Organizational Justice and Behavioral Ethics: Promises and Prospects

• Published in: Business ethics quarterly Vol. 19; no. 2; pp. 193 - 233
• Main Authors: Cropanzano, Russell, Stein, Jordan H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01-04-2009; Philosophical Documentation Center
• Subjects: Behavioral sciences; Behavioural psychology; Business ethics; Corporate social responsibility; Distributive justice; Ethical behavior; Ethics; Fairness; Justice; Morality; Organizational behavior; Organizational behaviour; Organizational justice; Procedural justice; Social ethics; Social identity; Social psychology; Social research; Social status; Studies
• ISSN: 1052-150X; 2153-3326
• DOI: 10.5840/beq200919211

Scholars studying organizational justice have been slow to incorporate insights from behavioral ethics research, despite the fields' conceptual affinities. We maintain that this stems from differences in the paradigmatic approaches taken by scholars in each area. First, justice research historically has assumed that individuals are motivated by a desire for instrumental control of worthwhile outcomes or by a concern with social status, while behavioral ethics has paid more attention to the role of internalized moral convictions and duties. Second, organizational justice researchers have investigated one set of individual differences, behavioral researchers have examined another. Third, justice scholars focus on social identities while behavioral ethics scholars also investigate moral identities. As an impetus to future inquiry, our review attends to contemporary organizational justice research that takes into account concepts derived from behavioral ethics. In so doing we hope to highlight an avenue for integrative scholarship that will further our understanding of organizational justice.