Abstract
While workplace bullying is recognised as a serious issue for management concern around the world, the literature on approaches to prevent and manage it in international settings is sparse. This paper advances knowledge on managing workplace bullying by reporting an investigation of how and why ethical leadership may be an effective management style to address this issue across cultures. It draws on Social Learning and Social Exchange Theories to conceptualise interactional justice as a possible mediating mechanism by which workplace bullying can be reduced in the presence of ethical leadership.
The researcher surveyed 636 employees working in an equivalent job context in Australia (N = 306) and Pakistan (N = 330) to determine the cross-cultural effectiveness of ethical leadership-based framing. Through the examination of direct and indirect effects (via interactional justice) of ethical leadership on workplace bullying, the findings indicated that employee exposure to such behaviour is significantly reduced because ethical leaders foster justice at work. This study has implications for improving international management practice in regard to workplace bullying.
1. Introduction
Workplace bullying commonly refers to a situation in which one or more employees of weaker power are regularly and repeatedly exposed to unethical and unreasonable behaviours at work which they find difficult to escape or defend themselves against (Branch, Ramsay, & Barker, 2013; Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf, & Cooper, 2011; Harvey, Treadway, Heames, & Duke, 2009). According to reliable international estimates, up to 18% of the global workforce is exposed to bullying at work (see Nielsen, Matthiesen, & Einarsen, 2010 for a review). Research has also shown detrimental implications of workplace bullying on those exposed to it, in the form of elevated stress levels and increased sickness absenteeism, leading to a decline in organisational productivity and, ultimately, economic output (Bonde et al., 2016; Nielsen & Einarsen, 2012; Samnani & Singh, 2012). The prevalent nature and serious implications of workplace bullying warrant research that advances understanding of the management of such behaviour (Matthiesen & Einarsen, 2010; Nielsen, 2014; Nielsen et al., 2010). A recent study observed: “Such persistence and harm suggests a challenge for organisational leadership to tackle the issue proactively and initiate a cultural change driven by moral norms and enforcement of ethical standards” (Ahmad & Sheehan, 2017, p. 21).
