Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-tbj44 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T09:04:59.331Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Managers in the firing line: Contributing factors to workplace bullying by staff – an interview study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Sara Branch ,
Sheryl Ramsay  and
Michelle Barker
Sara Branch
Affiliation:
Centre for Work, Leisure and Community Research, Griffith Business School – Nathan Campus, Griffith University, Brisbane QLD, Australia
Sheryl Ramsay
Affiliation:
Centre for Work, Leisure and Community Research, Griffith Business School – Nathan Campus, Griffith University, Brisbane QLD, Australia
Michelle Barker
Affiliation:
Centre for Work, Leisure and Community Research, Griffith Business School – Nathan Campus, Griffith University, Brisbane QLD, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Workplace bullying is a phenomenon that is attracting increasing interest from researchers throughout the Western world. To date, most of the research into workplace bullying has focused on managers and colleagues as the perpetrators of bullying in the workplace. By contrast, little is known about ‘upwards bullying’, where managers are the targets. We argue that in order to more fully understand workplace bullying as a whole, the phenomenon of upwards bullying requires research attention. In the present study, upwards bullying was explored in interviews conducted with 24 managers from public and private organizations, with the data coded and arranged thematically. Results indicate that potential contributing factors towards upwards bullying include the current work environment, change within organizations and power issues. We recommend that organizations identify the occurrence and processes of upwards bullying as important steps in developing comprehensive workplace bullying policies.

Keywords

powerupwards bullyingworkplace abuseworkplace bullying

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , September 2007 , pp. 264 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Archer, D (1999) Exploring “bullying” culture in the para-military organisation, International Journal of Manpower, 20(1/2): 94–105.Google Scholar
Ashforth, B (1994) Petty tyranny in organizations, Human Relations, 47(7): 755–78.Google Scholar
Ashmore, RD, Jussim, L, Wilder, D and Heppen, J (2001) Conclusion: Toward a social identity framework for intergroup conflict, in Ashmore, RD, Jussim, L and Wilder, D (Eds) Social identity, intergroup conflict, and conflict reduction, 3: 213–50, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Babbie, E (2001) The Practice of Social Research, 9th edn. Belmont, Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.Google Scholar
Bacharach, S and Lawler, E (1980) Power and politics in organizations, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Baron, R & Neuman, J (1996) Workplace violence and workplace aggression: Evidence on their relative frequency and potential causes, Aggressive Behavior, 22(3): 161–73.Google Scholar
Baron, R & Neuman, J (1998) Workplace aggression-The iceberg beneath the tip of workplace violence: Evidence on its forms, frequency, and targets, Public Administration Quarterly, 21(4): 446–64.Google Scholar
Bartol, K, Tein, M, Matthews, G and Martin, D (2005) Management: A Pacific Rim focus, 4th edn. McGraw-Hill Irwin, Sydney.Google Scholar
Bass, B (1990) Bass and Stogdill's handbook of Leadership: Theory, research, and managerial applications, 3rd edn. The Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bassman, E (1992) Abuse in the Workplace, Quorum Books, Westport, CT.Google Scholar
Bernard, HR (2000) Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches, Sage, London.Google Scholar
Braverman, M (1999) Preventing workplace violence: A guide for Employers and Practitioners, Sage, London.Google Scholar
Catania, J (1999) A Framework for Conceptualizing Reporting Bias and Its Antecedents in Interviews Assessing Human Sexuality, The Journal of Sex Research, 36(1): 25–38.Google Scholar
Cook, K, Yamagishi, T and Donnelly, S (1997) Power and dependence in exchange networks: A comment on structural measures of power, in Szmatka, J, Skvoretz, J and Berger, J (Eds) Status, network, and structure: Theory development in group processes, pp293–302, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.Google Scholar
Davenport, N, Distler-Schwartz, R D and Pursell-Elliott, G P (1999) Mobbing: Emotional abuse in the American workplace, Civil Society Publishing, Ames, IA.Google Scholar
Denzin, N K (2001) Interpretive Interactionism, 2nd edn. Sage Publications, London.Google Scholar
Einarsen, S (1999) The nature and causes of bullying at work, International Journal of Manpower, 20(1/2): 16–27.Google Scholar
Einarsen, S (2000) Harassment and bullying at work: A review of the Scandinavian approach, Aggression and Violent Behavior, 5(4): 379–401.Google Scholar
Einarsen, S, Hoel, H, Zapf, D and Cooper, C (2003) The concept of bullying at work: The European tradition, in Einarsen, S, Hoel, H, Zapf, D and Cooper, C (Eds) Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace: International perspectives in research and practice, pp1–30, Taylor & Francis, London.Google Scholar
Einarsen, S and Mikkelsen, G (2003) Individual effects of exposure to bullying at work, in Einarsen, S, Hoel, H, Zapf, D and Cooper, CL (Eds) Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace: International perspectives in research and practice, pp127–44, Taylor & Francis, London.Google Scholar
