Title: Bullying and organisational politics in competitive and rapidly changing work environments

Authors: Denise Salin

Addresses: Department of Management and Organisation, Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, PO Box 479, FIN-00101 Helsinki, Finland

Abstract: This paper argues that workplace bullying can in some cases be a form of organisational politics, that is, a deliberate, competitive strategy from the perspective of the individual perpetrator. A cross-sectional study conducted among business professionals revealed that there was a correlation between a politicised and competitive climate and bullying. This finding implies that globalisation, increased pressures for efficiency, and restructuring, which limits the number of management positions and thereby contributes to increased internal competition, may lead to more bullying. The findings have important implications for management, since the possible political aspects of bullying must be taken into account in order to be able to undertake successful prevention and intervention measures.

Keywords: workplace bullying; workplace aggression; mobbing; organisational behaviour; organisational politics; internal competition; business professionals; restructuring; organisational change; work environment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMDM.2003.002487

International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 2003 Vol.4 No.1, pp.35-46

Published online: 18 Jul 2003 *

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