Building on previous research on worker extra-role effort, the authors focus their analysis on the correlates of one subset of behaviors that they call active effort. The authors argue for an exchange model, with organizations offering intrinsic, social, and material inducements in exchange for active effort by workers. Using data from a telephone survey of 270 employed adults in a large midwestern metropolitan area, the authors test a model that measures a variety of structural variables to see how they affect the level of active effort. The authors find that active effort is related to the extent to which a worker is allowed to participate and to recognition. After controlling for other variables, they found that satisfaction has little independent effect on active effort. Relations to supervisors, seniority, and wages have no net effects on active effort, although they are associated with increased satisfaction. Also, high white-collar employees report significantly higher active effort and satisfaction.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Barley, S. R.
, & Kundra, G. (1992). Design and devotion. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37, 363-399.
2.
Barrick, M. R.
, Mount, M. K., & Strauss, J. P. (1993). Conscientiousness and performance of sales representatives. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 715-722.
3.
Bendix, R.
(1974). Work and authority in industry. Berkeley: University of California Press.
4.
Bielby, D. D.
, & Bielby, W. T. (1988). She works hard for the money. American Journal of Sociology, 93, 1031-1059.
5.
Brief, A. P.
, & Motowildo, S. J. (1986). Prosocial organizational behaviors. Academy of Management Review, 11, 710-725.
6.
Burawoy, M.
(1979). Manufacturing consent. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
7.
Coch, L.
, & French, J.R.P. Jr. (1947). Overcoming resistance to change. Human Relations, 1, 512-532.
8.
Cole, R. E.
(1989). Strategies for learning. Berkeley: University of California Press.
9.
Cotton, J. L.
(1993). Employee involvement. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
10.
Farh, J. L.
, Podsakoff, P. M., & Organ, D. W. (1990). Accounting for organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Management, 16, 705-721.
11.
Franke, R. H.
, & Kaul, J. D. (1978). The Hawthorne experiments. American Sociological Review, 43, 623-643.
12.
Graham, L.
(1995). On the line at Subaru-Isuzu. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.
13.
Gyllenhammer, P. G.
(1977). People at work. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
14.
Hackman, J. R.
, & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 250-279.
15.
Hackman, J. R.
, & Oldham, G. R. (1980). Work redesign. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
16.
Haraszti, M.
(1978). A worker in a worker's state. New York: Universe Books.
17.
Hayduk, L. A.
(1987). Structural equation modeling with LISREL. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
18.
Hodson, R.
(1991a). The active worker. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 20, 47-78.
19.
Hodson, R.
(1991b). Workplace behaviors. Work and Occupations, 18, 271-290.
20.
Hughes, E. C.
(1971). The sociological eye. Chicago: Aldine.
21.
Hull, F.
, & Azumi, K. (1988). Technology and participation in Japanese factories. Work and Occupations, 15, 423-448.
22.
Huselid, M. A.
(1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 635-672.
23.
Jones, S.R.G.
(1992). Was there a Hawthorne effect?American Journal of Sociology, 98, 451-468.
24.
Jöreskog, K. G.
, & Sörbom, D. (1988). LISREL VII: Users guide. (Version 7.16) [Computer software]. Uppsala, Sweden: University of Uppsala.
25.
Kamata, S.
(1983). Japan in the passing lane. New York: Pantheon.
26.
Kanter, R. M.
(1983). The change masters. New York: Simon & Schuster.
27.
Kelly, J. E.
(1992). Does job redesign theory explain job redesign outcomes?Human Relations, 45, 753-774.
28.
Kimery, J.
(1991). The skills and knowledge of assembly line workers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Cincinnati, Ohio.
29.
Konovsky, M. A.
, & Pugh, D. S. (1994). Citizenship behavior and social exchange. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 656-669.
30.
Larson, M. S.
(1977). The rise of professionalism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
31.
Marsden, P.
, Kalleberg, A., & Cook, C. (1993). Gender differences in organizational commitment. Work and Occupations, 20, 368-390.
32.
Mayo, E.
(1945). Social problems of an industrial society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
33.
Miller, K. I.
, & Monge, P. R. (1986). Participation, satisfaction, and productivity. Academy of Management Journal, 29, 727-753.
34.
Morrison, E. W.
(1994). Role definition and organizational citizenship behavior. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 1543-1567.
35.
Niehoff, B. P.
, & Moorman, R. H. (1993). Justice as a mediator of the relationship between methods of monitoring and organizational citizenship behavior. Academy of Management Journal, 36, 527-556.
36.
Oldham, G. R.
, & Cummings, A. (1996). Employee creativity: Personal and contextual factors at work. Academy of Management Journal, 39, 607-634.
37.
Organ, D. W.
(1988). Organizational citizenship behavior. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
38.
Organ, D. W.
(1994). Personality and organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Management, 20, 465-478.
39.
Organ, D. W.
, & Konovsky, M. (1989). Cognitive versus affective determinants of organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 157-164.
40.
Ouchi, W. G.
(1981). Theory Z. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
41.
Peters, T. J.
, & Waterman, R. H. (1982). In search of excellence. New York: Harper and Row.
42.
Podsakoff, P. M.
, & MacKenzie, S. B. (1994). Organizational citizenship behaviors and sales unit effectiveness. Journal of Marketing Research, 31, 351-363.
43.
Roethlisberger, F. J.
, & Dickson, W. J. (1939). Management and the worker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
44.
Rosen, C.
, & Young, K. M. (Eds.). (1991). Understanding employee ownership. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.
45.
Schnake, M.
(1991). Organizational citizenship. Human Relations, 44, 735-759.
46.
Schnake, M.
, Dumler, M. P., & Cochran, D. S. (1993). The relationship between traditional leadership, super leadership, and organizational citizenship behavior. Groups and Organization Management, 18, 352-365.
47.
Scott, W. R.
(1992). Organizations (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
48.
Soltzhenitsyn, A. K.
(1963). One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich. New York: New American Library.
49.
Stinchcombe, A. L.
(1968). Constructing social theories. New York: Harcourt Brace.
50.
Taplin, I. M.
(1995). Flexible production, rigid jobs. Work and Occupations, 22, 412-438.
51.
Tausky, C.
, & Chelte, A. F. (1988). Worker participation. Work and Occupations, 15, 363-373.
52.
Taylor, F. W.
(1911). Principles of scientific management. New York: Harper.
53.
Van Dyne, L.
, Graham, J. W., & Dienesch, R. M. (1994). Organizational citizenship behavior. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 765-802.
54.
Walsh, J. P.
(1993). Supermarkets transformed. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
55.
Wayne, S. J.
, & Green, S. A. (1993). The effects of leader-member exchange on employee citizenship and impression management behavior. Human Relations, 46, 1431-1440.
