The Effects of Ethical Climates on Bullying Behaviour in the Workplace
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 will be noted that work-related bullying behaviour significantly mediated the relationship between instrumentality climate and two of the dimensions of organizational commitment. Significant relationships between ethical climate dimensions and organizational commitment can also be detected. By emphasizing a required ethical climate dimension for organizations this study therefore presents in outline a partial strategy to reduce bullying behaviour and to increase organizational commitment. KEY WORDS: bullying, mobbing, ethical climate, organizational commitment, supervisory support
Introduction Within the last decade, researchers have started to emphasize the importance of aggressive behaviour at workplace. The scope of aggressiveness is a broad one, ranging from violence at one end to incivility at the other. Aggressiveness in the workplace is a very important subject, however, and although violence attracts immediate attention because it is more readily visible and evident, subtler forms of unwelcome behaviour like bullying/mobbing or general incivility might be underestimated despite the harm they cause to both organizations and individuals. There is considerable research for identifying bullying as an extreme form of stress
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 will be noted that work-related bullying behaviour significantly mediated the relationship between instrumentality climate and two of the dimensions of organizational commitment. Significant relationships between ethical climate dimensions and organizational commitment can also be detected. By emphasizing a required ethical climate dimension for organizations this study therefore presents in outline a partial strategy to reduce bullying behaviour and to increase organizational commitment. KEY WORDS: bullying, mobbing, ethical climate, organizational commitment, supervisory support
Introduction Within the last decade, researchers have started to emphasize the importance of aggressive behaviour at workplace. The scope of aggressiveness is a broad one, ranging from violence at one end to incivility at the other. Aggressiveness in the workplace is a very important subject, however, and although violence attracts immediate attention because it is more readily visible and evident, subtler forms of unwelcome behaviour like bullying/mobbing or general incivility might be underestimated despite the harm they cause to both organizations and individuals. There is considerable research for identifying bullying as an extreme form of stress