Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T01:13:06.393Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Meanings and Dimensions of Organizational Justice in China: An Inductive Investigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2015

Chun Guo  and
Jane K. Giacobbe-Miller
Chun Guo
Affiliation:
Sacred Heart University, USA
Jane K. Giacobbe-Miller
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Taking an inductive approach followed by validation techniques, we analyzed the meaning and dimensionality of the organizational justice construct in the People's Republic of China (China). By using qualitative and quantitative methods, we found that organizational justice involves a higher level of subjectivity in the Chinese context. Interpretation and organizational justice judgments depend on the specific situation and social relations involved. The findings revealed similarities with the Western conceptualization with one important exception, suggesting both cultural values and institutional environment shape justice judgments and managerial practices in China. The article concludes with a discussion of the findings and implications for management theory, research, and practice.

Keywords

Chinacollective culturefairnessinductive analysisinstitutional environmentorganizational justice
Type
Special Issue Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 11 , Issue 1: Special Issue Behavioral Ethics, Organizational Justice, and Social Responsibility , March 2015 , pp. 45 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © The International Association for Chinese Management Research 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adams, J. S. 1965. Inequity in social exchange. In Berkowitz, L. (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 2): 267–299. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Bedford, O., & Hwang, K. 2003. Guilt and shame in Chinese culture: A cross-cultural framework from the perspective of morality and identity. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 33 (2): 127–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, D. 2004. Wealth and power: Survival in a time of global accumulation. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.Google Scholar
Bies, R. J. 2005. Are procedural justice and interactional justice conceptually distinct? In Greenberg, J. & Colquitt, J. A. (Eds.), Handbook of organizational justice: 85–112. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Bies, R. J., & Moag, J. F. 1986. Interactional justice: Communication criteria of fairness. In Lewicki, R.J., Sheppard, B. H., & Bazerman, M. H. (Eds.), Research on negotiations in organizations (Vol. 1): 43–55. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Boyacigiller, N. A., & Adler, N. J. 1991. The parochial dinosaur: Organizational science in a global context. The Academy of Management Review, 16 (2): 262–290.Google Scholar
Brislin, R. W. 1970. Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1 (3): 185–216.Google Scholar
Brockner, J., Ackerman, G., Greenberg, J., Gelfand, M. J., Francesco, A. M., Chen, Z. X., Leung, K., Comez, C., Kirkman, B. L., & Shapiro, D. 2001. Culture and procedural justice: The influence of power distance on reactions to voice. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 37 (4): 300–315.Google Scholar
Chen, C. C. 1995. New trends in reward allocation preferences: A Sino-US comparison. Academy of Management Journal, 38 (2): 408–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, C. C., Chen, Y., & Xin, K. 2004. Guanxi practices and trust in management: A procedural justice perspective. Organization Science, 15 (2): 200–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, C., Meindl, J., & Hui, H. 1998. Deciding on equity or parity: A test of situational, cultural, and individual factors. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 19 (2): 115–129.Google Scholar
Chia, H-B., Egri, C. P., Ralston, D. A., Fu, P., Kuo, C. M. H., Lee, C., Li, Y., & Moon, Y. 2007. Four tigers and the dragon: Values differences, similarities, and consensus. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 24 (3): 305–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chow, I., Inn, A., & Szalay, L. 1987. Empirical study of the subjective meanings of culture between American and Chinese. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 4 (3): 144–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colquitt, J. A. 2001. On the dimensionality of organizational justice: A construct validation of a measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86 (3): 386–400.Google Scholar
Colquitt, J. A., Greenberg, J., & Zapata-Phelan, C. P. 2005. What is organizational justice? A historical overview. In Greenberg, J. & Colquitt, J. A. (Eds.), Handbook of organizational justice: 3–58. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Cooke, F. 2005. HRM, work and employment in China. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Comrey, A. L., & Lee, H. B. 1992. A first course in factor analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Ding, D., Fields, D., & Akhtar, S. 1997. An empirical study of human resource management policies and practices in foreign-invested enterprises in China: The case of Shenzen special economic zone. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8 (5): 595–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eddy, E., Stone, D., & Stone-Romero, E. 1999. The effects of information management policies on reactions to human resource information systems: An integration of privacy and procedural justice perspectives. Personnel Psychology, 52 (2): 335–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farh, J., Earley, P. C., & Lin, S. 1997. Impetus for action: A cultural analysis of justice and organizational citizenship behavior in Chinese society. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42 (3): 421–444.Google Scholar
