perrewé2005; Kolodinsky, Treadway, & Ferris, Reference Kolodinsky, Treadway and Ferris2007). Thus, the COR logic of positive resource spirals, which emphasizes the reinforcing, beneficial roles of different personal resources (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001), suggests that when employees can rely on their political skill, the extent to which they strongly identify with their organization and seek to ensure its well-being should be particularly useful for mitigating the negative effect of experiences of resource-draining role ambiguity on their OCB.
Conversely, employees without adequate political skills may have more difficulty leveraging positive emotions about their organization to protect against the hardship of resource-draining role ambiguity because they have less easy access to valuable knowledge resources that their organizational colleagues might possess in terms of how to combine their regular job tasks with voluntary work activities (Ferris, Davidson, & Perrewé, Reference Ferris, Davidson and Perrewé2005; Sun & van Emmerik, Reference Sun and van Emmerik2015). In this case, the buffering effect of the personal resource of organizational identification on the negative relationship between role ambiguity and OCB should have less incremental importance (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001). That is, the positive energy directed toward the organization still mitigates the negative relationship, but it might be less powerful in terms of countering the frustration that comes with role ambiguity because employees lack the competencies to devote their positive energy toward influencing and possibly changing the situation (Perrewé et al., Reference Perrewé, Zellars, Rossi, Ferris, Kacmar, Liu, Zinko and Hochwarter2005). With insufficient political competencies, employees' organizational identification should have a weaker buffering effect on the role of ambiguity–OCB relationship.
Hypothesis 4
The buffering effect of organizational identification on the negative relationship between employees' experience of role ambiguity and their organizational citizenship behaviour is moderated by their political skill, such that this buffering effect is stronger among employees who are more politically skilled.
Method
Sample and data collection
We tested the research hypotheses with data collected from employees who worked in a Mexican-based organization that manufactures motor vehicle parts and accessories. Investigating a single organization helped us avoid the risk of unobserved differences in the organizational culture or external market pressures, which could affect the time available for employees to undertake voluntary work behaviours (Hodson, Reference Hodson2002; Organ, Reference Organ1988; Podsakoff et al., Reference Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff and Blume2009). In addition, the company functions in a transitional economy, marked by high levels of collectivism and uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, Reference Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov2010), so it makes for a compelling research setting because positive work behaviours such as OCB likely are widely encouraged, yet employees also could be sensitive to the presence of uncertainty-inducing work conditions.
After receiving support from the organization's top management, we asked 250 randomly selected individual employees to participate in a survey. Following a well-established procedure (Brislin, Lonner, & Thorndike, Reference Brislin, Lonner and Thorndike1973), the original English survey was translated into Spanish, then back-translated into English. After checking for discrepancies between the two English versions, the Spanish version was finalized. We also pretested a preliminary version of the survey with five employees who did not participate in the actual data collection and incorporated their feedback, to improve the readability of the questions and enhance the data quality.
The data collection process followed standard procedures. In particular, the cover letters that accompanied the surveys clarified the general purpose of the study, assured participants of complete confidentiality, and mentioned that their participation was entirely voluntary, that no individual-level data would ever be made public, and that only aggregate information would be available to people outside the research team. Participants were explicitly told that there were no correct or incorrect answers, it was normal that different respondents would give varied answers to the questions, and it was critical they answered the questions as honestly as possible – all features that reduce concerns about social desirability bias (Spector, Reference Spector2006). The letter included contact information for a member of the research team, in case participants had questions or wished to share their feedback. Finally, respondents could withdraw from the study at any point.
From the 250 distributed surveys, we received 173 completed responses (rate = 69%). Among the respondents, 40% were women, 58% were younger than 40 years, their average tenure with the organization was about 3 years, and 34% had supervisory responsibilities.
Measures
The four focal constructs were measured with items that have been validated in previous studies, using seven-point Likert scales, ranging from 1 (‘strongly disagree’) to 7 (‘strongly agree’). Table 1 details the items for each of the individual constructs.
Table 1. Constructs and measurement items
a Initial loading was fixed to 1 to set the scale of the construct.
