A Study on the Dimensions of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Among Public Transport Employees: A Literature Review and Comparative Analysis

Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) is an important concept in organisational behaviour that describes employees’ voluntary contributions beyond the minimum requirements of their formally assigned duties. Such behaviours can support cooperation, organisational effectiveness, service quality, and the achievement of collective goals. Public transport organisations operate in demanding environments characterized by time-sensitive operations, public accountability, passenger safety requirements, coordination among employees, and continuous interaction with the public. These characteristics make OCB particularly relevant to understanding employee behaviour in public transport services. The present study examines the major dimensions of organisational citizenship behaviour among public transport employees through a review and comparative analysis of existing scholarly literature. The study focuses on five established dimensions of OCB: altruism, conscientiousness, courtesy, sportsmanship, and civic virtue. Altruism concerns voluntary assistance to colleagues; conscientiousness refers to responsible behaviour exceeding minimum role expectations; courtesy involves preventing interpersonal difficulties; sportsmanship reflects constructive responses to unavoidable workplace challenges; and civic virtue represents responsible participation in organisational affairs. The study adopts a qualitative secondary-research methodology using published academic articles, theoretical contributions, systematic literature reviews, and research concerning public organisations and public transport employees. No primary data were collected from employees, and no questionnaire, interview, or experiment was conducted. The literature indicates that organisational citizenship behaviour is associated with several organisational and individual factors, including organisational commitment, employee engagement, leadership, perceived organisational support, job satisfaction, organisational justice, and public service motivation. Research on public subway organisations also suggests that organisational publicness and government control may influence citizenship behaviour, demonstrating the relevance of public-sector characteristics. However, the relationship between OCB and organisational effectiveness should not be interpreted as automatically positive in every situation. Excessive expectations of voluntary assistance may increase workload, create unequal burdens among employees, and blur the distinction between discretionary contributions and formal job responsibilities. The study concludes that the five dimensions provide a useful framework for examining employee behaviour in public transport organisations, although their expression may vary according to occupational responsibilities, organisational culture, working conditions, and management practices. The paper recommends that transport organisations encourage voluntary cooperation through fair leadership, employee recognition, transparent procedures, adequate staffing, and supportive working environments. It further recommends context-specific research that distinguishes among drivers, conductors, station personnel, maintenance workers, operational controllers, and administrative employees. The study contributes a conceptual basis for understanding OCB in public transport while identifying opportunities for future empirical investigation.