Organizational Justice Theory Research Articles

Perceptions of casino dealers toward organizational justice: Are there any gender differences?

ABSTRACTThe emphasis on equity and diversity is vital for businesses to flourish. Promoting workplace equality, essential to enhance employees' satisfaction in delivering excellent service quality, requires understanding of the perception of employees as well as the problems they face. This study examines whether gender equality exists among frontline casino employees, the degree to which inequality is experienced and the consequence of such perceptions, through face-to-face, in-depth interviews with the dealers in Macao. The theory of organizational justice is adopted. Results revealed that perceived inequality and injustices were stronger among the male dealers. Male dealers perceived stronger distributive and procedural injustices than females, while female dealers perceived stronger interactional injustice than males. The perceived injustices resulted in various negative work attitudes among employees. Recommendations to improve work attitudes and counterbalance the inequities are proposed.

Motives for (non) practicing demotion

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the practice of demotion. This study aims to do so in two ways: first, by investigating Belgian HR professionals’ key motives for practicing and not practicing demotion and second, by examining the reasons why HR professionals choose for these specific motives.Design/methodology/approachThe explanatory mixed methods design is used: survey data are analyzed through cluster analysis resulting in insights into the motives for practicing demotion. Follow-up qualitative focus group interviews provide an explanatory understanding of the motives for practicing and not practicing demotion.FindingsLow employee performance, optimization of the organization, employer branding and career possibilities are motives for practicing demotion. Demotivation, salary issues, a taboo and a lack of vacancies are motives for not practicing demotion. A cultural change, walk the talk, carefully selected vocabulary and transparent communication could possibly counter the motives for not practicing demotion.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of terminology such as “downward career twist” instead of “demotion” in some questions of the survey might have influenced the answers of the Belgian HR professionals. In a focus group, no matter how small, participants sometimes tend to give socially desirable answers under group pressure, and this could influence the accuracy. Moreover, the HR professionals often expressed their own opinions, which they clearly dissociate from the views of the organization.Practical implicationsOrganizations need to explore alternatives to motivate their employees in general and in particular in case of a demotion. This can be emphasized through a demotion policy. However, these alternative ways to motivate are important as extrinsic motivators such as salary are not the only way to motivate employees.Originality/valueMotives for practicing and not practicing demotion are to the authors’ best knowledge never studied from a recent, Belgian HR perspective. These motives are contextualized in organizational justice theory. This study contributes to the demotion literature by elaborating the list of motives for practicing and not practicing demotion.

The perceived fairness of work–life balance policies: AUKcase study of solo‐living managers and professionals without children

AbstractThe ability to reconcile work and private life is a matter relevant to all employees, though not all may seek “balance.” Research indicates that organisational work–life balance policies and flexible working arrangements often focus on the needs of working parents, with one potential outcome being “family‐friendly backlash,” or counterproductive work behaviour from those without caring responsibilities. This paper analyses data from 36 interviews with childless solo‐living managers and professionals, exploring perceptions of fairness in relation to these policies. In contrast to previous studies, despite recognising a strong family‐care orientation in employer provisions, perceptions of unfair treatment or injustice were not pronounced in most cases, and thus there was little evidence of backlash/counterproductive work behaviour. The paper uses and develops organisational justice theory to explain the findings, emphasising the importance of situating individual justice orientations within perceived organisational policy and wider regulatory contexts. It also emphasises the importance of evaluating fairness of work–life balance policies and flexible working arrangements in relation to other aspects of the employment relationship, notably opportunities for career development and progression.

The satisfaction of non-family employees with High Involvement HR practices: evidence from family SMEs

ABSTRACTMost family businesses employ more non-family employees than family employees, making them a crucial resource for family small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). Thus, family SMEs must pay particular attention to developmental needs of such employees. However, there is limited empirical knowledge concerning how Family SMEs can manage and develop their non-family employees. Drawing on organizational justice theory, this study set out to investigate how and why non-family employees are satisfied with the High Involvement HR practices (HIHRPs) adopted by family SMEs. Empirical evidence was drawn from the experiences of 16 non-family employees from six SME family-owned enterprises. Findings suggest that a balance between formal and informal HIHRPs is need among family SMEs for non-family employees to be satisfied with them. Moreover, satisfaction with both formal and informal HIHRPs can encourage non-family employees’ engagement with the enterprise and the development of their skills and capabilities. Findings also suggest that the satisfaction with HIHRPs varies with respect to the organizational positioning of non-family employees. Our findings make a valuable and timely contribution to the human resource development and SME literatures in general.

Towards Developing an Integrity Framework in Performance Appraisal System (PAS) in the Malaysian Public Sector: A Preliminary Analysis from Justice and Ethical Perspectives

The implementation of Performance Appraisal System (PAS) is seen as a strategic move to foster performance-basedwork culture in the Malaysia’s public sector. Embedded in pay-for performance system, the new appraisal systemwhich was first introduced in 1992 establishes linkage between pay system, performance and competenciesdevelopment. However, the chain tying pay to performance appears to be weak. Massive disappointment signalspoor implementation as the appraisal system was overshadowed by inappropriate instrument design, rater error,inaccurate rating, bias assessment, etc. These major setbacks have evoked concern over ethical and fairness in thepractices of PAS. Occurrence of problems in the implementation of PAS signified erosion of justice and ethics in thepractices of PAS, thus lead to growing demand for integrity-based performance assessment system. This preliminaryanalysis therefore seeks to examine the relationship between ethic, justice and the practices of PAS in the Malaysia’spublic sector. Correlation coefficient results disclosed positive association between variables as the instrument used,process employed are moderately associated with ethics and justice dimensions. The appraisal system is likelyperceived to be good if fair assessment and ethical supervision were present and vice versa. This study deliberatelydiscusses the aforementioned issues through integrated framework based on organizational justice and workcharacter ethics theories and proposed framework for integrity enhancement in the implementation of PAS.Significantly, this article makes a theoretical contribution towards developing higher integrity capacity which oftenrequires in HRM practice.

Conditions of success for earned value analysis in projects

Earned Value Analysis (EVA) is a method that has gained traction in some business sectors to report project progress and help control performance. Yet the literature reports mixed results as to its effectiveness in helping deliver successful projects and, additionally, much of the previous studies on the topic is conceptual in nature focusing on the design of the EVA system. We therefore extend knowledge on EVA by analysing the impact of EVA on the levels of success of two projects that utilised the method. This is done through the prism of agency and organizational justice theories. A framework is proposed of EVA conditions of success, incorporating both design and operational aspects of the EVA system. The framework is used to develop testable propositions that can guide further research into the effects of EVA-based systems on the creation of agency-related characteristics in the project environment that are conducive to project success.

Performance management fairness and burnout: implications for organizational citizenship behaviors

ABSTRACTDrawing upon organizational justice theory, we examine how perceptions of performance management fairness affect burnout and organizational citizenship behaviors among academic employees. Data from 532 academic employees from a university in Flanders (Belgium) were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Academic employees experience less burnout when performance management fairness is perceived as high. Performance management distributive and interactional fairness increase organizational citizenship behaviors by reducing burnout and supporting partial mediation. Higher education institutions should carefully design and implement performance management systems with fair outcomes, procedures and treatment of employees. Our findings stress the importance of fair performance management systems and offer new insights on how these systems affect employee outcomes.

Romance in the Workplace: Analysis of Justice Perception toward Policies Concerning Romance in the Workplace

Romance in the workplace is a common phenomenon and inevitable from organization dynamics. Romance in the workplace has double effects to the organization: positive and negative. Therefore, organization must be careful in formulating policies concerning this phenomenon. Literature said that in formulation policies concerning romance in the workplace it must be started from organizational justice theory. This research tries to find out what policies which perceived as the most fair. Quasi experiment method with scenario instrument is chosen. This method allows experiment subjects to give response to different combinations/varieties of romance in the workplace based on 4 criterias (type of romance – origin of couple – impact of romance – romance policies). Subject of experiment is master students of management study program in Universitas Indonesia who has working experiences as condition for participating and 30 students agreed to partake in experiment. Result shows that giving counseling is perceived as the most fair policy for all combinations/varieties of romance in the workplace. It shows that organization’s response to romance in the workplace should not coercive policies.

