Predictors of Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Higher Education Institutions: Implication for Effective Leadership

Abstract

Higher education plays a vital role in human life and societal development. Higher education institutions are responsible for producing high level manpower needed for sustainable development. In order to make higher education institutions effective in discharging their responsibilities, academic leaders’ role is paramount. Academic leaders are responsible for stimulating interest of staff and enhance their selfless service in order to achieve goals of higher education institutions. Therefore, this research study examined predictors of staff organizational citizenship behavior in higher education institutions. It adopted an inferential research design. Survey questionnaire was designed for the study and distributed to 420 respondents across 10 different higher education institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria. Multiple regression analysis was used in analyzing the data collected through the questionnaire. Findings reveal that leadership self-efficacy, change oriented behavior and change policy predict organizational citizenship behavior of staff in higher education institutions. Out of these three predictors, change policy has the highest contribution. In order to make higher education institutions responsive to numerous needs of stakeholders, academic leaders must develop high self-efficacy, be open to meaningful innovations that can improve the system and adopt friendly policies.