***p < .001.
Organizational citizenship behaviour
To measure employees' OCB, we relied on a four-item scale, drawn from previous research (De Cremer, Mayer, van Dijke, Schouten, & Bardes, Reference De Cremer, Mayer, van Dijke, Schouten and Bardes2009). These items captured the extent to which employees engage in voluntary behaviours targeted at improving their organization's well-being, such as ‘If necessary, I am prepared to work overtime’ and ‘I undertake voluntary action to protect the company from potential problems’ (Cronbach's α = .78).
Our reliance on single-respondent, self-reported data to assess the study variables, including the dependent variable, may constitute an empirical weakness, though a recent meta-analysis indicates small differences between self- and other-rated measures of OCB (Carpenter, Berry, & Houston, Reference Carpenter, Berry and Houston2014). Moreover, people who undertake OCB arguably may provide more valuable insights into their own voluntary efforts, whereas other potential informants (e.g., supervisors, peers) may only have partial insights into how much personal energy employees invest in such activities (Chan, Reference Chan, Lance and Vandenberg2009). Similarly, employees may undertake voluntary work behaviours toward some supervisors or peers but not others, so other-rated measures may underestimate the actual amount of OCB (e.g., Harris and Schaubroeck, Reference Harris and Schaubroeck1988; Organ, Podsakoff, and MacKenzie, Reference Organ, Podsakoff and MacKenzie2006). Finally, when self-reports are appropriate, concerns about common method bias tend to be mitigated (Conway and Lance, Reference Conway and Lance2010).
Role ambiguity
We applied a six-item, reverse-coded scale, used in prior research (De Clercq & Belausteguigoitia, Reference De Clercq and Belausteguigoitia2017b; Fried & Tiegs, Reference Fried and Tiegs1995), to assess employees' beliefs about the presence of unclear role descriptions. Sample items were, ‘I know exactly what is expected of me’ and ‘Explanation is clear of what has to be done’ (Cronbach's α = .92).
Political skill
We applied a six-item scale of political skill (Perrewé et al., Reference Perrewé, Zellars, Rossi, Ferris, Kacmar, Liu, Zinko and Hochwarter2005) to measure employees' social competencies and associated abilities to understand and influence their organization's internal functioning. For example, respondents indicated whether ‘I am good at getting others to respond positively to me’, ‘I usually try to find common ground with others’, and ‘It is easy for me to develop good rapport with most people’ (Cronbach's α = .85).
Organizational identification
To assess the extent to which employees feel a strong sense of belonging to their employer, we used a five-item scale of organizational identification (Brammer, He, & Mellahi, Reference Brammer, He and Mellahi2015). For example, employees rated ‘When someone praises my organization, it feels like a personal compliment’, ‘When someone criticizes my organization, it feels like a personal insult’, and ‘Organization's successes are my successes’ (Cronbach's α = .71).
Control variables
We controlled for employees' gender (1 = female), age (1 = <20 years, 2 = 20–29 years, 3 = 30–39 years, 4 = 40–49 years, 5 = 50–59 years, 6 = 60 years or older), organizational tenure (1 = <1 year, 2 = 1–2 years, 3 = 3–5 years, 4 = 6–10 years, 5 = 11–20 years, 6 = more than 20 years), and job level (1 = had supervisory responsibilities) to account for alternative possible explanations of employees' engagement in OCB.
We assessed the validity of the study's focal constructs with a four-factor measurement model and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (Anderson & Gerbing, Reference Anderson and Gerbing1988). The model exhibited adequate fit: χ2(181) = 335.33, Tucker-Lewis index = .91, confirmatory fit index = .92 and root mean squared error of approximation = .07. In support of convergent validity, the four constructs all featured strongly significant factor loadings for the respective items (p < .001, Table 1, Gerbing and Anderson, Reference Gerbing and Anderson1988). We also found support for the presence of discriminant validity; for the six pairs generated from the four constructs, the differences in the chi-square values of a constrained model (correlation between constructs set to 1) versus an unconstrained model (correlation between constructs set free) were significant for each pair (Δχ2(1) > .3.84) (Anderson & Gerbing, Reference Anderson and Gerbing1988).
