General ethical judgments, perceived organizational support, interactional justice, and workplace deviance

The relationship between workplace deviant behaviors and organizational justice among nurses: A cross-sectional survey

AIM

This study aimed to determine the correlations between workplace deviant behaviors (WDBs) and the levels of the perceived organizational justice among Iranian nurses.

DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional quantitative research.

METHODS

The present research was conducted on 424 nurses selected by a convenience sampling method in 2019 (May-August) in Tabriz, Iran. A self-administered questionnaire, including demographic information, organizational justice, and WDBs, was used for data collection. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression analysis.

RESULTS

Based on the findings, nurses had a moderate level of perception of organizational justice while having a low level of perception regarding the occurrence of WDBs. A significantly reverse correlation was found between perceived organizational justice and WDBs (r = -.295, p <.001). Eventually, the findings of multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the level of perceived organizational justice could significantly predict WDBs (the coefficient of determination, R²  = 0.111).

CONCLUSION

The study findings confirmed the hypothesis that an improvement in the levels of organizational justice was related to a decrease in the occurrence of WDBs. Therefore, hospitals and nursing managers are suggested to build and maintain a supportive and healthy work environment to enhance the levels of perceived organizational justice and to minimize the incidence of WDBs. They should also address reward systems, organizational policies and procedures, interpersonal justice, and shared decision-making in this respect.

Who influences employees’ dark side: A multi-foci meta-analysis of counterproductive workplace behaviors

We adopt a multi-foci perspective to provide a theory-driven quantitative review of employee counterproductive workplace behaviors (CWBs) by meta-analyzing the relationships between CWB and four groups of antecedents. Specifically, CWB antecedents stemming from four sources—supervisors, organization, coworkers, and private life—were included to investigate differences in their relationships with employee CWB. Based on the Conservation of Resources Theory, we argue that favorable and unfavorable correlates relate to employee CWB to different degrees. The meta-analysis included 181 field studies with 223 independent samples. Results indicated that unfavorable antecedents correlate more strongly with CWB than favorable antecedents. We also found that supervisor- and organization-related antecedents have stronger relationships with CWB than those from the two other groups. Implications include a deeper understanding of which situational factors relate the most—or least—to CWB which can help better address CWB in the workplace.

Nurses’ perception of organizational justice and its relationship to their workplace deviance

Background:

Today, healthcare organizations are challenged to retain nurses’ generation and to maintain justice that is a predictor of nurses’ behaviors in their work environment. Acquiring knowledge about the level of organizational justice and workplace deviance could help in identifying factors amenable for change that can make a difference in enhancing nurses’ dedication and loyalty to their organizations.

Aim:

The aim of this study was to investigate nurses’ perception of organisational justice and workplace deviance in their hospital, and to determine the relationship between perceived organisational justice and workplace deviance.

Methods:

A cross-sectional design was used with a convenient sample of all nurses (N = 400) who were working in inpatient care units at two Egyptian hospitals affiliated to the university and private health sectors in Alexandria governorate, Egypt. Organisational justice and workplace deviance questionnaires proved valid and reliable to measure studied variables. Descriptive analysis, Student’s t-test, Pearson correlation (r), and regression analysis (R2) were used for statistical analysis.

Ethical considerations:

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee at the Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University. Informed consent, information confidentiality, and voluntary participation were guaranteed.

Results:

This study showed that overall nurses’ perceptions of organisational justice and workplace deviance are lower than the average. Organisational justice significantly related negatively to workplace deviance (r = −0.152, p = 0.002) and organisational justice as an independent variable contributed a significant predictive power of workplace deviance (R2 = 0.023).

Conclusions:

This study highlighted important implications for hospital and nurse managers to create and maintain a healthy and supportive work environment that promotes organisational justice and decreases workplace deviance. To achieve this, a culture of respectful communication, justice in policies, and a proper procedure for allocating resources, workload, and rewards systems is a must. Educational interventions to increase nurses’ awareness of workplace deviance and its potential consequences and coping strategies are imperative for the health of the nursing profession.

Linking perceived organizational support and organizational justice to employees’ in-role performance and organizational cynicism through organizational trust

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the mediating role of organizational trust in the relationship between perceived organizational support and organizational justice on the one hand and their consequences, namely employees’ in-role performance and their levels of organizational cynicism on the other. Along with this, accounting for organizational trust as a mediator and organizational cynicism as a critical consequence the authors aim to contribute to the literature pertaining to these variables.

