A Comparative Study of Japan, Korea and China on the Relation of Foci of Commitment Affected by National Cultures and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Abstract

This study aims to identify how national cultures affect the foci of commitment and determine whether they are related to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). An intensive effort was made to study the national histories of Japan, Korea, and China, dating back several hundred years, in order to obtain a rich understanding of the national cultures, which helped analyze how they could affect a particular focus of commitment. Using survey data from the three countries, regression analysis was conducted. Among organizational commitment, team commitment, and commitment to supervisors, only organizational commitment was found to be related to OCB among Japanese employees. Team commitment was the main predictor of OCB among Korean employees, while commitment to supervisors was the main predictor for OCB among Chinese employees. All of the hypotheses were supported. Research implications are provided.