We performed two tests to assess the possibility of common method bias. First, according to Harman's one-factor test (Podsakoff & Organ, Reference Podsakoff and Organ1986), if common method bias were a significant issue, a single factor that included all four constructs – role ambiguity, political skill, organizational identification and OCB – would account for most of the variance in the data. The first factor explained only 38% of the variance, so common method bias did not seem to be a major concern. Second, a CFA in which each item of the four focal constructs loaded on a single factor generated a significantly worse fit than that of the aforementioned four-factor model (Δχ2(8) = 472.70, p < .001) (Lattin, Carroll, & Green, Reference Lattin, Carroll and Green2003). In addition, common method bias is less of an issue for models that contain complex moderating effects because it is difficult for respondents to figure out these effects and adjust their responses to them (Brockner, Siegel, Daly, Tyler, & Martin, Reference Brockner, Siegel, Daly, Tyler and Martin1997; De Clercq, Thongpapanl, & Dimov, Reference De Clercq, Thongpapanl and Dimov2009; Simons & Peterson, Reference Simons and Peterson2000). Thus, concerns about the use of a common respondent in our study are minimal.
Results
Table 2 reports the zero-order correlations and descriptive statistics, and Table 3 provides the results of the hierarchical regression analyses. Model 1 included the control variables, and Model 2 added role ambiguity and the two moderators (political skill and organizational identification). Then Models 3 and 4 included the role ambiguity × political skill and role ambiguity × organizational identification interaction terms, respectively. It is appropriate to add multiple interaction terms to different equations because their simultaneous inclusion into a single model can mask true moderating effects (Aiken & West, Reference Aiken and West1991; Covin, Green, & Slevin, Reference Covin, Green and Slevin2006; Zahra & Hayton, Reference Zahra and Hayton2008). Finally, Model 5 featured the three-way interaction term (role ambiguity × organizational identification × political skill), together with the three constitutive two-way interactions (Aiken & West, Reference Aiken and West1991). Following established practice, we mean-centred the product terms in the two- and three-way interactions (Aiken & West, Reference Aiken and West1991).
Table 2. Correlation table and descriptive statistics
Notes: N = 173.
**p < .01; *p < .05.
Table 3. Regression results (dependent variable: organizational citizenship behaviour)
Notes: N = 173. Unstandardized regression coefficients (and standard errors, in parentheses) are reported.
***p < .001; **p < .01; *p < .05; +p < .10 (two-tailed tests).
Consistent with our baseline argument that hardships caused by unclear role descriptions steer employees away from undertaking voluntary work activities, in Model 2 role ambiguity related negatively to OCB (β = −.389, p < .001), in support of Hypothesis 1. In relationships that were not part of our conceptual framework, Model 2 also revealed a direct positive relationship of political skill (β = .327 p < .001) but no significant relationship of organizational identification (β = .071, ns) with OCB. In addition, Models 3–4 supported the hypothesized buffering effects of political skill (β = .118, p < .001) and organizational identification (β = .093, p < .01) on the negative relationship between role ambiguity and OCB. The likelihood that employees' beliefs about unclear role descriptions undermine their OCB was lower when they could draw from their political skill (Hypothesis 2) and strong sense of organizational identification (Hypothesis 3). We graph these buffering effects in Figures 2 and 3, with corresponding slope analyses at one standard deviation above and below the means of the moderators (Aiken & West, Reference Aiken and West1991). The results indicated that the negative relationship between role ambiguity and OCB was very strongly significant when political skill (β = −.406, p < .001) and organizational identification (β = −.432, p < .001) were low, but it diminished in significance at high levels of these moderators (β = −.170, p < .10, and β = −246, p < .01, respectively), in support of Hypotheses 2 and 3.
Figure 2. Moderating effect of political skill on the relationship between role ambiguity and organizational citizenship behaviour.
Figure 3. Moderating effect of organizational identification on the relationship between role ambiguity and organizational citizenship behaviour.
