Organizational altruism : exploration and development of the concept

• Main Author: Szulc, Joanna Maria
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Leeds 2017

Helpful behaviours among employees have been a central issue in the study of organizations for a long time and previous work has demonstrated their positive influence on the organizational, group, and personal effectiveness. Most of these studies have been grounded in the traditional theories assuming the principle of rational self-interest – often reducing human interactions to a process of reciprocal exchanges and calculations. However, recent changes in the nature of workplace relationships that reflect the growing mutual dependencies of employees point out to the importance of behaviours that are not predicated on any form of a “deal”. This thesis therefore directly responds to the challenges of contemporary, increasingly interdependent organizational forms and draws scholars’ attention to the concept of Organizational Altruism (OA). In broad terms, OA can be defined as benefiting a colleague as an end in itself. However, the concept is still poorly understood and its characteristics have not been dealt with in depth. Whereas the importance of OA for organizational effectiveness has been emphasised, because of the lack of a widely accepted definition, the extant evidence regarding OA is only partial and relatively inconsistent. The specific aim of this thesis is therefore to better understand the construct of OA. Three in-depth qualitative case studies with 47 dyadic interviews and 94 individuals in total provided insights ultimately enhancing our understanding of the nature of OA, the factors which influence engagement in this type of behaviour, and its consequences. Most importantly, the findings of this research allowed for an introduction of a definition of OA, a comprehensive model theorizing how OA processes unfold in organizational contexts, and a unifying theoretical framework that can act as enrichment to the field of OA. These findings have important implications for both research and practice and give rise to new areas that future research should now take account of.