The effects of perceived justice and empowerment on knowledge workers' organizational, supervisory and occupational commitment

Abstract

Knowledge workers are one of the most critical resources for today's organizations which operate in an environment of increasing competition, technological advances and globalization. Being a critical source of competitive advantage to organizations, these workers have many alternatives in the market. Hence, it is of utmost importance for organizations to increase their commitment to their leaders, occupations and organizations so as to increase their performance and intentions to stay. Thus, the present study investigated the roles of perceived justice (procedural and interactional) and empowerment in knowledge workers' commitment to their organizations, leaders and occupations. The proposed conceptual model was tested on 445 knowledge workers working in research and development projects. Analyses with Structural Equation Modeling showed that procedural and interactional justice had significant associations with organizational and supervisory commitment, respectively and perceived empowerment with all commitment foci, namely organizational, supervisory and occupational commitment. Moreover, this group of workers has been found to be more committed to their leaders than to their organizations and occupations. The findings are discussed along with some theoretical and practical implications.