We also found a significant three-way interaction among role ambiguity, organizational identification, and political skill in Model 5 (β = .075, p < .001). To clarify the nature of this interaction, we plotted the moderating effect of organizational identification on the relationship between role ambiguity and OCB at high versus low levels of political skill in Figure 4. At high levels of political skill (Panel A), the interaction plot showed a pattern consistent with that in Figure 3: Role ambiguity strongly reduced OCB when organizational identification was low, which was not the case when organizational identification was high. However, at low levels of political skill (Panel B), the two lines were almost parallel, indicating the absence of a buffering effect of organizational identification on the relationship between role ambiguity and organizational identification when employees lacked political competencies. Following Dawson and Richter (Reference Dawson and Richter2006), we also assessed whether the slope differences were significant. Although the slope difference in Figure 4, Panel A, was significant (t = 2.758, p < .01), it was not in Figure 4, Panel B (t = .636, ns). These patterns were consistent with Hypothesis 4: When employees can draw from relevant political competencies, the beneficial role of organizational identification in reducing the likelihood that role ambiguity escalates into lower OCB is particularly prominent (Panel A). However, when their political skill is low, the rate at which OCB diminishes in response to increasing levels of role ambiguity is virtually the same at high and low levels of organizational identification (Panel B).
Figure 4. Three-way interaction effect of organizational identification on the role ambiguity–organizational citizenship behaviour relationship. A: High political skill. B: Low political skill.
Discussion
This study extends previous research by examining the concurrent effects of role ambiguity and two critical personal resources, political skill, and organizational identification, for predicting OCB. The relative lack of attention to this topic is somewhat surprising, in light of the recognition that spending time on voluntary work activities usurps significant energy (Podsakoff et al., Reference Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff and Blume2009) and can be challenging for resource-deprived employees who are exposed to ambiguous work conditions that already make it difficult to complete their job tasks (Schmidt et al., Reference Schmidt, Roesler, Kusserow and Rau2014; Showail, McClean Parks, & Smith, Reference Showail, McClean Parks and Smith2013). With a basis in COR theory, this study predicts how role ambiguity might discourage OCB but also how avoiding OCB in response to resource depletion due to role ambiguity is less likely to materialize to the extent that employees can draw from relevant personal resources that enhance either their ability (political skill) or their motivation (organizational identification) to maintain some OCB in this adverse work situation (Hobfoll & Shirom, Reference Hobfoll, Shirom and Golembiewski2000).
The direct negative relationship between role ambiguity and OCB mirrors findings from previous studies about the detrimental effect of role stress on positive work outcomes such as job satisfaction (Kawai & Mohr, Reference Kawai and Mohr2015) or work productivity (Zhou et al., Reference Zhou, Martinez, Ferreira and Rodrigues2016). This negative relationship stems from the energy resource depletion that employees experience when they lack clear explanations about their job responsibilities (Au & Ahmed, Reference Au and Ahmed2016; Zhou et al., Reference Zhou, Martinez, Ferreira and Rodrigues2016), leaving them without sufficient resources to allocate to voluntary work behaviours (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001). Despite this negative relationship, as revealed in this study, previous research indicates that this connection might not be automatic because vague job descriptions also could give employees more leeway in terms of the work activities they decide to undertake (Bernard, Osmonbekov, & McKee, Reference Bernard, Osmonbekov and McKee2011; Rizzo, House, & Lirtzman, Reference Rizzo, House and Lirtzman1970). For example, if their job responsibilities are unclear, the boundary between formal job duties and voluntary behaviours gets blurred, resulting in greater perceived role breadth, which might increase employees' felt responsibility to dedicate some of their time to discretionary work behaviours (Fuller, Marler, & Hester, Reference Fuller, Marler and Hester2006; Morrison, Reference Morrison1994). Because the energy depletion associated with role ambiguity might not always lead to negative work outcomes, a continued need exists to investigate which contingency factors can contain its harmful effects (De Clercq, Haq, & Azeem, Reference De Clercq, Haq and Azeem2019; Eatough et al., Reference Eatough, Chang, Miloslavic and Johnson2011; Schmidt et al., Reference Schmidt, Roesler, Kusserow and Rau2014). We have addressed this issue by investigating the moderating roles of two key personal resources: political skill and organizational identification.
