- Title
- Staff perceptions of workplace bullying in a South African higher education institution
- Creator
- Adesemowo, Bosede Olaitan
- Subject
- Bullying in the workplace
- Subject
- Harassment Work environment
- Date Issued
- 2018
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23404
- Identifier
- vital:30539
- Description
- During the past decade bullying has received growing attention in organizational research. Workplace bullying is a complex phenomenon with a variety of situational, dispositional and systemic influences and it has been defined as “status-blind interpersonal hostility that is deliberate, repeated and sufficiently severe as to harm the targeted person's health or economic status” (Namie, 2003:3). A literature overview revealed the destructive consequences of bullying, such as trauma, suicide, depression, anxiety, stress, lowered self-esteem, anger and a lessening of productivity for both the individuals and the organizations concerned. This study presents the perceptions of staff members, in the form of recognized trade union representatives, of workplace bullying at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. The theoretical framework that informed the study comprised the dispositional and the ecological model that emphasised Ubuntu and the cultural values of the University. The research approach was carried out through qualitative and exploratory methods. Through primary and secondary data collection, a purposive sample of semi-structured interviews was collected in the context of the aim and the objectives of the study. It analysed the importance of an anti-bullying policy, management styles, power imbalances, the impact of bullying on staff and institution health and explored the existing supportive systems that deal with grievances procedures. This study concludes with concrete evidence that workplace bullying existed in Nelson Mandela University and there were no policies to effect control over perpetrators’ acts. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations are made regarding a strategy on how management can effectively address bullying complaints without prejudice and discrimination, such as an anti-bullying policy, and creating continuous awareness of the phenomenon.
- Format
- xiv, 145 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Arts
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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NMU School of Governmental and Social Sciences
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