Using a well-grounded theory of organizational citizenship behavior, this study attempts to extend the meaning of the good soldier syndrome beyond its common boundaries of the business sector. We follow Bettencourt's (2004) conceptualization and model of change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) to explain why and how public employees engage in activities targeted at changing and improving the public work environment and its job processes even when no formal rewards are offered in return. We extend Bettencourt's model and demonstrate its usefulness and contribution to public administration organizations, focusing especially on leadership behavior, leader-member exchange relations, and perceptions of organizational politics in public agencies. A field study of 217 public personnel in a large public health care organization yields interesting findings, demonstrating the uniqueness of change-oriented OCB over classical OCB measures (individual and organizational), the general positive effect of leadership on OCB and the moderating effect of perceptions of politics in this relationship. Implications of the findings are developed and discussed in the context of modern public administration.

Since the late 1980s, performance management has become a bon ton in central and local government research and practice. Its emergence is largely a result of neo-liberal ideas and the reforms of New Public Management. The goal of this study is to examine the relationship between performance management at the local level and citizens’ satisfaction with and trust in government. By using data collected by Israeli local authorities over recent years, several questions were answered. Have years of performance management initiatives been effective in terms of good governance? What relationship do they have with citizens as service recipients? What are the implications of this experience for future reforms in public administration? Three data sets were used concerning (1) citizens’ satisfaction with and trust in government, (2) the experiences of senior local government officers with performance management initiatives, and (3) the objective characteristics of the local government authorities. Results indicate that performance management is associated with higher levels of citizens’ trust in and satisfaction with local government. Furthermore, the community’s socioeconomic status moderates the mediated relationship between performance management and the satisfaction and trust of citizens. Implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions for future studies are recommended.

Purpose: Most writings on Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) to date have focused on analysis at the individual level and paid less attention to other analytical frameworks at the group level (i.e., team, unit, or organization). This article approaches OCB from the less conventional perspective of group-level activities and uses it to develop and validate a scale of Group-level Organizational Citizenship Behavior (GOCB) in the education system. Data Collection: Data were collected from a survey of 206 Israeli teachers and their principals at 13 schools. Findings: The scores were found to be statistically valid and demonstrated a high degree of reliability. In addition, two intra-factors (GOCB-I [group-level OCB toward individuals] and GOCB-O [group-level OCB toward the organization]) that are quite similar to those suggested in previous OCB literature emerged as key components. Conclusions: The advantages of the group-level scale over other individual-level scales are explored and discussed in detail. The article ends with theoretical and practical implications for future studies that may focus on the “good platoon syndrome” of educational and other administrative systems rather than merely on the “good soldier syndrome.” The authors elaborate on the potential reconstruction of group-level measures of OCB that can enrich studies on organizational climate, culture, and social norms. Finally, the authors argue that their results as well as those suggested in previous research may direct future studies to develop the idea of “organizational citizenship climate” in the educational system and beyond.