The Bigger Picture: How Organizational Citizenship Behaviors Fit Within a Broader Conceptualization of Work Performance

Scholars have identified numerous forms of individual work performance, including core task, adaptive, proactive, and citizenship. Although the diversity of performance constructs has contributed to breadth, it has also resulted in a fragmented literature that, at times, operates in theoretical silos. As such, the overarching purpose of this chapter is to consider how organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) constructs relate to, and can fit within, broader models of individual work performance. We begin with a brief history of work performance concepts and review five integrative models of individual performance, culminating with the presentation of the Griffin, Neal, and Parker (2007) model. We use the latter to assess systematically whether and how OCB concepts relate to other performance concepts. We highlight constructs that fit readily within the Griffin et al. framework, in addition to constructs that do not. We conclude with five recommendations.