Reconsidering Assumptions about Organizational Justice through the Lens of Culture and Moral Philosophy

Abstract

Abstract This chapter reviews the scope and impact of organizational justice research through lenses that consider both culture and moral philosophy. Our review summarizes justice research by broad topical areas (employee-level issues, employment practices, and organizational characteristics), considering in particular the extant cross-cultural research to date within each category. Building on the work of Shao and colleagues (2013), we present a framework that further integrates multiple philosophical traditions (natural law, deontology, contractualism, utilitarianism, social recognition, Confucianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism) to more fully conceptualize justice motives as they are held across cultures. Our goal is to encourage new theorizing that examines justice as an organizing principle for social cooperation that is sensitive to cultural differences. We conclude by suggesting avenues for new research, specifically aimed at addressing emerging social issues affecting workers around the world.