How to Save the Saviors?: Relationship between Organizational Justice and Citizenship Behavior

On the worldwide level, young physicians are facing organizational conflict and are not exhibiting desired level of organizational citizenship behavior. The ethical dilemma of young doctors merits a thorough analysis of work practices and behavioural studies; work related attitudes are affected by organizational citizenship behaviour and organizational justice. There is hardly any study examining organizational conflict with respect to medical and health sector of an emerging economy. Hence the paper investigates the impact of organizational justice (procedural justice, distributive justice, and interactional justice) on the organization citizenship behaviour (altruism and courtesy). The public health sector is more prone to the problem of perceived organizational injustice, as private health sector has become highly commercialized and accordingly doctors are enjoying handsome extrinsic benefits. Considering this incongruity between private and public sector, primary data was collected through structured survey instrument, based on 22 questions, from 250 young doctors belonging to 5 public sectors hospitals in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire was authenticated by Cronbach’s alpha. Regression model exhibits the operationalization of the dependent and independent variables, organizational citizenship behaviour and organizational justice respectively. Descriptive statistics, correlation matrix, multiple regression analysis were deployed to test hypotheses. The study endorses the viewpoint that young doctors perceive widespread organizational injustice, which is causing lack of citizenship behaviour among them. The commercialization aspect of private hospitals is also augmenting perceived organizational injustice as ambitious young doctors make implied comparisons. Results depict the positive relationship between the two dimensions of organizational behaviour, and suggest that prevalence of organizational justice can minimize depression symptoms among young physicians. The most significant types of organizational justice are found out to be procedural and distributive justice, which is understandable as young doctors often complain of procedural loopholes and unfitting service structure. Consequently, the root cause of the problem perhaps lies with the complexity and observed unfairness of the system. Thus a wide-ranging governance approach and intensified attention towards this sector can take care of the procedural and distributive injustices. The study addresses an intriguing and contemporary issue pertaining to behavioural facet of medical professionals, and the main practical implication of the study is the provision of framework based on organizational justice and commitment. Broader policy implications and recommendations for the betterment of medical sector are also discussed.