Workplace Bullying is a rather new name for an old problem. WPB goes by other names including workplace aggression, abuse, harassment (Martin, W. , & LaVan, H. 2010), mobbing, victimization, violence, emotional abuse in the workplace, and antisocial work behaviors (Matthiesen S, Einarsen S. , 2010). While there are slight differences between the problems just mentioned, the organizational outcome is the same. There is a hefty expense to the targets and the organization that these things happen in.

This phenomena is not just an issue in the United States alone, it is a global problem and is seen throughout industrialized countries. Unfortunately there is no universally accepted definition of WPB so it is difficult to know the actual incidence rates and if they are increasing or decreasing (Martin, W. , & LaVan, H. 2010). According to Roscigno, Lopez, and Hodson, (2009) research shows that each year as many as 10% to 20% of employees are subjected to WPB (Roscigno, V. J. , Lopez, S. H. , & Hodson, R. 2009) while Martin and LaVan, (2010) contend that “there is no generally agreed upon prevalence statistic” (Martin, W. , & LaVan, H. 2010). While workplace violence can affect employees, managers, customers, visitors, family members of the employed and others, this paper covers just the bullying that goes on between workers (including supervisors and subordinates) of an organization. Many studies have attempted to estimate the causes, effects and costs to organizations. This paper will cover some of the findings in these areas. Of course a paper on WPB would not be complete without some statistics.

Definition The combined definition of workplace violence (WPV) from OSHA (OSHA, 2002) (OSHA, 2012), Gale Encyclopedia of Small Business (“Gale encyclopedia of,”), the State of Wisconsin Department of Administration (State of Wisconsin Department of Administration, 2003) and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) (“Bullying in the,” 2005) is violence or the threat of violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site and causes physical or emotional harm to customers, visitors, coworkers, or managers. It can nclude: threats or threatening behavior, verbal abuse, physical assaults, homicide, harassment, intimidation, acts of aggression, theft, stalking, arson, sabotage, bombing, hostage taking, kidnapping, extortion, suicide, abuse, shaking of fists, destroying property, throwing objects, pranks, psychological trauma or any expression of intent to inflict harm. Any behavior that demeans, embarrasses, humiliates, annoys, alarms or verbally abuses a person is workplace violence. This includes words, gestures, intimidation, bullying, swearing, insults, condescending language, spreading rumors, arguments or any other inappropriate activities.

It can even escalate to physical attacks such as hitting, shoving, pushing, kicking, rape, arson and murder. Workplace Bullying Institute defines WPB as “… repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators…” It further highlights the forms it takes as verbal abuse, offensive conduct/behaviors (including nonverbal which are threatening, humiliating, or intimidating) and work interference such as sabotage which prevents work from getting done (Workplace Bullying Institute, 2012).

Salin’s definition is “…repeated and persistent negative acts towards one or more individual(s) which involve a perceived power imbalance and create a hostile work environment. Bullying is thus a form of interpersonal aggression or hostile, anti-social behavior in the workplace” (Salin, 2003. p. 1214). The History of WPB While doing a search on the internet for the history of abuse in the workplace will tell you that it began in the 1980’s with the postal shootings, a deeper look in the past will show abuse of employers and managers began much earlier than that.

I speculate that it has probably been going on since employment began but for the purpose of show, I will turn to child labor during the industrial revolution from 1750 to 1850. Many children (as young as four or five years old) were forced to work in extremely dangerous conditions and only earned 10-20% of that of an adult male. They often suffered threats, beatings and long hours of exhaustive work. In one case the employer of a child “threatened to ‘knock out his brains’ if he did not get up to work, and pushed him to the ground, breaking his thigh” (Venning, 2010).

Let us not assume that this only happened then or with vulnerable children. Fast-forwarding to August 20, 1986 we find that a part-time letter carrier shot and killed 14 people then shot himself. This spurred a lot of media attention and studies by the National Safe Workplace Institute began by 1993 (Agadoni, 2012). The U. S. was first introduced to the term workplace bullying in 1998 by Gary and Dr. Ruth Namie (Namie, 2003). Causes and highly potential victims Direct personal supervision is considered by Roscigno, Lopez and Hodson (2009) as one possible cause of WPB by a superior.

They contend that this position is contradictory in that it is impossible for managers to constantly watch over the performance of all their subordinates at all times. This supposedly leaves them with not much more than threats and abuse as motivational tools. These factors then cycle more abuse as the managers in such a position “increasingly turn to despotic tactics” (Roscigno, V. J. , Lopez, S. H. , & Hodson, R. , 2009). Roscigno, Lopez and Hodson (2009) also recognize the chaotic organization as another possible cause of WPB by a superior.

This chaos is a managerial failure to coordinate an effective and smoothly running system. When the organization structure is ineffective, managers may try to get their employees to get the work done through the use of bullying their subordinates. Poor organizational structures might produce bullying due to confusion, uncertainty, and contradiction. Bullying can, in some cases, be blamed on organizational culture and deeply subordinate positions (Roscigno, V. J. , Lopez, S. H. , & Hodson, R. , 2009).

