The impact of person-job fit and person-organization fit on OCB : The mediating and moderating effects of organizational commitment and psychological empowerment

Purpose – Drawing upon the social exchange theory and empowerment theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of perceived person-environment fit on organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Furthermore, this study assesses the roles of organisational commitment and psychological empowerment (PE) in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach – Respondents of this study were employees of the Iran Northeast Gas Transfer Company. Data were collected through conducting a survey on 500 employees, of which 412 questionnaires were used for further analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modelling, Baron and Kenny's (1986) procedure for examining mediator effect, and finally Zhao and Cavusgil's (2006) technique of evaluating moderator effect were utilised for the analyses. Findings – Results indicated that organisational commitment acts as a mediator between person-job (P-J) fit and person-organisation (P-O) fit and OCB. PE acts as a moderator between organisational commitment and OCB. Practical implications – This research has implications for approaches to human resource management in organisations. Originality/value – This study empirically synthesises the joint effect of P-O fit and P-J fit on a behavioural variable (OCB) in the social context of organisation and explains the mechanism of the effect. The pattern of relationships tested is relatively novel.