Tell Me Who, and I’ll Tell You How Fair: A Model of Agent Bias in Justice Reasoning

A salient and underresearched aspect of un/fair treatment in organizations can be the source of justice, in terms of a specific justice agent. We propose a model of agent bias to describe how and when characteristics of the agent enacting justice are important to justice reasoning. The agent bias is defined as the effect on overall event justice perceptions of specific agent characteristics, over and above the effect via distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. For justice recipients to focus on agent characteristics rather than on the event being evaluated in terms of fairness is an unexplored bias in justice judgments. Agent warmth, competence, and past justice track record (entity justice) are identified as agent characteristics that influence justice judgments. Agent characteristics can influence overall event justice perceptions positively or negatively, depending on the ambiguity in terms of justice of the event and on its expectedness from a particular justice agent. Finally, we propose that agent bias is stronger when justice recipients use intuitive versus analytic information processing of event information. Our model of agent bias has important theoretical implications for theories of organizational justice and for other literatures, as well as important practical implications for organizations and managers.

Community reactions to tourism development: how does governmental fairness work?

Based on the elements of social exchange and organizational justice theories, a conceptual model and associated hypotheses were formulated to examine the relationship among community residents and their perceptions of governmental fairness (i.e., distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational dimensions), social capital (i.e., cognitive and structural dimensions), and support for government and environmental development. Data were collected from 496 residents in four Korean cities: Busan, Gyeongju, Pohang, and Ulsan. Empirical testing resulted in support for multiple hypotheses. More specifically, cognitive social capital was significantly influenced by distributive, interpersonal, and informational fairness. Structural social capital was significantly affected by distributive and informational fairness. Subsequently, two dimensions of social capital positively influenced two types of support. Overall, the results suggest that the interplay of governmental fairness and social capital is important in influencing residents’ support for government and environmental development.

What happened to civility? Understanding rude behavior through the lens of organizational justice

The ability to have polite conversation between individuals who disagree with one another seems to be a rare quality today. Organizational justice theory may help explain why rude behavior seems so prevalent and whether the rudeness in politics and society creates a polarized environment that could impact the workplace. Three recent legal decisions concerning healthcare, same-sex marriage, and the Michael Brown case, along with three workplace examples of deliberate rudeness, are examined to analyze the polarization of opposing viewpoints and the incivility that resulted from these situations. When a decision is viewed as a win-lose situation and people perceive the decision process as unfair, losers in the decision may feel threatened and react by engaging in deviant behavior that is uncivil. Winners may also engage in behavior that is uncivil and intolerant of opposing viewpoints. The result is a cycle of incivility that may include character assassination, protests, and a diminished willingness to compromise. Managers should be cognizant of the dangers of rude behavior and create a workplace environment that counters productivity interference caused by incivility and inability to compromise. I suggest specific steps to help stop workplace incivility before it starts.

Employee Age Alters the Effects of Justice on Emotional Exhaustion and Organizational Deviance.

Fairness in the workplace attenuates a host of negative individual and organizational outcomes. However, research on the psychology of aging challenges the assumption that fairness operates similarly across different age groups. The current research explored how older workers, vis-à-vis younger workers, react to perceptions of fairness. Integrating socioemotional selectivity theory and the multiple needs theory of organizational justice, we generated novel predictions regarding the relations between perceptions of workplace justice, emotional exhaustion, and employee deviance. Specifically, we hypothesized and found that employee age moderates the negative relation between justice facets and deviance (Study 1) and emotional exhaustion (Study 2). We also found that emotional exhaustion mediates the differential effects of justice on deviance, and that this relation depends on employee age (Study 2). Relative to younger workers, older workers are more sensitive to informational and interpersonal justice; in contrast, relative to older workers, younger workers are more sensitive to distributive and procedural justice. The research supports and extends existing theory on organizational justice and on the psychology of aging. Moreover, it highlights the importance of considering employee age as a focal variable of interest in the study of justice processes, and in organizational research more generally.

