Management, Organizational Justice and Emotional Exhaustion among Chinese Migrant Workers: Evidence from two Manufacturing Firms

Abstract

This article explores how Human Resource (HR) policies and practices influence employee perceptions of organizational justice, which in turn impacts employee emotions and feelings of emotional exhaustion. Using structural equation modelling and based on employee survey data drawn from two manufacturing organizations, we find that a strong HR system -perceived by workers as distinctive, attractive and consistently implemented -fosters perceptions of distributive, procedural and interactive justice. However, only distributive injustice leads to negative emotions and emotional exhaustion. This is explained by reference to the cultural and institutional context (China), status (migrant) and type of workers (semi-skilled, manual) included in the study. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications that arise from these findings.

Lean production and the well‐being of the frontline manager: the job demands – resources model as a diagnostic tool in Chinese manufacturing

“…In the case of these Chinese managers, feelings of exhaustion are more sensitive to perceived pay equity than they are to the absolute level of pay. This finding parallels that of Frenkel, Li and Restubog () who found that distributive justice was the strongest predictor of negative emotions and exhaustion among 364 Chinese workers in two cosmetic manufacturing companies. In terms of other cross‐links, we did not confirm a relationship between job demands (problem‐solving demands and role overload) and engagement (hypotheses 5 and 6).…”

The Mediating Effect of Organizational Trust on the Link between the Areas of Work Life and Emotional Exhaustion

“…Supporting this theory's assertion, previous studies report that insufficient rewards and lack of recognition decreases employees' resilience to burnout (Chappell & Novak, 1992;Maslanka, 1996). More specifically, it is reported that individuals who have experienced an imbalance in efforts and rewards are more likely to feel emotionally exhausted than those who have not (Bakker, Kilmeri, Sigrist, & Schaufeli, 2000;Frenkel, Li, & Restubog, 2012). Therefore, we propose that academicians experiencing a discrepancy between their efforts and outcomes are more likely feel emotionally exhausted.…”

How employee perceptions of HR policy and practice influence discretionary work effort and co-worker assistance: evidence from two organizations

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