Portsmouth Business School

Thesis summary

Workplace bullying remains a prevalent and costly phenomenon in UK organisations despite its high publicity and the widespread implementation of bullying policies. Academic and practitioner research with workplace bullying victims has frequently reported that the response from mangers and Human Resource practitioners (HRPs) to bullying claims can be inconsistent with policy, serve to deny or normalise the behaviour, and in some cases exacerbate the bullying. HRPs are the organisational group that is most likely to be involved in handling cases of bullying, yet they remain an under-researched population in the bullying literature. Research on HRPs responses’ to other forms of organisational dilemmas, such as favouritism in promotion decisions, suggests that the pressures from multiple organisational stakeholders and the lack of credibility and power of HRM in organisations may compromise the objectiveness of their decisions. It is suggested that similar pressures may exist for HRPs when handling bullying cases.

Therefore, using interviews and focus groups, this thesis aims to explore the social, organisational and individual factors that may influence HRPs’ interpretation and response to workplace bullying cases.