Transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behavior: The role of person-job fit and person-organization fit in social exchange perspective

BACKGROUND: Transformational leadership is critical in today’s organizations from a social exchange perspective as it helps create a positive work environment, drives innovation and change, and leads to improved organizational effectiveness. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to test the direct effect of transformational leadership on person-job fit (PJ fit), person-organization fit (POF), and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). This study also examines the mediating role of PJ fit and POF on the relationship between transformational leadership and OCB. METHODS: This study collects data using a cross-sectional survey from professional lecturers of three selected public universities in Southeast Sulawesi - Indonesia. A total of 221 purposively sampled responses are utilized in the data analysis. A quantitative approach with structural equation modeling (SEM) via Amos 21.0 software is used to test the proposed hypotheses. RESULTS: The findings acknowledge that transformational leadership seems to have a direct positive effect on PJ fit, POF and OCB. Also, this study reveals that PJ fit and POF have significant positive effects on OCB. This study further unveils that PJ fit and POF fully mediate the relation between transformational leadership and OCB. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the more transformational leadership behaviors are demonstrated by leaders within organization, the more PJ fit and POF of followers will accomplish and experience with their organization, which in turn, increase OCB. It further means that transformational leadership can be crucial for recent organizations from a social exchange perspective by promoting healthy relationships and positive outcomes by encouraging followers to engage in behaviors that benefit the organization.