Design/methodology/approach

Random sampling technique was applied. Data were collected from 237 managerial-level employees and 156 of their immediate supervisors of seven privately owned manufacturing and service sector organizations in India. A questionnaire comprising 49 items pertaining to the study constructs was administered. Item analyses were carried out to estimate the reliability of the instrument. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to establish the instrument’s construct validity and uniqueness of the study constructs. The hypotheses of the study were tested and competing path models were compared using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques with maximum likelihood estimates.

Findings

All scales were found to have acceptable reliability estimates. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis established that the manifest variables loaded significantly on their latent constructs and that the latent constructs were empirically distinct. This established the scales’ construct validity. The results of the SEM procedures indicated that all hypotheses of the study could be accepted as statistically significant and that organizational trust mediates the path between the independent and the dependent variables.

Research limitations/implications

The study was cross-sectional in design and, as such precluded causal inferences. Data were collected from private sector firms operating in India, and hence, there was a limitation regarding the findings as far as cross-national generalization and generalizability among employees of state-owned enterprises were concerned.

Practical implications

The study identified some practical implications related to its findings. These include meeting the affiliative needs of employees, managers as organizational agents must manifest organizational support by regularly interacting with their subordinates, and that managers should address their reportees not as members of a given department but as members of teams and allocate job assignments accordingly.

Social implications

The findings of the study lend credibility to an interplay between social exchange ideologies, equity sensitivities, and fairness heuristics. Additionally, the results of this study extend the social exchange-equity theory literature which has placed social exchange variables as predictors of workplace outcomes in an Indian context. This, further leads to the enhancement of positive consequences such as task performance, and reduces negative outcomes such as cynical attitudes towards the organization.

Originality/value

The present research is among the first of its kind to examine the study variables vis-à-vis managerial employees working in India. This study would also qualify to be among the very few studies in India with reference to the social exchange, equity, and fairness heuristics theories.

Exploring organizational trust and organizational justice among junior and middle managers in Saudi Arabia

Purpose

– Few studies consider the relationship between organizational justice (OJ) and trust in Non-western contexts. In an attempt to address this gap, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between organizational trust (OT) and OJ in Saudi Arabia. First, the authors examine two foci of trust and explore whether trust in an immediate supervisor/manager is correlated with trust in an organization. Second, the authors test the relationship three widely used constructs of OJ and two aspects of OT. Third, the authors examine the mediating role played by trust in immediate supervisor in the relationship between the various aspects of OJ and trust in an organization.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using Social Exchange Theory, this study reports the responses of 231 junior and middle managers from eight organizations in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through a structured survey questionnaire that used standard scales on distributive justice, procedural justice (PJ), and interactional justice (IJ), as well as trust in immediate supervisor and trust in organization.

Findings

– Consistent with studies conducted in western contexts, the findings revealed a positive, significant, direct relationship between trust in immediate supervisor and trust in organization. However, contrary to what has been reported in the majority of western studies, among the three dimensions of OJ, IJ was the only predictor for trust in immediate supervisor. PJ and IJ were predictors of trust in organization, with PJ the stronger predictor. Finally, trust in immediate supervisor mediates some of the relationship between OJ and trust in organization.

Originality/value

– The current study is the first to explore the relationship between OJ and OT, with the latter being measured in more than one focus, in the Arab Middle East. Therefore, this study contributes to bridging the gap in the understanding of the relationship between OJ and OT in non-western, Arab and Muslim Middle Eastern contexts. The interconnectedness between the organizational experiences of Saudi Arabian managers and cultural values highlighted in this study has significant implications for researchers, managers, and HR departments.

Moderating Effects of Nurses’ Organizational Support on the Relationship Between Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment

The aim was to investigate whether job satisfaction enhances organizational commitment among nursing personnel while exploring whether organizational support perception has a moderating effect on the relationship between their job satisfaction and organizational commitment. A cross-sectional survey was sent to 400 nurses; 386 valid questionnaires were collected, with a valid response rate of 96.5%. According to the research findings, nurses’ job satisfaction has a positive and significant influence on organizational commitment. Results also indicated that the moderating effect of nurses’ organizational support perception on the relationship between their job satisfaction and organizational commitment was stronger for high organizational support perception than it was for low organizational support perception. This study suggests that organizational support perception will develop a sense of belonging, and this will help improve nurses’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment. This kind of relationship is rarely discussed in the research literature, and it can be applied for human resources management of nursing staff.