The empirical results confirm the theorized buffering roles of these resources: The translation of role ambiguity into diminished OCB is less likely among employees who are politically skilled and strongly identify with their employing organization. Notably, these buffering roles speak to the incremental role of role ambiguity in diminishing OCB, so this study provides organizations with insights into the conditions in which information deficiencies about job responsibilities are less likely to hinder voluntary work behaviours. Empirically, these buffering roles are manifest as slope differences that appear at various levels of the moderators. The interaction graphs in Figures 2 and 3, along with the associated simple slope analyses, reveal that increasing levels of role ambiguity diminish OCB to a lesser extent when employees possess political competencies that increase their understanding and influence over their organization's internal functioning, as well as when they feel a strong sense of identification with their employer. Alternatively, the frustration that their job duties are not clearly outlined undermines employees' OCB more if the employees have limited access to such personal resources.
The buffering role of organizational identification is particularly insightful in light of the lack of a direct significant relationship between this personal resource and OCB (β = .071, ns, Model 2, Table 3). That is, we find a significant positive correlation between organizational identification and OCB (r = .360, p < .01, Table 2), but employees' sense of organizational identification does not spur OCB beyond the resource-draining effect of role ambiguity. This finding might reflect the country context – the stress invoked by unclear job descriptions may seem particularly problematic in an uncertainty-avoidant country such as Mexico (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, Reference Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov2010) – but the findings also underscore an indirect beneficial role of organizational identification: It prevents ruminations about job-related information shortages from escalating into a reluctance to engage in OCB.
This study's focus on the specific contingencies of political skill and organizational identification also underscores how role ambiguity might thwart OCB, due to both ability and motivation factors. Employees who are stressed or frustrated by a lack of clarity about their job responsibilities may feel incapable of combining formally prescribed job duties with additional voluntary activities (Showail, McClean Parks, & Smith, Reference Showail, McClean Parks and Smith2013; Singh, Suar, & Leiter, Reference Singh, Suar and Leiter2012), and they also might exhibit less motivation to undertake voluntary activities that otherwise could benefit their organization (O'Driscoll & Beehr, Reference O'Driscoll and Beehr2000; Zhang, Tsingan, & Zhang, Reference Zhang, Tsingan and Zhang2013). In turn, the escalation of role ambiguity into reduced OCB can be contained more easily to the extent that employees have access to personal resources that enhance either their ability to combine formal job duties with OCB in the presence of role ambiguity (i.e., political skill) or their motivation to do so (i.e., organizational identification).
Furthermore, this study adds to extant research by detailing the interdependent, complementary roles of different personal resources in buffering the negative consequences of role ambiguity. The usefulness of organizational identification for countering the harmful effect of role ambiguity is particularly high when employees can draw from relevant political skills. In contrast, a strong sense of belonging has less incremental importance for mitigating the conversion of role ambiguity into diminished OCB among less politically skilled employees. With this explicit acknowledgment of the interrelated, reinforcing effects of these two personal resources for mitigating the translation of role ambiguity into reduced OCB, we find support for the COR logic of positive resource spirals, which is often theorized but rarely tested empirically (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001; Hobfoll, Halbesleben, Neveu, & Westman, Reference Hobfoll, Halbesleben, Neveu and Westman2018).
Formally, this study shows that organizational identification influences employees' desire to maintain some levels of OCB in the presence of resource-draining role ambiguity, and the functional role of this personal resource is even stronger to the extent that employees also have the ability to channel their desire into positive work behaviours, as informed by their political skill (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2011). As a key insight, this study accordingly indicates that organizations worried about how adverse job situations might prevent employees from engaging in OCB should simultaneously invest in building their political skills and stimulating their organizational identification, rather than investing in encouraging the expansion of only one of these personal resources.
Overall, these buffering roles of political skill and organizational identification, as revealed in a study situated in Mexico, are consistent with COR theory: The relative importance of adverse, resource-draining work conditions for diminishing positive work behaviours decreases in the presence of relevant personal resources (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll2001; Hobfoll & Shirom, Reference Hobfoll, Shirom and Golembiewski2000). These results thus establish a more complete understanding of when role ambiguity is likely to reduce employees' propensity to go out of their way to perform OCB, or not, according to the distinct and combined mitigating influences of two personal resources.
