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Righting the Wrong for Third Parties: How Monetary Compensation, Procedure Changes and Apologies Can Restore Justice for Observers of Injustice

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  • Natàlia Cugueró-Escofet
  • Marion Fortin
  • Miguel-Angel Canela

Abstract

People react negatively not only to injustices they personally endure but also to injustices that they observe as bystanders at work—and typically, people observe more injustices than they personally experience. It is therefore important to understand how organizations can restore observers’ perceptions of justice after an injustice has occurred. In our paper, we employ a policy capturing design to test and compare the restorative power of monetary compensation, procedure changes and apologies, alone and in combination, from the perspective of third parties. We extend previous research on remedies by including different degrees of compensation and procedural changes, by comparing the effects of sincere versus insincere apologies and by including apologies from additional sources. The results indicate that monetary compensation, procedure changes, and sincere apologies all have a significant and positive effect on how observers perceive the restoration of justice. Insincere apologies, on the other hand, have no significant effect on restoration for third parties. Procedural changes were found to have the strongest remedial effects, a remedy rarely included in previous research. One interpretation of this finding could be that observers of injustice prefer solutions that are not short sighted: changing procedures avoids future injustices that could affect other people. We found that combinations of remedies, such that the presence of a second remedy strengthens the effect of the first remedy, are particularly effective. Our findings regarding interactions underline the importance of studying and administering remedies in conjunction with each other. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Natàlia Cugueró-Escofet & Marion Fortin & Miguel-Angel Canela, 2014. "Righting the Wrong for Third Parties: How Monetary Compensation, Procedure Changes and Apologies Can Restore Justice for Observers of Injustice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 253-268, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:122:y:2014:i:2:p:253-268
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1762-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Natàlia Cugueró-Escofet & Josep M. Rosanas, 2020. "The Relative Role of the Intellectual and Moral Virtues in Sustainable Management Decisions: The Case of Practical Wisdom and Justice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, February.
    2. Cugueró-Escofet, Natalia & Fitó, Àngels & Rosanas, Josep Mª, 2016. "Integrating justice and trust in MCS: How to generate goal congruence and long term fairness coherent with the firm's mission," IESE Research Papers D/1145, IESE Business School.
    3. Warren Cook & Kristine M. Kuhn, 2021. "Off-Duty Deviance in the Eye of the Beholder: Implications of Moral Foundations Theory in the Age of Social Media," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(3), pages 605-620, September.
    4. Onyeka K. Osuji & Ugochukwu L. Obibuaku, 2016. "Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility: Competing or Complementary Approaches to Poverty Reduction and Socioeconomic Rights?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 329-347, June.
    5. Rasim Serdar Kurdoglu, 2020. "The Mirage of Procedural Justice and the Primacy of Interactional Justice in Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 495-512, December.
    6. Nicholas DiFonzo & Anthony Alongi & Paul Wiele, 2020. "Apology, Restitution, and Forgiveness After Psychological Contract Breach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 53-69, January.

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