Farh, J., Zhong, C., & Organ, D. W. 2004. Organizational citizenship behavior in the People's Republic of China. Organization Science, 15 (2): 241–253.Google Scholar
Fischer, R., Ferreira, M. C., Jiang, D., Cheng, B., Achoui, M. M., Wong, C. C., Baris, G., Mendoza, S., Meurs, N., Achmadi, D., Hassan, A., Zeytinoglu, G., Dalyan, F., Harb, C., Darwish, D., & Assmar, E. M., 2011. Are perceptions of organizational justice universal? An exploration of measurement invariance across thirteen cultures. Social Justice Research, 24 (4): 297–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giacobbe-Miller, J. K., Miller, D. J., Zhang, W., & Victorov, V. I. 2003. Country and organizational-level adaptation to foreign workplace ideologies: A comparative study of distributive justice values in China, Russia and the United States. Journal of International Business Studies, 34 (4): 389–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gorsuch, R. L. 1983. Factor analysis (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Greenberg, J. 1987. A taxonomy of organizational justice theories. Academy of Management Review, 12 (1), 9–22.Google Scholar
Greenberg, J. 1993. The social side of fairness: Interpersonal and informational classes of organizational justice. In Cropanzano, R. (Ed.), Justice in the workplace: Approaching fairness in human resource management: 79–103. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Greenberg, J. 2001. Studying organizational justice cross-culturally: Fundamental challenges. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 12 (4): 365–375.Google Scholar
Greenberg, J., & Folger, R. 1983. Procedural justice, participation, and the fair process effect in groups and organizations. In Paulus, P. B. (Ed.), Basic group processes: 235–256. New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Hall, R., & Xu, W. 1990. Run silent, run deep: cultural influences on organizations in the Far East. Organization Studies, 11 (4): 569–576.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, W., Chen, C. C., & Zhang, L. (2004). Rewards-allocation preferences of Chinese employees in the new millennium: The effects of ownership reform, collectivism, and goal priority. Organization Science, 15 (2): 221–231.Google Scholar
Henderson, S. C., & Snyder, C. A. 1999. Personal information privacy: Implications for MIS managers. Information & Management, 36 (4): 213–220.Google Scholar
Hofstede, G. 1980. Culture's consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Homans, G. C. 1961. Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Hui, C., Lee, C., & Rousseau, D. M. 2004. Psychological contract and organizational citizenship behavior in China: Investing generalizability and instrumentality. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89 (2): 311–321.Google Scholar
Kidder, L. H., & Muller, S. 1991. What is ‘fair’ in Japan? In Vermunt, R. & Steensma, H. (Eds.), Social justice in human relations (Vol. 1): 139–154. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Kim, T., & Leung, K. 2007. Forming and reacting to overall fairness: A cross-cultural comparison. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 104 (1): 83–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitiyadisai, K. 2005. Privacy rights and protection: Foreign values in modern Thai context. Ethics and Information Technology, 7 (1): 17–26.Google Scholar
Konovsky, M. A., & Folger, R. 1991. The effects of procedures, social accounts, and benefits level on victims’ layoff reactions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 21 (8): 630–650.Google Scholar
Leung, K. 2005. How generalizable are justice effects across cultures? In Greenberg, J. & Colquitt, J. A. (Eds.), Handbook of organizational justice: 555–588. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Leung, K., & Bond, M. H. 1982. How Chinese and Americans reward task-related contributions: A preliminary study. Psychologia: An International Journal of Psychology in the Orient, 25 (1): 32–39.Google Scholar
Leung, K., Smith, P., Wang, Z., & Sun, H. 1996. Job satisfaction in joint venture hotels in China: An organizational justice analysis. Journal of International Business Studies, 27 (5): 947–962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leung, K., Wang, Z. M., & Smith, P. B. 2001. Job attitudes and organizational justice in joint venture hotels in China: The role of expatriate managers. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 12: 926–945.Google Scholar
Leventhal, G. S. 1980. What should be done with equity theory? New approaches to the study of fairness in social relationships. In Gergen, K. J., Greenberg, M. S., & Willis, R. H. (Eds.), Social exchange: Advances in theory and research. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Li, P. P., Leung, K., Chen, C. C., & Luo, J. 2012. Indigenous research on Chinese management: What and how. Management and Organization Review, 8 (1): 7–24.Google Scholar
Lind, E., Tyler, T. R., & Huo, J. Y. 1997. Procedural context and culture: Variation in the antecedents of procedural justice judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73 (4): 767–780.Google Scholar
Linowes, D. F., & Spencer, R. C. 1997. How employers handle employees’ personal information. Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 1 (1): 153–171.Google Scholar
Miller, D. J., Giacobbe-Miller, J., & Zhang, W. 1998. A comparative study of Chinese and U.S. distributive justice values, goals and allocative behaviors. In Cheng, J. L. & Peterson, R. B. (Eds.), Advances in international comparative management. London: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Morris, M. W., & Leung, K. 2000. Justice for all? Progress in research on cultural variation in the psychology of distributive and procedural justice. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49 (1): 100–132.Google Scholar
Morris, M. W., Leung, K., Ames, D., & Lickel, B. 1999. Views from inside and outside: integrating emic and etic insight about culture and justice judgment. Academy of Management Review, 24 (4): 781–796.Google Scholar
