Group & Organization Management

Organizational justice researchers have long debated the distinction between procedural and interactional justice. Recently, several researchers have proposed that procedural and interactional justice can be distinguished from one another using social exchange theory. In particular, procedural justice applies more to the exchange between the individual and employing organization, whereas interactional justice generally refers to the exchange between the individual and his or her supervisor. If this theory is correct, procedural justice should be more closely associated with reactions toward upper management and organizational policies, whereas interactional justice should be more closely associated with reactions toward one’s supervisor and job performance. These predictions were tested in a field study involving approximately 107 employees and their supervisors. Predictions were generally confirmed, though there were some unexpected findings.

This study examines the gender effects on faculty pay raises. The authors propose that other factors being equal, for a given pay increase, male faculty would experience lower levels of pay satisfaction and be more likely to quit their institution than females. The sample consisted of 194 professors of management. As expected, for a given pay increase, male faculty experienced lower levels of pay satisfaction and were more likely to leave the institution. Implications of the study for making gender-neutral decisions are discussed.

The question of how managers make decisions, such as formulating competitive strategies, continues to be a major theme in management literature. Cognitive models of organizational decision making have benefited from research on individual-level information processing. This study explores the applicability of individual-level models of information processing to teams of decision makers making decisions in simulated organizations. The article proposes that cognitive schemas and team decision-making structure will focus decision-maker attention on different types of information for different categories of decisions. The findings suggest that there are both similarities and differences in the cues that influence tactical and strategic decisions.

This article focuses on the impact of information technologies on the upstream and downstream flows of information. The authors distinguish between two types of decisions and two types of decision-making criteria and propose a four-part framework in which the essential messages of systematic management and scientific management are depicted. Two cases, concerning the introduction of a new information technology (punched-card machines) in two Dutch banks, are analyzed within the framework. It is demonstrated how the chances of success are increased by employing the new technology to enable employees at lower levels of the organization to be more, instead of less, concerned with and aware of the performance objectives of the firm as a whole.