Impact of Procedural and Distributive Justice on Virtual Project Performance: Mediating role of organizational commitment in digital work environments

Author(s) : Fateh Muhammad Awan, Muhammad Fawad-ul-Hassan Sarim, Nazar Muhammad,

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of Procedural and distributive justice
on virtual project performance with the mediating role of employees' organizational
commitment in digital work environments. The aim of the research is to highlight the decline in
organizational commitment, which is caused by neglecting the importance of distributive and
procedural justice in remote and hybrid work settings. It is predicted that organizational
commitment can be restored and improved with the involvement of higher management by
changing the direction of organizational policies, digital collaboration procedures, and justified
distribution of resources and recognition. Resultantly, the productivity of virtual teams will
increase, which in turn will improve the virtual project performance. Data for the said study
was collected from IT and software development companies through a structured questionnaire
from 200 personnel using online survey tools and virtual empirical research techniques. The
data was compared across different virtual teams and found similarities in the response and
their declining commitment to the organization due to perceived injustices in digital workflows.
It is found from the result that virtual project performance can be positively influenced with the
active participation of managers by enhancing the application of distributive and procedural
justice in digital contexts, with the mediating role of organizational commitment. It is also
found that the best results can only be achieved with higher management commitment
to establishing fair digital practices, as it has a pivotal role in any virtual organization's success.
The respondents are primarily from the IT sector in the Pakistani region, which can be tested in
other industries and regions beyond Pakistan's territory. The personnel attitudes differ from
industry-to-industry environment as well as from region to region. The result of the study can
be useful for project managers and leaders in virtual settings for the achievement of positive
project performance with organizational commitment through positive distributive and
procedural justice application in digital work environments.
KEYWORDS: Distributive justice, Procedural justice, Organizational commitment, Virtual
Project Performance, Digital Work Environments