Does Justice Matter? Evaluating the Usefulness of Commitment and Innovative Work Behavior as a Predictor of Turnover Intention of Korean Employees

Abstract

The turnover of key talent is a critical issue that can negatively impact an organization’s ability to execute strategies and achieve competitive advantage. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that influence employees’ decisions to change jobs. In this study, we test the antecedent factors that affect Korean employees’ intention to change jobs and the relationships among them. Specifically, to examine the various paths that affect turnover intention (TI), a dual mediation model including organizational justice (OJ), organizational commitment (OC), and innovative work behavior (IWB) is analyzed. To analyze the research model, we use survey data on Korean employees and various analyses, including frequency, reliability, confirmatory factors, and discriminant validity analyses, as well as structural equation modeling analysis using SPSS and AMOS. All the paths in the research model are found to be significant. Additionally, an indirect path from OJ to TI through OC, an indirect path from OJ to TI through IWB, and an indirect path from OJ to TI through OC and IWB are found to be significant. This study may help explore effective countermeasures for strategic development and employee retention in organizations.

1. Introduction

Securing sustainability through sustainable management is becoming an important topic for companies. This emphasizes the importance of growth and development from a long-term perspective, rather than a company’s purpose being only to pursue profit from a short-term perspective. During past periods of high growth, companies have made leaps based on large-scale capital investment, excellent facilities, and high-quality technology. However, as we entered a period of low growth, these factors between companies gradually became equalized, and the source of sustainability and competitive advantage shifted to human resources [1]. As the technological gap narrows and anyone can easily access the information they want, it has become difficult to sustain firms’ competitiveness and sustainable competitive advantage using products or services that can be easily imitated [2]. Accordingly, the number of people who create innovation and differentiation in the way they approach customers (i.e., the number of core talents who achieve high performance in their roles) has become an important factor in determining a company’s success. In other words, employees are no longer limited to the concept of “resources that provide labor” and are seen as core assets for running business operations and creating value [3]. Accordingly, in order for a company to secure sustainability and achieve long-term growth and development, it is very important to recruit and nurture loyal employees who are highly committed to the organization. In addition, it can be said that it is very important to strengthen the long-term sustainability of a company by lowering the turnover rate of loyal employees.

However, the labor market environment is changing rapidly, posing a serious threat to companies unable to adapt. In particular, Korean society is facing major social, political, and economic changes, including the emergence of the MZ (Millennials and Generation Z) generation, who often choose to change jobs rather than adapt to an organizational environment that does not fit their values or enduring disagreeable workplaces. Changes in the working environment caused by COVID-19, the diversity of employment types, and intensifying low growth trends have led to low employee engagement and high turnover and resignation rates in companies. This frequent turnover and resignation of employees not only causes direct damage in terms of the time and money required for recruitment but also increases the workload of existing employees, disrupts work progress, diminishes performance due to a lack of key talent, decreases employee morale, and harms the firm’s image, which lowers the value of its tangible and intangible assets considerably [4]. Hence, companies face the simultaneous challenges of securing and retaining talent [5], and it is very important to study the complex effects of factors that affect the retention of excellent employees in order to secure competitive advantage and improve performance.

From this perspective, existing studies have investigated various factors that can affect increasing retention rates by lowering employee turnover rates. In general, the factors that lead employees to leave can be related to compensation, growth potential, job satisfaction, organizational culture, and working environment [6]. However, because these influencing factors differ depending on the characteristics of the person and the characteristics and circumstances of the company, concerns about which issues to focus on are inevitable. A concept that has emerged as a key element in understanding employee turnover is organizational commitment (OC) [7]. The theoretical concept of OC has developed since it was first proposed by the organizational psychologist William Kahn [8]. Scholars and practitioners agree that the high commitment of organizational members is positively related to firm performance and have begun to emphasize OC as a major method for improving performance. Many studies have shown that employees with high OC have high productivity and profitability and lower rates of occupational accidents and turnover [9,10].

However, because employees’ OC changes depending on their perceptions and experiences, a company’s competitiveness must be strengthened by maintaining an environment in which they can immerse themselves. Companies with a culture of low OC find it difficult to recruit excellent talent. In addition, even if new talent is recruited, if it cannot adapt to the organization and leaves or becomes disengaged, both performance and competitiveness fall [11]. Empirical studies [12,13] have shown that high employee commitment is reflected in long-term employment, while highly engaged employees have an 87% lower turnover rate than those who are not engaged [14].

In addition, the importance of strategies that elicit innovative work behavior (IWB) from employees is being emphasized in order to retain excellent employees. It is based on research showing that organizations can increase members’ pride and loyalty to the organization by providing members with opportunities to demonstrate their capabilities and strengthening support for self-development and innovation [15]. However, strengthening OC and IWB, as well as reducing TI, cannot be achieved simply through financial compensation, education, or skills training. Continuous attention, management, communication, and interaction are all required to see effects in practice, and it is important to proactively recognize the fairness of the organization [16,17]. If employees feel that their organization is fair, it reinforces their perception that their efforts and performance are evaluated fairly, which increases job satisfaction and promotes long-term retention in the organization [18]. Therefore, understanding the pathways and mechanisms of the influence of OJ, OC, and IWB on TI is very important not only for researchers but also for practitioners.

From this perspective, this study provides important information to help understand the causes and patterns of turnover in a changing social environment and provides important implications in terms of suggesting strategies to prevent it. Specifically, by examining the impact of individual characteristics on TI along with organizational-level characteristics, we suggest the importance of a new academic perspective that analyzes the dynamic interaction effects of factors at various levels. As a practical implication, it will be possible to present specific strategies to managers that will help reduce TI more effectively. This study differs from previous studies in that it identifies various paths that affect TI and explains employees’ complex psychological mechanisms using a dual mediation model.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Organizational Justice

OJ is the application of the concept of justice to an organization’s unique situation. It is related to whether organizational members are treated fairly, equally, and in accordance with moral standards [19,20]. OJ can significantly impact both organizations and individuals; in particular, it can help bring about positive effects such as eliciting trust and OC, increasing performance, and enhancing organizational citizenship behavior [21]. On the contrary, if OJ is low, it may lead to negative outcomes such as TI, absenteeism, and actual turnover [22]. In other words, OJ significantly impacts the overall operation of an organization, including the behaviors and attitudes of its members.

Research on OJ has mainly been examined by social psychologists. After the 1960s, the concept of distributive justice was first discussed in terms of Homans’ [23] and Blau’s [24] social exchange theory and Adams’ equity theory. Subsequently, the concept of procedural justice, which addresses the importance of organizational procedures (e.g., consistency of procedures, prevention of personal bias, and ethics), was introduced by Thibaut and Walker [25]. Although decisions are made by the same formal procedure within the same organization, the responses of organizational members to the results can differ. Hence, some factors cannot be explained only by distributive justice and procedural justice. Consequently, Bies [26] introduced a new dimension of justice called interactional justice. The fact that the concept of OJ has been refined and specified in this manner indicates its rising importance for organizational management.

In summary, OJ is an expanded concept that encompasses the three dimensions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. Based on this, this study determines that these three elements of justice perform functions within an organization, measures them, and analyzes their impact.

2.2. Organizational Commitment

OC, a key concept in the field of organizational behavior, is used to explain the attitudes and behaviors of members and has received widespread attention from organizational management practitioners. The concept of OC was first introduced by Simon and March [27] and was discussed in earnest by organizational psychologists in the 1970s [28]. Mowday et al. [28] defined OC as the emotional responses of members, including psychological states, such as attachment and loyalty, and argued that it refers to the degree to which they feel a sense of unity with their organization and are immersed in their roles. In other words, OC is the attitude of a member who accepts the goals and values of the organization to which they belong, is willing to make efforts to improve its performance, and wants to remain in the organization [29]. Additionally, OC refers to organizational members’ work orientation [30]. As OC increases, attachment to the organization and a sense of unity increase, which leads to voluntary effort and dedication to the organization and then further increases its productivity through creative activities [29,31]. And through this process, it can have the effect of lowering the TI of organizational members [13].

2.3. Innovative Work Behavior

IWB, a characteristic of members created through the influence of the organizational environment, represents the process by which an individual or organization develops creative ideas and converts them into useful products and services; it also refers to the ability to improve creativity through individual problem-solving skills in the development and execution of new ideas, strategic processes, products, and services [32]. The IWB of organizational members represents their individual behaviors that improve workplace performance by innovatively changing procedures and methods [33]. It can also be understood as the process of improving effectiveness by resolving problems that arise in the workplace [34]. In this way, individual actions that improve workplace performance and the process of improving efficiency by solving problems can increase the loyalty of organizational members and reduce TI.

Key variables related to IWB include organizational culture, competition, work relevance and intensity, leadership, initiative, creativity, and type of problem solving. IWB, which is continuously emphasized by members in a fiercely competitive environment, includes the active attitudes of members who want to change in an efficient and future-oriented manner. This attitude is defined by the concept of perceived IWB [35] and can produce the effect of reducing TI along with positive emotional responses, such as attachment and OC.

2.4. Turnover Intention

TI is the intention of an individual to give up being a member of an organization and voluntarily leave their current job [36,37]. TI has not yet been expressed in behavior; rather, it is a mental state in which a person is contemplating a job change. Voigt and Hirst [38] stated that TI is the most important variable for predicting turnover, as it is highly likely to lead to actual turnover. In other words, TI is the stage immediately preceding turnover and can be seen as a sufficiently intentional and planned thought or will to leave the organization before turning turnover into action. Since it is difficult to study the factors affecting turnover by targeting people who have already left the organization, most research on turnover uses TI as a predictor variable in the pre-turnover stage. We address this issue by defining, measuring, and analyzing TI as an employee’s intention to leave their organization and move to another organization or occupation.

3. Hypotheses Development

3.1. Organizational Justice and Organizational Commitment

OJ refers to the degree to which organizational members perceive that systems or decisions are implemented fairly within the organization [39]. It can be divided into the concepts of distributive, interactional, and procedural justice [40]. OJ affects work performance; satisfaction with the organization and job; and members’ behaviors, beliefs, and negative reactions [40,41]. Therefore, many researchers have focused on the impact of OJ on OC. For example, Orpen [42] found that OC is related to both distributive and procedural justice. In a study of private commercial banks in Bangladesh, Jahangir et al. [43] argued that procedural justice has a positive effect on OC. Masterson and Taylor [44] reported that interactional justice reflects the quality of exchanges between organizational members and predicts their personal attitudes. As employees treated fairly by their superiors tend to display positive attitudes and behaviors, they make more efforts to improve their work performance in return for higher levels of interactional justice. The different roles of this dimension of OJ have been consistently verified in other studies. Based on this, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Hypothesis 1:

OJ perceived by organizational members positively affects OC.

3.2. Organizational Justice and Innovative Work Behavior

OJ contributes to forming an efficient work performance culture within an organization and improving the firm’s image, and it can be a factor in promoting OC and knowledge sharing among members, which promotes change and innovation [21]. The IWB of organizational members can vary depending on their perception of justice, such as fair distribution, procedures, and treatment in rewarding job performance. Specifically, if trust in an organization’s fairness is supported, actions that actively induce organizational change and innovation can be strengthened [45]. In other words, the higher the awareness of OJ among organizational members, the more likely IWB will naturally follow the process of efforts to develop the organization.

In addition, innovation is essential for an organization. However, creating new ideas and putting those ideas into practice involves considerable effort and cost [35]. Therefore, to induce cost-bearing IWB, an organization must realize a minimum level of justice. In situations in which a minimum level of justice is not reached, organizational members find it difficult to innovate. Therefore, when firms’ operations are perceived as unfair, employees display opportunistic behavior and complacency and do not engage in IWB [35]. In addition, the performance measurement system used may vary the extent to which organizational members act voluntarily without rejecting innovation; therefore, it is essential to design a fair performance evaluation and compensation system to induce IWB [46,47]. Based on these arguments, this study proposes the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 2:

OJ perceived by organizational members positively affects IWB.

3.3. Organizational Justice and Turnover Intention

Individuals judge whether an organization is fair by comparing their situations with those of others inside and outside the organization engaged in similar occupations. If they perceive that the organization is sufficiently fair, they are motivated to maintain the status quo; however, if they perceive that OJ is low, they make efforts to change their inputs and outputs to the organization and change their perceptions of themselves and others. In addition, if someone feels something is unfair, they try to determine fairness by changing the standard of comparison or comparing it with something else. If they still feel that the process is unfair, they intend to leave the workplace [48].

Fair treatment can reduce the likelihood of an employee leaving an organization because it indicates how much the organization and its managers value an employee’s work efforts [49]. Specifically, when employees perceive that they are being treated fairly in terms of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice, they repay this fair treatment by remaining loyal to their organization and continuing to work there [18]. However, if an employee believes that they are being treated unfairly, the norm of reciprocity may be impaired and they may consider leaving the organization [50].

Previous research has verified that a shared perception of OJ improves employees’ loyalty and emotional attachment to the organization, thereby reducing TI [51,52]. These results suggest that social exchange mechanisms are applicable at the organizational level, as the resulting collective perception of fair treatment encourages employees to remain in their organizations and increases organizational performance. Based on these arguments, this study proposes the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3:

OJ perceived by organizational members negatively affects TI.

3.4. Organizational Commitment and Innovative Work Behavior

OC refers to an employee’s feelings and emotional attachment toward the organization, as well as their willingness to work hard [53]. Since employees with a high degree of OC are more enthusiastic about their work and can achieve the organization’s goals through creative behavior, companies focus on strengthening OC. Battistelli et al. [54] found that the higher the members’ OC, the higher their tendency to actively explore and implement new ideas to help achieve goals. The more committed employees are to achieving specific goals, the more innovative the work behaviors they display. According to previous studies, employees’ OC can strengthen their IWB [54,55]. Accordingly, this study proposes the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 4:

OC positively affects IWB.

3.5. Organizational Commitment and Turnover Intention

Companies focus on optimizing employee productivity to maximize profitability. Based on the premise that productivity is a prerequisite for firm growth, preventing the departure of human resources and maintaining organizational stability have become important management concerns. However, one of the key determinants of employee productivity is OC. OC refers to the extent to which an individual has a sense of unity with their job, wants to work with passion and sincerity for the organization to which they belong, feels proud of the organization, and wants to work there for a long time. Blau and Boal [12] stated that the level of OC perceived by organizational members affects organizational performance, turnover, and absenteeism. A recent meta-analysis also showed that OC significantly reduces voluntary turnover [13]. Accordingly, this study proposes the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 5:

OC negatively affects TI.

3.6. Innovative Work Behavior and Turnover Intention

As competent and marketable individuals, innovative employees could enjoy greater employment opportunities in other organizations [56,57]. Innovative employees are also more likely to receive higher performance evaluations and rewards from their organization. This increases their confidence and motivation to find a better job. This situation can explain why innovative employees intend to leave the organization [15].

However, this perception is changing because of the recently changed management environment and values of organizational members. As long-term employment stability has become difficult to guarantee owing to the spread of performance-based management, diversification of employment types, including non-regular workers, and restructuring, employees have recently become interested in improving their competitiveness. Therefore, if individuals perceive limited growth prospects in their current company, lack opportunities for promotion and learning within the organization, or feel a lack of self-developmental opportunities, their loyalty and dedication to the organization may weaken, ultimately making it easier for them to express their intention to leave. In contemporary corporate environments, organizations recognize their members as key stakeholders in sustainable growth and actively support them in developing innovative capabilities [15]. By providing members with opportunities to use their capabilities and strengthening support for self-development and innovation, organizations can increase employees’ pride in and loyalty to the organization, which, in turn, can reduce TI. Therefore, this study proposes the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 6:

IWB negatively affects TI.

3.7. Mediating Effect

As stated in Hypothesis 3, OJ can reduce TI. OC is a mediating factor in this relationship. In line with this, Freeney and Tiernan [17] and Saks [16], in their research identifying the factors that promote or inhibit OC, highlighted that perceived distributive and procedural justice contribute to enhancing OC. Furthermore, in a meta-analysis of OC, Harter et al. [58] reported a negative relationship between OC and TI. The research findings of Wefald and Downey [59] and Shuck and Wollard [60] demonstrate that OC can be a key antecedent that positively influences employee retention. Therefore, based on the argument that increased levels of OC grounded in OJ can help reduce employees’ TI, this study proposes the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 7:

OC mediates the relationship between OJ and TI.

Even employees who become key talents may have an increased intention to change jobs when they feel that the organization is unfair. However, if people feel that the organization is fair, their intention to change jobs weakens. Thus, IWB serves as a mediator in the relationship between OJ and TI because members who perceive OJ can enhance their IWB, and this reinforced IWB can decrease their desire to leave the organization. If an organization provides a fair and advantageous compensation system and strengthens employees’ pride in and loyalty to the organization through support for creativity and innovation, employees feel higher satisfaction with the organization, which reduces their TI [61]. Therefore, this study proposes the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 8:

IWB mediates the relationship between OJ and TI.

Based on these hypotheses, this study argues that OJ, OC, and IWB have negative relationships with TI. In addition, this study proposes the following hypothesis based on the argument that the relationship between OJ and TI can be partially mediated by OC and IWB.

Hypothesis 9:

OC and IWB sequentially mediate the relationship between OJ and TI.

Figure 1 illustrates the relationships among the variables suggested by the hypotheses.

4. Research Methodology

4.1. Sample and Data Collection

In this study, to verify the hypotheses and research model, an online survey was conducted from August to October 2023 using office employees aged 20 years or older in Korea as the unit of analysis. A total of 346 people participated in the survey. Among the collected questionnaires, 337 were used for the analysis, after excluding nine questionnaires judged to have missing values or response bias. The demographic characteristics of the participants are shown in

Table 1. Sample characteristics.

Variable		N = 337	%
Sex	Male	204	60.5
	Female	133	39.5
Age	<20 s	14	4.2
	20 < 30 s	136	40.4
	30 < 40 s	52	15.4
	40 < 50 s	51	15.1
	>60 s	84	24.9
Education	High school diploma or less	35	10.4
	University graduate	240	71.2
	Graduate school	62	18.4
Marital status	Single	95	28.2
	Married	230	68.2
	Other (e.g., widowed, divorced)	12	3.6
Occupation	Sales	37	11.0
	Administration	132	39.2
	Research and development	27	8.0
	Production/Technical	38	11.3
	Service	47	13.9
	Other	56	16.6
Form of employment	Full-time	307	91.1
	Contractor	30	8.9
Average monthly household income	Less than 2 million KRW	26	7.7
	Between 2 and 3 million KRW	53	15.7
	Between 3 and 4 million KRW	88	26.1
	Between 4 and 5 million KRW	43	12.8
	Between 5 and 6 million KRW	44	13.1
	More than 6 million KRW	83	24.6

.

4.2. Questionnaire Composition

To measure OJ, items from Moorman [19] and Niehoff and Moorman [62] were referenced and adapted. Items from Allen and Meyer’s [29] study were used to assess OC. Additionally, items for measuring IWB were created by referring to Scott and Bruce [32] and Janssen [35]. TI was measured by referring to the items used by Lawler [63] and Bedeian, Kemery, and Pizzolatto [64]. All the questionnaires were answered using five-point Likert scales (

Table 2. Questionnaire items.

Variable		Operational Definition	Item
OJ	Distributive justice	Members’ perception of fairness in the distribution of the organization’s resources.	Promotions, compensation, and other rewards are fairly based on my responsibilities.
			Promotions, compensation, and other rewards are fairly based on my performance.
			Promotions, compensation, and other rewards are fairly based on my efforts.
	Procedural justice	The fairness of the judgment and decision-making procedures in the work context.	Our organization has consistent criteria and principles that determine rewards.
			All the processes and procedures for determining rewards in our organization ensure the participation of organizational members.
			Our organization strictly adheres to the criteria and principles for determining rewards, providing clear justification and evidence.
	Interactional justice	The treatment an individual receives when explaining a decision or conveying information carefully and politely.	Our organization’s leaders strive to eliminate personal biases in decisions on rewards.
			Our organization’s leaders treat organizational members with dignity in decisions on rewards
			Our organization’s leaders maintain an honest approach toward organizational members in decisions on rewards.
OC		The emotional response of members, including psychological states, such as attachment and loyalty, and the degree to which members feel a sense of unity with their organization and are immersed in their role.	I am willing to perform any job to stay in this organization.
			I am willing to exert effort above the average level for the organization to succeed.
			I strongly feel a sense of belonging to our organization.
			The values pursued by our organization are generally aligned with my own values.
IWB		The ability to enhance creativity through the process of developing creative ideas and transforming them into useful products and services and through individual problem-solving skills in the development and implementation of new ideas, strategic processes, products, and services.	I seek out new ideas to solve challenging work-related problems.
			I make efforts to refine new ideas to make them useful.
			I strive to systematically introduce new ideas into work processes.
TI		The intention of an individual belonging to an organization is to give up being a member and voluntarily leave their current job.	At times, I contemplate leaving my current job.
			If I had the option, I would like to work in a different job.
			I am open to changing jobs anytime if a better opportunity in a different field arises.

).

4.3. Data Analysis

The data collected in this study were analyzed using SPSS Statistics 27.0 and AMOS 23.0, which are widely used in social sciences. The analysis methods were as follows. Frequency analysis was conducted to examine the demographic characteristics of the participants and exploratory factor analysis was performed to validate the reliability of the measurement tools. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated to assess the internal consistency of the measurement items. Additionally, the skewness and kurtosis of the key variables were examined to assess their normality, and Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to determine the relationships among the variables. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to validate convergent and discriminant validity, followed by structural equation modeling analysis to test the research hypotheses.

The fit of the confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models were assessed using absolute fit indices, including the chi-square test statistic, TLI, CFI, RMR, and RMSEA.

5. Results

5.1. Validity and Reliability of the Questionnaire

To validate the reliability of the measurement tool, exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Principal component analysis and varimax rotation were employed in the factor extraction and rotation processes. Items with factor loadings below 0.4 were considered unsuitable and removed [65]. Reliability was assessed by calculating the coefficient of internal consistency (Cronbach’s α) for each item. A coefficient of internal consistency above 0.6 was considered acceptable reliability [66].

Table 3. Validity and reliability of the measurement tool.

Factor	Measurement Question	Factor Loading	Eigenvalue	Variance Explained (%)	Cronbach’s α
Distributive and procedural justice	Distributive justice2	0.906	4.80	26.28	0.95
	Distributive justice3	0.893
	Distributive justice1	0.891
	Procedural justice1	0.729
	Procedural justice3	0.723
	Procedural justice2	0.701
Interactional justice	Interactional justice2	0.788	2.75	14.46	0.88
	Interactional justice1	0.711
	Interactional justice3	0.669
OC	OC2	0.853	2.66	14.01	0.84
	OC3	0.750
	OC1	0.749
	OC4	0.607
IWB	IWB2	0.920	2.65	13.95	0.91
	IWB1	0.905
	IWB3	0.877
TI	TI2	0.865	2.38	12.53	0.84
	TI3	0.826
	TI1	0.768
Total		80.22
KMO		0.888
Bartlett’s test of sphericity		X2 (171) = 5601.67(0.000)

presents the results of the exploratory factor and reliability analyses. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) measure, which assesses the adequacy of data for factor analysis, was found to be 0.888, exceeding the minimum criterion of 0.6, indicating good suitability. Additionally, Bartlett’s test of sphericity, assessing the presence of an identity matrix, was significant at 0.05, confirming that the collected data were suitable for exploratory factor analysis. Five factors with eigenvalues exceeding 1.0 were identified.

5.2. Descriptive Statistical and Correlation Analysis of the Variables

To check the general tendency and normality of the main variables (i.e., OJ, OC, IWB, and TI), the mean and standard deviation were calculated, and skewness and kurtosis were examined.

Table 4. Descriptive statistics.

Variable	Mean	SD	Skewness	Kurtosis
OJ	3.15	0.91	−0.44	−0.18
Distributive and procedural justice	3.10	0.98	−0.32	−0.44
Interactional justice	3.25	0.92	−0.46	−0.26
OC	3.58	0.82	−0.48	−0.15
IWB	3.76	0.76	−0.16	−0.36
TI	3.23	0.91	−0.01	−0.36

presents the results.

Next, a Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was performed to confirm the correlations among the key variables; the results are shown in

Table 5. Correlation analysis.

Variable	1	1-1	1-2	2	3	4
1. OJ	1
1.1. Distributive and procedural justice	0.98 ***	1
1.2. Interactional justice	0.90 ***	0.78 ***	1
2. OC	0.52 ***	0.49 ***	0.51 ***	1
3. IWB	0.19 ***	0.19 ***	0.17 **	0.32 ***	1
4. TI	−0.43 ***	−0.41 ***	0.42 ***	−0.48 ***	−0.20 ***	1

** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.

.

5.3. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Measurement Model Validation

To assess the convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement model, standardized regression coefficients, average variance extracted (AVE), and composite reliability (CR) were calculated. Convergent validity is considered appropriate when the standardized regression coefficients and AVE are both above 0.5 and CR is above 0.7 [67]. As presented in

Table 6. Standardized regression coefficients, AVE, and CR for the measurement model.

	Variable	β	AVE	CR
OJ	Distributive and procedural justice	0.87	0.80	0.89
	Interactional justice	0.90
OC	OC1	0.67	0.60	0.86
	OC2	0.76
	OC3	0.84
	OC4	0.76
IWB	IWB1	0.84	0.83	0.93
	IWB2	0.90
	IWB3	0.88
TI	TI1	0.74	0.64	0.84
	TI2	0.90
	TI3	0.78

, the standardized regression coefficients ranged from 0.67 to 0.90, AVE ranged from 0.60 to 0.83, and CR ranged from 0.86 to 0.93, confirming the convergent validity of the measurement model.

Discriminant validity is established when the square root of the AVE is greater than the absolute value of the correlation between the latent variables [68]. As the square roots of the AVEs were higher than the corresponding correlations between the latent variables for each row and column, discriminant validity was deemed satisfactory (

Table 7. Square roots of the correlation coefficients and AVEs between the latent variables.

Variable	OJ	OC	IWB	TI
OJ	(0.89)
OC	0.62	(0.77)
IWB	0.21	0.38	(0.91)
TI	−0.46	−0.55	−0.22	(0.80)

Note: the values in parentheses are the square roots of the AVEs.

).

5.4. Testing Research Hypotheses

To examine the impact of OJ on TI through the mediating effects of OC and IWB, structural equation modeling analysis was conducted (

Table 8. Fit indices of the research model.

	X2	df	TLI	CFI	RMR	RMSEA
Model	102.70 ***	24	0.932	0.951	0.049	0.085

Note: acceptable fit criteria were TLI and CFI values above 0.9, an RMR value below 0.08, and an RMSEA value below 0.10 [69]. *** p < 0.001.

). The fit indices for the model were TLI = 0.932, CFI = 0.951, RMR = 0.049, and RMSEA = 0.085, indicating a satisfactory fit and an acceptable model.

The path coefficients of the research model are presented in

Table 9. Path coefficients of the model.

	Path	B	SE	β	t
H1	OJ → OC	0.58	0.07	0.62	8.87 ***
H2	OJ → IWB	0.22	0.06	0.22	3.80 ***
H3	OJ → TI	−0.18	0.07	−0.18	−2.51 *
H4	OC → IWB	0.41	0.09	0.41	4.80 ***
H5	OC → TI	−0.56	0.09	−0.56	−6.19 ***
H6	IWB → TI	−0.31	0.06	−0.31	−5.25 ***

* p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001.

and Figure 2. OJ was found to have a positive effect on OC (β = 0.62, p < 0.001) and IWB (β = 0.22, p < 0.001) and a negative effect on TI (β = −0.18, p < 0.05). Additionally, OC positively affected IWB (β = 0.41, p < 0.001) and negatively affected TI (β = −0.56, p < 0.001), while IWB negatively affected TI (β = −0.31, p < 0.001). In other words, higher OJ was associated with increased OC and IWB and decreased TI. Thus, Hypothesis 1, positing a positive impact of OJ on OC; Hypothesis 2, positing a positive impact of OJ on IWB; Hypothesis 3, positing a negative impact of OJ on TI; Hypothesis 4, positing a positive impact of OC on IWB; Hypothesis 5, positing a negative impact of OC on TI; and Hypothesis 6, positing a negative impact of IWB on TI, were all supported.

Bootstrapping (2000 iterations) was conducted to estimate the indirect effects and verify the mediating effects of OC and IWB.

Table 10. Verification of the mediating effects.

	Path	B	SE	β
H7	OJ → OC → TI	−0.32	0.06	0.35 ***
H8	OJ → IWB → TI	−0.07	0.03	−0.07 **
H9	OJ → OC → IWB → TI	−0.07	0.02	−0.08 **

** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.

presents the results. An indirect path from OJ to TI via OC (β = 0.35, p < 0.001), an indirect path from OJ to TI via IWB (β = −0.07, p < 0.01), and an indirect path from OJ to TI through OC and IWB sequentially (β = −0.08, p < 0.01) were found to be significant. In other words, OJ not only had a direct impact on TI but also had indirect effects through OC and IWB. Thus, OC and IWB partially mediate the relationship between OJ and TI, confirming that OC and IWB act as dual mediators. These results support Hypotheses 7–9.

6. Conclusions

Unlike in the past, the influence of companies on social development and sustainability is becoming stronger. Now, companies are under pressure to carry out broader social responsibilities rather than simply create economic value and passive social contribution activities. This suggests that the influence of companies on the development and sustainability of our society has been further strengthened. Therefore, the results of this study, which suggests employee retention measures for the long-term development of companies, may provide meaningful implications that will help strengthen the sustainability of our society. The main findings of this study are as follows. First, all the paths in the research model were found to be significant. In other words, higher OJ was associated with increased OC and IWB and decreased TI. Additionally, higher OC was associated with increased IWB and decreased TI, whereas higher IWB was associated with decreased TI. Second, by verifying the mediating effects of OC and IWB, the indirect paths from OJ to TI through OC and IWB were found to be significant. Furthermore, the indirect path from OJ to TI, sequentially mediated by OC and IWB, was significant.

These results have academic and practical implications for organizational managers. From an academic perspective, the significance lies in confirming the dual mediation model of OC and IWB in the process by which OJ reduces TI. Previous studies have often addressed the factors influencing TI by separately examining individual mediating effects. On the other hand, this study presents the importance of a new academic perspective that analyzes the dynamic interaction of organizational-level and individual-level elements by examining the effect of organizational characteristics, such as OJ on TI, through OC and IWB, which represent individual psychological states and behaviors.

Furthermore, the dual mediation model presented in this study has practical implications for designing management strategies. Organizational managers aiming to reduce employee turnover can formulate effective strategies by considering not only the individual effects of OC but also the mediating variables of IWB. Additionally, considering that major changes occur in the sequential path of OJ → OC → IWB → TI, organization managers can adopt a strategy that optimizes effectiveness by considering the interactions between the variables at each stage. Specifically, in order to reduce employees’ TI and increase loyalty, managers should prioritize strengthening OJ. Such an organizational culture can help retain excellent human resources for a long period of time and improve corporate performance by increasing OC and IWB, which are individual psychological characteristics and behaviors. The results of the analysis of the relational influence between organizational-level and individual-level variables presented in this study will help you develop and implement strategies for building organizational culture and human resources that suit your situation and goals. For example, when implementing organizational change and improvement, managers would be able to understand the impact of OJ on employees and design programs to activate OC and IWB, providing various opportunities for engagement to promote OC while simultaneously establishing systems that encourage the presentation of innovative ideas can help maximize organizational members’ willingness to stay.

Despite the academic and practical implications mentioned above, the limitations of this study are as follows. First, this study has limitations in that it predominantly focuses on internal factors as antecedents to TI, neglecting the impact of external factors, such as the external environment and economic conditions, on the outcomes. For instance, external factors, such as rapid economic fluctuations and changes in market conditions, could influence an individual’s intention to leave their job. Analyzing only internal characteristics without adequately considering how these external variables might affect employees could limit the generalizability and applicability of the findings. Therefore, in future research, it is necessary to measure the impact of the external environment on TI among organizational members and analyze it alongside internal factors to clearly elucidate the relationships between the internal and external variables. From a similar perspective, on the level of the economy, there might be other interests in addition to limiting TI. For example, how resources are allocated efficiently, where growing sectors and companies should obtain a good workforce and diminishing companies and sectors should lose it. The process of creative destruction is somewhat different inside companies than in the economy as a whole. However, although this perspective is an interesting topic, it was excluded because it was not within the scope of this study. Second, this study has a limitation in that it did not include economic variables as dependent variables due to difficulties in measuring variables. Additional valuable implications can be provided if measurable economic variables, such as labor productivity, are added and analyzed as dependent variables. Third, the amount of empirical data is somewhat limited (N = 346). In future research, we plan to collect and analyze more data to obtain more accurate and generalizable results.