Organizational justice and officer “buy in” in American policing

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the dimensions of organizational justice in police organizations and evaluate how they contribute to organizational commitment, job satisfaction and compliance with agency rules.Design/methodology/approachA survey of 15,236 sworn officers from a national sample of 88 agencies was used, as well as other agency- and community-level variables. Multi-level models assessed how four dimensions of organizational justice affected these outcomes.FindingsMore favorable perceptions of organizational justice were strongly related to increased commitment to the organization, job satisfaction and compliance with agency rules. Perceptions of organization-wide justice, leadership justice and diversity justice were especially important in predicting those outcome measures.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the sample of agencies was broad and diverse, it should not be considered representative of smaller municipal police departments and sheriff’s offices in the USA.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that “buy in” to reforms and police compliance with rules is much more likely when supervisors and leaders are fair, respectful, give officers input, provide growth opportunities and show concern for officers’ welfare. As such, agencies would benefit from leadership and leadership training that values the core principals of organizational justice.Originality/valueThe study provides clarity about how organizational justice is perceived by police officers, including women and officers of color, and provides an unprecedented test of organizational justice theory in diverse police agencies.

Applying organizational justice theory to admission into higher education: Admission from a student perspective

AbstractApplicant perceptions of methods used in admission procedures to higher education were investigated using organizational justice theory. Applicants to a psychology study program completed a questionnaire about several admission methods. General favorability, ratings on justice dimensions, relationships between general favorability and these dimensions, and differences in perceptions based on gender and on the aim of the admission procedure (selection or matching) were studied. In addition, the relationship between favorability and test performance, and the relationship between favorability and behavioral outcomes were investigated. Applicants rated interviews and trial‐studying tests most favorably. Contrary to expectations based on the existing literature, high school grades were perceived least favorably and there was no relationship between applicant perceptions and enrollment decisions. In line with previous research in the employment literature, general favorability was most strongly related to face validity, study‐relatedness, applicant differentiation, the chance to show skills, perceived scientific evidence, and perceived wide‐spread use. We found no differences in applicant perceptions based on gender and small differences based on the aim of admission procedures. These results extend the applicant perceptions literature to educational admission and the results are useful for administrators when choosing methods to admit students.

Challenges experienced by employees during change management: a case study from Cyprus

Management's role in the management of executing change is a critical issue for successful outcomes of strategic initiatives. The purpose of this case study is to examine how an organisational justice framework can be used to explore employees' perceptions of trust, fairness, and the management of change during a period of strategic changes for a media organisation in Cyprus, and the role of leadership in these changes. A multiple-case study research design contributed to this qualitative case study in the interest of advancing organisational justice theory regarding fairness, trust, and the management of change from an employee perspective. The research design also produced valuable information and knowledge, since which management could more effectively implement organisational changes during times of strategic change.

Do workers perceive high wage settlements of craft unions as fair?

ABSTRACTIn recent years, Germany has experienced an increasing impact of craft unions that negotiate high wage increases for the occupations they represent. This article analyses under which conditions workers perceive such over-proportional wage increases for occupational groups represented by craft unions as (rather) fair. We use a vignette approach, asking respondents for their fairness perceptions of several hypothetical scenarios. The results show that perceptions depend on the burdens of the occupational group, the size of the wage increase, information policies and potential consequences for other groups. These findings are in line with social and organizational justice theories about equity and informational justice.