Mossholder, K. W., Giles, W. F., & Wesolowski, M. A. 1991. Information privacy and performance appraisal: An examination of employee perceptions and reactions. Journal of Business Ethics, 10 (2): 151–156.Google Scholar
Ngo, H., Lau, C., & Foley, S. 2008. Strategic human resource management, firm performance, and employee relations climate in China. Human Resource Management, 47 (1): 73–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peng, M. W., Lu, Y., Shenkar, O., & Wang, D. Y. L. 2001. Treasures in the China house: A review of management and organizational research on greater China. Journal of World Business, 52 (2): 95–110.Google Scholar
Ralston, D. A. 2008. The crossvergence perspective: Reflections and projections. Journal of International Business Studies, 39 (1): 27–40.Google Scholar
Redding, S. G. 1980. Cognition as an aspect of culture and its relation to a management process: An exploratory view of the Chinese case. Journal of Managerial Studies, 17 (2): 127–148.Google Scholar
Redding, S. G. 1987. The study of managerial ideology among overseas Chinese owners. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 4 (3): 167–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaffer, B. S., & Riordan, C. M. 2003. A review of cross-cultural methodologies for organizational research: A best-practice approach. Organizational Research Methods, 6 (2): 169–215.Google Scholar
Schilpzand, M. C., Martins, L. L., Kirkman, B. L., Lowe, K. B., & Chen, Z. X. 2013. The relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behaviour: The role of cultural value orientations. Management and Organization Review, 9 (2): 345–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, S. H. 1992. Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. In Zanna, M. P. (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 25): 1–65. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Shapiro, D. L., Buttner, E. H., & Barry, B. 1994. Explanations: What factors enhance their perceived adequacy? Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 58 (3): 346–368.Google Scholar
Singh, N., Zhao, H., & Hu, X. 2003. Cultural adaptation on the web: A study of American companies’ domestic and Chinese websites. Journal of Global Information Management, 11 (3): 63–80.Google Scholar
Tao, J.P-W.L. 2000. Two perspectives of care: Confucian ren and feminist care. Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 27 (2): 215–240.Google Scholar
Tata, J., Fu, P. P., & Wu, R. 2003. An examination of procedural justice principles in China and the US. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 20 (2): 205–216.Google Scholar
Thibaut, J., & Walker, L. 1975. Procedural justice: A psychological analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Trompenaars, F. 1996. Resolving international conflict: Culture and business strategy. Business Strategy Review, 7 (3): 51–68.Google Scholar
Tsang, E. W. K. 1994. Human resource management problems in Sino-foreign joint ventures. International Journal of Manpower, 15 (9): 4–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tse, D. K., Francis, J., & Walls, J. 1994. Cultural differences in conducting intra- and inter-cultural negotiations: A Sino-Canadian comparison. Journal of International Business Studies, 25 (3): 537–555.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. S. 2004. Contribution to global management knowledge: A case for high quality indigenous research. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 21 (4): 491–513.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. S. 2007. From homogenization to pluralism: International management research in the Academy and beyond. Academy of Management Journal, 50 (6): 1353–1364.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. S., & Farh, J. L. 1997. Where guanxi matters: Relational demography and guanxi in the Chinese context. Work and Occupations, 24 (1): 56–79.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. S., Nifadkar, S., & Ou, Y. 2007. Cross-national cross-cultural organizational behavior research: Advances, gaps, and recommendations. Journal of Management, 28 (3): 277–305.Google Scholar
Tsui, A. S., Schoonhoven, C. B., Meyer, M. W., Lau, C., & Milkovich, G. T. 2004. Organization and management in the midst of societal transformation: The People's Republic of China. Organization Science, 15 (2): 133–144.Google Scholar
Vermunt, R., & Steensma, H. 1991. Introduction. In Vermunt, R. & Steensma, H. (Eds.), Social justice in human relations (Vol. 1): 1–9. New York and London: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Wang, Z. M. 1993. Culture, economic reform, and the role of industrial and organizational psychology in China. In Triandis, H. C., Dunnette, M. D., and Hough, L. M., (Eds.) Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology, 4: 689–725. California: Consulting Psychologist Press.Google Scholar
Wong, Y., Ngo, H., & Wong, C. 2006. Perceived organizational justice, trust, and OCB: A study of Chinese workers in joint ventures and state-owned enterprises. Journal of World Business, 41 (4): 344–355.Google Scholar
Yang, M. M. 1994. Gifts, favors and banquets: The art of social relationships in China. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Zhang, Z. 2006. Chinese conception of justice and reward allocation. In Kim, U., Yang, K., & Hwang, K. (Eds.), Indigenous and cultural psychology: 403–420. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Z. X., & Yang, C. F. 1998. Beyond distributive justice: The reasonableness norm in Chinese reward allocation. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 1 (3): 253–269.Google Scholar
Zhu, C. J., & Dowling, P. J. 1994. The impact of the economic system upon human resource management practices in China. Human Resource Planning, 17 (4): 1–21 Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Guo supplementary material

Translated abstracts

Download Guo supplementary material(File)
File 16.1 KB