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Speaking up or staying silent in bullying situations: the significance of management control
Author(s) -
MacMahon Juliet,
O'Sullivan Michelle,
Murphy Caroline,
Ryan Lorraine,
MacCurtain Sarah
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
industrial relations journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.525
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 1468-2338
pISSN - 0019-8692
DOI - 10.1111/irj.12230
Subject(s) - workplace bullying , complaint , perspective (graphical) , control (management) , psychology , silence , empirical research , premise , public relations , empirical evidence , employee voice , social psychology , applied psychology , political science , management , computer science , economics , philosophy , linguistics , epistemology , artificial intelligence , law , aesthetics
A frequent prescription for providing voice for employees with respect to bullying is a policy supported by a procedural complaint mechanism. Yet research points to a pervasiveness of employee silence in workplaces in situations of workplace bullying. We examine the efficacy of workplace bullying procedures as a voice mechanism for employees in countering bullying and explore the role of management in shaping employee propensity to speak out against bullying utilising procedures. In doing so, we advance knowledge on workplace bullying by using an industrial relations perspective and placing employer control as a conceptual lens. Based on a large survey of nurses in Ireland, the findings demonstrate that managerial actions have significant influence on employees' propensity to utilise bullying procedures. The findings also provide some empirical support for the premise that management seek to use bullying behaviours to constrain employees' contestation of management decision making.