Nikolina Dreven’s dissertation explores how stewardship climate in small companies influences employee engagement, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior. The results showed that stewardship climate positively affects employees’ organizational citizenship behavior, while organizational commitment partially and complementarily mediates this relationship. Small companies were chosen as the ideal research context due to their close relationships, family-like atmosphere, and trust in management.
“From the very beginning of my work at the Faculty, I knew I wanted to explore how management can influence employee behavior and their attitudes toward work and the organization. In my search for answers, I encountered a relatively under-researched concept — stewardship climate, that is, the organizational climate shaped by stewardship-oriented managers. I was interested in whether such a climate could encourage employees to engage in behaviors that go beyond formal job requirements” - emphasizes Senior Assistant Nikolina Dreven.
Scientific Contribution, Practical Application, and Future Research
The dissertation expands stewardship theory in the context of small businesses by examining the relationship between stewardship climate, employee engagement, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior. A particular contribution lies in introducing and empirically testing the concept of stewardship climate in the Croatian organizational context, where it has so far been insufficiently explored. The results empirically confirmed for the first time that stewardship climate can be a predictor of organizational citizenship behavior. The study also integrates stewardship climate with employee attitudes, thereby enriching both Croatian and international literature in the fields of organization and management.
Nikolina Dreven emphasizes the practical value of the research:
“The results provide managers with concrete guidelines for developing and strengthening stewardship climate as an organizational framework that fosters positive employee attitudes and behaviors. The identified relationship between stewardship climate and organizational citizenship behavior shows that nurturing values such as mutual support, collectivism, and employee involvement in decision-making can result in a greater willingness among employees to invest additional effort. The simplified stewardship climate model developed within the dissertation can serve as a tool for self-assessment and improvement of management practices, regardless of whether the companies are family-owned or non-family businesses.”
Throughout the entire dissertation process, her mentors — Prof. Najla Podrug, PhD and Assoc. Prof. Ivan Malbašić, PhD — played a key role in enabling her scientific maturity and analytical breadth.
“From the very beginning they believed in me, guided me, and encouraged me to think more deeply and broadly, beyond established frameworks. Their advice and critical questions helped me develop scientific maturity and analytical breadth. I consider myself very fortunate to have learned from mentors whose knowledge, experience, and support significantly contributed to my professional development”, she notes.
Nikolina Dreven continues to research stewardship climate, including its application in the public sector and its connections with purpose-driven leadership, organizational trust, and job characteristics. She also emphasizes the importance of international visibility:
“Presenting research to an international audience is extremely important because science today transcends national boundaries. It enables the comparison of results across different contexts, encourages the exchange of ideas, and opens opportunities for collaboration with researchers from various countries. Moreover, recognition of research quality at the international level further strengthens the credibility of both the research and the institution I represent. I believe that scientific work gains its full value only when it becomes part of a broader global discussion.”
Sincere congratulations!
