Journal of Business Ethics (2009) 86:273–295 DOI 10.1007/s10551-008-9847-4
Ó Springer 2008
The Effects of Ethical Climates on Bullying Behaviour in the Workplace
¨ Fusun Bulutlar ¨ ¨ Ela Unler Oz
ABSTRACT. Various aspects of the relationship between ethical climate types and organizational commitment have been examined, although a relationship with the concept of bullying, which may be very detrimental to an organization, has not attracted significant attention. This study contributes to the existing research by taking the effects of bullying behaviour into consideration. The aim of this study is to explore the effects of bullying behaviour upon the relationship between ethical climate types and organizational commitment. It
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Leymann (1996, p. 168) gave the operational definition of mobbing (bullying) as:
Psychological terror or mobbing in working life involves hostile and unethical communication, which is directed in a systematic way, by one or a few individuals mainly towards one individual who, due to mobbing is pushed into a helpless or defenceless position, being held there by means of continuing mobbing activities. These actions occur on a very frequent basis (statistical definition: at least once a week) and over a long period of time (statistical definition: at least 6 months of duration).
Most of the studies related to the constructs explored in this study were completed in Western countries, reflecting Anglo/individualized cultural values (Yousef, 2002). Due partly to this, differences in the range of variables and the mobility of literature across different cultures (Glazer and Beehr, 2005) still remains relatively unexplored. Bearing this in mind, we will examine whether ethics is related to employee attitudes and behaviour, and investigate the factor structure of the Ethical Climate Questionnaire developed by Victor and Cullen (1988) within Turkish culture.
Definitions of bullying During the
The survey was performed in 2010 involving members of the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association (ECOA). They focused on the evolution of business ethics by analyzing six other studies over a span of two-and-a-half decades. Members of the survey were ethics manager, but members on the previous studies were regular employees and management. The results of the analysis of the previous studies showed that ethics programs in companies during a time span of the 1980’s through the 1990’s was used to show social responsibilities and not necessarily to enforce it throughout the company. It showed that ethics programs now that companies follow ethical laws and they are motivated to be ethical. Another result of the study showed that ethics training at companies has increased since the 1990’s due to the passing of Sarbanes-Oxley and other laws directed at ethics. The passing of the laws in the early 2000’s has led to ethics being a major component of everyday
Past research has discovered that managers react to ethical dilemmas according to the situation. If specific values that are related to ethical behavior can be identified, they would offer strong tools for managers who want to retain high standards of ethical behavior in their society.
Bullying and harassment within the workplace can be attributed to a myriad of factors. The work
Ethical behavior is behavior that a person considers to be appropriate. A person’s moral principals are shaped from birth, and developed overtime throughout the person’s life. There are many factors that can influence what a person believes whats is right, or what is wrong. Some factors are a person’s family, religious beliefs, culture, and experiences. In business it is of great importance for an employee to understand how to act ethically to prevent a company from being sued, and receiving criticism from the public while bringing in profits for the company. (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2010) Business ethics is when ethical behavior is applied in an business environment, or by a business. There are many
On February 14th 1999, Silvia Braun, a policewoman from Bavaria/Germany did not appear in her office in Munich. Some of her colleagues found the 22-year-old woman later in her car on a service area on a highway she had shot herself with her own rifle. Braun, an ambitious and determined woman, had no money problems, she did not suffer from any mental illness and she was not in love with someone who did not return her feelings. What was it that had made life unbearable for her? She had been being bullied for almost one year. She felt being humiliated, intimidated and sexually molested by her superior. This case shows how disastrous and dangerous bullying in the workplace can be.
Article one” "Individual and situational predictors of the workplace bullying: why do perpetrators engage in the harassment of others" (Hauge, Skogstad & Einarsen, 2009). Authors: Lars Johan Hauge, Anders Skogstad, & Stale Einarsen. Article two: " does trait anger, trait anxiety, or organisational position moderate the relationship between
Bullying is a typical common topic among schools. What has changed is the academic perception of bullying. What was once seen as a common process of growth for students is now seen as a detrimental process that can have lasting negative effects on all parties involved. This essay briefly examines the history of research on the effects of bullying, it then identifies the current state of research as well as public perception. I conclude with intervention strategies that are suggested with this context in mind.
Heeman, V. (2007). Workplace Bullying: A Distinct, Interpersonal, and Communicative Phenomenon. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association.
WORKPLACE BULLY Bullying is repeated irrational behaviour that could reasonably be known to be humiliating, intimidating, terrifying or belittling to a person, or group of persons, which creates a risk to health and safety. Repeated refers to the ongoing nature of the behaviour and can refer to a range of different types of behaviour over time, It does not refer to the specific type of behaviour, which may vary. Bullying may comprise a blend of behaviours. Bullying and harassment at work may be defined as repeated behavior, actions and practices directed at one or more workers, which may be carried out intentionally or unconsciously, but which are unwanted targets causing humiliation, offence, and anguish, and which may interfere with job performance and causing an unpleasant working environment.
Workplace bullying can manifest itself in a number of ways, including threats to professional status, threats to personal standing, isolation, overwork and destabilization (Baack, 2012, ch.7, p.20). The impact on the individual being bullied can range from mildly unpleasant to unbearable. Targets can suffer from negative health effects such as anxiety, sleep disruption, loss of concentration, shame
Hanley , Anne O'Rourke, highlights the effects of workplace bullying to be intimidating, emotionally damaging persistent interpersonal abusive behaviour directed at one or several individuals. Workplace bullying is essentially an array of anti-social behaviours practiced by an individual to intimidate their victims within their workplace "over a period of time" or routinely. Furthermore, bullying is catalysed by "internal violence", a form which can vary in meaning (Timo, Fulop and Ruthjerse (2004). Within the European Union (EU) and Australia, bullying is commonly characterised as a "lower-level" violence, whereas in the United States, terms such as harassment, mistreatment, or emotional abuse are preferred (Mayhew and Chappell 2007). Additionally, Hanley and ORourke suggest "horizontal" violence and "mobbing" (group bullying) as other forms of bullying within the workforce to explain the "hostile" and "aggressive" nature groups of individuals abuse their victims with. Hanley and O'Rourke continue that for an 'event' to be acknowledged as workplace bullying, "consensus is that a target's exposure to such behaviours must occur frequently; that the behaviour is repeated over a period of time, and that it is not a one-time/ one-off incident"(Caponecchia and Wyatt 2011; Parzefall and Salin
The purpose or aim of every organization is to establish such an organizational culture and behavior among its employees that helps in achievement of ideal ethical standards. There are certain determinants that play a critical role in helping achieve the right organizational culture. Some of these include personal moral intensity, social ties, codes of ethics, locus of control and Machiavellianism. These
Bullying often associated with one kid being cruel to another kid, evolved beyond the playground, and move into adulthood. Unfortunately, bullying has emerged into the workplace, aptly called workplace bullying. Bullying can happen at the same organizational rank (employee to employee) or involve hostility by a supervisor toward an employee (Baack, 2012). Conversely, workplace bullying is the repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that includes threatening, humiliating, or intimidating behavior, work sabotage and verbal abuse (WBI, 2014). The article, Workplace Bullying: Costly and Preventable by Terry Wiedmer (2011), presents information about workplace bullying including
In their personal and professional lives, people can and, unfortunately, sometimes do go against their moral and ethical standards. Ethical standards are what it means to be a good person, the social rules that govern our behavior. Ethics in business is essentially the study of what constitutes the right and wrong or the good or bad behavior in the workplace environment. A business is an organization whose objective is to provide goods or services for profit. The organization has a group of people that work together to achieve a common purpose. The moral challenges that these men and women face each day along with a whole range of problems that could occur, are why ethics plays such an important
(Horvat, B., & Pagon, M., 2012, Para. Abstract) says, “creating a “mobbing safe” work environment can be a real challenge; to achieve it, a better understanding of related construct is necessary”. Workplace mobbing in its own can be detrimental to any organization and it’s even worse when employers are made aware of actions such as workplace mobbing and no nothing at all. According to (Horvat, B. & Pagon, M. 2012, pg. 160), “Leymann (1990), describes workplace mobbing as psychological, terror in a workplace caused by individual or a group on a daily basis for at least six months, until the victim leaves the organization or becomes in capable of practicing of his or her profession”.