Week 11 - Fairness, Justice, Diversity

Question 1

What is organisational justice?

Answer 1

Three components:
- distributive
- procedural
- interactional

Question 2

Distributive justice

Answer 2

If distribution of resources is perceived as fair
Examples - pay, promotions, layoffs

Question 3

Procedural justice

Answer 3

If procedure of resource allocation is perceived as fair
Examples - pay scales, bonus criteria, promotion system

Question 5

Empirical studies on justice at work

Answer 5

Pay cut/theft study – limited and insensitive explanation about pay cut group stole more
Pay cut/insomnia study – group with pay cut and manager untrained in interactional justice had greater insomnia

Question 6

Why does justice matter?

Answer 6

Distributive - people compare themselves to determine status and effort-reward (e.g. equity theory)
Procedural - process balances self and group interest
Interactional - respect and self-worth

Question 7

Costs and benefits of justice

Answer 7

Costs of injustice - retaliation, lower effort, lower motivation, impact on attitudes/emotions
Benefits of justice - effort, inclusion, contribution

Question 8

Organisational trust

Answer 8

One of the most important factors between managers and employees
Important qualities - trustor’s welfare at heart, regard for interest of trustor, will not exploit trustor

Question 9

Bases of trust

Answer 9

1. Dispositional
2. History-based
3. Third-party
4. Category-based
5. Role-based
6. Rule-based

Question 10

Technology and trust

Answer 10

Surveillance technologies show employees they aren’t trusted (breed resentment, encourage behaviours intended to reduce)

Question 11

Psychological contracts

Answer 11

Shared beliefs about mutual obligations for organisation and staff

Question 12

Types of psychological contracts

Answer 12

Transactional - specific, short-lived, financial value, low trust
Relational - general, long-lived, maintain existing relationships, high trust

Question 13

Breaching psychological contracts

Answer 13

Incongruence - mismatch between employee and employer expectations
Reneging - change in policy/benefits/ behaviour leading to broken contract (deliberate or unintentional)

Searching for breach
Employees more vigilant - during change, in ambiguous conditions, when trust is low (when costs of violation are high = less vigilance)

Question 14

Benefits of justice, trust and relational contracts

Answer 14

More cooperation, fewer transaction costs
Less explanation and justification required, less monitoring
Unfavourable decisions more likely to be accepted

Question 15

Effects of injustice, mistrust and breached contracts

Answer 15

Antisocial behaviours, workplace hostility, stress, worse physical wellbeing
Association between low interactional/procedural justice and retaliation to outcome unfairness
Distributive justice better indicator of satisfaction than procedural, but procedural predicts commitment

Question 15

Performance evaluation fairness

Answer 15

Procedural more important than distributive
Feedback process most important determinant of fairness (shift from measurement to management)

Question 16

Selection fairness

Answer 16

Can impact - acceptance/rejection of offer, org. reputation, litigation

Question 17

Equal employment opportunity vs affirmative action

Answer 17

EEO - everyone has same opportunity (merit-based)
Affirmative action - reduces under-representation of particular demographics (recruitment, training, mentoring)
AA most favourable when justified and emphasises merit

Question 18

Diversity at work

Answer 18

Differences in demographic characteristics, values, abilities, experiences
Task + detectable - department, tenure, credentials, education
Task + underlying - knowledge, cog. ability, physical skill
Relationship + detectable - sex, SES, age, race
Relationship + underlying - religion, sexuality, values

Question 19

Diversity dynamics

Answer 19

Relational demography - makeup of demography of work group
Work group tend towards homogeneity (facilitates trust, communication, commitment)
- Diverse groups can lead to disagreements and value differences
BUT
Heterogeneity enhances creative efforts, and is more effective than homogenous over time

Question 20

Ineffective diversity models

Answer 20

Assimilation model - force same culture, assumes no diversity benefit
Protection model - special protections for disadvantaged groups, issues with justice and fairness

Question 21

Value model of diversity

Answer 21

Ideal - value each diverse element
Emphasising diversity value provides positive rationale for AAPs
HR initiatives supporting VM - recruit for diversity, ensure career development available, diversity training, support and networks for diverse people

Question 22

Diversity training

Answer 22

Little effect/benefit
More effective if distributed over time, active, singularly focused
Mentoring better than workshops

Question 23

Leadership and diversity

Answer 23

Large burden on leaders to manage diversity (be aware of stereotypes, treat all as individuals, balance consistency with uniqueness)

Question 24

Diversity and inclusion @ MQ

Answer 24

Ally network Workplace training: cultural safety MQ Indigenous strategy (aspire, discover, evolve)

Question 25

ERT toolkit of diversity case studies

Answer 25

Large companies who prioritise diversity Stages of employee cycle targeted - recruitment, onboarding, development, performance management, career, rewards, communication