Chinese workers’ responses to justice: quitting, collective action or both?

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to analyse two ways in which Chinese workers attempt to resist unjust treatment: exit through quitting and voice via collective action. This is in the context of rapid economic growth, rising economic inequality (Lu and Gao, 2011; Qin et al., 2009; Reed, 2012) and escalating industrial conflict (Pringle, 2011). Design/methodology/approach A model is developed and hypotheses formulated in the light of qualitative data analysis that included archival data, workplace observation and interviews with employees and managers at a large factory. A mediated chain model was tested based on a survey of 234 semi-skilled and skilled manual workers and 353 service employees employed in the same city in Western China. Findings Organisational identification and organisational cynicism were found to mediate the relationship between interactional justice and the two outcomes, intention to quit and collective opposition. Originality/value The authors’ interpretation of these relationships challenge previous research by showing that social identification is a more powerful explanation than social exchange in accounting for variations in these two outcomes. Implications are drawn for human resource theory and practice.

Gossiping About an Arrogant Leader: Sparked by Inconsistent Leadership, Mitigated by Employee Resilience

“…In so doing, we also alert organizational leaders about a critical challenge: their exaggerated self-importance might backfire, leaving them victims to the badmouthing behaviors of their followers (Brady et al, 2017), which, in turn, may generate a negative spiral that fundamentally changes the quality of their organization's internal functioning. From a research perspective, we complement previous studies that elucidate how employees' cynical beliefs link several other sources of workplace adversity, such as psychological contract breach (J. L. Johnson & O'Leary-Kelly, 2003), relationship conflict (Shaukat et al, 2017), or a lack of interactional justice (Zhang & Frenkel, 2018), with negative work outcomes.…”