Reaction to one's lot: Exploring individual and group influences on perceptions of justice following an organizational transition

The purpose of this study was to investigate employee reactions to individual and work group changes brought about by an organizational transition, and to examine how changes would affect assessments of the fairness of decision processes and outcomes. Four research questions motivated this study. First, if valued and continuing group membership is a motivation for justice evaluations, can we predict justice perceptions by combining the consequences of transition event changes and knowledge of an individual's attachment and identification with the organization and their work unit? Second, can we predict justice perceptions by combining group or individual consequences with an individual's assessment of the organization's decision environment? Third, can we predict justice perceptions by examining members' own uncertainty about their continued membership or progress in the organization? And finally, can this knowledge of justice perceptions be related in turn to outcomes such as job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behaviors and in-role behaviors? Driving this research is the fact that little is known about how the structure of organizations, work units, tasks and roles shapes justice perceptions. While researchers talk about justice perceptions being shaped by group identity and values, only individual consequences and global feelings of organizational commitment are measured.; A field investigation was conducted, and self-report data on attitudes and perceptions, archival data on context, and supervisory behavioral ratings were analyzed. Study results support a positive relationship between contextual changes and distributive justice perceptions. Work unit cohesion and organizational commitment moderated the relationships between individual role changes and procedural justice perceptions, and other moderators were identified for relationships between measures of unit context and procedural justice. Work unit cohesion, job insecurity, and ethical climate perceptions had direct influence on justice perceptions, and their placement as new antecedents to these perceptions was discussed. Examination of survey results also revealed that justice perceptions were related to job satisfaction but not ratings of in-role and extra-role behaviors. Procedural justice was not a strong unique predictor of job satisfaction, and reasons for the poor showing were explored.; Strengths and limitations of the study are presented. Implications of these findings for theory development and managerial application are discussed.