Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University (Canada), 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

The primary value of the government lies in responding to different requests of people, and the government reform must be in increasing the execution.The execution of organization has been one of the focuses of government and public affair management. Therefore, the execution is bound to the result of effort and job performance the staff invest, and how to optimize the result is still need to rely on the work environment of justice, mutual confidence, and voluntary involvement that the organization created. This paper aimed to explore the relationship between the awareness of organizational justice and the execution by questionnaire survey., and the samples for the quantitative research were the staff of the land administration in Tainan City. The conclusions were that the execution was predicted by the awareness of organizational justice, the awareness of organizational justice had some significant difference in different individual variables of the staff, and the execution had some significant difference in different individual variables of the staff. Finally, based on the results from this paper, the suggestions are made for administration and the following related researches.

Perceptions of greed permeate the popular business and management environment, yet the scholarly literature in these areas has given scant attention to greed and perceptions of greed. In three laboratory studies, I investigated both the antecedents and consequences of perceived greed. Contrary to a number of literatures' treatment of greed as simply a synonym for selfishness, I proposed that the three antecedents of perceived greed are distributive injustice, inference of a selfish motive to acquire, and relative deprivation. I then explored four key outcomes of perceived of greed: personal anger, moral outrage, punishment behaviors, and social distancing behaviors. Results demonstrated that perceptions of greed are formed when an individual experiences a distributive injustice, combined with an inference of a selfish motive to acquire, and that each of personal anger, moral outrage, punishment behaviors and social distancing are consequences of perceiving others as greedy. Relative deprivation contributed to perceptions of greed, but in a manner different from the hypothesized model.

People make all sorts of judgements of their life experiences. Some include perceptions of fairness, often about negative events. One such event is organisational downsizing, personally experienced or observed. / Downsizing includes retrenchment, redundancy and redeployment. Its use has become a widespread practice in workplace change. Research into downsizing and fairness has shown that judgements of distributive, procedural and interactional fairness have significant effects on individuals and on the productivity of organisations. Most research into these matters originates in the United States private sector, and is predominantly positivist. Interpretive approaches may give a wider perspective on people's judgements. This study complements and extends the findings of the earlier positivist research. / Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 44 private and public sector individuals. Some of them had themselves been retrenched, made redundant or redeployed; others included their colleagues, managers and union officials. Interviewees were drawn from a bank and a supermarket in the private sector and a government business enterprise (GBE) and 6 government departments in the private sector. There were 25 public sector interviewees who participated with 18 from departments and seven from the GBE. / The results of the interviews give evidence about the importance of several different factors in people's judgements of their downsizing experiences and particularly suggest that a comprehensive management approach that addresses employees' whole of experience fairness judgements is more likely to achieve results that are beneficial to the organisation and the people involved in the downsizing, compared to approaches that refer to stereotyped processes or preconceived principles. The results can also inform employees and their representatives about what might be reasonable expectations of fair treatment at times of organisational change, and can inform policies relating to human resource management standards across government and major corporations. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2006.

People make all sorts of judgements of their life experiences. Some include perceptions of fairness, often about negative events. One such event is organisational downsizing, personally experienced or observed. / Downsizing includes retrenchment, redundancy and redeployment. Its use has become a widespread practice in workplace change. Research into downsizing and fairness has shown that judgements of distributive, procedural and interactional fairness have significant effects on individuals and on the productivity of organisations. Most research into these matters originates in the United States private sector, and is predominantly positivist. Interpretive approaches may give a wider perspective on people's judgements. This study complements and extends the findings of the earlier positivist research. / Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 44 private and public sector individuals. Some of them had themselves been retrenched, made redundant or redeployed; others included their colleagues, managers and union officials. Interviewees were drawn from a bank and a supermarket in the private sector and a government business enterprise (GBE) and 6 government departments in the private sector. There were 25 public sector interviewees who participated with 18 from departments and seven from the GBE. / The results of the interviews give evidence about the importance of several different factors in people's judgements of their downsizing experiences and particularly suggest that a comprehensive management approach that addresses employees' whole of experience fairness judgements is more likely to achieve results that are beneficial to the organisation and the people involved in the downsizing, compared to approaches that refer to stereotyped processes or preconceived principles. The results can also inform employees and their representatives about what might be reasonable expectations of fair treatment at times of organisational change, and can inform policies relating to human resource management standards across government and major corporations. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2006.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2006. / Supervisor: Naresh C. Agarwal. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-128).

Converting individual knowledge into organizational knowledge can be difficult because individuals refuse to share knowledge for a number of different reasons. Creating an atmosphere of fairness plays an important role in the creation of a knowledge-sharing climate. This dissertation proposes that perceptions of organizational justice are crucial building blocks of that environment, leading to knowledge sharing. Data was collected using a field survey of IT managers representing a broad spectrum of the population in terms of organizational size and industry classification. The survey instrument was developed based on the adaptation of previously validated scales in addition to new items where no existing measures were found. Hypotheses regarding the influence of distributional, procedural, and interactional justice on knowledge sharing processes were tested using structural equation modeling techniques. Based on the theory of reasoned action, which states that attitudes and subjective norms are the major determinants of a person's intention, the hypotheses examining the relationship between attitude toward knowledge sharing, subjective norm and the intention to share knowledge were supported. However, results did not support the hypothesis exploring the relationship between the organizational climate and the intention to share knowledge. The results show that all three types of justice constructs are statistically significant antecedents of organizational climate and interactional justice is an antecedent of an attitude toward knowledge sharing. The study attempts to merge streams of research from sociology and organizational behavior by investigating organizational justice and knowledge management. It contributes to theory by the development of the survey instrument, comprised of seven constructs that were developed by incorporating multiple theories to address various aspects of knowledge sharing and provide application to practice and research. It is relevant to IT managers who need to know how to design information systems that are most effective in distributing knowledge throughout organizations.

