Role of organizational justice in determining work outcomes of national and expatriate academic staff in Malaysia

Purpose – The study aims to analyze the differences between national and expatriate academic staff perception of organizational justice in Malaysian institutions of higher learning. It also explores the role of organizational justice in shaping teaching faculties' attitude (job satisfaction and commitment) and behavioral intention (turnover intention). Design/methodology/approach – The sample consisted of teaching staff belonging to several faculties drawn from four public universities in Malaysia. Sample was divided into two groups – Malaysian nationals with tenure appointments and expatriates with contractual appointments. Data were collected using standardized tools to measure the study variables. Findings – Except for job satisfaction, where Malaysians recorded significantly higher endorsement compared to expatriates, no significant difference was found between the two groups on perception of distributive, procedural, and interactional aspects of organizational justice, as well as organizational commitment and turnover intention. However, Malaysians demonstrated significantly higher level of job satisfaction compared to expatriates. Different facets of organizational justice predicted work outcomes in the two groups. Whereas interactional and distributive justice promoted expatriates' organizational commitment and/or intention to stay with the organization, it was mainly procedural justice that contributed to local employees' job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. Distributive justice also predicted turnover intentions of locals. Practical implications – The study should add to the literature on international human resource management. Organizations that employ expatriates and knowledge workers should benefit from the findings of this study. Originality/value – Not many empirical studies have been conducted on university academic staffs' perception of organizational justice in an Asian context, as well as how employment practices might influence justice perception and resultant work outcomes of national citizens vs expatriates. This study attempts to fulfill the gap.