An attempt to redefine organizational justice: in the rightsizing environment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify just rightsizing practices in a manufacturing organization in an attempt to redefine organizational justice. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 177 individuals were interviewed in an Indian manufacturing organization and their perspectives of the rightsizing processes are outlined, compared and contrasted to identify just rightsizing practices in the organization. Findings – A number of practices at the initial stage of rightsizing are seen as being implemented to the same extent by all the three categories of individuals – implementers, stayers and separated. Therefore, justice is seen to be maximized. Practices concerning the actual process of separation and afterwards, such as communication, arranging for graceful exits, leadership, evaluation of the processes and assistance programmes for the stayers and separated, need to be improved upon. Research limitations/implications – The model is used to study already implemented rightsizing processes. Therefore, though it is suggested that the model can be used to design just processes an empirical proof of the same cannot be provided at this stage. Originality/value – The model provides an internal benchmark for the organization in how just the rightsizing processes are with regard to its impacts on those most affected by the processes.