A global evaluation of organizational fairness and its relationship to psychological contracts Aaron Cohen School of Political Science, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel Abstract Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine whether the concepts of organizational politics, procedural justice, and psychological contract breach can serve as indicators of a global evaluation of the (un)fairness of the organization, and that this general fairness evaluation predicts attitudes and behaviors. Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares the model to one in which the concepts are considered in terms of both their unique effects and the interrelationships among them. In addition, the study examines how psychological contract types are related to each model. A survey of 311 bank employees in Israel was conducted. Findings – The findings show that neither model is strongly superior to the other. This suggests that the three exchange variables can be conceptualized, not only in terms of their unique effects and interrelationships, but also as aspects of one global concept of fairness. Originality/value – This study suggests that the concepts of organizational politics, procedural justice, and psychological contract breach can serve as indicators of a global evaluation of the (un)fairness of the organization, and that this general fairness evaluation predicts attitudes and behaviors. Keywords Justice, Psychological contracts, Organizational politics, True and fair view Paper type Literature review Introduction Today’s business environment is changing – and with it, the way we think about work and employment. Market forces such as globalization, greater competition, rapid technological development, and expanding consumer expectations have engendered sweeping changes in organizational structures, the labor market, and employment relationships (Westwood et al., 2001). For many organizations, the new circumstances have forced a radical revision of their employment strategies, seen mainly in a rapid shift from permanent to fixed-term contracts and greater use of contract alternatives, such as part-time work, job sharing, and telecommuting (Millward and Hopkins, 1998). This change, in turn, has profound consequences for the ways in which individuals involve themselves in the organizations for which they work. All the unwritten contractual obligations implicit in the old employment relationship – for example, the security of a job for life in return for organizational commitment and citizenship – are no longer appropriate. An employee is now only a relatively temporary resident in the organizational condominium. The changes which have upturned old conceptions of the employment relationship have likewise made the research paradigms long used to explore it less useful. As The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1362-0436.htm A global evaluation of fairness 589 Received 27 January 2013 Revised 2 July 2013 3 July 2013 Accepted 16 August 2013 Career Development International Vol. 18 No. 6, 2013 pp. 589-609 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1362-0436 DOI 10.1108/CDI-01-2013-0011