Examining Organizational Justice, Organizational Commitment, and Culture: A Cross-Cultural Meta-Analysis

Two important organizational behavior variables are organizational justice and organizational commitment. Organizational justice generally refers to employee perceptions of fairness in the workplace. These perceptions can be... [ view full abstract ]

Two important organizational behavior variables are organizational justice and organizational commitment. Organizational justice generally refers to employee perceptions of fairness in the workplace. These perceptions can be classified into four categories: distributive, procedural, informational, and interactional. Distributive justice focuses on fairness of outcomes. Procedural justice involves perceptions of processes that lead to these outcomes. Informational justice refers to the accounts provided for justice-related events. Interpersonal justice examines employee perceptions of interpersonal interactions and treatment.

Organizational commitment is the strength of the attachment an employee feels towards an organization. It may be measured by the degree to which an individual is ready to adopt organizational values and goals, by the degree to which an employee fulfills his/her job responsibilities, and by behavior observed in the workplace.

Organizational commitment is broken into three components – affective, continuance, and normative commitment. Affective commitment is the emotional attachment of an employee to organizational values, such as how much an employee likes the organization. Continuance commitment is a measure of the willingness of an employee to continue working for the same organization. Normative commitment involves an employee’s feelings of obligation, or sense of responsibility towards the organization.

Research has shown that organizational justice (particularly distributive and procedural justice) and organizational commitment have been found to be correlated with one another.   To date, however, research is not clear as to how different cultures influence the relationship of these variables.  As shown in research on organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors, the correlation between the two variables is moderated by the influence of culture (for example, the relationship is stronger in collectivist v. individualistic cultures).

This paper will review the results of a meta-analysis of studies from all over the world examining the relationship between organizational justice and organizational commitment.  Specifically, I am testing the hypothesis that culture will be a significant moderator of the relationship between the two variables, and that cultural components (per Hofstede) such as collectivism and power distance will influence such relationship.  This study will have important implications for how companies treat their employees.  For example, if a company is perceived as fair (according to the cultural norms), then it can be predicted that employees will be more committed to the company, and thus both more productive and less likely to leave.