Educator organizational citizenship behavior and job satisfaction moderation in the GCC expatriate-dominated market

Purpose This paper aims to explore the relationship between job characteristics (JC) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) moderated by job satisfaction (JS) among educators in the higher education institutions in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman, taking into consideration that most educators at the higher education institutions in this area are expatriates. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 157 faculty members and instructors was used. Five job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback) and five OCB behaviors (altruism, civic virtue, courtesy, conscientiousness, and sportsmanship) were studied. The overall job satisfaction was measured with seven general items adopted from Al-Damour and Awamleh (2002). Data were collected voluntarily using social media network announcements and pencil and paper. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was used in testing this moderation relationship. Findings Results showed that job satisfaction plays a significant moderating effect in enhancing the relationship between four out of the five job characteristics (feedback, skill variety, task identity and autonomy) and only two out of five OCB behaviors, namely, altruism and courtesy. Also, culture showed no significant impact on results. Research limitations/implications Using a self-reporting tool, the respondents could give biased responses that might influence results. In addition, the use a complex relationship to establish a causality relationship among many variables measured with many items did make it difficult and sometimes errored out using SEM analysis. Practical implications This study delivers important suggestions to the management of these institutions as well as higher education administration about how to enhance their educators' OCBs as a source of competitive advantage taking into consideration that expatriates work within certain legal and social contexts. Originality/value With very limited related research covering this region, this study provides an insight into how educators' OCBs can be enhanced within unique employment structures and policies designed for expatriate educators in the GCC countries.