Organizational justice’s influence on alliance performance in Brazilian agricultural cooperatives: the mediating role of affective commitment

Purpose This study investigates how dimensions of organizational justice (distributive, procedural and interactional) influence members’ commitment (affective and calculative) and, consequently, alliance performance in Brazilian agricultural cooperatives. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was adopted, analyzing the perceptions of 240 managers from Brazilian agricultural cooperative alliances. Structural equation modeling (SEM) evaluated the relationships between organizational justice, commitment and alliance performance. Findings Results indicate that procedural and interactional justice significantly enhance alliance performance, primarily through increased affective commitment. Distributive justice exhibited a weaker influence on both commitment and alliance performance. Affective commitment strongly associates with alliance performance, whereas calculative commitment showed no significant effect. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional design and focus on Brazilian cooperatives limit the generalizability of findings. Future studies should explore interactions between types of commitment and contextual factors, extend analysis to other sectors and regions and examine additional mediators and moderators. Originality/value This study addresses the underexplored context of Brazilian agricultural cooperatives, highlighting the critical role of procedural and interactional justice for alliance performance. It also underscores the mediating role of affective commitment in linking interactional justice to alliance performance.