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This paper relates research on workplace bullying to the prevention measures which an organisation might consider implementing. The implications of collecting research information only from targets of bullying is highlighted, and discussed in relation to identifying bullies and targets. Incidence studies are used to track environmental patterns and processes. Included in such studies is the recent UK UNISON survey, where patterns of consistency are found between targets and non‐targets in attitude questions regarding the causes of bullying, but strong divergence of response regarding other parameters. The effectiveness of actions taken by targets of bullying is also reported. These find that reports of bullying stopping as a result of action by targets are rather rare, and advising targets to discuss the situation with the bully without professional support (such as from a personnel officer or union representative) is probably misguided as retaliation from the bully is likely.

This article provides a brief overview and commentary on theoretical approaches discussed in the articles by Einarsen, Liefooghe and Olafsson, and Rayner in the theoretical section of this special issue. In highlighting the difficulty in defining bullying, this article suggests that definitional boundaries ought to be all encompassing and open for discussion as a way of further developing the debate about workplace bullying. A discussion of methodological approaches, including those used by the authors in the theoretical section then follows. The article suggests that a collaborative approach between employers and researchers would help further address the problem of workplace bullying.

This article provides a brief overview of some of the applied approaches being taken in four countries to deal with workplace bullying and serves as a preamble to the articles by Archer, Crawford, Lewis, Sheehan and Zapf in this section. The work undertaken by the Beyond Bullying Association in Australia and that of the Anti Bullying Centre in Dublin is discussed. Swedish legislation that addresses bullying and the ways that employers, unions, university researchers and voluntary sector organisations attempt to deal with bullying in the UK follows. The article concludes by mentioning the likely legal and economic implications for organisations and society.

Introduces workplace bullying and examines the nature of actions associated with it as well as recent UK data on incidence. Develops a cost‐benefit argument for organizations to deal with the issue and comments that despite the overwhelming benefits, few organizations appear to have workplace bullying on their agenda. Highlights evidence that bullying is the single largest category identified in employment litigation connected to stress at work ‐ even though it may not be specifically named. Concludes that more knowledge is needed in this area and that it is an ideal focus for academics and practitioners to investigate jointly.

Literature suggests that mentally disordered offenders are considerably more difficult to treat and slower to respond to psychological treatment. Less is known about the particular factors that can contribute to this resistance. A more comprehensive understanding of the factors that treating psychologists feel can promote or inhibit progression through rehabilitative treatment may increase the likelihood of positive clinical outcomes. This paper aims to discuss these issues.

Four practising psychologists employed within a male medium- and low-secure forensic unit in the North East of England took part in a semi-structured interview. Their views, opinions and experiences regarding patient progression through treatment pathways were recorded, transcribed and analysed.

This thematic analysis identified that numerous patient-specific parameters influenced perceived progression, and environmental and external factors had a significant impact on the patients’ expressed attitude towards treatment.

Alongside issues of motivation and engagement, participants identified external factors that influence perceived treatment success with their forensic patients.

Additional research is needed to identify the factors that are the most influential in promoting or inhibiting perceived and actual progress. This will hopefully optimise treatment engagement and the motivation to change problematic behaviours in mentally disordered offenders.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze cross-national and cross-cultural similarities and differences in perceptions and conceptualizations of workplace bullying among human resource professionals (HRPs). Particular emphasis was given to what kind of behaviors are considered as bullying in different countries and what criteria interviewees use to decide whether a particular behavior is bullying or not.

HRPs in 13 different countries/regions (n=199), spanning all continents and all GLOBE cultural clusters (House et al., 2004), were interviewed and a qualitative content analysis was carried out.

Whereas interviewees across the different countries largely saw personal harassment and physical intimidation as bullying, work-related negative acts and social exclusion were construed very differently in the different countries. Repetition, negative effects on the target, intention to harm, and lack of a business case were decision criteria typically used by interviewees across the globe – other criteria varied by country.

The results help HRPs working in multinational organizations understand different perceptions of negative acts.

The findings point to the importance of cultural factors, such as power distance and performance orientation, and other contextual factors, such as economy and legislation for understanding varying conceptualizations of bullying.

The African continent is filled with a textured history, vast resources, and immense opportunity. The landscape of higher education on such a diverse continent is extensive and complex. In this review of the landscape, four primary topics are evaluated. The historical context is the foundational heading, which briefly covers the evolution from colonization to independence and the knowledge economy. The second main heading builds upon the historical context to provide an overview of the numerous components of higher education, including language diversity, institutional type, and access to education. A third section outlines key challenges and opportunities including finance, governance, organizational effectiveness, and the academic core. Each of these challenges and opportunities is interconnected and moves from external influences (e.g., fiscal and political climate) to internal influences (e.g., administrative leadership and faculty roles). The last layer of the landscape focuses on leveraging higher education in Africa for social and economic progress and development. Shaping a higher education system around principles of the public good and generating social benefits is important for including postsecondary institutions in a development strategy.

This chapter provides a retrospective and prospective exploration of some of the challenges faced by doctoral education, specifically as they relate to advanced studies of educational administration (EA).

It applies a critical stance to the current status of knowledge in the ‘leadership field’ and the intellectual underpinnings that inform the studies available as reference for doctoral students.

Nested within wider changing conditions for university and doctoral education, it is argued that the published field as currently constituted suffers from both banal and ‘non-wicked’ leadership orthodoxies that might lead to doctoral stagnation.

Reasons are suggested and prospects considered for revitalising scholarship for the upcoming generation of EA alumni, scholars and practitioners.

This chapter grapples with questions of agency in the development of African higher education, with a special focus on the Association of African Universities (AAU), an organization outside of formal education policymaking on the continent. Through the lens of rhetorical institutionalism, findings illustrate how the AAU has adopted and adapted competing institutional logics to exert influence over development policymaking. Next, I will discuss how systems of persuasion were cultivated and symbols employed to establish the legitimacy of the organization in a heterogeneous institutional field that includes universities, development agencies, nongovernmental organizations, supranational arrangements, and the influence of international financial institutions. This enabled the AAU to extend institutional logics into African higher education. This case study seeks to upend the pervasive crisis narrative that perpetuates both the impotence of African institutions and the stewardship of outside development elites. Finally this chapter considers the implications of this critical case study for development discourse and practice.