Al-Karim Samnani

Embracing New Directions in Workplace Bullying Research A Paradigmatic Approach

This article examines the workplace bullying literature through different paradigmatic lenses. To date, the workplace bullying literature has been dominated by the functionalist perspective, which currently represents the pervading paradigmatic approach in organizational research. The author destabilizes the functionalist approach by examining the workplace bullying literature through three alternative paradigms, namely, interpretivism, critical management theory, and postmodernism. This provides an illustration of the different ways in which workplace bullying can be perceived, understood, and researched. Moreover, because alternative paradigmatic lenses draw upon varying theoretical and methodological approaches, paradigmatic analysis can offer a more complete and comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon. The author uses these lenses to ground workplace bullying in paradigmatically driven theoretical frameworks, while using these theoretical frameworks to propose research questions that can direct us toward gaining a more composite body of scholarship.

“Is this bullying?” Understanding target and witness reactions

Purpose – This paper seeks to theorize the interpretations and reactions of targets and witnesses to subtle forms of bullying.Design/methodology/approach – A theoretical approach was used to understand target and witness interpretations and reactions. Learned helplessness theory and social influence theory are drawn upon.Findings – This paper revealed that subtle forms of bullying behaviors will be more likely to induce confusion from both targets and witnesses. Targets will tend to be more confused in response to subtle bullying and attribute environmental factors for the behaviors. This will decrease their likelihood to react against the bullying. Witnesses will also experience greater confusion and will tend to side with the perpetrator, particularly when the perpetrator is an important organizational member (e.g. supervisor). Witnesses may internalize the behaviors, leading to greater permeability of the bullying through the organization.Originality/value – This paper sheds light on two important and ...

Workplace bullying and employee performance An attributional model

Research has found that the most prevalent forms of bullying in the workplace are ambiguous and difficult to detect. As a result, bullying often results in subjective interpretations of the behavior thereby inducing various possible attributions by targets. Based on findings about the misattribution of bullying behavior, we extend current conceptualizations of workplace bullying and investigate the role of targets’ attributions in explaining the relationship between workplace bullying and key dimensions of targets’ performance. We propose that different attributions can have differential effects on targets’ work performance. This contributes to the current debate and conflicting views about the effects of workplace bullying on work performance. We develop a theoretical model of bullying attributions that integrates key contextual factors across multiple levels. We propose that bullying can paradoxically result in positive effects on target performance under certain conditions. This theoretical model serves as a roadmap for future research in this area.

The effects of socialized charismatic leadership on climate, mistreatment, and work attitudes

Despite the growing attention to interpersonal mistreatment at work, few studies have explored the role of socialized charismatic leadership as a possible deterrent of such behavior. Drawing from s...