Abstract:
In Sri Lanka’s high-pressure hospitality industry, employee commitment is critical to
operational excellence and long-term competitiveness. Drawing on Social Exchange
Theory (SET), this study investigates how distributive justice influences employee
commitment, and whether this relationship is moderated by procedural justice.
Researchers argue that fair allocation of resources strengthens employee loyalty, but
this effect is significantly amplified when employees also perceive fairness in
decision-making processes. In such environments, fairness signals mutual respect and
trust, fostering deeper emotional attachment to the organization. A cross-sectional
survey design was used to collect data from 211 frontline employees in Sri Lanka’s
hotel industry, using convenience sampling. Self-administered questionnaires
assessed perceptions of distributive justice, procedural justice, and commitment.
Correlation and regression analyses were conducted using SPSS. Results revealed a
significant positive effect of distributive justice on employee commitment (β = .43, p
< .001), and a significant interaction effect with procedural justice (β = .14, p = .02),
accounting for an additional variance in commitment (ΔR² = .02). Simple slope
analysis showed that the impact of distributive justice on commitment was stronger
when procedural justice was high (β = .51, p < .001), compared to when it was low
(β = .25, p < .05). These findings underscore the importance of reinforcing both
outcome fairness and process fairness to sustain employee commitment in service
intensive settings. Managers in the hotel industry should prioritize transparent and
inclusive decision-making processes alongside fair reward systems. Training
programs should be implemented to educate supervisors and HR personnel on the
principles of procedural and distributive justice. While the study contributes to justice
literature in collectivist, hierarchical cultures, it is limited by its cross-sectional design
and reliance on self-reported measures. Future research should explore longitudinal
models and include cultural variables that influence justice perceptions and employee
behavior.
