Title: Organisational citizenship behaviour in the Islamic financial sector: does Islamic work ethic make sense?

Authors: Jihad Mohammad; Farzana Quoquab; Nik Mutasim Nik Abd Rahman; Fazli Idris

Addresses: Graduate School of Business (GSB), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia ' International Business School (IBS), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' Graduate School of Business (GSB), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia ' Graduate School of Business (GSB), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia

Abstract: The bulk of previous studies have examined the effect of Protestant work ethic on organisational citizenship behaviour. However, little is known about this relationship from an Islamic perspective. Based on other orientation theory, this study aims to examine the relationships between Islamic work ethic and two dimensions of organisational citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, this study investigates whether the hypothesised relationships vary across the demographic variables in Islamic financial organisations. A sample of 273 employees from Islamic financial institutions in Malaysia participated in this study. Partial least square (PLS) technique and ANOVA were utilised to test the hypothesised relationships. The results of this study reveal that Islamic work ethic positively and significantly affects both dimensions of organisational citizenship behaviour. Additionally, the findings of this study demonstrate that the relationship between Islamic work ethic and organisational citizenship behaviour directed towards organisation varies depending on employees' gender, age, education level, tenure, experience and income. Nevertheless, the relationship between Islamic work ethic and organisational citizenship behaviour directed towards individuals does not vary across the demographic variables. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed along with suggestions for future research.

Keywords: Islamic work ethic; organisational citizenship behaviour; OCB; demographic variables; Islamic finance; financial institutions; Islam; Malaysia; PLS; partial least squares; ANOVA; gender; age; education level; tenure; experience; income.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2015.068674

International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2015 Vol.10 No.1, pp.1 - 27

Received: 11 Nov 2013
Accepted: 04 Sep 2014
Published online: 08 Apr 2015 *

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