IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v36y2022i3p539-556.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Workplace Bullying and Intensification of Labour Controls in the Clothing Supply Chain: Post-Rana Plaza Disaster

Author

Listed:
  • Md Shoaib Ahmed

    (University of Essex, UK)

  • Shahzad Uddin

    (University of Essex, UK)

Abstract

This article examines workplace bullying and the intensification of labour controls in the clothing supply chain. It appears that extreme forms of bullying are deployed to intensify labour controls, including locking workers in, frequent wage cuts, setting moveable targets and carrying out intense observations. The context of this study is surplus value-starved clothing factories in Bangladesh. Global supply chains’ production regimes and the absence of state protections and trade unions enable factory managers to systematically deploy bullying tactics to achieve production targets. Drawing on Burawoy’s works, this article advances the debate of how workplace bullying is impacted by wider structural conditions with managerial strategies of coercion in factories. It is argued here that when the state intervenes in the factory only to protect and preserve capitalists’ interests, explicitly and implicitly, coercive strategies of control turn into extreme bullying on the shopfloor.

Suggested Citation

  • Md Shoaib Ahmed & Shahzad Uddin, 2022. "Workplace Bullying and Intensification of Labour Controls in the Clothing Supply Chain: Post-Rana Plaza Disaster," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(3), pages 539-556, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:36:y:2022:i:3:p:539-556
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170211038205
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09500170211038205
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/09500170211038205?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Helge Hoel & David Beale, 2006. "Workplace Bullying, Psychological Perspectives and Industrial Relations: Towards a Contextualized and Interdisciplinary Approach," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 44(2), pages 239-262, June.
    2. Francis Green, 2004. "Work Intensification, Discretion, and the Decline in Well-Being at Work," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 615-625, Fall.
    3. Javed Siddiqui & Shahzad Uddin, 2016. "Human rights disasters, corporate accountability and the state," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(4), pages 679-704, May.
    4. Nikolaus Hammer & Réka Plugor, 2019. "Disconnecting Labour? The Labour Process in the UK Fast Fashion Value Chain," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 33(6), pages 913-928, December.
    5. Michael Harvey & Darren Treadway & Joyce Heames & Allison Duke, 2009. "Bullying in the 21st Century Global Organization: An Ethical Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(1), pages 27-40, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Al-Karim Samnani, 2013. "The Early Stages of Workplace Bullying and How It Becomes Prolonged: The Role of Culture in Predicting Target Responses," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 119-132, March.
    2. Gabriele Giorgi & Jose Leon-Perez & Alicia Arenas, 2015. "Are Bullying Behaviors Tolerated in Some Cultures? Evidence for a Curvilinear Relationship Between Workplace Bullying and Job Satisfaction Among Italian Workers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 227-237, September.
    3. Paulo Aguiar Do Monte, 2011. "Job Dissatisfaction And Labour Turnover:Evidence From Brazil," Anais do XXXVIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 38th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 135, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    4. Md Sultan Mahmood & Nilima Haque Ruma & Toufiq Ahmed & Yukari Nagai, 2021. "Exploring Suppliers’ Approaches toward Workplace Safety Compliance in the Global Garment Sector: From Bangladesh Perspective," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-31, March.
    5. Georges Steffgen & Philipp E. Sischka & Martha Fernandez de Henestrosa, 2020. "The Quality of Work Index and the Quality of Employment Index: A Multidimensional Approach of Job Quality and Its Links to Well-Being at Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-31, October.
    6. Elizabeth Quinlan & Susan Robertson & Ann-Marie Urban & Isobel M Findlay & Beth Bilson, 2020. "Ameliorating Workplace Harassment among Direct Caregivers in Canada’s Healthcare System: A Theatre-Based Intervention," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(4), pages 626-643, August.
    7. Dragoș Adăscăliței & Jason Heyes & Pedro Mendonça, 2022. "The intensification of work in Europe: A multilevel analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(2), pages 324-347, June.
    8. Elizabeth Quinlan & Susan Robertson & Tracey Carr & Angie Gerrard, 2020. "Workplace Harassment Interventions and Labour Process Theory: A Critical Realist Synthesis of the Literature," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 25(1), pages 3-22, March.
    9. Matthew D Rablen, 2012. "The promotion of local wellbeing: A primer for policymakers," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 27(3), pages 297-314, May.
    10. Alexander Matros & Vladimir Smirnov & Andrew Wait & Helen Zhang, 2023. "Microfoundations of work intensification and burnout," Working Papers 2023-02, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    11. Bentley, Tim A. & Catley, Bevan & Cooper-Thomas, Helena & Gardner, Dianne & O’Driscoll, Michael P. & Dale, Alison & Trenberth, Linda, 2012. "Perceptions of workplace bullying in the New Zealand travel industry: Prevalence and management strategies," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 351-360.
    12. Ian Clark & James Hunter & Richard Pickford & Huw Fearnall-Williams, 2022. "How do licensing regimes limit worker interests? Evidence from informal employment in Britain," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(1), pages 431-449, February.
    13. M. Agovino & A. Rapposelli, 2017. "Regional Performance Trends in Providing Employment for Persons with Disabilities: Evidence from Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(2), pages 593-615, January.
    14. Weixia Lyu & Yanan Zheng & Camila Fonseca & Jerry Zhirong Zhao, 2020. "Public-Private Partnership Transformation and Worker Satisfaction: A Case Study of Sanitation Workers in H-City, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-13, July.
    15. Jonathan Morris & Jean Jenkins & Jimmy Donaghey, 2021. "Uneven Development, Uneven Response: The Relentless Search for Meaningful Regulation of GVCs," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(1), pages 3-24, March.
    16. Matilal, Sumohon & Adhikari, Pawan, 2020. "Accounting in Bhopal: Making catastrophe," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    17. Lott, Yvonne, 2017. "Stressed despite or because of flexible work arrangements? Flexible work arrangements, job pressure and work-to-home conflict for women and men in Germany," Working Paper Forschungsförderung 046, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf.
    18. Nikolaus Hammer, 2023. "Searching for institutions: upgrading, private compliance, and due diligence in European apparel value chains," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 29(3), pages 371-386, August.
    19. Francis Green & Alan Felstead & Duncan Gallie & Golo Henseke, 2022. "Working Still Harder," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(2), pages 458-487, March.
    20. Argyro Avgoustaki & Hans T. W. Frankort, 2019. "Implications of Work Effort and Discretion for Employee Well-Being and Career-Related Outcomes: An Integrative Assessment," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(3), pages 636-661, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:36:y:2022:i:3:p:539-556. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.