Effect of Grit on Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Hotel Industry in Bangkok, Thailand: The Moderating Role of Organizational Identification

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(1)Effect of Grit on Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Hotel Industry in Bangkok, Thailand: The Moderating Role of Organizational Identification. by Subpa-ut Kongmee. A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Major: International Human Resource Development. Advisor: Lu, Cheng-Chieh, Ph. D.. National Taiwan Normal University Taipei, Taiwan June 2020.

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(3) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my thesis advisor, Dr. Cheng-Chieh Allan Lu, for providing me an opportunity to complete my thesis. His suggestions, comments, and guidance help me through any problem in each research process which arises during these years. Big thanks once again go to him for making this work a possible one. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my committees, Dr. Lai, Chih-Chien Steven, and Dr. Lee, Pai-Po. Their valuable suggestions and comments have widened my knowledge and help me to have a better outcome of my thesis. Also, I would like to extend my gratitude to all of the professors of IHRD, Dr. Vera Chang, Dr. Yeh, Chu-Chen Rosa, Dr. Lin, Yi-Chun Jane, and all the departmental staff for helping me during these years of my study. Many thanks to all of my friends in IHRD, especially Chayanis, Natalie, Alvin, and Hank, for being my support in the moments of difficulties during these years. Moreover, I would like to recognize the help that I received from Kai, for without his support I could not complete collecting data. Lastly, thanks also to my parents for their constant unconditional support both in my study and my life as well..

(4) ABSTRACT The hotel industry serves as a key source of economic growth in Thailand since the rate of growth is increasing yearly. The trend of growth leads to a high demand for quality hotel employees. It also becomes one of human resource management challenges to identify the particular skills and personalities which can predict the organizational outcomes. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between grit and organizational citizenship behavior. Further, organizational identification is investigated whether it can strengthen the positive effect of grit on OCB. Samples of this study were 288 hotel employees from four-star and five-star hotels in Bangkok, Thailand. The quantitative research approach and surveybased methodology were adopted. Hypotheses were tested using SPSS 23. The results reveal that grit, organizational identification, and OCB have a positive relationship with each other. Moreover, the finding shows that organizational identification can moderate the positive relationship between grit and OCB. In the end, practical implications of grit for human resource management and development strategies are discussed. Keywords: Grit, organizational identification, organizational citizenship behavior. I.

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(6) TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... I TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... III LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................... VII CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 1 Background of the Study ........................................................................................................ 1 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................. 3 Research Purposes .................................................................................................................. 3 Questions of the Study ........................................................................................................... 4 Significance of the Study ....................................................................................................... 4 Delimitations .......................................................................................................................... 5 Definition of Key Terms ........................................................................................................ 5. CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................. 7 Grit ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) ......................................................................... 8 Grit and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) ........................................................... 9 Organizational Identification................................................................................................ 10 The Moderating Effect of Organizational Identification between Grit and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) ................................................................................................ 11. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY .................................................................... 15 Research Framework ............................................................................................................ 15 Research Procedure .............................................................................................................. 16 Research Sample .................................................................................................................. 19 Measurement ........................................................................................................................ 19 Pilot Test .............................................................................................................................. 24 Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) .................................................................................. 25 Data Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 26. CHAPTER IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................ 27 Descriptive Statistics ............................................................................................................ 27 Correlation Analysis............................................................................................................. 28 Hierarchical Regression Analysis ........................................................................................ 28 Discussions ........................................................................................................................... 30. CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ................................... 33 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 33 III.

(7) Practical Implications ........................................................................................................... 33 Limitation ............................................................................................................................. 34 Recommendation.................................................................................................................. 35. REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 37 APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) .......................... 45 APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE (THAI VERSION) .................................. 51. IV.

(8) LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1. Grit Measurement................................................................................................... 20 Table 3.2. Organizational Identification Measurement............................................................21 Table 3.3. Organizational Citizenship Behavior Measurement...............................................22 Table 3.4. Reliabilities for Each Variable of This Study (N=60)............................................25 Table 3.5. Summary of Model Fit Indices and Model Test Results.........................................25 Table 4.1. Participants Demographic Statistics (N=288).........................................................27 Table 4.2. Means, Standard Deviations, Reliabilities Coefficients, and Correlations among the variables (N=288).............................................................................................28 Table 4.3. Result of Hierarchical Regression (N=288) ...........................................................29 Table 4.6. Hypotheses Testing Results Summary....................................................................30. V.

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(10) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1. Research framework..............................................................................................16 Figure 3.2. Research procedure................................................................................................18 Figure 4.1. Interaction plot for the moderating effect of organizational identification...........30. VII.

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(12) CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background of the Study In the global economy, the hotel industry serves as a key source of economic growth. According to the 2019 annual analysis of the global economic impact of travel and tourism by World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC, 2019), the travel and tourism industry was the second-fastest-growing sector which grew by 3.9%, only lower than the manufacturing sector, which grew by 4.0% and higher than the overall global economy’s growth, which grew 3.2% in 2018. Further, the travel and tourism industry represented 10.4% of the total global GDP in 2018. More specifically, the region which was the most important contribution to this industry is Asia-Pacific (WTTC, 2019). In this region, Thailand plays an important role in growth. According to Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index 2019, Bangkok, the Thai capital, is the most visited city in the world (Hamel, 2019). Also, In Thailand, tourism, particularly in the hotel industry, is the most important sector driving the economy. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand expects the number of tourists traveling to Thailand will reach a record 41.1 million in 2019 and suggests that the hotel industry has to prepare to serve the market demand (Yuvejwattana, 2019). According to the market research by Euromonitor (2019), in 2018, Thailand had the luxury hotel as four-star and five-star hotels around 3,934 hotels (up from 3,535 hotels in 2016), midmarket hotel or three-star hotel around 3,715 hotels (up from 3,156 hotels in 2016), and budget hotel as one-star and two-star hotels around 3,450 (up from 3,014 hotels in 2016.) The rate of growth is increasing yearly, making the labor market extremely competitive, which high demand for quality hotel employees. All in all, this tourism trend in Thailand is one of human resource management challenges to identify the particular skills and personalities which are able to predict the organizational outcomes. For organizational outcomes in the hotel industry, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is recognized as one of the major parts that influence company success in the hotel industry in Thailand (Phetphongphan & Ussahawanitchakit, 2015) and it also received attention as a performance of frontline employee (Salanova, Agut, & Peiró, 2005; Tsaur & Lin, 2004; Yen & Teng, 2013). Organ (1988) defined OCB as “individual behavior that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and in the aggregate promotes the efficient and effective functioning of the organization” (p.4). The 1.