Einarsen, S and Raknes, B (1997) Harassment in the workplace and the victimization of men, Violence and Victims, 12(3): 247–263.Google Scholar
Einarsen, S and Skogstad, A (1996) Bullying at work: Epidemiological findings in public and private organizations, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5(2): 185–201.Google Scholar
Emerson, RM (1962) Power-dependence relations, American Sociological Review, 27(1): 31–41.Google Scholar
Fontana, A and Frey, J (2003) The interview: From structured questions to negotiated text, in Denzin, N K and Lincoln, Y (Eds) Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials, 2nd edn, pp61–107. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Fossey, E, Harvey, C, McDermott, F and Davidson, L (2002) Understanding and evaluating qualitative research, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 36: 717–32.Google Scholar
Fox, S and Stallworth, L (2005) Racial/ethnic bullying: Exploring links between bullying and racism in the US workforce, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66:438–456.Google Scholar
French, J and Raven, B (1959) The bases of social power, in Cartwright, D (Ed) Studies in social power, pp150–67. The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Gorman, P (1999) Bullying of victims by the present injustices in the system. Paper presented at the Beyond Bullying Association Responding to Professional Abuse Conference, St. Johns College, 2-3 07, University of Queensland.Google Scholar
Hadikin, R and O'Driscoll, M (2000) The bullying culture: cause, effect, harm reduction, Books for Midwives, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Hammond, V and Holton, V (1993) The scenario for women managers in Britain in the 1990s, International Studies of Management and Organization, 23(2): 71–92.Google Scholar
Hoel, H (1997) Bullying at work: a Scandinavian perspective, Journal of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, 1: 51–59.Google Scholar
Hoel, H and Cooper, C (2001) Origins of bullying: Theoretical frameworks for explaining workplace bullying, in Tehrani, N (Ed) Building a culture of respect: Managing bullying at work, pp3–20, Taylor & Francis, London.Google Scholar
Hoel, H, Cooper, C and Faragher, B (2001) The experience of bullying in Great Britain: The impact of organizational status, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 10(4): 443–65.Google Scholar
Hoel, H, Einarsen, S and Cooper, C (2003) Organisational effects of bullying, in Einarsen, S, Hoel, H, Zapf, D and Cooper, CL (Eds) Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace: International perspectives in research and practice, pp145–62. Taylor & Francis, New York.Google Scholar
Hoel, H and Salin, D (2003) Organisational antecedents of workplace bullying, in Einarsen, S, Hoel, H, Zapf, D and Cooper, CL (Eds) Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace: International perspectives in research and practice, pp203–218. Taylor and Francis, London.Google Scholar
Jones, S (1985) Depth interviewing, in Walker, R (Ed), Applied Qualitative Research, pp45–55. Gower, Aldershot, Hampshire.Google Scholar
Keashly, L (2001) Interpersonal and systemic aspects of emotional abuse at work: The target's perspective, Violence and Victims, 16(3): 233–268.Google Scholar
Keashly, L and Jagatic, K (2003) By any other name: American perspectives on workplace bullying, in Einarsen, S, Hoel, H, Zapf, D and Cooper, CL (Eds) Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace: International perspectives in research and practice, pp31–61. Taylor & Francis, London.Google Scholar
Lewis, D and Sheehan, M (2003) Introduction: Workplace bullying: theoretical and practical approaches to a management challenge, International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 4(1): 1–10.Google Scholar
Leymann, H (1996) The content and development of mobbing at work, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5(2): 165–84.Google Scholar
Leymann, H and Gustafsson, A (1996) Mobbing at work and the development of Post-traumatic Stress disorders, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5(2): 251–275.Google Scholar
Liefooghe, A and Davey, K (2001) Accounts of workplace bullying: The role of the organization, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 10(4): 375–92.Google Scholar
Lincoln, Y and Guba, E (1985) Naturalistic Inquiry. Sage Publications, London.Google Scholar
Magley, V, Hulin, C, Fitzgerald, L, and DeNardo, M (1999) Outcomes of self-labeling sexual harassment, Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(3): 390–402.Google Scholar
Mayhew, C, McCarthy, P, Chappell, D, Quinlan, M., Barker, M. and Sheehan, M (2004) Measuring the extent of impact from occupational violence and bullying on traumatised workers, Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 16(3): 117–134.Google Scholar
McCarthy, P (1996) When the mask slips: Inappropriate coercion in organisations undergoing restructuring, in McCarthy, P, Sheehan, M and Wilkie, W (Eds) Bullying: From backyard to boardroom, pp47–66. Millennium Books, Alexandria, N.S.W.Google Scholar
McCarthy, P, Henderson, M, Sheehan, M and Barker, M (2002) Workplace bullying: Its management and prevention, Australian Master OHS and Environment Guide 2003, pp519–49. CCH Australia Limited, Sydney.Google Scholar
McCarthy, P, Sheehan, M and Kearns, D (1995) Managerial styles and their effects on employees' health and well-being in organisations undergoing restructuring. School of Organisational Behavior & Human Resource Management, Brisbane, Q.L.D.Google Scholar
