Promise breaking during radical organizational change: do justice interventions make a difference?

Abstract

AbstractPrevious research examining the relationship between organizational justice perceptions and reactions to psychological contract breach has not considered how the type of outcome being breached may influence the effects that procedural and interactional justice have in determining employee responses. By delineating between intrinsic (e.g., autonomy) and extrinsic (e.g., pay) contract breaches, this study attempts to clarify the differential roles of procedural and interactional justice. As expected, results revealed that procedural justice has a significant effect on responses to breaches of extrinsic outcomes while interactional justice significantly affects employee responses to breaches of intrinsic outcomes. Specifically, significant two‐way interactions between extrinsic contract breach and procedural justice showed that job satisfaction, in‐role job performance, and organizational citizenship behavior were lower and intentions to leave were higher when procedural justice was perceived to be low following an extrinsic contract breach. Furthermore, significant two‐way interactions between intrinsic contract breach and interactional justice revealed that job satisfaction, in‐role job performance, and organizational citizenship behavior directed toward other individuals were lower and intentions to leave were higher when interactional justice was perceived to be low following an intrinsic contract breach. Implications of the differential roles of procedural and interactional justice are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.