The mediating role of organizational commitment between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) while considering the mediating effect of organizational commitment and the moderating role of power distance on this association. Design/methodology/approach Using a stratified sampling technique the data were collected from the employees working in bank branches located in five metropolitan cities (i.e. Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Quetta and Karachi) of Pakistan. A total of 409 responses were received and 379 questionnaires were considered for analysis. To test the hypotheses structural equation modeling technique was applied using AMOS 21.0. Findings The results reported an insignificant relationship between organizational justice and OCB, but the relationship between organizational justice and organizational commitment was found to be significant. It has also emerged from the analysis that organizational commitment fully mediates the relationship between organizational justice and OCB. Moreover, power distance was found to moderate the relationship between organizational justice and organizational commitment. Research limitations/implications Findings of this study can be useful for banking organizations and policy makers responsible for employee productivity and overall employee well-being, particularly managers working on long-term organizational vision and expect employees to respond pro-socially toward fellow workers and organizational objectives. The study also provides the scope and space for potential scholars and researchers for carrying out further research. Practical implications Findings of this study can be useful for banking organizations and policy makers who have long-term vision and expect OCB from its employees to be sustainable in a dynamic market. The study also provides the scope and space for potential scholars and researchers for carrying out further research. Originality/value While extensive literature is available on organizational justice and its impact on OCB, very little work seems to have been done to examine the moderating impact of power distance between organizational justice and organizational commitment, particularly in the context of a developing country like Pakistan. Therefore, this work may be considered as original and of significant value in understanding the relationships between the various constructs in the scenario of Pakistan.