In the present research, I examine whether independent and interdependent self-construals influence behaviour toward innocent others following unfair treatment from an authority. Fairness researchers have documented many negative effects of unfair treatment on recipients’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. From the recipient’s perspective, unfair treatment is a sign that the recipient is inferior and unworthy of respect, leading to decreased self-esteem (e.g., Tyler, Degoey, & Smith, 1996). Although this decrease in self-esteem among recipients of unfair treatment may be universal, individual differences in behavioural reactions to unfairness are evident. Prior research and theory suggest that the need to maintain one’s self-esteem is fundamental (e.g., Maslow, 1968; Rogers, 1961; Rosenberg, 1979), and that individuals engage in a wide range of behaviours to maintain their self-esteem (Steele, 1988). Recent research suggests that the types of behaviours individuals use to restore their self-esteem following unfairness vary according to the source of their self-esteem. Specifically, individuals with a stronger independent self-construal, who derive self-esteem from being unique and getting ahead, may be more likely to enact revenge against those who treat them unfairly (Zdaniuk & Bobocel, 2009). Conversely, those with a stronger interdependent self-construal, who derive self-esteem from maintaining harmonious relationships, may be more likely to forgive (Bobocel & Zdaniuk, 2009). At times, engaging in revenge or forgiveness toward the perpetrator of unfairness may be difficult, especially if the perpetrator is an authority. In these situations, recipients of unfairness may maintain their self-esteem by engaging in unfair or fair behaviours directed toward innocent others. I predicted that after experiencing unfair treatment from an authority, individuals with a strong (versus weak) independent self-construal would be more likely to act unfairly toward fellow group members, and that individuals with a strong (versus weak) interdependent self-construal would be more likely to act fairly. These predictions were tested in two laboratory studies and one field study. Although the results were not consistent across the three studies, some support was found for both predictions. In addition, the findings are consistent with the notion that self-esteem maintenance was a mechanism underlying the predicted effects of the self-construals. The implications of the current findings for the fairness literature are discussed, and directions for future research are proposed. To avoid ripple effects of unfairness in the workplace, organizational authorities are advised to promote an interdependent, rather than independent, work environment.

In the present research, I examine whether independent and interdependent self-construals influence behaviour toward innocent others following unfair treatment from an authority. Fairness researchers have documented many negative effects of unfair treatment on recipients’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. From the recipient’s perspective, unfair treatment is a sign that the recipient is inferior and unworthy of respect, leading to decreased self-esteem (e.g., Tyler, Degoey, & Smith, 1996). Although this decrease in self-esteem among recipients of unfair treatment may be universal, individual differences in behavioural reactions to unfairness are evident. Prior research and theory suggest that the need to maintain one’s self-esteem is fundamental (e.g., Maslow, 1968; Rogers, 1961; Rosenberg, 1979), and that individuals engage in a wide range of behaviours to maintain their self-esteem (Steele, 1988). Recent research suggests that the types of behaviours individuals use to restore their self-esteem following unfairness vary according to the source of their self-esteem. Specifically, individuals with a stronger independent self-construal, who derive self-esteem from being unique and getting ahead, may be more likely to enact revenge against those who treat them unfairly (Zdaniuk & Bobocel, 2009). Conversely, those with a stronger interdependent self-construal, who derive self-esteem from maintaining harmonious relationships, may be more likely to forgive (Bobocel & Zdaniuk, 2009). At times, engaging in revenge or forgiveness toward the perpetrator of unfairness may be difficult, especially if the perpetrator is an authority. In these situations, recipients of unfairness may maintain their self-esteem by engaging in unfair or fair behaviours directed toward innocent others. I predicted that after experiencing unfair treatment from an authority, individuals with a strong (versus weak) independent self-construal would be more likely to act unfairly toward fellow group members, and that individuals with a strong (versus weak) interdependent self-construal would be more likely to act fairly. These predictions were tested in two laboratory studies and one field study. Although the results were not consistent across the three studies, some support was found for both predictions. In addition, the findings are consistent with the notion that self-esteem maintenance was a mechanism underlying the predicted effects of the self-construals. The implications of the current findings for the fairness literature are discussed, and directions for future research are proposed. To avoid ripple effects of unfairness in the workplace, organizational authorities are advised to promote an interdependent, rather than independent, work environment.

People cope with a variety of hurtful behaviors in the workplace. These actions can have detrimental emotional, relational, and task-related consequences. Forgiveness is one way to cope with these negative consequences. Although previous research examines how immediate situational factors such as offense severity and position in the organizational hierarchy influence the likelihood of practicing forgiveness in the workplace, little research investigates how contextual features such as an organization's conflict ideology shape the likelihood of forgiveness. The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of organizational context on the practice and patterns of forgiveness in the workplace. In particular, this study investigates the relationship between an organization's conflict ideology and employees' coping practices following hurtful events in the workplace. Using three court-based justice models as lenses, this study analyzes the emergence of conflict values, beliefs, norms, and practices in four organizations. This study uses data collected from 103 individual interviews, observational notes, and organizational documents from four organizations to explore the relationship between justice ideologies and the practice and patterns of forgiveness in each organization. Analysis of the data using a modified version of constructive grounded theory indicated the emergence of multiple conflict values, norms, and practices within each organization. These values, norms, and practices reflected features of the court-based legalistic and restorative justice models. The combination of these features suggested the presence of four ideological justice models. Forgiveness emerged most consistently as a coping practice in an organization that emphasized several features of the restorative justice model. Additionally, features of the organizations' justice ideologies influenced patterns of forgiveness. This research suggests that the practice of forgiveness in the workplace is grounded in the organizational context.