(13) reason behind how the hospitality jobs required OCB was those jobs including front and back office its always require extra-role performance behaviors which are not included in their formal job descriptions to support and fulfill their customer’s need and it may lead to longterm organizational success. Nowadays, empirical studies on OCB in the hotel industry mainly focused on two factors: the human factors such as organizational commitment (Lavelle et al., 2009), organization-based self-esteem (Van Dyne, Vandewalle, Kostova, Latham, & Cummings, 2000), self-efficacy (Chen & Kao, 2011); the contextual factors such as perceived organizational support (Coyle‐Shapiro & Kessler, 2003), work environment (Involvement and task orientation) (Turnipseed, 1996), and procedural justice and interactional justice (Kessler, Coyle-Shapiro, & Purcell, 2004). According to the HRM challenges in the hotel industry in Thailand, this study specified the human factors which can predict OCB. In recent years, many of Thailand's leading companies use psychometric test to measure the candidate's cognitive ability, characteristics, and personality, for example, measuring numerical, verbal and abstract reasoning and the Big Five personality (Sorensen, 2017). One additional personality trait that psychologists and HR professionals are paying attention to is grit, which was proposed as the predictor of success in a person’s life and workplace success (Duckworth & Gross, 2014). Grit is the “perseverance and passion for long-term goals” (Duckworth et al., 2007, p. 1087). Grit has been mainly studied in educational settings, i.e., grit was a predictor of success among West Point cadets, Ivy League student to national spelling bee participants, surgical residents, and novice teachers (Duckworth, Kirby, Tsukayama, Berstein, & Ericsson, 2011; Kelly, Matthews, & Bartone, 2014; Robertson-Kraft & Duckworth, 2014; Salles, Cohen, & Mueller, 2014). The relationship between grit and OCB was grounded by the job demands-resources model. The recent framework proposed that both personal resources and job resources have similar potential on the model, which can refer to the personal resource is lead to positive organizational outcomes (Xanthopoulou, Bakker, Demerouti, & Schaufeli, 2007). In the present study, grit was considered as a personal resource; OCB represented an organizational outcome. Furthermore, previous studies have revealed that extra-role performance has a strong relationship with organizational identification (Riketta, 2005) and also can moderate the relationship between the human factors (i.e., job satisfaction, leadership styles) and OCB (Vondey, 2010). Turner and Tajfel (1986) suggested that highly identified employees perceived their self-concept related to organizational success. Therefore, this study added 2.

(14) organizational identification to examine the moderating effect of organizational identification between grit and OCB.. Problem Statement Recently, the research on grit focused on academic outcomes, i.e., GPA, the retention rate of a postgraduate student, a student spelling competition (Duckworth et al., 2011; Kelly et al., 2014; Robertson-Kraft & Duckworth, 2014; Salles et al., 2014). However, in the workplace setting, there is a lack of empirical data which addresses how grit can affect the organizational outcomes in a business environment (Burkhart, Tholey, Guinto, Yeo, & Chojnacki, 2014; De Vera, Gavino Jr, & Portugal, 2015), especially within the hotel sectors in Bangkok, Thailand. Hence, the present study aims to fill the gap by examining the relationship between grit and OCB, which is one of the key components of actual work performance in the hotel industry (Phetphongphan & Ussahawanitchakit, 2015). Moreover, previous studies found that not only organizational identification has a strong relationship with OCB, but also can influence the turnover intention of employee (Bellou et al., 2005; Demircioglu & Giritli, 2015; Riketta, 2005). Therefore, organizational identification is also very important as OCB in this industry. As the job nature of the hospitality industry was characterized as low skilled, working long hours, irregular work scheduling, poorly paid, and limited promotion opportunities (Walmsley, 2004). All these factors can be considered as the major cause of the high turnover rate in this industry (Partington, 2016). To identify the factors related to organizational identification is very important for the hotel practitioner to retain their employee. Therefore, more research attention should be paid to this area.. Research Purposes Based on the research background and problem statement outline earlier, the objective of this study is to examine the relationships among grit, organizational identification, and OCB of hotel employees in Bangkok, Thailand. Specifically, this study has two main research purposes. First, to investigate whether grit has a significant impact on OCB. Second, to examine the moderating role of organizational identification in the relationship between grit and OCB.. 3.

(15) Questions of the Study This study is mainly to examine the relationships among grit, organizational identification, and OCB. Two research questions are formulated as follows. 1. Will gritty employees result in increased OCB? 2. Will organizational identification moderate the effect of grit on OCB?. Significance of the Study This research will contribute to both areas of human resource management and development, and redound to the benefit of the hotel industry, considering grit plays an important role in predicting work performance, especially, OCB. Also, extending to the factors can moderate the relationship between grit and OCB. Thus, organizational identification was included as a moderator. The findings of this study are expected that in the human resource management field, particularly recruitment and selection, the hotel may consider including grit as one of the criteria to measure the candidate's personality when recruiting and selecting their prospective employees. Consequently, it makes the recruitment process more objective and more measurable. Also, in the human resource development field, the hotel not only can consider designing proper training and development program to help current employees develop grit mindset, but also can target employees who may perform more extra-role performance behavior through seeing them through the lens of organizational identification. Furthermore, even though the relationship between psychological factors and OCB is not a new topic in the literature, the previous studies have not been done on examining the relationship between grit and OCB in the hotel industry as well as the moderating effect between grit and OCB before. Besides, there had very few studies about grit in the workplace setting. Hence, by examining the relationship between grit and OCB, as well as the moderating effect of organizational identification between grit and OCB in the hotel industry, this present study would fill these research gaps.. 4.

(16) Delimitations 1. This study is delimited to the hotel employees who have worked at four-star and five-star hotels in Bangkok, Thailand. 2. This study is delimited to collecting data by using the survey as the primary research tool. 3. This study is delimited to the investigation of only three variables, namely, grit, organizational identification, and OCB.. Definition of Key Terms Grit Grit is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals” (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007). Grit involves maintaining effort and sticking with the future, not just the month, but for years. In other words, the gritty individual will not give up under any circumstances. He or she will try again and again to make the expected consequences a reality (Duckworth & Gross, 2014; Duckworth et al., 2011; Duckworth et al., 2007).. Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) relates to the behaviors of individuals that are discretionary, not be recognized in the employee rewards system, and those behaviors support the organization's performance targets (Organ, 1988). Although organizational citizenship behavior consists of five sub-dimension: altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, courtesy, and civic virtue, as this study focuses on the antecedent of organizational citizenship behavior rather than comparative strengths or weaknesses of organizational citizenship behavior’s sub-dimension, all sub-dimensions were combined as a whole.. Organizational Identification Identification means “appropriation of and commitment to a particular identity or series of identities” (Foote, 1951, p.17). Therefore, organizational identification refers to a feeling of being a part of the organization where employees defined themselves as a member of their organization (Mael & Ashforth, 1992).. 5.

