Organizational justice, turnover intentions and resilience in family and non-family businesses in the Portuguese hotel industry

Purpose This paper examines the interplay between organizational justice, turnover intentions and resilience among employees in family and non-family businesses in the Portuguese hotel industry. Specifically, it seeks to (1) compare employees’ perceptions of these constructs across family and non-family businesses, (2) investigate the link between organizational justice and turnover intentions in family businesses and (3) determine whether resilience mediates this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in the socioemotional wealth paradigm, this paper adopts a cross-sectional design using a sample of 205 employees from small and medium-sized hotels in Portugal. Data were collected using an online questionnaire incorporating validated measures of organizational justice, turnover intentions and resilience. Statistical analyses, including t-tests, regression models and mediation analysis, were performed to test the study's hypotheses. Findings The results reveal that employees in family firms exhibit significantly lower turnover intentions and higher resilience levels compared to their counterparts in non-family firms. Organizational justice perceptions negatively correlate with turnover intentions in family firms, with resilience acting as a partial mediator in this relationship. However, organizational justice perceptions do not significantly differ between family and non-family firms. Originality/value This paper contributes to the limited body of literature on family businesses in the hospitality sector by elucidating the mediating role of resilience in the justice-turnover dynamic. It challenges assumptions of inherent fairness advantages in family businesses and highlights the importance of fostering justice and resilience to improve employee retention in the hospitality sector.