Organizational citizenship behavior and the quantity and quality of work group performance
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Updated: Sep 27, 2026

The HoneyComb Paradigm for Research on Collective Human Behavior
Published on: January 19, 2019
P M Podsakoff1, M Ahearne, S B MacKenzie
1Department of Management, Indiana University Bloomington 47405, USA. podsakof@indiana.edu
Abstract:
Despite the widespread interest in the topic of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), little empirical research has tested the fundamental assumption that these forms of behavior improve the effectiveness of work groups or organizations in which they are exhibited. In the present study, the effects of OCBs on the quantity and quality of the performance of 218 people working in 40 machine crews in a paper mill located in the Northeastern United States were examined. The results indicate that helping behavior and sportsmanship had significant effects on performance quantity and that helping behavior had a significant impact on performance quality. However, civic virtue had no effect on either performance measure.
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