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Speaking up or staying silent in bullying situations: the significance of management control

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  • Juliet MacMahon
  • Michelle O'Sullivan
  • Caroline Murphy
  • Lorraine Ryan
  • Sarah MacCurtain

Abstract

A frequent prescription for providing voice for employees with respect to bullying is a policy supported by a procedural complaint mechanism. Yet research points to a pervasiveness of employee silence in workplaces in situations of workplace bullying. We examine the efficacy of workplace bullying procedures as a voice mechanism for employees in countering bullying and explore the role of management in shaping employee propensity to speak out against bullying utilising procedures. In doing so, we advance knowledge on workplace bullying by using an industrial relations perspective and placing employer control as a conceptual lens. Based on a large survey of nurses in Ireland, the findings demonstrate that managerial actions have significant influence on employees' propensity to utilise bullying procedures. The findings also provide some empirical support for the premise that management seek to use bullying behaviours to constrain employees' contestation of management decision making.

Suggested Citation

  • Juliet MacMahon & Michelle O'Sullivan & Caroline Murphy & Lorraine Ryan & Sarah MacCurtain, 2018. "Speaking up or staying silent in bullying situations: the significance of management control," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5-6), pages 473-491, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:49:y:2018:i:5-6:p:473-491
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12230
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paul Teague & Bill Roche & Deborah Hann, 2012. "The diffusion of alternative dispute resolution practices in Ireland," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 33(4), pages 581-604, November.
    2. David Whiteside & Laurie Barclay, 2013. "Echoes of Silence: Employee Silence as a Mediator Between Overall Justice and Employee Outcomes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(2), pages 251-266, August.
    3. Constanze Eib & Claudia Bernhard-Oettel & Katharina Näswall & Magnus Sverke, 2015. "The interaction between organizational justice and job characteristics: Associations with work attitudes and employee health cross-sectionally and over time," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 36(3), pages 549-582, August.
    4. Premilla D'Cruz & Ernesto Noronha, 2014. "Workplace bullying in the context of organisational change: the significance of pluralism," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 2-21, January.
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    1. Juliet McMahon & Michelle O’Sullivan & Sarah MacCurtain & Caroline Murphy & Lorraine Ryan, 2021. "“It’s Not Us, It’s You!”: Extending Managerial Control through Coercion and Internalisation in the Context of Workplace Bullying amongst Nurses in Ireland," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-18, June.

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