Organizational justice and perceived firm performance: a matter of organizational identification

Purpose Guided by social identity and social exchange theory, this study offers a conceptual model explaining how employees' perceptions of organizational justice—namely distributive, procedural, and interactional justice—shape their evaluations of firm performance when accounting for the mediating role of organizational identification. The model also introduces service climate as a contextual moderator of the justice–identification relationship. Design/methodology/approach Survey data from 246 full-time employees across diverse industries were analyzed using structural equation modeling to test the proposed hypotheses empirically. Findings Organizational identification partially mediates the link between justice perceptions and perceived firm performance. Service climate positively moderates the effect of procedural justice on identification, whereas its interaction with interactional justice yields a negative effect, contrary to expectations, indicating a substitution dynamic. Additionally, the three justice dimensions exert asymmetric influences on identification, underscoring the need to distinguish their distinct roles in organizational contexts. Originality/value This research advances performance management theory by demonstrating that employees' assessments of firm effectiveness are jointly shaped by their justice perceptions and organizational identification. This integrated framework offers a holistic and context-sensitive lens for understanding performance in contemporary organizations. For practitioners, it underscores the need for managerial strategies that are attuned to employees’ priorities across different justice dimensions and diverse organizational settings.