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(18) CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW The objective of this chapter is to review the previous studies concerning grit, organizational citizenship behavior, and organizational identification. Also, the relationship between each variable is discussed, and the hypothesis statement of the present study is proposed at the end of the chapter.. Grit Grit was first introduced by Duckworth et al. (2007) that defined grit as “perseverance and passion for pursuing long-term goals” (p. 1087). Grit has received a great deal of attention from people around the world because it was proposed as the non-cognitive trait, which can predict success. Even though the concept of grit just was proposed worldwide in less than 15 years, the previous studies show a dramatic increase in research on grit. The purpose of those studies can be categorized into two groups: a) to distinguish grit from other non-cognitive trait constructs; b) to examine grit’s predictive validity in both educational and workplace settings. Duckworth et al. (2007) identified the grit construct with two dimensions: consistency of interests refers to individuals consistently concentrate on their long-term goals and perseverance of effort, which is the degree to which people can face challenges while maintaining their effort until they are successful. The previous study demonstrated that grit different from other non-cognitive traits such as conscientiousness (Duckworth et al., 2007), self-control (Stewart, 2015), need for achievement (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009), and resilience (Arouty, 2015). Later, when the empirical study of grit construct was proposed, the area of research on grit changed to examine grit’s predictive validity. Grit has been mainly studied in educational settings, i.e., grit was a predictor of achievement among West Point cadets (Kelly et al., 2014), Ivy League student to national spelling bee participants (Duckworth et al., 2011), surgical residents (Salles et al., 2014), and novice teachers (Robertson-Kraft & Duckworth, 2014). In the workplace setting, grit can predict work engagement, OCB, in-role performance, and job satisfaction (Ion, Mindu, & Gorbănescu, 2017; Suzuki, Tamesue, Asahi, & Ishikawa, 2015). However, there exists little empirical evidence of the benefit of grit. Therefore, additional research is still needed to examine grit as a predictor of organizational outcomes.. 7.

(19) Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) relates to the behaviors of individuals that are discretionary, not be recognized in the employee rewards system, and those behaviors support the organization's performance targets (Organ, 1988). The construct of OCB was first introduced by Smith, Organ, and Near (1983) which consist of two dimensions: altruism which is helping behavior that intentionally performs to support a specific person, while on the contrary generalized compliance was defined by behaviors related to helping the organization in several ways and to serve a non-specific or indefinite person. Later, Organ (1988) expanded the OCB constructs by identifying under five main categories: conscientiousness, altruism, courtesy, sportsmanship, and civic virtue. According to the five dimensions of OCB, the numerous previous studies used this concept to define and measure OCB. Furthermore, Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Moorman, and Fetter (1990), also adopt Organ (1988) conception to develop a measure of OCB which based on five dimensions. Further, OCB is divided into three dimensions as a three-factor model by Williams and Anderson (1991). Firstly, organizational citizenship behavior-organizational (OCBO) refers to behaviors directed to target the benefits of the organization as a whole. This set of behavior is similar to conscientiousness, sportsmanship and civic virtue dimensions as postulated by Organ (1988), whereas organizational citizenship behavior directed at the individuals (OCBI) is also similar to courtesy and altruism dimensions. And the last dimension is in-role behaviors (IRB), which relate to the desired behaviors that the organization has mentioned in the job description. The antecedent of the OCB has been studied in a variety of literature. The empirical research on the antecedents of OCB can be divided into two categories of resources from previous studies: personal resources and job resources. In general, personal resources such as organizational commitment (Lavelle et al., 2009), organization-based self-esteem (Van Dyne et al., 2000), self-efficacy (Chen & Kao, 2011) can predict OCB. Besides, personality was considered as antecedent conditions of OCB. Research has shown some of the Big 5 personality traits significantly predict OCB. For instance, the study of retail sales employees demonstrated agreeableness, and consciousness can predict OCB (Neuman & Kickul, 1998). By investigating the staff of the university in Iran, the result found that OCB is influenced by agreeableness, consciousness, and openness. (Mahdiuon, Ghahramani, & Sharif, 2010). Another antecedent sourced from job resources. The cause of OCB was related to perceived organizational support (Coyle‐Shapiro & Kessler, 2003), work environment 8.

(20) (Involvement and task orientation) (Turnipseed, 1996), and procedural justice and interactional justice (Kessler et al., 2004). Turnipseed (1996) suggests that the organization should focus on the work environment, particularly in task orientation and involvement, to increase OCB in the workplace rather than relate to improving HRM practice to find the candidate who tends to perform OCB. Breaking into hospitality management, especially in the hotel industry, OCB is the crucial factor in flourishing this industry in the future (Hemaloshinee & Nomahaza, 2017). If the hotel can encourage their employee to dedicate and perform in extra-role performance behaviors, the results will benefit following: to improve the productivity of services, to be the leader in the hotel industry, and to make the hotel much more profitable (Ruizalba, BermúdezGonzález, Rodríguez-Molina, & Blanca, 2014). Eventually, previous studies exposed OCB brings a variety of benefits to the organization, extending the factors related to OCB should be considered for further studies.. Grit and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) Empirical studies have indicated that grit is positively correlated with OCB. For instance, the study of South Korean workers showed that gritty workers are likely to perform more in extra-role behavior (Lee, Shin, Park, & Sohn, 2018). By investigating the working adults in Romania, Ion et al. (2017) found that grit can predict organizational outcomes, namely, OCB, CWB, and job satisfaction. The relationship between grit and OCB is explained by the job demands-resources model (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001). This model was proposed to understand the process of predicting employee burnout and employee engagement and may have important impacts on organizational outcomes. According to JD-R model, job characteristics were divided into two groups: job demands refer to “those physical, social, or organizational aspects of the job that require sustained physical and/or psychological effort and are, therefore, associated with physiological and/or psychological costs” (Demerouti et al., 2001, p. 501); and job resources are “those physical, social, or organizational aspects of the job that are functional in achieving work-related goals, reduce job demands and the associated physiological and psychological costs, and stimulate personal growth and development.” (Demerouti et al., 2001, p. 501). Later, Xanthopoulou et al. (2007) proposed an additional factor that is not a part of job characteristics, and this factor has the same motivational potential as a job resource. Therefore, 9.

