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Enhancing Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Role of Employee Empowerment, Trust and Engagement

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Book cover Entrepreneurship and SME Management Across Africa

Part of the book series: Frontiers in African Business Research ((FABR))

Abstract

This chapter examines the relationship between empowerment, trust, engagement and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in two Sub-Saharan African countries. The chapter uses the social exchange theory as a lens to examine empowerment and OCB of employees in SMEs. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect quantitative data from a representative sample of 376 respondents, selected from a targeted population of 545 in Rwanda and Uganda . A regression analysis run on two levels revealed a significant positive relationship between empowerment and OCB, indicating that empowerment is the most significant predictor of OCB. However, the study also reveals conflicting views among employees and supervisors regarding the relationship between trust and employees’ engagement and OCB. While the regression analysis of employees’ views indicates a significant positive relationship between their engagement and OCB, the opposite is true when analyzing the supervisors’ views on engagement. Further still, a regression analysis of supervisors’ views indicates a significant positive relationship between trust and OCB, while the opposite is true for employees’ views on trust. The chapter discusses possible reasons for such conflicting views on trust and employee engagement, and recommends that the managements of SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa should continuously monitor the level of empowerment, trust and engagement climate if they want their employees to exhibit OCB hence enabling an environment that fosters efficiency and effectiveness through the facilitation of OCB. The chapter has two main contributions: first, it contributes to literature on the challenges of SME management in developing countries. Second, its findings can help management practitioners to enhance OCB in SMEs in the Sub-Saharan region.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate immensely the support and mentorship of Professor Dr. Francesco Chirico at Jönköping International Business School’s Centre for Family Enterprise and Ownership (CeFEO).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Business and Economics, University of Rwanda, Butare, Rwanda

    Ismael Byaruhanga

  2. Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

    Bikadho Patrick Othuma

Authors
  1. Ismael Byaruhanga
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  2. Bikadho Patrick Othuma
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Correspondence to Ismael Byaruhanga .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden

    Leona Achtenhagen

  2. Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden

    Ethel Brundin

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Byaruhanga, I., Othuma, B.P. (2016). Enhancing Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Role of Employee Empowerment, Trust and Engagement. In: Achtenhagen, L., Brundin, E. (eds) Entrepreneurship and SME Management Across Africa. Frontiers in African Business Research. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1727-8_6

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