Practical implications
Organizational decision makers must acknowledge that employees might be reluctant to take on additional voluntary activities if they do not know what their formal job responsibilities are. They also are responsible to identify employees who might be frustrated because they perceive that they have not received sufficient information about their job roles; the employees likely are not keen to share these frustrations, which might signal their lack of initiative or a perception that they do not know what they are doing (Schmidt et al., Reference Schmidt, Roesler, Kusserow and Rau2014). Organizations thus must be proactive and find employees who suffer from unclear role descriptions, then resolve the possible causes of this situation, such as a lack of formalized work procedures or inadequate integration mechanisms for newcomers.
In addition to this general recommendation to avoid frustrating employees with insufficient information, this study offers insights for organizations that ultimately cannot provide detailed role descriptions for each employee, whether because the work is complex, the company is really large, or external pressures demand flexibility and constant change (Kahn et al., Reference Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek and Rosenthal1964). Political skills among employees represent critical mechanisms for reducing the risk that role ambiguity leads to a reluctance to engage in OCB. If some role ambiguity cannot be avoided, employees who can rely on adequate social competencies still can protect themselves against the resulting hardships, leaving them with sufficient energy resources to undertake voluntary activities that can enhance their organization's well-being. To spur employees' political skill, organizations could encourage them to develop and hone skills for coping with workplace adversity, as well as showcase positive role models who successfully assist their organization on a voluntary basis, even when faced with unclear role descriptions.
Organizations also might work to stimulate positive emotions and a strong organizational identification among employees. For example, nurturing strong relationships with organizational peers might leave employees more comfortable about sharing personal concerns about their job situation, while also sustaining an organizational culture that stimulates a collective identity instead of a focus on personal interests (Ashforth, Harrison, & Gorley, Reference Ashforth, Harrison and Gorley2008). Such measures can spur informal knowledge-sharing routines among employees, which diminish the hardships associated with unclear role descriptions (Schmidt et al., Reference Schmidt, Roesler, Kusserow and Rau2014). But if employees lack a strong emotional connection with their organization, they might be less forgiving of unfavourable work conditions and less prone to reach out to or learn from other organizational members. The recruitment and training of employees accordingly should address whether they are willing to prioritize their organization's well-being over their personal interests so that they can reserve some of their time for voluntary activities, even when their work conditions are challenging.
Limitations and future research
This study has some shortcomings, which suggest avenues for continued research. First, the cross-sectional research design may raise concerns about reverse causality, if employees derive personal meaning from undertaking voluntary work activities, which generates more positive perceptions of their work environment, regardless of the amount of information available about their job responsibilities (Podsakoff et al., Reference Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff and Blume2009). Our hypotheses are anchored in the well-established COR theory, which suggests a causal negative link between a resource-draining work condition such as role ambiguity and propensity to undertake energy-consuming efforts (Hobfoll, Reference Hobfoll1989), but further research that applies longitudinal designs could explicitly examine the causal processes that link role ambiguity with OCB, as well as the contingency conditions that influence this process. Similarly, we argued that employees' experience of role ambiguity reduces both their ability and their motivation to dedicate substantial efforts to voluntary activities. Studies could measure these mechanisms directly to investigate, for example, whether the ability- or motivation-based arguments are more salient.
Second, the focus on the contingent roles of political skill and organizational identification is relevant and insightful – in that these two personal resources complement each other by capturing employees' ability and motivation, respectively, to undertake discretionary work behaviours in the presence of role ambiguity – yet it excludes other personal factors that might buffer the negative relationship between role ambiguity and OCB too. For example, the likelihood that unclear role descriptions escalate into a lower propensity to undertake voluntary work behaviours could be reduced by employees' passion for work (Baum & Locke, Reference Baum and Locke2004), proactive personality (Li, Liang, & Crant, Reference Li, Liang and Crant2010), or creative self-efficacy (Tierney & Farmer, Reference Tierney and Farmer2002). Organizational factors might serve as buffers too, such as when organizational decision-making procedures are perceived as fair (Colquitt, Conlon, Wesson, Porter, & Ng, Reference Colquitt, Conlon, Wesson, Porter and Ng2001), the organizational climate encourages voluntarism (Chen, Takeuchi, & Shum, Reference Chen, Takeuchi and Shum2013), or training programs stimulate employees to go the extra mile and contribute to their organization's well-being voluntarily (Organ, Reference Organ1988).