(21) personal resources were included in the model to emphasize the human factor. Personal resources refer to characteristics of the self that are linked to resilience and the ability to handle and have an effect on the environment (Hobfoll, Johnson, Ennis, & Jackson, 2003). Moreover, Xanthopoulou, Bakker, Demerouti, and Schaufeli (2009) suggest that personal resources have a positive correlation with work-related outcomes. Based on the JD-R model, grit can be considered as one of the personal resources, and one of the work-related outcomes is OCB. Hence, the relationship between grit and OCB is supported by this model. Since there is still a lack of empirical evidence examined the direct effect of grit on OCB among hotel employees, especially in luxury hotels in Asia, this study focused on the relationship between grit and OCB among hotel employees from four-star and five-star hotels in Bangkok, Thailand. Hence, based on the JD-R model and previous empirical studies, the following hypothesis is proposed: H1: Grit will influence organizational citizenship behavior.. Organizational Identification The first explanation of organization identification was provided by Foote (1951). At early concept development, the term of “Organizational Identification” was not proposed. Foote (1951) firstly began studying in social identification which was identified as “‘fellows in groups that they categorize the social world around them in order to regularize their doings, and these categorizations of experience motivate behavior through the necessary commitment of individuals in all situations” (p. 21). After that, Brown (1969) empirically tested Foote (1951)’s concept by examining in organizational contexts. Also, Hall, Schneider, and Nygren (1970) extended the study of identification to the organization and gave the meaning of organizational identification as the degree of congruence between the individual’s goal and the organization’s goal. Later, when the social identity theory was proposed by Tajfel (1974), organizational identification in the literature was changed and related to this theory. Edwards (2005) suggests that “human beings need to simplify the social world by categorizing people into groups (i.e., gender, race, nationality, etc.) and that people assign themselves (or are assigned by others) as being members of a particular group or category” (p. 211). According to the social identity theory, researchers adopted this theory to conceptualize their framework and gave the new definition of organizational identification such as Mael and Ashforth (1992) defined organizational identification as a feeling of being a part of the 10.

(22) organization. Dutton, Dukerich, and Harquail (1994); Rousseau (1998) focus on the perception of individuals who liked their self to the organization. Further, Pratt (1998) argued that “organizational Identification occurs when an individual’s beliefs about his or her organization become self-referential or self-defining” (p.172). The outcome of organizational identification has been studied extensively in many business areas such as by investigating employees who work in a Finnish research institution, Olkkonen and Lipponen (2006) found organizational identification has a positive relationship with OCB and has a negative relationship with employees’ intent to leave the organization. Besides, the study of frontline employees in travel agencies showed that employees’ customer orientation was influenced by organizational identification. Previous studies also have been done on organizational identification in the hotel industry. Buil, Martínez, and Matute (2016) examined frontline employees who work in a hotel in Spain. This finding showed a strong relationship between organizational identification and OCB. Similarly, the study of frontline hotel employees in the Philippines also found organizational identification has a positive relationship with both service-oriented in-role performance and OCB (Lu, Capezio, Restubog, Garcia, & Wang, 2016). Therefore, the previous studies demonstrated organizational identification plays a vital role in the hotel industry, and it is still continuously studied by emphasizing on consequences.. The Moderating Effect of Organizational Identification between Grit and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) A meta-analysis of the correlations between organizational identification and both inrole and extra-role performance found that organizational identification and extra-role performance have a strong relationship with each other. (Bellou et al., 2005; Riketta, 2005). Ashforth, Harrison, and Corley (2008) argued that the individual with a high level of organizational identification is likely to have more identification results in both affective and cognitive traits and OCB, as well as some empirical studies, also supported that organizational identification was positively related to OCB. For example, Qureshi, Zeb, and Saifullah (2011) found higher organizational identification to be associated with more employee’s intention to perform OCB, and they suggested that in public sector organizations should develop a strategy which included increasing organizational identification to encourage the employee to perform OCB. In addition, Choi, Moon, Ko, and Kim (2014) examined the relationship between organizational identification and OCB within ten companies in South Korea; they found that 11.

(23) organizational identification also had a positive relationship with OCB. Apart from emphasizing the workplace setting, Kane, Magnusen, and Perrewé (2012); LeBlanc (2014) found that the college students who are highly identified with their university display more OCB. Also, Van Dick, Grojean, Christ, and Wieseke (2006) examined the relationship between organizational identification and OCB in educational institute staff. The results are congruent with that of LeBlanc (2014). The previous research also has shown that organizational identification can moderate psychological factors-OCB relationships, such as affecting the strength of the relationship between servant leadership and OCB (Vondey, 2010). Van Dick et al. (2008) found that the relationship between job satisfaction and OCB was positively stronger when the employee identified himself/herself more with the organization or the group which they belong to. In this study, the moderating effect of organizational identification on grit and OCB is explained by the Social Identity Theory (SIT) (Tajfel, 1974). Social identity theory was developed to explain intergroup behavior. Tajfel, Turner, Austin, and Worchel (1979) defined social identity as a person's self-concept, which is acquired from the group which they belong to and where they are valuable to the person or hold some emotional significance. A binary self in which each individual has his/her personal and social identities were used to view the individual. According to SIT, when facing challenges and conflicts, social identity is more dominant than personal identity. People tend to get involved with ingroup behavior because of the internalization of group norms. Moreover, when viewing outgroup members, people tend to perceive the characteristics of the group which they belong to rather than on the individual characteristics that differentiate between them. Furthermore, the SIT framework has been applied to workplace settings. In this case, organizational identification plays an important role because employees who identify themselves with the company; they are likely to dedicate and maintain their effort to the organization (Baruch & Cohen, 2007). Also, Turner and Tajfel (1986) suggested that highly identified employees perceived their self-concept related to organizational success. Therefore, when their job required them to perform outside of the job description, they tend to perform more extra-role behaviors in their work because the extra-role behaviors might have contributions to organizational success. Based on the hotel industry environment, OCB was emphasized in hospitality jobs including front and back office because the nature of work within the hotel industry always require extra-role performance behaviors which are not included in their formal job descriptions to support and fulfill their customer’s need. Not only the personal resources such 12.

(24) as personality traits can influence the extra-role performance behavior, but also the positive or negative identification between the employee and the organization can change the strength of a relationship between personal resources and OCB. Hence, based on social identity theory and previous empirical studies, the following hypothesis is proposed: H2: The relationship between grit and organizational citizenship behavior is moderated by organizational identification.. 13.

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(26) CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY This chapter contains the research methodology and design implemented in this study. Also, the research hypothesis which has been obtained from the previous chapters was included. It outlines the discussions of methodological aspects, including research framework, research design, research sampling, the measurement instrument, pilot test, data collection, data analysis, and research procedures.. Research Framework The research framework of the present study is developed from the previous studies and several models and theories derived from the literature review. The research presents how organizational identification moderates the positive effect of grit on organizational citizenship behavior. The relationship between variables to be examined in this study is presented in Figure 3.1. The variables consist of grit as the independent variable, organizational citizenship behavior as the dependent variable, and organizational identification as the moderator. The hypotheses proposed in this study are shown as follows: Hypothesis 1 Grit will influence organizational citizenship behavior. Hypothesis 2 The relationship between grit and organizational citizenship behavior is moderated by organizational identification. The hypothesis 1 is based on the JD-R model (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001) while the hypothesis 2 is grounded by social identity theory (Tajfel, 1974). 15.

