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Workplace bullying and organizational culture in a post‐transitional country

Merle Tambur (School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia)
Maaja Vadi (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia)

International Journal of Manpower

ISSN: 0143-7720

Article publication date: 12 October 2012

2956

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the study is to explore how organizational culture influences occurrences of workplace bullying in Estonia as a post‐transitional country. Another objective is to produce comprehensive empirical evidence of bullying in the specific cultural context.

Design/methodology/approach

The survey is based on the internationally well‐known research instrument, the Negative Acts Questionnaire Revised (NAQ‐R) (Mikkelsen and Einarsen) and the Questionnaire of Organizational Culture (QOC) (Vadi et al.).

Findings

Victims of bullying: 22 percent – at least one negative act per week; 9.3 percent – at least two negative acts per week; 0.6 percent – by definition (several times per week or daily); 8 percent – by definition (occasionally). The results reveal a clear negative relationship between bullying and task and relationship orientation of organizational culture.

Practical implications

The present study indicates clear factors at the organizational level where the preventive actions are needed to diminish the negative impact of bullying on employee's well‐being and encourages a discussion and further studies of workplace bullying in post‐transitional countries.

Originality/value

In Estonia and in other post‐transitional countries workplace bullying has not yet been studied closely. This study provides a comprehensive approach of workplace bullying related to organizational culture in a post‐transitional country.

Keywords

Citation

Tambur, M. and Vadi, M. (2012), "Workplace bullying and organizational culture in a post‐transitional country", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 33 No. 7, pp. 754-768. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437721211268302

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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