Title: Employee Participation and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: Evidence from Selected Plastic Manufacturing Firms in Anambra State, Nigeria
Authors: Okonkwo Ndubuisi Emmanuel
Volume: 10
Issue: 8
Pages: 44-54
Publication Date: 2026/08/28
Abstract:
Employees in many production-driven organizations continue to be excluded from decisions that directly shape their working conditions, job scope, and wellbeing, even though such exclusion is widely believed to weaken the discretionary, citizenship-oriented behaviour that organizations depend on. This study examined the relationship between employee direct involvement in decision-making and three core dimensions of organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) - conscientiousness, altruism, and civic virtue - among selected plastic manufacturing firms in Anambra State, Nigeria. A correlational survey research design was adopted. The accessible population comprised 311 employees drawn from three purposively identified firms - Adolpes Small Scale Industry, Chudone Plastic Furniture Limited, and Enok Ventures Nigeria - and the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table was applied to derive a sample of 172 respondents. A structured questionnaire served as the instrument for data collection, and Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to test the three stated hypotheses. The analysis produced positive relationships between direct employee involvement in decision-making and each of conscientiousness, altruism, and civic virtue, all of which were statistically significant, leading to the rejection of all three null hypotheses. The study concludes that involving employees in decisions affecting their jobs and wellbeing makes them more receptive to organizational change, more willing to help co-workers voluntarily, and more inclined to stay informed about and involved in the wider affairs of the organization. It is recommended that management in the plastic manufacturing sub-sector deliberately widen the scope of employee involvement in job-related decisions, since doing so is likely to strengthen employees' sense of belonging, self-esteem, mutual helpfulness, and voluntary commitment to organizational goals.