(27) H2 Organizational Identification (M). Grit. Organizational. (X). H1. Citizenship Behavior (Y) Control Variables: Gender / Age / Tenure. Figure 3.1. Research framework. Research Procedure This part provided a description of the process that this study went through. The research procedure for this study is divided into several steps, as shown in Figures 3.2. at the end of this part.. Statement of Research Problem The initiated idea of the present research problem came up from the educational background of the author in the field of psychology. Based on the personal interest of grit, which always is studied as a predictor of academic achievement in the field of developmental psychology, but in the fields of business and management addressed a lack of research. After several discussions with the thesis advisor, and later came up with the present research framework and the research sample in the hotel industry.. 16.

(28) Literature Review The previous research related to all variables in the present study was reviewed to have more understanding and to assure the conceptual framework, which consists of the main three variables; grit, organizational identification, and OCB, no prior research has been studied before.. Development of the Questionnaires The quantitative approach by relying on a survey-based method for data collection was used to conduct this study. A designed questionnaire was chosen from the previous reliable studies. The survey instrument included measures for three distinct variables: grit, organizational identification, and OCB. From the previous studies, all questionnaires were originally designed in English. As the participants were Thai, all questions were translated into Thai. The validity of the translations was examined and clarified by ten hotel employees for proving the accuracy of the translation.. Data Collection The questionnaires were distributed to the hotel employees by means of convenient and snowball sampling. An online self-reported survey was designed as the major research instrument to collect data. The survey link was sent to several groups of hotel employees who agree to participate and to forward the link to their network members. Besides, the cover letter emphasizing the confidentiality of the study, and the anonymity of the respondents were on the first page of the online self-reported survey. The data collection period was the last two months, from January to February 2020.. Data Analysis After collecting the data, the IBM SPSS Statistics 23 software was used to analyze the numerical data. Descriptive statistics were conducted for the sample profile, such as means and standard deviations. Correlation analyses were employed to examine the relationships among grit, organizational identification, and OCB. Hierarchical regression analyses were used for inferential statistics to investigate the moderating effect of organizational identification.. Result Interpretation After data analysis, the result was used to interpret to examine the hypotheses of the study, and the literature review was used to discuss the findings.. 17.

(29) Conclusion and Recommendation The main purpose of the study was concluded, and the recommendation was provided for future research.. Statement of Research Problem. Literature Review. Development of the questionnaires. 1. Grit 2. Organizational Identification 3. OCB. 1. The Short Grit Scale (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009) 2. Organizational identification scale (Mael & Ashforth, 1992) 3. OCB scale (Podsakoff et al., 1990). 1.. Data Collection. Convenience sampling type: snowball sampling. Data Analysis. 1. Descriptive statistics analysis 2. Pearson correlation analysis 3. Hierarchical regression analysis. 2. Result Interpretation. Conclusion and Recommendation. Figure 3.2. Research procedure. 18.

(30) Research Sample The participants of this study consist of the hotel employees from four-star and fivestar hotels in Bangkok, Thailand. The present research focuses on hotel employees from fourstar and five-star hotels in Bangkok because of two reasons. First, this study chooses the hotel employees from four-star and five-star hotels in which a star rating was given by the Tourism Authority of Thailand in 2018. Recently, in Thailand, a four-star and five-star hotels are the fastest-growing segment of the hotel industry (Erawan, 2018). This trend is likely to impact the hotel industry as a whole such as it is making the labor market extremely competitive, which high demand for quality hotel employees. Second, the reason behind this is about the location, Bangkok, the Thai capital, is the most visited city in the world (Hamel, 2019). Therefore, the hotels, especially a four-star and five-star chain hotels, are expanding the new hotel into this city (Erawan, 2018). All in all, the findings from this study would help them dealing with the two situations above. Moreover, these hotel segments have an enormous potential for development. In other words, the present study could have an impact on the growth and success of their business.. Measurement The questionnaires in this study were adopted from the previous research. The designed questionnaire of the present study included two main sections. The first section contained questions about measuring three variables with 38 items: grit with 8 items, organizational identification with 6 items, and organizational citizenship behavior with 24 items. The second section contained demographic information of the participant. Moreover, to avoid the multiple participation responses, in the beginning, the participants have to answer the question that “Have you finished this survey before?” According to the first section, all questionnaire items were originally designed in English. As the participants were Thai, all questions were translated into Thai, and the validity was checked by a back-translation method (Jones & Kay, 1992) and was examined by ten hotel employees.. 19.

(31) Grit The Short Grit Scale (Grit–S) was employed to measure grit. This scale was developed by (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009), which originally grit scale have 12-item (Duckworth et al., 2007), then Duckworth and Quinn (2009) developed the 8-item to prove about validity and reliability and to develop as a shorter version of their previous. Response options were based on a five-item scale that ranged from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Example items included the following: “I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a different one” (reversed scored) and “I finish whatever I begin.” Cronbach's Alpha for this scale was .77 (See Table 3.1.). Table 3.1. Grit Scale Items. Questionnaire Component. Cronbach’s Alpha. Author. .77 1. New ideas and projects sometimes distract me. Duckworth. from previous ones.. and Quinn. 2. Setbacks don’t discourage me.. (2009). 3. I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost interest.. 4. I am a hard worker.. 5. I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a different one.. 6. I have difficulty maintaining my focus on projects that take more than a few months to. 7. Icomplete. finish whatever I begin.. 8. I am diligent.. Note. Adapted from “Development and validation of the Short Grit Scale (GRIT–S),” by A.L. Duckworth and P.D. Quinn. 2009, Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(2), p. 166-174.. 20.

(32) Organizational Identification A six-item organizational identification questionnaire was adopted from Mael and Ashforth (1992), which is grounded by social identity theory (Tajfel, 1974). An example item included: “When someone criticizes my hotel, it feels like a personal insult” and “My hotel’s successes are my successes.” (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Cronbach's Alpha for this scale was .81 (See Table 3.2.). Table 3.2. Organizational Identification Scale Items. Questionnaire Component. Cronbach’s Alpha. Author. .81 1 2. When someone criticizes my hotel, it feels like. Mael and. a personal insult.. Ashforth. I am very interested in what others think about. (1992). my hotel. 3. When I talk about my hotel, I usually say ‘we’ rather than ‘they.’. 4. My hotel’s successes are my successes.. 5. When someone praises my hotel, it feels like a personal compliment.. 6. If a story in the media criticized my hotel, I would feel embarrassed.. Note. Adapted from “Alumni and their alma mater: A partial test of the reformulated model of organizational identification,” by F. Mael and B. E. Ashforth. 1992, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(2), p. 103-123.. 21.

