(The Mediating Role of Organizational Identification in the Relationship Between Organizational Constraints, Task Performance and Contextual Performance)

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of organizational identification in the impact of organizational constraints on task performance and contextual performance. Design/methodology/approach – The research was carried out by collecting data from 592 graduates from universities working in public institutions in Ankara. SPSS and SmartPLS programs were used in the analysis of the data. Structural equation modeling method was used to test the hypotheses. Findings – According to the findings, organizational constraints do not have a significant effect on perceived task performance and contextual performance. However, organizational constraints affect organizational identification negatively and significantly. Organizational identification also affects task performance and contextual performance positively and significantly. Even if organizational constraints do not affect task performance and contextual performance, it was observed that this effect occurred indirectly when evaluated according to the approach of Zhao, et al. (2010). Therefore, according to the study results, organizational identification plays a mediating role in the effect of organizational constraints on performance. Discussion – One important thing to note is that the level of constraints, as measured by the Organizational Constraints Scale, is not the degree to which the mentioned constraints exist but rather the degree to which the mentioned constraints make it difficult or impossible to do one’s job. According to the results of the analysis, it has been revealed that the organizational constraints for the participants create problems on average once or twice per month. Considering that the research is conducted in public institutions, the factors among the scale items that are high in average and seen as more constrained than others are “interruptions by other people, other employees and conflicting job demands”. It is seen that employees consider the reasons arising from individuals rather than a public institution as a constraint. According to the results of the research, the organizational identification levels of the participants are high and this positively affects the task performance and contextual performance. Since a study examining the relationship between organizational constraints and identification has not been found in the literature, another contribution of the research to the literature is that organizational identification decreases as the organizational constraints increase. Another conclusion that arises in the research is that organizational identification has more impact on contextual performance than on task performance. In this case, it is necessary to investigate which factors can explain why organizational identification has an impact on contextual performance rather than task performance. Since the research model has not been tested before, it is thought that it will contribute to the literature.