An investigation of Organizational Justice in Pakistan’s higher educational institutes

Fairness is not an idea or a concept an individual should be struggling for, it is a basic right in the workplace. Fairness is at the heart of Organisational Justice. Unfortunately, the ideal is rarely achieved and it is an important area for research and analysis. Essentially, this work examines perceptions of organisational justice within the higher educational system of Pakistan. Faculty members are the subject of the study. In order to carry out this examination, the literature on justice has been explored from different philosophical perspectives. After reviewing existing models, theoretical concepts and initial research on educational sector of Pakistan, research hypotheses have been developed regarding the factors influencing perceptions of organizational justice. Organizational Communication, Power Distance, Organizational Structure, Reward Allocation are drawn out key influencing factors contributing to the Organizational Justice. However, Organizational Trust has been explored as a moderator to see how it affects the relationship of existing factors and organizational justice. This study is distinctive in its utilization of two research methods combined into a holistic and integrated research design. The study adopts a convergent/concurrent parallel design which allows the researcher to execute both methods (quantitative and qualitative). The thrust of using these methods is to establish if the relationships exist in the specific cultural context (through quantitative method) and to highlight how they contribute to the ideas of organisational justice in the daily work lives of faculty staff (through qualitative method).

The findings of this study highlight some of the grey areas where changes are required as well as some positive sides of institutes have been emerged. Faculty members do have a view that an improvement is required in the formal vertical communications in institutes. Also, the hierarchal structures in most of the institutes are seen as the cause of distances between employers and subordinates (power distance). Most of the institutes fall through to provide the rewards that faculty members expect (monetary). Organizational trust has been found to play an important role in strengthening and weakening perceptions of organizational justice in Pakistani higher educational context. Perceptions of organisational justice are influenced by many factors in the daily lives of faculty staff. Experience of, discriminations, working conditions, ageism, genderism, favouritism, transparency, and the use of power all play a part. This research project suggests that many of these experiences are mediated and can be improved through good communication flows, more friendly organizational structures, reduced power distance among supervisors and subordinates, and more transparent reward allocation. Finally, this study presents an exclusive framework to highlight the factors and also the issues which are triggering these factors to further contribute to organizational justice.