Organizational Justice, Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility

CHAPTER 2 • ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE, ETHICS, AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 43
clean, engaging in socially responsible behavior has been a great concern to leaders of
today’s organizations. Here again, OB specialists have sought to explain this behavior, and
their efforts will be outlined in this chapter.
Organizational Justice: Fairness Matters
organizational justice
The study of people’s perceptions
of fairness in organizations.
Suppose you received a failing grade in a course. You don’t like it, of course, but can you say that
the grade is unfair? To answer this question, you would likely take several things into consideration.
For example, does the grade accurately reflect how well you performed in the course? Were
your scores added accurately and were they computed in an unbiased fashion? Has the professor
treated you in a polite and professional fashion? Finally, has the professor communicated the
grading process to you adequately? In judging how fairly you have been treated, questions such
as these are likely to be raised—and your answers are likely to have a considerable impact on
how you feel about your grade, the professor, and even the school as a whole. Moreover, they are
likely to have a profound effect on how you respond, such as whether you quietly accept the
grade, complain about it to someone, or even quit school entirely.
Although this example involves you as a student, the same considerations are likely to
arise in the workplace. In that context, instead of talking about grades from professors, concerns
about justice may take analogous forms. Does your salary reflect your work accomplishments?
How was your performance evaluation determined? Were you treated with dignity
and respect by your boss? Were you given important job information in a thorough and
timely manner? Matters such as these are relevant to organizational justice—the study of
people’s perceptions of fairness in organizations. Our discussion of organizational justice
focuses on three key areas—the major forms of organizational justice, the relationships
between these forms, and suggestions for promoting justice in organizations.
Forms of Organizational Justice and Their Effects
The idea that justice is a multifaceted concept follows from the variety of questions just
raised, everything from how much you get paid to how well you are treated by your boss.
Not surprisingly, OB scientists have recognized that organizational justice takes several
FIGURE 2.1
Forms of Organizational
Justice and Their Effects
Organizational justice takes the
four different forms identified
here. Each of these forms of
justice has been found to have
different effects in
organizations.
Satisfaction with outcomes
(e.g., pay, work assignments)
Distributive justice
Source: Based on suggestions by
Colquitt, Greenberg, & Zapata-
Phelan, 2005; see Note 8.
Feelings about one's leader
Interpersonal justice
Organizational
justice
Informational justice
Feeling valued by others in
the organization
Procedural justice
Adherence to the rules