The moderating role of organizational culture in the relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behaviors

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether organizational culture moderates the relationships between organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and justice perceptions.

Data were collected from 618 lecturers in ten universities in Turkey. Data were collected on site. A randomly selected group of focal lecturers completed the OCB and justice scales. A separate group of randomly selected peers completed the culture scale.

Multiple hierarchical regression results support the moderating role of organizational culture of the justice perceptions‐OCB link. As hypothesized, results show a stronger relationship between interactional justice and OCB for organizations that are higher in respect for people and a weaker relationship between distributive and procedural justices and OCB for organizations that are higher in team orientation.

The researched lecturers have job conditions inherent to the peculiarities of the public universities which may limit the ability to extrapolate the findings in the private universities. The findings provide a more understandable mechanism of the influence of organizational culture on OCB. They emphasize the significance of organizational culture as a moderator that should be taken closely into consideration to promote employees' OCB levels.

The findings contribute to a better understanding of the organizational justice‐OCB link, and the ways to favor OCB through organizational culture. As a result of this research, leaders' success in organizations will depend, to a great extent, upon understanding organizational culture. They may cultivate subordinates' OCB by treating them with respect and fairness, showing consideration for individual needs, and providing a supportive work environment.

The use of organizational culture as a moderator on this link is unprecedented. The major strength of this study is its multilevel research design. Most research on OCB and organizational justice has been conducted within single organizations, precluding an assessment of the way in which contextual variables influence OCB or justice. Also, using a large number of samples from the Turkish higher education sector adds to the growing literature examining OCB in non‐Western settings.