(33) Organizational Citizenship Behavior With regard to organizational citizenship behavior, 24 questions were adopted from Podsakoff et al. (1990), which provides a clear, valid, and reliable measure of OCB. As the present study used the definition of OCB provided by Organ (1988), Podsakoff et al. (1990) also employed Organ (1988) definition and empirically tested and developed OCB measurement. Example items included the following: “I do not consider the impact of my actions on co-workers” (reversed scored) and “I help others who have a heavy workload.” Each item had 5-point Likert response categories from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Cronbach's Alpha for this scale was .84 (See Table 3.3.). Table 3.3. Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale Items. Questionnaire Component. Cronbach’s Alpha. Author. .84 1. I help others who have heavy work load.. Podsakoff et al.. 2. I do my job without constant requests from. (1990). my boss. 3. I believe in giving an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.. 4. I do not waste time complaining about trivial matters.. 5. I try to avoid creating problems for coworkers.. 6. I keep abreast of changes in the organization.. 7. I tend to magnify problems.. 8. I do not consider the impact of my actions on co-workers.. 9. I attend meetings that are not mandatory, but important. (continued). 22.

(34) Table 3.3. (continued) Items 10. Questionnaire Component. Cronbach’s Alpha. Author. I am always ready to give a helping hand to those around me.. 11. I attend functions that are not required, but help the company image.. 12. I read and keep up with organization announcements, memos, and so on.. 13. I help others who have been absent.. 14. I respect the rights of people that work with me.. 15. I willingly help others who have work related problems.. 16. I always focus on what is right, rather than what is wrong.. 17. I take steps to try to avoid problems with other workers.. 18. My attendance at work is above the norm.. 19. I always find fault with what the organization is doing.. 20. I am mindful of how my behavior affects other people’s jobs.. 21. I do not take extra breaks.. 22. I respect company rules and policies even when no one is watching me.. 23. I guide new people even though it is not required.. 24. I am one of the most conscientious employees. (continued) 23.

(35) Note. Adapted from “Transformational leader behaviors and their effects on followers' trust in leader, satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors,” by P.M. Podsakoff, S.B. MacKenzie, R.H. Moorman, and R. Fetter. 1990, The Leadership Quarterly, 1(2), p. 107-142.. Control Variable Previous research illustrated the significant effects of demographic factors, such as age, gender, and tenure on organizational outcome variables (Smith, Emerson, & Boster, 2018). Therefore, the present study includes age, gender, and tenure as control variables, which may be correlated with grit, organizational identification, and OCB. Age. Previous research showed mixed results about the relationship between age and OCB. For example, Iun and Huang (2007) founded the older hotel employee performed less extra-role performance behavior as well as had less identification with their hotel than the younger ones. On the other hand, some researchers found a positive relationship between them (Wanxian & Weiwu, 2007). In the present study, it is coded as 1 = male, 2 = female. Gender. Given the potential effect of gender on OCB found in hotel industry research (Budiman, Anantadjaya, & Prasetyawati, 2014). Kidder and Parks (2001) and Morrison (1994) noted that gender is an important factor in influent extra-role performance behavior. In a gender context, some researchers found that women are more likely than men to perform OCB (Wanxian & Weiwu, 2007). Tenure. Tenure also was added as one of the control variables. Previous studies found that tenure has a positive relationship with OCB (Iftikhar, Shahid, Shahab, Mobeen, & Qureshi, 2016; Kegans, McCamey, & Hammond, 2012). McCloy, Campbell, and Cudeck (1994) suggested a high-tenure employee tends to have more knowledge, skills, and abilities in their job than a low-tenure employee. The open-ended question was used to ask for employee tenure, and the respondent has to answers in years and months.. Pilot Test A pilot test was carried out before conducting the main study. This pilot test included the demographic questions and questions measuring three variables of research interest, 8-item grit, 6-item organizational identification, and 24-item OCB. The pilot testing of an instrument supported validity and reliability (Lam, Yuen, Mercer, & Wong, 2010). In the present study, the pilot test was conducted with a group of 60 hotel employees from four-star and five-star hotels in Bangkok, Thailand. 24.

(36) Table 3.4. Reliability Test of Three Variables’ Measurement (N = 60) Variables. Cronbach’s Alpha Value. 1. Grit. .756. 2. Organizational Identification. .792. 3. Organizational Citizenship Behavior. .761. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) This study adopted confirmatory factor analysis to test the fit between the observed data and the proposed model by conducting with a group of 288 hotel employees. The range of goodness of fit was adopted form Hooper, Coughlan, and Mullen (2008) to determine the model fit. Table 3.5. provided the criteria of fit indices, which included Chi-square divided by degree of freedom (χ2/df), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), comparative fit index (CFI), Tuck-Lewis index (TLI), and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR). The whole model was run through CFA using Mplus 7 edition software to see whether the data fit the theoretical measurement model. Table 3.5. Summary of Model Fit Indices and Model Test Results Index. Acceptable Level. Satisfactory Level. CFA Test Results. χ²/df. <5. 2-5. 1.804. CFI. > 0.90. > 0.95. 0.910. TLI. > 0.90. > 0.95. 0.905. RMSEA. < 0.08. < 0.05. 0.053. SRMR. < 0.08. < 0.05. 0.042. Note. Summary according to Hooper, Coughlan, and Mullen (2008). According to Table 3.5., the overall fit of this final measurement model was 𝑥 # /𝑑𝑓 = 1.804; CFI and TLI were both higher than 0.90. Moreover, RMSA and SRMR were 0.053 and 0.042, respectively. All these indices indicated an acceptable fit between the observed data and the measurement model. Therefore, these results indicated the scales of grit, organizational identification, and organizational citizenship behavior have adequate validity for use in this study.. 25.

