THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACADEMIC STAFF'S PERCEPTIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIORS

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between academic staff's perceptions of organizational justice and organizational citizenship behaviors. The study sample included 295 academic staff members from eight faculties of a state university in Ankara, which was chosen through random and cluster sampling techniques. Organizational Justice Scale was used in order to determine the level of organizational justice behaviors, whereas Organizational Citizenship Scale was used in order to determine the level of organizational citizenship behaviors of academic staff. Pearson Moment correlation coefficient and regression analysis were used in analyzing the data. The main findings of the study indicated that there is a positive and significant correlation between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behaviors of academic staff.Key words: organizational justice, organizational citizenship, higher educationIntroductionAlthough organizational justice is not a newly studied topic in the field of administration in general, it has been neglected in the field of educational administration. For instance, the concepts of justice and accuracy are to be emphasized in schools (Hoy & Tarter, 2004). Justice perceptions are related to ethical and unethical forms of work behaviors (Jacobs, Belschak, & Den Hartog, 2014). Organizational justice deals with the employees' justice perception of rewards, outcomes, taking decisions and participating in a decision-making process (Byrne & Cropanzano, 2001). Organizational citizenship is, on the other hand, individual behaviors, which are volunteer and supportive of the common goals of the organization. Such behaviors include helpfulness, well-meaning and cooperation among organization members (Organ, 1988 cited in Skarlicki & Latham, 1995). The aims of such behaviors are to avoid destructive and undesirable acts in the organization and to improve the ability and skills of employees as well the productivity of the organization. There are rare studies, which analyze the relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship in the educational setting. Instead, these concepts have been studied in isolation or one of them has been analyzed in terms of its relationship to other concepts, including organizational culture, job satisfaction, bureaucracy, achievement, organizational loyalty, and leadership styles.When the related literature on management sciences in three decades is reviewed, it is seen that many research studies have been conducted on, particularly, organizational justice by the researchers. When this research is analyzed, it is seen that some of the studies have focused on only the concept of organizational justice (e.g., Colquitt, Conlon, Wesson, Porter & Ng, 2001; Guy & Dipaola, 2008; Harvey & Haines, 2005; Hoy & Tarter, 2004; Lambert, Cluse-Tolar, Pasupuleti, Hall & Jenkins, 2005; Tyler, 1988). Apart from those, other studies have focused on different aspects of organizational justice and the relationships among them. For example, offensive acts (e.g., Ozdevecioglu, 2003), job satisfaction (e.g., Altahayneh, Khasawneh & Abedalhafiz, 2014; Yelboga, 2012; Yesil & Dereli, 2012; Yildirim, 2007), organizational trust and performance (e.g., Annamalai, Abdullah & Alazidiyeen, 2010), nepotistic behaviors (e.g., Polat & Kazak, 2014), gender (e.g., Simpson & Kaminski, 2007), and entrepreneurship (e.g., Basim, Meydan & Sesen, 2009), all these suggesting that the perception of justice of the individuals affects many variables such as job satisfaction, performance and others.Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) has become an important construct in the fields of education and manifests a continually increasing interest in academic managerial literature. When the related literature on OCB is reviewed, it becomes apparent that researchers have studied this issue from different aspects. …