How Should We Distribute Rewards in Social Sustainable Organizations? Investigating Individual Preferences for Justice Allocation Norms

Natàlia Cugueró-Escofet,Marion Fortin

doi:10.3390/su14031841

Abstract

The fair allocation of scarce resources is an important ethical and practical problem for sustainable organizations. Research has typically focused on the perceived equity of distributions to the neglect of alternative justice norms governing allocation, such as equality or need. In the present paper, we address this gap by considering people to differ in their preferences for allocation norms. In four studies, we developed and validated an instrument that captures individual preferences for equity of input, equity of output, equality, need, and status. Our data suggest that people differentiate between these five allocation norms and that they are consistent in their preferences over time. We present recommendations for research and organizational practice, which can benefit from a deeper understanding of employees’ and other stakeholders’ preferences for specific allocation norms. Finally, considering different norm choices also links organizational-psychological research on organizational justice and social sustainability with philosophical debates about value choices in organizations.

Highlights

The fair allocation of scarce resources is an important ethical and practical problem for sustainable organizations
Understanding the justice norms governing allocation that are embraced by managers, employees, and other stakeholders is of crucial interest to organizations
A study by Winter, et al [63] found that among participants in economic games, there are typically some players who consistently follow the equity norm, some who consistently follow the equality norm, and a small minority who behave in mostly egoistic ways or “cherry pick” the norms that benefit themselves most in the situation

Summary

Introduction

The fair allocation of scarce resources is an important ethical and practical problem for sustainable organizations. Research has typically focused on the perceived equity of distributions to the neglect of alternative justice norms governing allocation, such as equality or need. We address this gap by considering people to differ in their preferences for allocation norms. We present recommendations for research and organizational practice, which can benefit from a deeper understanding of employees’ and other stakeholders’ preferences for specific allocation norms. Considering different norm choices links organizational-psychological research on organizational justice and social sustainability with philosophical debates about value choices in organizations. The philosophical debate indicates that different norms and values underlie diverging resource distribution preferences: for example, caring for those in need, incentivizing those who contribute the most, or stressing equal rights for all. The present studies aim to advance our understanding of individual allocation norm preferences at work. When views on allocations conflict, injustice perceptions are bound to arise

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Conclusion