Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior
A relationship between intercultural competence, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship is sufficiently strong to consider it a separate conceptual framework and practical dimension in organizational management. To be more specific, the first hypothesis has been proved in the following way. The results demonstrate a positive relationship between intercultural competencies and job satisfaction, and the majority of participants supported such a statement. These findings are also congruent with the relevant part of the literature review since the theoretical framework is shaped by the fact that intercultural competencies do influence job satisfaction in several positive ways.
One should remark that a casualty of this relationship could be supported by the fact that employees usually have specific internal capabilities and motivations to recognize and respect foreign cultures. They tend to believe that understanding a different culture can improve workplace relations and facilitate the achievement of organizational goals (Bealer & Bhanugopan, 2013). However, leadership is seldom mentioned in this context (Bealer & Bhanugopan, 2013). This discrepancy is justified with a person-organization but that is determined by the psychosocial and normative commitments (Beery, 2009). For these reasons, the study's findings correlate with the theoretical framework.
A positive relationship between intercultural competencies and organizational citizenship behavior has been discovered. Participants did not support this view to a sufficient extent. However, the data analysis demonstrates an apparent correlation between these variables. Such a gap can be underpinned by the fact that the relationship is not apparent enough for the majority to agree with it, especially when participants have not explained the related insights. Anyway, intercultural competencies are determined as one of the main triggers of organizational citizenship behavior (Ahmed, Rasheed, & Jehanzeb, 2012). This finding opposes the evidence that cultural diversity management in UAE companies is less developed and popular than in Western organizations (Bealer & Bhanugopan, 2013). In such a manner, weak support of the hypothesis by participants is explainable at this point. A strong correlation is a more generalizable finding that tends to be better represented with a more complex study that can provide complex data and a narrow-specific analysis. Therefore, this relationship can be considered strong enough, but the participant survey did not reflect this tendency because of the study's limitations and less effective diversity management in UAE companies.
The relationship between job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior has been detected. In addition, responses supported this assumption. Also, these findings are valid according to the theoretical framework. This hypothesis has been the easiest to prove since there are sufficient studies that describe this relationship. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on the main factors that encompass it. First, there is a direct and causal relationship between the working conditions and the intention of employees to improve organizational performance. If employees are satisfied with their job in all respects, they strive to help this organization work well as it satisfies all their expectations. This relationship demonstrates how the commitment of workers can be built. The organization addresses the specific needs of its personnel so they feel committed to it, thus forming relevant attitudes to job performance and a desire to sustain the well-being of an organization (Ahmed, Rasheed, & Jehanzeb, 2012). The research gives a few new insights into this field of study.
Research Implications
This research has uncovered important considerations for organizational management theory and practice since quite widespread assumptions have been supported and new dimensions have been detected. The study contributes much to the theoretical and empirical domains, and thus they are both worth a more detailed discussion. The evidence provided by this research is sufficient to create such a framework; therefore, a solid theory can be developed. These aspects have been regarded as related to each other but not in a way that can represent an individual theory; therefore, the research findings are valuable for the development of a solid theoretical foundation.
The theory is based on the research findings and valid generalizations; the main statements can be outlined:
The role of cultural competencies has been revisited so their influence on job satisfaction and OCB has been reviewed as an important organizational asset and individual ability of every worker. Intercultural competencies contribute to job satisfaction; it is explained as a presence of employee sensitivity to diverse cultures to manage work-related tasks and collaborate (Al-Jenaibi, 2017). As soon as this intention succeeds, all involved workers feel achievement and satisfaction from the job (Al-Jenaibi, 2017). The theory disregards leadership at this stage of development as the findings suggest that intercultural competencies stem from the personal characteristics of each worker. In the same way, intercultural competencies refer to organizational citizenship behavior based on employees’ recognition of common goals, interests, and needs in an organization. The theory justifies that the personnel must strive to achieve the acceptance and recognition of diverse cultures which requires the development of complex organizational values that must be maintained daily.
An organization is a community, and social relations play a vital role and contribute to its sustainable performance (Foote & Li-Ping Tang, 2008). Employees create a community of people that work together so that their abilities to engage with foreign cultures, experience satisfaction with mutual interaction, and develop intentions to contribute to that community are effective boosters of organizational performance (Foote & Li-Ping Tang, 2008). Being culturally competent means readiness to cooperate with people of a different culture, while OCB is much more determined by experiences a worker encounters in such social settings (Foote & Li-Ping Tang, 2008). Job satisfaction is the main link between these two components as it grows from the success of the cooperation and its effects on working conditions.
The organizational management theory changes its content since an organization is also perceived as an environment that drives human behavior. In other words, these elements are driven by various types of commitments that grow out of personal perceptions, management, and organizational structures (Miao, 2011). The normative commitment is usually the most basic type as it demonstrates the completion of work-related duties. Subsequently, effective commitment is also a psychosocially determined motivator to act in a particular way, but it defines the role of workers beyond the scope of their work responsibilities (Miao, 2011). Instead, it emphasizes that each employee is a part of a community that is friendly, pleasant, and harmonious enough to cooperate with and make an extra effort for its further sustainability.
Many practical suggestions have been uncovered during the research; therefore, they can be utilized in daily organizational management. Organizational citizenship behavior is an outcome of sufficient intercultural competencies of the workforce as the understanding of diverse needs and priorities determines the behavior of employees and their desire to contribute to the organization. Many companies overlook this consideration and force their personnel to act in a certain way instead of creating satisfactory environments that would create such motivation. Therefore, self-direction is recommended as a way of engaging workers in voluntary efforts toward the improvement of a company (Miao, 2011). Managers need to understand how workers feel they can help and whether they express such a feeling at all or not.
To be more exact, the management of cultural diversity means the creation of diversity-friendly environments. In such a manner, work aimed at the development of the collaboration of employees of different cultures is highly effective not only in an operational but also organizational sense. Employees will be able to see needs, priorities, and interests that differ from their own, and thus help them understand a wider scope of the organizational culture that should be nourished with their active participation (Al-Jenaibi, 2017). The research has detected that intercultural competencies are mainly the outcome of personal capabilities and mindsets. Therefore, managers are encouraged to identify such people and guide them through a process of applying these skills to organizational performance, collaboration, and contribution to the organizational culture (Al-Jenaibi, 2017). The presence of workers with sufficient intercultural competencies does not necessarily mean that these employees can utilize them beyond their range, and thus the organizational perspective still has to be managed.
The findings related to intercultural competencies have been discussed in the context of minimal leadership effects, especially in the organizational settings of UAE companies. That is why recommendations concerning the implementation of more efficacious transformational and transactional leadership approaches are among the practical suggestions. Transformational leadership in par with transactional adds much to the promotion of cultural diversity values as employees start recognizing them as comprising elements of the organizational culture (Bealer & Bhanugopan, 2013). As has been already mentioned, it influences the psychosocial sphere to a great extent so leaders must consider their leadership styles as efficient tools for adjusting the cultural management in a team or even the whole organization. The role of transactional leadership implies building incentives that can motivate workers to engage in intercultural collaboration. This activity is challenging to some extent because employees feel much safer and more comfortable in the usual environments (Bealer & Bhanugopan, 2013). Leadership is not the primary force in this case; however, it should not be overlooked for the creation of diversity-friendly conditions, whereas job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior are natural, psychosocially motivating outcomes.
The transformation and provision of rewards are only a part of the process as it is necessary to boost the formation of a new team. The formation of groups usually starts with taking some action or initiating communication (Schein, 2010). Therefore, leaders need to apply their executive skills to begin the process of group formation. Individual workers will not take action independently; therefore, executive leadership is a key consideration in this situation (Schein, 2010). As soon as a leader takes action, he or she breaks the ice, and employees will start collaborating and getting involved in teamwork (Schein, 2010). Again, leadership is not the primary subject that has been found in this study.
Limitations and Future Research
Even though the research has made a significant contribution to the theoretical and practical domains of the field of study, several limitations and suggestions are worth taking into consideration. This research has categorized participants' demographic data, but these categorizations do not correlate with generalizations that can be observed as a result. The study lacks a profound demographic analysis that can provide more representative data for the discussion and draw detailed conclusions regarding the research problem. This limitation relates to another one that is presented with a plain design of measurements. The already mentioned lack of participants and probability of statistical insignificance is also worsened by the fact that the survey may be an insufficiently relevant instrument in such research design. Therefore, the conduct of a qualitative study can be an effective plan for the future. At this point, the study is unable to provide a lot of the employees’ insights; therefore, only the most basic generalizations are given to create a new sophisticated theoretical foundation and respective conceptual framework for the organizational practice. Also, the paper focuses on employees in general, while leaders and other executive roles are perceived as parties that are responsible for the processes described and researched in this study. The paper provides recommendations to practice and pays significant attention to leadership as a prominent gap. Nevertheless, intercultural competencies, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behavior are not discussed in the dimension of leadership and executive levels as such. In other words, the study does not consider leading roles as objects of the research but as some driving factors that are responsible for the behavior and attitudes of average employees.
This approach will help create a more profound theoretical basis and may lead to the identification of specific connections, trends, and rules within this theoretical framework. This direction is given to ensure a progressive expansion and sophistication of the theory. Another recommendation that must be given touches upon leadership and cultural competencies. This research has outlined that leadership does not play a major role in the formation of cultural competencies in UAE organizations. Therefore, it is imperative to conduct a cultural analysis that can indicate the main reasons and ways of addressing the aspect. Borders of the newly developed theory depend much upon this sort of research since the primary involvement of the leadership may cause a substantial paradigm shift and delimit the current scope of the theory towards the involvement of leadership as a comprising element. Last but not least recommendation refers to the field of study of cultural competencies and organizational citizenship behavior (Shore et al., 2011). This relationship is powered not only by organizational contexts but also by some psychosocial factors that have been discussed in this study. Future research must be conducted beyond this scope; the psychological perspective should be the primary focus. Again, that research direction can potentially contribute to the foundation of a more profound and scholar-supported theory and add knowledge to the management of intercultural competencies and OCB in the context of daily organizational work.