Skip to main content

Discretionary Behavior: An Islamic Perspective

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
  • 207 Accesses

Synonyms

Personal initiative; Proactive work behavior; Voluntary behavior

Definition

From an organizational standpoint, discretionary behavior is defined as the behavior that is not prescribed as part of one’s organizational role, and that contributes in the aggregate to enhancing the welfare of the organization and its members. From an Islamic standpoint, discretionary behavior is defined as the behavior that is originally innate, but it is learnable over the time.

The Essence of Discretionary Behavior

Discretionary behavior has been studied in the organizational behavior field with a number of overlapping and related constructs such as helping behavior, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), personal initiative, proactive work behavior, prosocial organizational behavior and volunteering behavior. Considerable attention was devoted to some of such behaviors by a number of behavioral and social scientists during the 1980s and later (e.g., Brief and Motowidlo 1986; Smith et al. 1983...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Al-Bukhâri M (1997a) The translation of the meaning of Sahîh Al-Bukhâri – Arabic-English (trans: Khan MM), vol 2. Darussalam, Riyadh

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Bukhâri M (1997b) The translation of the meaning of Sahîh Al-Bukhâri – Arabic-English (trans: Khan MM), vol 3. Darussalam, Riyadh

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Bukhâri M (1997c) The translation of the meaning of Sahîh Al-Bukhâri – Arabic-English (trans: Khan MM), vol 6. Darussalam, Riyadh

    Google Scholar 

  • Blau PM (1964) Exchange and power in social life. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Brief AP, Motowidlo SJ (1986) Prosocial organizational behaviors. Acad Manag Rev 11(4):710–725

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hazzi OA (2018) Organizational citizenship behavior: a holistic review. In: Farazmand A (ed) Global encyclopedia of public administration, public policy, and governance. Springer, Cham

    Google Scholar 

  • Qur’an (1930) The meaning of the glorious of Koran: An explanatory translation (trans: Pickthall M). Alfred A. Knoph, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDuffie JP (1995) Human resource bundles and manufacturing performance: organizational logic and flexible production systems in the world auto industry. ILR Review 48(2):197–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Organ DW (1988) Organizational citizenship behavior: the good soldier syndrome. Lexington Books, Lexington

    Google Scholar 

  • Organ DW, Konovsky M (1989) Cognitive versus affective determinants of organizational citizenship behavior. J Appl Psychol 74(1):157–164. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.74.1.157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith CA, Organ DW, Near JP (1983) Organizational citizenship behavior: its nature and antecedents. J Appl Psychol 68(4):653–663. https://doi.org/10.1037/00219010.68.4.653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turnipseed DL, VandeWaa E (2012) Chapter 1 the relationship between the four branch model of emotional intelligence and discretionary behavior of University Educators. In: Duyar I, Normore AH (eds) Discretionary behavior and performance in educational organizations: the missing link in educational leadership and management. Advances in educational administration, vol 13. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley

    Google Scholar 

Websites

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Osama Hazzi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Hazzi, O., Hamod, M. (2019). Discretionary Behavior: An Islamic Perspective. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3789-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3789-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics