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Abstract Purpose: This article outlines a critical assessment of the notion of justice according to the social-scientific dominant approach to organizational justice (OJ). We argue that the detachment from prescriptive notions of justice, advocated by the dominant approach to OJ, shrinks the ideal of justice to a means at the disposal of organizations in pursuit of their interests. Originality/value: To trigger a critical discussion within the Brazilian academy of business about the inherent instrumental and managerial matters in the production of knowledge in the field of OJ. This work contributes to an ideal reflection on OJ. Design/methodology/approach: This is a theoretical essay based on the articulated consult and interpretation of bibliographic materials regarding the hegemonic concept of OJ obtained through a literature review. Findings: A survey in the OJ literature reveals that the proponents of such a dominant scientific-descriptive approach to justice in the workplace take a dissociation stance from normative notions of justice. In doing so, they favor a descriptive, subjective, functionalist, and positivist understanding of justice. Justice is deflated from its moral value to become an analytical-empirical category, understood as its instrumental-managerial function within the organizational structure. Mainstream OJ studies have nullified the normative ideal of justice by turning it into a resource servile to strategy and organizational performance.

Resumo Objetivo: A proposta deste artigo é apresentar uma apreciação crítica da noção de justiça encapsulada na abordagem de caráter científico-social dominante da justiça organizacional (JO). O argumento que pretendemos endereçar aqui é: o distanciamento de noções prescritivas de justiça, recorrente na abordagem dominante da JO, reduz o ideal de justiça a um meio à disposição das organizações na busca de seus próprios interesses. Originalidade/valor: A possibilidade de desencadear na academia brasileira de administração uma discussão crítica sobre o instrumentalismo e o gerencialismo presentes na produção de conhecimento no campo da JO. Este trabalho contribui para uma reflexão sobre o ideal de justiça nas organizações. Design/metodologia/abordagem: Este é um texto teórico, cuja reflexão se assenta na consulta e na interpretação articulada de material bibliográfico relacionado à concepção hegemônica da JO, obtido por meio de revisão de literatura. Resultados: Um levantamento na literatura de JO revela uma postura de desprendimento assumida pela abordagem dominante em relação às concepções normativas de justiça. Por conta disso, a noção de justiça assumiu um caráter descritivo, subjetivo, funcionalista e positivista. Como categoria analítico-empírica, a justiça é concebida e compreendida por sua função instrumental-gerencialista dentro da estrutura organizacional. Como consequência, os estudos de justiça nas organizações têm sido acusados de converter o ideal de justiça em um recurso servil à prerrogativa da estratégia e do desempenho organizacional. De fato, esse distanciamento anulou e desperdiçou o valor do significado normativo desse ideal.

ABSTRACT Purpose: Our main purpose was to explore how collective job crafting relates to the meaning of work and the meaning-making processes. Originality/value: We explored the job crafting model to study the meaning of work at the collective level. But, while most job crafting studies focus on the relation between workers and tasks, we focused on the collective meaning-making that emerges from workers actively adapting tasks, significance, and relationships in their jobs. As for the practitioners, we alert for a possible trapdoor through which job crafting can fall back into plain hierarchical job design if it is not actively and autonomously engaged by workers. Design/methodology/approach: We used basic qualitative research to combine interpretative analysis (aligned with our topic and theoretical model) and the possibility to look into an interaction scenario (aligned with our objectives). Data was collected though informants' responses to a semi-structured interview and analyzed using content analysis. Findings: We found out that workers shared an understanding of the problems of work meanings and engage in a quest to make sense of their work lives both 1. At the organizational level - arranging work in unorthodox ways -; and 2. At the interpersonal level - adhering to specific roles to attach meaning to work. Our findings shed light on new aspects of the job crafting model, particularly, on the meaning of work centrality to the model in collective job crafting experiences.