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Chapter 10 Building positive responses to bullying: establishing the framework

Emotions in Groups, Organizations and Cultures

ISBN: 978-1-84855-654-6, eISBN: 978-1-84855-655-3

Publication date: 15 July 2009

Abstract

Perhaps no other workplace issue represents better the harm that can come of neglecting emotional experiences in organizations than workplace bullying. Organizational interventions aimed at the reduction of workplace bullying generally emphasize the identification of negative employee behaviors and the punitive consequences associated with the manifestation of these behaviors at work. While such interventions raise awareness of the unacceptability of workplace bullying, we argue that they generally adopt a “compliance” approach aimed solely at dealing with bullying after it has occurred rather than developing strategic initiatives that proactively promote workplace wellness. We detail a project within the Victorian public sector, which developed a proactive framework for the prevention of workplace bullying based on the principles of positive psychology. The chapter concludes with the view that the Positive Workplace Environment framework we develop is clearly applicable to a much wider range of issues than bullying and that embedding any call for organizational change within such a framework is likely to find resonance with both practitioners and researcher alike.

Citation

McKeown, T., Bryant, M. and Raeder, L. (2009), "Chapter 10 Building positive responses to bullying: establishing the framework", Härtel, C.E.J., Ashkanasy, N.M. and Zerbe, W.J. (Ed.) Emotions in Groups, Organizations and Cultures (Research on Emotion in Organizations, Vol. 5), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 227-243. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-9791(2009)0000005012

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited