The Nexus of Altruistic and Courteous Behaviors on Job Satisfaction and Affective Organizational Commitment among Pharmaceutical Executives

Prior research in several management disciplines has shown that Altruistic and Courtesy organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) positively enhances Affective organizational commitment (OC) and Job Satisfaction (JS) in employees. The study aims to test the assumption that Altruism and Courtesy OCB positively influence JS and Affective OC among pharmaceutical executives in Nigeria. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey with data randomly collected from selected respondents (N=401). The assumptive model was evaluated with structural equation modeling using advanced analysis of composites software (ADANCO). The structural model had an acceptable fit and internal reliability of constructs. Study findings revealed that altruism OCB was not a significant predictor of JS and Affective OC (p>0.05). Courtesy OCB was a significant predictor of JS and Affective OC (p<0.01). Courtesy OCB's influence on OC is partially mediated by JS. Pharmaceutical executives' level of emotional attachment and sense of connection towards their organization improves substantially in a friendly, supportive work environment. The empirical model supports intra-collegial collective performance and productivity instead of focusing on an individual's altruistic tendencies. The study reinforces the team-based sales approach as well as the need to reward altruistic behavior from employees and subordinates.


INTRODUCTION
In management literature, the study of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and commitment is essential to exploring relations between organizations and their employees especially as they relate to job satisfaction, motivation, employee retention, and job performance (Hasani et al., 2013;Mercurio, 2015; Suryani & Tentama, 2020; Cropanzano et al., 2017). OCB has been consistently positively linked to enhanced performance and minimized turnover among employees in an organization (Mercurio, 2015;Suryani & Tentama, 2020). Although, prior research in several management disciplines has shown that altruistic and courteous OCB positively elicits and enhances affective OC and job satisfaction (JS) in employees. There is a need to investigate if individual-based organizational citizenship behavior such as Altruism and Courtesy, as exhibited by employees in marketing organizations influences JS and Affective OC. In other words, do altruistic and courteous employees have statistically significant high levels of satisfaction and emotional attachment to their organizations? (Suryani & Tentama, 2020;Cropanzano et al., 2017). In Nigeria, a significant number of research publications have been devoted to exploring the impact of work conditions, employer behavior, and employer-employee relations on critical organizational outcomes such as job satisfaction, motivation, performance, turnover intentions, and productivity (Oamen, 2021;Oamen & Omorenuwa, 2021). These aforementioned outcomes are not the case with employer-employee interactions. This survey is based on the assumption that Altruism and Courtesy OCB positively influence JS and Affective OC among pharmaceutical executives.
Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is a behavioral construct that expresses the willingness (essentially prosocial in nature) of an individual employee to perform tasks and actions that are of benefit and help to colleagues and the organization at large (Habeeb, 2019;Knez et al., 2019). In the literature, five major domains exist-altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, civic virtue, and courtesy. There are further crystallized into two main groups based on the direction of focus-the organization or individuals. Firstly, organizationbased OCB (conscientiousness, sportsmanship, and civic virtue): is directed at organizational objectives and goals (Hasani et al., 2013;Knez et al., 2019). In the same vein, individual-based OCB (courtesy and altruism) express prosocial, supportive behaviors towards co-employees or colleagues (Hasani et al., 2013). This study's theme is hinged on individualbased OCBs.
Altruism refers to the selfless attitude of an employee to provide help and support to a colleague without expecting reciprocation of the same and/or any form of compensation. While courtesy relates to a friendly, supportive atmosphere created that enables or elicits feelings of support and positivity between colleagues ( The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that Altruism and Courtesy OCB positively influence JS and Affective OC among pharmaceutical executives in Nigeria.

Study design
A cross-sectional study design was utilized to obtain relevant data from four hundred and one randomly selected pharmaceutical executives in Nigeria. Respondents gave informed consent before filling out the questionnaire forms. The items or indicators forming each construct were adapted from Allen and Meyers' organizational commitment scale (Mustafa et al, 2019) and organizational citizenship questionnaire (Habeeb, 2019) while JS was measured from a single scale measure (Oamen & Omorenuwa, 2021).

Sample size and sampling method
A-priori sample based on the Daniel Soper calculator for structural equation modeling studies. (Soper, 2022). The parameters used for estimating the minimum sample size were: the number of latent variables (n=4), number of observed or indicator variables (n=13), probability at 5%, moderate effect size (0.3), and power of 80%. (Mukaka, 2012;Soper, 2022) The recommended sample size was 166. However, the final sample number obtained was 401 through the random sampling technique.