Third, our reliance on single-respondent data from one organization might limit the generalizability of the results. Despite meta-analytical evidence of the consistency of self- and other-ratings of voluntary work behaviours (Carpenter, Berry, & Houston, Reference Carpenter, Berry and Houston2014), future research still could benefit from using multirespondent designs. Further, our single-organization design offers a clear advantage, in that it allows us to control for organization-wide factors (e.g., an organizational climate that supports voluntarism), but it would be useful to test the conceptual framework across different organizations, particularly those operating in different industries. Our theoretical arguments were not industry specific, but with this research design, we could not investigate potentially relevant industry factors, such as the level of competitive intensity or dynamism in external markets (Jaworski & Kohli, Reference Jaworski and Kohli1993; Porter, Reference Porter1996). High levels of market turbulence, for example, might help employees realize why their employer cannot explicate the job responsibilities of each employee (Kahn et al., Reference Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek and Rosenthal1964), which could limit the negative effects of this adverse work condition on their willingness to undertake OCB. Further research should investigate the conceptual framework across different industries.
Fourth, another potential empirical weakness pertains to the reliability values for two focal constructs (OCB and organizational identification). The values exceed the well-established benchmark of .70 (Nunnally, Reference Nunnally1978), but they admittedly are not very high. Previous research suggests that reliability values should be interpreted in relation to values found in similar empirical settings (McCrae, Kurtz, Yamagata, & Terracciano, Reference McCrae, Kurtz, Yamagata and Terracciano2011); in particular, the reliabilities of personal characteristic scales developed in Western settings tend to be lower in less developed countries (e.g., Bouckenooghe, Reference Bouckenooghe2012; Kwantes, Reference Kwantes2003; Yilmaz, Ozer, and Gunluk, Reference Yilmaz, Ozer and Gunluk2014). Moreover, low reliability values attenuate regression estimates (Schmitt, Reference Schmitt1996), so studies that find significant effects, despite relatively low reliabilities, offer more conservative statistical tests of the hypothesized relationships. Nonetheless, we acknowledge these relatively low-reliability values, which constitute a weakness of this study.
Fifth, our theoretical arguments were not country-specific, yet cultural factors may be relevant, considering that we conducted our study in a specific, transformational economy. Mexican culture is characterized by high levels of uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, Reference Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov2010), so employees may be particularly sensitive to the hardships of unclear job role descriptions. In turn, the usefulness of personal resources for mitigating the harmful effects of role ambiguity could be more prevalent in our study than in more risk-oriented country contexts. The collectivism that marks Mexican culture (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, Reference Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov2010) also implies that employees might be more inclined to engage in voluntary work behaviours, regardless of their work circumstances. Comparisons across cultures, especially different transformational economies, could clarify the relative instrumentality of role ambiguity for diminishing employees' propensity to carry out OCB, as well as the potency of different moderators in this process.
Conclusion
This study adds to previous research by addressing when employees' role ambiguity is less likely to leave them reluctant to engage in OCB. The likelihood that concerns about incomplete role descriptions escalate into diminished voluntary work activities decreases to the extent that employees can rely on both relevant political skills and a strong organizational identification. These personal resources fuel employees' ability and motivation to take on voluntary behaviours in addition to their regular job tasks, even when they confront uncertainties about their job responsibilities. We hope this article functions as a catalyst for continued studies of how organizations can promote positive work behaviours among their employee bases, despite the presence of unfavourable work circumstances.
Acknowledgements
We sincerely thank the editors and reviewers for their constructive feedback on this article.
Author ORCIDs
Dirk De Clercq 0000-0003-1476-2965.