Mechanic, D (1962) Sources of power of lower participants in complex organizations, Administrative Science Quarterly, 7: 349–64.Google Scholar
Miles, MB and Huberman, AM (1994) An expanded sourcebook: Qualitative data analysis, 2nd edn. Sage Publications, London.Google Scholar
Neuman, WL (2006) Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches, 6th edn. Pearson, New York.Google Scholar
Patton, M (2002) Qualitative research and evaluation methods, 3rd edn. Sage Publications, London.Google Scholar
Ramsay, S and Troth, A (2002) Application of social psychological perspectives on workplace bullying: A group level analysis. Proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management Conference (ANZAM), 4-6 12, Beechworth, Victoria.Google Scholar
Randall, T (1992) Abuse at work drains people, money, and medical workplace not immune, Journal of the American Medical Association, 267: 1439–1440.Google Scholar
Raven, B (1993) The bases of power: origins and recent developments, Journal of Social Issues, 49(4): 227–42.Google Scholar
Rayner, C (1997) The incidence of workplace bullying, Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 7: 199–208.Google Scholar
Rayner, C (1999) From research to implementation: Finding leverage for prevention, International Journal of Manpower, 20(1/2): 28–38.Google Scholar
Rayner, C and Cooper, C (2003) The black hole in ‘bullying at work’ research International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 4(1): 47–64.Google Scholar
Rayner, C and Hoel, H (1997) A summary review of literature relating to workplace bullying, Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 7: 181–191.Google Scholar
Rayner, C, Hoel, H and Cooper, C (2002) Workplace Bullying: What we know, who is to blame, and what can we do? Taylor & Francis, London.Google Scholar
Rigby, K (2001) Bullying in Schools and in the workplace, in McCarthy, P, Rylance, J, Bennett, R and Zimmermann, H (Eds), Bullying: From backyard to boardroom, 2nd edn, pp1–10. The Federation Press, Sydney, N.S.W.Google Scholar
Rylance, J (2001) Reaffirmation processes; A study of the experience of responding to workplace abuse. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Queensland, Brisbane.Google Scholar
Salin, D (2001) Prevalence and forms of bullying among business professionals: A comparison of two different strategies for measuring bullying, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 10(4): 425–41.Google Scholar
Salin, D (2003a) Bullying and organisational politics in competitive and rapidly changing work environments, International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 4(1): 35–46.Google Scholar
Salin, D (2003b) Ways of explaining workplace bullying: A review of enabling, motivating, and precipitating structures and processes in the work environment, Human Relations, 56(10): 1213–1232.Google Scholar
Sheehan, M (1996) Case studies in organisational restructuring, in McCarthy, P, Sheehan, M and Wilkie, W (Eds), Bullying: From backyard to boardroom, pp67–82. Millennium Books, Alexandria N.S.W.Google Scholar
Sheehan, M (1999) Workplace bullying: Responding with some emotional intelligence, International Journal of Manpower, 20(1/2): 57–69.Google Scholar
Sheehan, M, Barker, M and McCarthy, P (2004) Analysing metaphors used by victims of workplace bullying, International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 5(1): 21–34.Google Scholar
Smith, P (1997) Commentary III. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 7: 249–255.Google Scholar
Taylor, SJ and Bogdan, R (1998) Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource, 3rd edn. John Wiley & Sons, Brisbane.Google Scholar
Tehrani, N (2003) Counselling and rehabilitating employees involved with bullying. in Einarsen, S, Hoel, H, Zapf, D and Cooper, CL (Eds) Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace: International perspectives in research and practice, pp270–84. Taylor and Francis, London.Google Scholar
Vartia, M (1996) The sources of bullying: Psychological work environment and organizational climate, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5(2): 203–14.Google Scholar
Zapf, D (2004) Negative social behavior at work and workplace bullying. Paper presented at the Fourth International Conference on Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace, Bergen, Norway.Google Scholar
Zapf, D and Einarsen, S (2001) Bullying in the workplace: Recent trends in research and practice: An introduction, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 10(4): 369–373.Google Scholar
Zapf, D and Einarsen, S (2003) Individual antecedents of bullying: Victims and perpetrators, in Einarsen, S, Hoel, H, Zapf, D and Cooper, CL (Eds) Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace: International perspectives in research and practice, pp. 165–184. Taylor and Francis, London.Google Scholar
Zapf, D and Einarsen, S (2005) Mobbing at work: Escalated conflicts in organizations. In Fox, S and Spector, P (Eds) Counterproductive work behavior: Investigations of actors and targets, pp 237–270, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Zapf, D, Einarsen, S, Hoel, H and Vartia, M (2003) Empirical findings on bullying in the workplace, in Einarsen, S, Hoel, H, Zapf, D and Cooper, CL (Eds) Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace: International perspectives in research and practice, pp103–26. Taylor and Francis, London.Google Scholar
Zapf, D, Knorz, C and Kulla, M (1996) On the relationship between mobbing factors, and job content, social work environment, and health outcomes, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5(2): 215–37.Google Scholar