An article printed in a periodical in the UK said that “the main reason for the high incidence is weak management” (Even personnel staff, 2004). Another cause for WPB is the lack of effectiveness of workplace guardians such as labor unions and bureaucratic procedure. Their effects against bullying seem to be nonexistent. Even labor unions cannot seem to prevent even some of the most flagrant bullying behaviors. This is seen as an absence of capable guardians and could be another contributing factor as there seems to be no ramifications for abuse in the workplace.

Supervisors and employees have no constraints and are free to abuse and disrespect employees and co-workers as a control tactic (Roscigno, V. J. , Lopez, S. H. , & Hodson, R. , 2009). Roscigno, Lopez and Hodson (2009) note that people with positional or relational weaknesses (such as women, minorities or those with insecure jobs) is at the highest risk for WPB. That does not mean that highly paid employees are exempt. They speculate that bullying in a high paying position is most likely provoked by competition or jealousy.

Matthiesen S, Einarsen also conclude that many studies have shown that WPB is probably “related to role conflicts and role ambiguity, reduced work control, a heavy work load, organizational restructuring, change of management, “destructive management” styles, organizational climate, and interpersonal conflicts” (Matthiesen S, Einarsen S. , 2010). Their opinion is that bullying should be regarded as a “multifaceted phenomenon with causes to be found on different explanatory levels” (Matthiesen S, Einarsen S. 2010). After analyzing 45 litigated cases, Martin and LaVan (2010) show that at least one precipitating factor was to blame for 37. 8% of the cases. Other causes they found were employees who feel powerless, organizational changes, changes in management, restructuring/downsizing/crises, a new manager in the workplace, changes in composition of work group, reengineering and delegation of control to semiautonomous teams and cost cutting and promotion of the perpetrator (Martin, W. , & LaVan, H. 2010).

Roscigno, Lopez and Hodson (2009) say that “organizational culture is often cited as a factor contributing to the emergence of bullying” (Roscigno, V. J. , Lopez, S. H. , & Hodson, R. , 2009). Effects of WPB: The Personal Costs There are many effects of WPB including both physical and psychological effects to the target and even damaging effects to their interpersonal and family relationships. Whether the bullying is done purposefully or without knowing it, the effects are still just as damaging. Some damage can even be irreversible.

Some of the psychological effects and symptoms are mild to severe depression, burnout, post-traumatic stress disorder, prolonged-duress stress disorder, alcohol abuse, suicide (Martin, W. , & LaVan, H. 2010), inability to concentrate, shock, anger, feelings of frustration and/or helplessness, increased sense of vulnerability, loss of confidence, impaired ability to make decisions, a sense of isolation, panic or anxiety (especially about going to work), loss of self-confidence and loss of self-esteem (“Bullying in the,” 2005).

Physical symptoms can include an inability to sleep, loss of appetite, stomach pains and headaches (“Bullying in the,” 2005). Shame and psychological despair usually go on long after the bullying comes to an end (Roscigno, V. J. , Lopez, S. H. , & Hodson, R. , 2009). It is also important to note the effects on the witnesses. These can include fear, emotional exhaustion, general physical and mental stress and post-traumatic stress disorder, (Martin, W. , & LaVan, H. 2010). Many of the witnesses of WPB will leave an organization (Gallant, 2010), taking with them valuable experience and company knowledge.

While not all people will have the same reaction under these stressful conditions, what is universal is that it decreases production. This is can be a hefty expense to the organization (Oppermann, 2008). Effects of WPB: The Organizational Costs The humiliation and distress caused by WPB can interfere with job performance and create an unpleasant working environment. The organization pays for this abuse in the form of increased absenteeism and turnover, reduced productivity for targets and witnesses, decreased motivation, reduced job satisfaction (Matthiesen S, Einarsen S. 2010) and loyalty, lost group cohesion, poor communication, increased work accident rates and errors (Gallant, 2010), decreased morale, decreased corporate image, decreased customer confidence, and poorer customer service (“Bullying in the,” 2005). It also negatively affects clients, customers, business associates, family members and friends. Some targets might spend as much as half their work day trying to protect themselves from further harassment/abuse (“The workplace bully,” 2008).

Other organizational costs that directly affect the financial aspect are costs for employee assistance programs (“Bullying in the,” 2005), rehabilitation costs, increased insurance and workers’ compensation premiums (Gallant, 2010), costs for recruiting and training new employees, temporary staff for absent employees (Fisher-Blando, 2008), leaves of absence or long-term disability, difficulty attracting new employees, negative publicity, lost customers (“The workplace bully,” 2008), wasted management time spent trying to rectify the situation or engaging mediators or counselors, fines for breaches of occupational health and safety legislation due to unsafe work conditions, civil and criminal actions, settlement costs, litigation costs, and other employer liabilities (“Factors and impact,” 2006). While there is no way to count the exact financial losses, an organization should be aware that some settlements for workplace harassment have been awarded as high as tens of thousands of dollars in lost wages to a target and hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and penalties (“The workplace bully,” 2008).

