Workplace Bullying Essay

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Workplace bullying is complex in nature and is often a misunderstood phenomenon. Workplace bullying is a situation in which one or more persons systematically and over a long period of time perceive themselves to be on the receiving end of negative treatment on the part of one or more persons, in a situation in which the person(s) exposed to the treatment has difficulty in defending themselves against this treatment (Matthiesen and Einarsen 2007, p. 735). Einarsen et al. (2003) define workplace bullying as “harassing, offending, socially excluding someone, or negatively affecting someone’s work” where the behaviour is repeated over a six month period causing the target to feel inferior or be placed in an inferior position (Einarsen et al., …show more content…

In order to produce this theoretical framework the organization must first understand the elements or contributing factors of workplace bullying. The first factor of workplace bullying can be seen through the abuse of power, which is linked with both the organizational structure, and the formal position of the offender, where the authoritative position is commonly associated with the bullying behavior (Branch et al., 2013). The second factor being perceived threat, some people result to workplace bullying because they perceive another person as a threat to them personally, or a threat to their position. The third element being organizational culture. Culture within a workplace is displayed through its, beliefs and values. Positive culture encourages individuals to adopt appropriate behaviour. Whereas, an organization with negative culture will find that inappropriate behaviour and attitude are seen as normal and therefore, may lead to bullying within the …show more content…

Workplace relationships and motivations is a major aspect faced by all organisations, the level of motivation of a person within an organisation will determine how they perform or contribute as an employee to achieve the goals set out by the organisation. Like bullying, motivation is another complex phenomenon. Motivation is a set of psychological processes, it is generally considered to be an internal state that initiates and maintains goal directed behaviour (Mayer, 2011). There are many factors of motivation which determine the level of motivation for any person within an organization. Similarly, there are factors that affect the loss of motivation. A major factor that affects the loss of motivation is workplace bullying. There have been several studies conducted to explore the relationship between motivation and employee performance. It is evident that when an employee is motivated towards a task, their performance of that task would be at its peak therefore, contributing to achieving the organizational goals. Chughtai et al. (2010) study has identified organizational contribution and commitment as the result of motivation that contributes towards workplace performance. Chughtai et al. further explains that the concept of motivation is explained through employees’ needs satisifaction and when employees are motivated they are

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