(37) Data Analysis The statistical software of IBM SPSS 23 for Windows was utilized in this study to analyze the data. The descriptive statistical and inferential statistical techniques were applied to test the hypotheses.. Descriptive Analysis SPSS was applied for analyzing information and acquiring descriptive data reports from the raw data of the respondents’ basic profile. The frequency distribution of demographic data (e.g., gender, age, and tenure) was measured as well as the means and standard deviations of three variables: grit, organizational identification, and OCB.. Pearson Correlation Analysis The Person correlation analysis was employed to examine the relationships among grit, organizational identification, and OCB. This analysis is used for two purposes: (1) to understand the strength of the relationship between variables, (2) to understand the direction of the relationship between variables. If the coefficient is closer to +1 or -1, those two variables are a stronger association, while zero means no relationship between two variables. The positive sign and negative sign refer to the direction of the relationship between variables; the positive sign means a positive correlation between two variables, whereas the negative sign means a negative correlation between two variables.. Hierarchical Regression Analysis Hierarchical regression analysis was used for inferential statistics to test cause-effect relationships between grit and OCB and to investigate organizational identification as a moderator. The present study was employed in the hierarchical regression model for running a moderated regression. All the control variables (i.e., age, gender, tenure) were entered into the equation in the first step. The mean-centered variables of grit and organizational identification were entered into the equation at the second step, and the third step, the interaction term between grit and organizational identification was entered into the regression model to test the variables’ influence on OCB.. 26.

(38) CHAPTER IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This chapter demonstrates the results of data analysis in order to examine the relationships among grit, organizational identification, and OCB. The descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were presented to test the hypotheses proposed in this study: (1) Grit will influence organizational citizenship behavior and (2) The relationship between grit and organizational citizenship behavior is moderated by organizational identification.. Descriptive Statistics Participants of this study were hotel employees from four-star and five-star hotels in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 300 responses was collected, but 12 were incomplete responses. Therefore, 288 responses were used for analysis, yielding a 96.0% response rate. The demographic information which was collected from the sample were: age, gender, and tenure. Results of descriptive statistics, including the frequency and percentage of the demographic information of the samples, are provided in Table 4.1. The respondents consisted of 224 females (77.8%) and 64 males (22.2%). Among them, less than 25 years old represented 38 respondents (13.2%), employees with 25-30 years old represented 202 respondents (70.1%), employees with 31-35 years old represented 42 respondents (14.6%), and above 35 years old represented 6 respondents (2.1%). The respondents mostly worked in the hotel industry for 4 to 6 years (40.3%) and 1 to 3 years (25.3%). Table 4.1. Participants Demographic Statistics (N = 288) Variable. Category. Gender. Female. Age (years). Tenure (years). Frequency. Percentage (%). 224. 77.8. Male. 64. 22.2. <25. 38. 13.2. 25-30. 202. 70.1. 31-35. 42. 14.6. Above 35. 6. 2.1. <1. 38. 13.2. 1-3. 73. 25.3. 4-6. 116. 40.3. 7-9. 61. 21.2. 27.

(39) Correlation Analysis Results of correlation analysis of all the variables and the reliability of all the measurements are provided in Table 4.2. For the reliability analysis, Cronbach’s alpha of three measurements are greater than 0.7 (Cronbach’s Alpha for the scale of grit = .952; Cronbach’s Alpha for the scale of organizational identification = .901; Cronbach’s Alpha for the scale of OCB = .887) which is the accepted value of Cronbach’s Alpha (Nunnally, 1978) According to Table 4.2., all variables have a positive relationship with each other and have correlations ranging from 0.623 to 0.724 (p < .01). Specifically, there was a significant positive relationship between grit and organizational identification (r = 0.623, p < .01) and also between grit and OCB (r = 0.716, p < .01). Moreover, the results shown that organizational identification was significantly and positively related to OCB (r = 0.724, p < .01). Table 4.2. Mean, Standard Deviations, Correlations, and Reliability Coefficients (N = 288) Cronbach's Variables. Mean SD. alpha (α). r 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 1. Gender. 1.777 .416. -. 2. Age. 2.055 .599. -.132*. -. 3. Tenure. 2.694 .950. -.093. .042. -. 4. OCB. 3.472 .968. .887. -.009. .052. .091. -. 5. Grit. 3.641 .925. .952. -.151*. .088. .057. .716**. 6. Organizational. 3.489 .965. .901. -.034. .133*. .003. .724** .623**. -. Identification Note. *p < .05, **p < .01 Code. Gender: 1 = Male; 2 = Female; Age: Continuous variable; Tenure: Continuous variable. Hierarchical Regression Analysis This study examined the moderation effect of organizational identification on the relationship between grit and OCB by using hierarchical regression. Firstly, control variables were entered, and then the independent variable and moderator as the main effect were placed in the next step. The last step entered an interaction effect between the independent variable and moderator to predict the dependent variable. 28. 6. -.

(40) Hypothesis 1 proposed that grit will influence OCB. According to Table 4.3., the results of the regression analysis in step 2 demonstrated that 65% of the total variance of OCB was explained by grit and organizational identification (F = 104.949, p < .001). Grit positively and significantly predicted OCB (β = .442, p < .001). Therefore, Hypothesis 1 that proposed grit will influence OCB was supported. Also, Table 4.3. has shown the hierarchical regression results of the moderating effect of organizational identification between grit and OCB. Refer to the step 3; the results presented that the interaction terms in hierarchical regression analysis added a significant incremental variance for step 3 (∆𝑅# = .007, p < .05) and that “Grit × Organizational Identification” significantly predicted OCB (β = -.098, p < .05). Therefore, organizational identification has a moderating effect on the relationship between grit and OCB, and Hypothesis 2 was supported. Table 4.3. Result of Regression Analysis of Grit and OCB, Organizational Identification (N = 288) 𝛽. Variables. 1. 2. 3. Gender. .005. .074*. .080*. Age. .049. -.040. -.045. Tenure. .089. .073*. .067. Grit. .442***. .401***. Organizational Identification. .457***. .444***. (Step 1). (Step 2). (Step 3) Grit x Organizational Identification. -.098*. F. 1.013. 𝑅#. .011. .650***. .657*. Adj. 𝑅#. .000. .644***. .650*. ∆𝑅#. .011. .640***. .007*. ∆F. 1.013. 258.103***. 5.695*. Note. Dependent variable = OCB; *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001 29. 104.949*** 89.863***.

(41) Organizational citizenship behavior. 5 4.5 4 Low organizational identification. 3.5 3. High organizational identification. 2.5 2 1.5 1 Low grit. High grit. Figure 4.1. Interaction plot for the moderating effect of organizational identification. Discussions The main object of the present study is to investigate the relationship between grit, organizational identification, and OCB on the hotel employees from four-star and five-star hotels in Bangkok, Thailand. In this section, the results of all hypotheses are discussed. A summary of the hypothesis testing result is shown in Table 4.4. Table 4.4. Hypotheses Testing Results Summary Hypotheses. Result. H1. Grit will influence organizational citizenship behavior.. Supported. H2. The relationship between grit and organizational citizenship. Supported. behavior is moderated by organizational identification.. 30.

(42) Positive Effect of Grit The present study provides support for the relationship between grit and OCB in a sample of 288 hotel employees from four-star and five-star hotels in Bangkok, Thailand. The results indicate that grit significantly and positively predicts OCB. Therefore, employees with a high level of grit are more likely to perform extra-role behaviors than those with a low level of grit. It was explained by the fact that gritty employees do not give up to any circumstances and maintain their effort, for example, when their job required them to perform the duties, which not be included in the job description, gritty employees are prone to perform more extrarole behaviors in their work because they may perceive that the extra-role behaviors have challenges and contributions to organizational success which have long-term impacts to them. This finding in the relationship between grit and OCB is consistent with previous studies, the study by Ion et al. (2017) whose research was done on the working adults in Romania revealed grit could predict the organizational outcome, namely, OCB, CWB, and job satisfaction. Moreover, the results are congruent with Lee et al. (2018) by investigating the South Korean workers found that gritty workers are likely to perform more in extra-role behavior. As suggested by the JD-R model (Xanthopoulou et al., 2007), personal resource has similar potential as job resources to predict organizational outcomes. In this term, personal resources represented to characteristics of the self that are linked to resilience and the ability to handle and have an effect on the environment (Hobfoll et al., 2003). Grit can be considered as one of the personal resources, and OCB also can be considered as desirable organizational outcomes. Therefore, it is logical to find a positive relationship between grit and OCB, as reported in this study.. Moderating Effect of Organizational Identification The second finding of this study potentially explains the significance of the moderating effect of organizational identification on grit to OCB. The results are congruent with the previous studies that organizational identification can moderate psychological factors-OCB relationships. The results are in line with the research of Van Dick et al. (2008), in which the relationship between job satisfaction and OCB was positively stronger when the employee identified himself/herself more with the organization or the group which they belong to. Also, Vondey (2010) found that organizational identification can strengthen the relationship between servant leadership and OCB. Although all the previous studies have never done to study on 31.

(43) grit, all the psychological factors above are the personal resources, and the trait of grit is also one of them. Therefore, the present study extended the moderating effect of organizational identification on personal resources to the organizational outcome. The moderating effect of organizational identification on grit to OCB could be explained by the Social Identity Theory (SIT) that highly identified employees perceived their self-concept related to organizational success (Turner & Tajfel, 1986). Also, employees who identify themselves with the company are likely to dedicate and maintain their effort to the organization (Baruch & Cohen, 2007). Hence, the more employees can identify with their organization, the more extra-role behaviors they perform in which this finding found that not only organizational identification directly affects OCB, but the positive or negative identification between the employee and the organization also can change the strength of a relationship between personal resources and OCB.. 32.

(44) CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS This chapter demonstrated the conclusion based on the research finding, the practical implication, limitation, and recommendation for future study.. Conclusions The main purpose of this study is to examine whether grit would influence OCB, and also explore how the moderating effect of organizational identification would influence the relationship between grit and OCB. This study focused on the hotel industry in Bangkok, Thailand. Therefore, the data was collected from 288 hotel employees who have worked in Bangkok, Thailand. The results of this study obtained from the analysis through SPSS 23.0, were discussed below. First, for hypothesis 1, grit influences OCB. This is supported by the JD-R model that personal resources can predict work-related outcomes. Lastly, the data analysis of hypothesis 2 shows that the positive relationship between grit and OCB is moderated by organizational identification, such that this relationship is stronger at higher levels of organizational identification. This can be explained by the social identity theory that the positive or negative identification between the employee and the organization related to organizational outcome.. Practical Implications This research investigated the relationship between grit and OCB and examined the moderating effect of organizational identification between grit and OCB. As participants of this study were hotel employees from four-star and five-star hotels in Bangkok, this study offers several practical implications for four-star and five-star hotels in Bangkok, particularly in human resource management and human resource development, which may contribute to the hotel management and human resource practitioners. Firstly, investing in grit training for employees who highly identify themselves with the hotel is a complementary course of action that may yield benefits. The findings suggest that developing a grit mindset is one way to encourage employees to perform extra-role behaviors. Therefore, the human resource department can consider designing proper training and development programs to help current employees develop grit mindset. Additionally, to increase employees’ level of OCB, the hotel should also focus on increasing employees’ organizational identification because the result found that the positive relationship between grit and OCB is moderated by organizational identification, such that this relationship is stronger 33.

(45) at higher levels of organizational identification. Therefore, hotel management should create an environment in which employees feel a sense of belonging, and this could be done by involving employees in the decision-making process or providing them proper assistance and resources when needed. Benkhoff (1997) has suggested that more organizations include employees in the decision-making process, a stronger sense of ownership, and identification with organizations. Moreover, for human resource management, especially in recruitment and selection perspective, this study also offers some practical implications. In recent years, most of the organizations’ personnel selection process relies on the selection of candidates who fit the organizational culture and the job description based on the outcome of various psychometric tests, for example, cognitive ability, characteristics, and personality. When the hotel emphasizes OCB among its employees, the previous research has suggested that “managers should try to focus on selecting employees with a propensity to engage in OCBs” (Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff, & Blume, 2009, p. 134). As the finding of this study indicates, hotels can consider including grit as one of the criteria to measure the candidate’s personality when recruiting and selecting their prospective employees.. Limitation Even though this study contributed to the literature to better understanding the relationship between grit, organizational identification, and OCB in the four-star and five-star hotels in Thailand, this study still has several limitations. First, due to some questions of this study involve socially desirable behaviors, social desirability bias might be a limitation, even the notification of anonymity and confidentiality of this study were clearly stated in the questionnaire. Second, the data were collected using hotel employees from four-star and five-star hotels in Bangkok only, this sample may not be able to represent the population of this study and may lead to a generalizability issue. Finally, since this study collected data of independent and dependent variables at the same time in January to February 2020, the cross-sectional design is also a limitation that could mislead the causal relationship between independent and dependent variables.. 34.

(46) Recommendation Based on the above limitations, first, future research should strive to increase the sample size by including hotel employees from different star ratings and different regions to enhance the generalizability. Second, as the limitation of cross-sectional design in this study, future studies should use other research designs such as experimental study or longitudinal study in order to identify a more accurate casual relationships between independent and dependent variables to minimize this issue. Third, future research can try to explore some other possible outcomes of grit as well as other important factors that can predict grit, so that more beneficial outcomes result from grit to the organization can be identified, and practitioners would have a better idea as to how to devise proper practices and programs to help prospective and current employees to develop grit mindset. Furthermore, future research can also try to examine OCB in more detail, which consists of five subdimensions: altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, courtesy, and civic virtue, by comparing how its subdimensions result in the different associations between grit and organizational identification.. 35.

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