Exhausted, mistreated, or indifferent? Explaining deviance from emotional display rules at work

ABSTRACTThis article explores different theoretical explanations for deviance from display rules (DDR), which occurs when employees consciously display emotions to customers that are unsanctioned by the organization. DDR is an important outcome in service organizations because it triggers strong negative reactions from customers, such as negative reputation and business losses. To better explain why DDR occurs, the author compared predictors drawn from organizational justice theory, conservation of resources theory and goal-setting theory in a comprehensive model to explore complementary and competing effects. The model was tested using hierarchical linear modelling with data from 1146 transactions performed by 51 service employees who participated in an experience sampling study over several weeks. Results demonstrated that emotional valence mediated the transaction-level relationship between customer interpersonal injustice and DDR. Similarly, negative emotions mediated the transaction-level relationship between mental exhaustion and DDR. However, person-level differences in goal commitment to organizational display rules had a buffering effect on the relationship between negative emotions and DDR. Overall, the results demonstrate that unfair treatment from customers and mental exhaustion can promote the expression of unsanctioned emotions to customers via negative emotional experiences, but employees who are committed to emotional labour goals are more resistant to engaging in DDR.

This is my device! Why should I follow your rules? Employees’ compliance with BYOD security policy

This study examines employees’ intention to comply with organizational BYOD security policies (ISSP). We derived our research model from reactance, protection motivation and organizational justice theories. Our results demonstrate that employees perceived response efficacy and justice positively affect intention to comply with BYOD ISSP. Perceived freedom threat negatively affects compliance intention. Employees’ perceived cost associated with compliance behavior increases perceptions of freedom threat. Security awareness programs have a dual effect: an increase in employee’s response efficacy (positive) and response cost (negative). The availability of an IT support team for BYOD increases employees’ response-efficacy and perceived justice.

Ethical fairness in financial services complaint handling

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model for ethical and fair complaint handling. This provides a basis for research and the development of financial institution complaint handling approaches and practices.Design/methodology/approach– Ethical issues posed by the application of fairness theory to complaint handling are explored. The ethical soundness of organizational justice theory is critiqued. Multi-disciplinary literature is drawn on to develop a conceptual model for ethical fairness in complaint handling.Findings– Issues relevant to an ethical approach to complaint handling, and which are underdeveloped in current organizational and perceived justice frameworks, are identified. These include issues of autonomy, context, reflexivity, moral value, stakeholder voice, power and moral accountability. A conceptual model for ethical fairness in complaint handling is proposed.Research limitations/implications– This paper establishes a research agenda. Further development is required.Practical implications– The proposed model contributes to the development of complaint handling practices and competency frameworks.Originality/value– Justice theories have been proposed as theoretical frameworks for service recovery procedures, however, moral and critical questions have been neglected. The model proposed challenges financial institutions to move away from traditional normative perspectives, which seek to solve problems through managerial interventions, and adopt a perspective which is interpretivistic and reflexive. The model recognizes ethical issues and seeks to minimize inherent power positions, identify accountability and question moral values. Through envisioning complaint handlers as boundary spanners, new light is shed on their relational and communicative roles.

Displaying fairness while delivering bad news: Testing the effectiveness of organizational bad news training in the layoff context.

Although giving bad news at work is a stressful experience, managers are often underprepared for this challenging task. As a solution, we introduce organizational bad news training that integrates (a) principles of delivering bad news from the context of health care (i.e., bad news delivery component), and (b) principles of organizational justice theory (i.e., fairness component). We argue that both the formal and fair delivery of bad news at work can be enhanced with the help of training to mitigate distress both for the messenger and the recipient. We tested the effectiveness of training for the delivery of a layoff as a typical bad news event at work. In 2 studies, we compared the performance of a training group (receiving both components of training) with that of a control group (Study 1, Study 2) and a basics group (receiving the bad news delivery component only; Study 2) during a simulated dismissal notification meeting. In general, the results supported our hypotheses: Training improved the formal delivery of bad news and predicted indicators of procedural fairness during the conversation in both studies. In Study 2, we also considered layoff victims' negativity after the layoff and found that training significantly reduced negative responses. This relationship was fully mediated by layoff victims' fairness perceptions. Despite preparation, however, giving bad news remained a challenging task in both studies. In summary, we recommend that organizations provide managers with organizational bad news training in order to promote professional and fair bad news conversations at work. (PsycINFO Database Record