Organizational citizenship behavior: A field study in the italian hospitality industry

This chapter analyzes organizational citizenship behavior of permanent versus contingent employees in the Italian hospitality industry. The empirical data were derived from a questionnaire survey conducted in three regions of Southern Italy. Survey respondents were 848 frontline employees from 63 hotels. Findings show that contingent employees exhibited less helping behavior than permanent employees but no difference in their voice behavior. In addition, work status was found to make more of a difference in both helping and voice in less work centrality organizations. Hotel managers are encouraged to focus attention on individual behavior that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organization. Particularly in Italy, it would be advantageous to develop retention strategies for talented people that exhibit a high degree of organizational citizenship behavior.