Data analysis
Basic descriptive statistics were obtained from SPSS version 25. Advanced analysis of composites (ADANCO) version 2.3.1 software developed and tested the hypothesized relations between independent (altruism and courtesy) and dependent variables (Affective OC and JS) using compositebased structural equation modeling methods (Henseler & Dijkstra, 2015). Bootstrapping method using the maximum likelihood estimation method for 4,999 samples was used to determine the significance and confidence intervals of estimations. Mode A (consistent partial least squares) was used for each reflective construct in the structural model.

Measurement of Variables
The employee-directed organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) domains are (1) Altruism (Aa1 to Aa3), and (2) Courtesy (Cs1 to Cs3). Altruism indicators are: Aa1=I engage in additional tasks in my organization without expecting anything in return, Aa2=I do not expect to be commended or praised for doing tasks outside my current job role, and Aa3=I provide assistance and support to colleagues even though not required.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that Altruism and Courtesy OCB positively influence JS and Affective OC among pharmaceutical executives in Nigeria Hence, the composite-based structural equation modeling using ADANCO software was used to test hypotheses of underlying structural relationships (direct and indirect) between Altruistic, Courtesy behaviors, and JS and Affective OC among pharmaceutical executives in Nigeria.

Demographic attributes of participants
A majority of study participants are male (n=264, 66%), and female (n=137, 33%). In terms of marital status, 208 (51.9%) are married, and 191 (47.6%) are single. Respondents between the age of 20 to 30 years accounted for 38.2% (n=145), 31 to 49 years accounted for 63.3% (n=254), and 2% were greater than 50 years. Bachelor of Pharmacy & Doctor of Pharmacy degree holders represented 23% (94) of the study sample compared to higher national diploma & Bachelor of science degree holders (n=307, 77%). A significant majority of respondents (n=389, 97%) had between 1 to 10 years of experience in their present company while those with 11 to above 15 years were much lower (n=12, 3%). Total industry experience had cumulatively lower representation for those less than 1 to 5 years (n=239, 69.9%) compared to those with 6 to above 15 years of aggregate experience (n=162, 40.4%). A majority of respondents (n=258, 64%) work with privately owned pharmaceutical companies, while 143 (36%) work with Multinational companies.

Model fit Evaluation
Standardized root means squared residual (SRMR) assessed the fit of the structural model.  The structural model in Figure 1 shows the causal relations between the independent variables (Altruism and Courtesy) and job satisfaction and affective OC (dependent variables). Significant path coefficients were obtained between courtesy and job satisfaction on affective OC at p<0.01. Altruism, on the other hand, had non-significant paths.

Path analysis of structural model
The findings of the study (table 3)  . Therefore, this suggests that it is important for management teams to adapt and strengthen the existing team structures to enhance collective performance and productivity, and not rely on individual-based performance only. However, the non-significant role of altruism in the hypothesized relations is contrary to the assertion of established literature (Hasani et al., 2013). In the context of the study, it may be due to a couple of reasons: (1) apparently, altruistic behaviors are not encouraged among employees; (2) altruistic behaviors exhibited by co-employees may not be done necessarily to further organizational objectives but voluntarily on a personal or individual level (Guinot et al., 2015).
Furthermore, the mediation analysis shows that JS mediates the effect or influence of courtesy on Affective OC (  (Mukaka, 2012). This outcome confirms the adequacy of the model.

Implications of study to operational management
The task of aligning altruistic and courtesy behaviors to yield desired JS and affective OC is the prerogative of managers in any organization. It is suggested that altruistic behavior is encouraged among employees. This can be done in two ways: (1) recognition and rewards by management would encourage this behavior to thrive; (2) aligning the behavior to ensure that it is not done excessively to the detriment of the individual employee (that is, feelings of not being appreciated, valued, or adequately encouraged). Likewise, encouraging intra-and inter-collegial relationships through healthy team spirit and work are advocated as a modus operandi in selling, marketing, and fieldbased organizations. Operational and human resource managers have a major role to play in ensuring the attainment of positive, optimum employee-based behaviors for the overall benefit of the organization. The prioritization of courtesy over altruism as evident from the findings of the study implies that employees require supportive and friendly work relations more than attitudes of altruism expressed by colleagues.

CONCLUSION
The study utilized a composite-based structural equation model to unravel the relationships between Altruism, Courtesy OCB, JS, and affective OC. The study highlights the relevance of encouraging emotionally vested organizational commitment and job satisfaction by establishing an optimum balance between promoting friendly, supportive interactions and exhibiting selfless, altruistic behaviors among pharmaceutical executives.
The study inherently focused on JS and Affective OC as outcome variables while excluding normative and continuance OC constructs. Thus, extrapolation to these OC constructs should be done in the proper context to avoid distortion of meaning. Also, JS was explained by a single indicator item. Hence, future studies should involve more items to enhance robustness. Thus, should be expanded in future research to include other measures.