One study shows the calculated cost of bullying to an Australian business with 1,000 employees is anywhere from $0. 6 to $3. 6 million per year (Matthiesen S, Einarsen S. , 2010). This shows that the costs of bullying in the workplace runs into billions of dollars per year in industrialized countries (Matthiesen S, Einarsen S. , 2010). The Productivity Commission in Australia determines that the cost of such abuse to their economy is about $14. 8 billion a year (Gallant, 2010). Another study done by the Workplace Violence Research Institute, estimated an aggregate cost of workplace violence to U. S. employers at more than $36 billion (“Gale encyclopedia of,”) annually.

Gale encyclopedia of small business under the heading Workplace violence says that “…legal expenses and penalties have become a source of particular concern in recent years. Today, victims of workplace violence are recovering substantial jury verdicts and hefty settlements. ” (“Gale encyclopedia of,”) According to the State of Wisconsin Department of Administration, various reports indicate that the cost of WPV on American businesses is as much as $30 billion a year (State of Wisconsin Department of Administration, 2003). Statistics of WPB O’Moore and Lynch (2007) found that 6% felt they had been bullied frequently on the job and 17% were bullied occasionally. The workplace bully, (2008) claims that 21% of all workers have been targeted by bullies at some point and bullying is three times more likely to happen at the workplace than sexual harassment. Martin and LaVan (2010) found that the supervisor/ manager was the perpetrator 55. 6% of the time and the victim 11. 1% while Field (2006) claims that 90% of the bully cases were a manager bullying a subordinate and only 2% were subordinate(s) bullying managers. 72% of non-bullied said they worked in a friendly atmosphere compared to only 47% of those who were bullied and 39% of the bullied claimed to work in a hostile environment (O’Moore, M. , & Lynch, J. , 2007). 10% thought about suicide and approximately 1% actually attempted it (Field, 2006). These numbers are staggering.

Gallant (2010) says that men make up the majority of bullies at 60%, Martin and LaVan (2010) say that 73. 3% were and Field claimed that more than 50% of the bullies were female (Field, 2006). 71. 1% had only one bully and 60% had one victim (Martin, W. , & LaVan, H. 2010) showing that there are cases involving multiple bullies and/or multiple targets in some situations. 80% involved behavior solely on the job (Martin, W. , & LaVan, H. 2010) showing that it can follow a target outside of the workplace. As far as people trying to get the matter settled prior to resorting to litigation, the union was used in 18. 2% of the cases and arbitration in 6. 7%. Also duty of fair representation was mentioned in 2. 3% and unfair labor practices in 2. 2%.

As far as company policies against the behavior, in 15. 6% of the cases there was a code of conduct against it, 11. 1% had a bullying policy and 2. 2% referred to an ethics policy (Martin, W. , & LaVan, H. 2010). O’Moore and Lynch (2007) found that 71% of all respondents claim that a contributing factor in WPB was poor management style (O’Moore, M. , & Lynch, J. , 2007). Martin and LaVan (2010) say that nearly 33. 1% regarded bullying as a managerial style. They claim that their “findings suggest that bullying is perceived as a legitimate managerial style…” Conclusion “Bullying occurs as long as the target experiences it as such…” (Matthiesen S, Einarsen S. , 2010).

Workplace Bullying can be physical, psychological or both and can affect employers, managers, subordinates, families and customers. Poor management and poor organizational structures, culture and climate are just a few of the contributors that have been blamed (Matthiesen S, Einarsen S. , 2010) (Martin, W. , & LaVan, H. 2010) (Roscigno, V. J. , Lopez, S. H. , & Hodson, R. , 2009). Workplace guardians seem to have no effect on WPB (Roscigno, V. J. , Lopez, S. H. , & Hodson, R. , 2009). While people with positional or relational weakness seem to have the highest risk for WPB, even highly paid employees and managers can be targets too (Roscigno, V. J. , Lopez, S. H. , & Hodson, R. , 2009) showing that anyone can become a target.

Productivity can greatly decrease and the organization’s group can crumble. This phenomenon is not just an issue in the United States but is a worldwide problem. There is no business, large or small, that is immune to such behavior. References: Agadoni, L. (2012). The history of workplace violence. Retrieved from http://www. ehow. com/about_6361885_history-workplace-violence. html Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety, (2005). Bullying in the workplace. Retrieved from CCOHS website: http://www. ccohs. ca/oshanswers/psychosocial/bullying. html Even personnel staff have been victims of bullying at work. (2004). Community Care, (1542), 54. http://ehis. ebscohost. com. library. esc. edu/ehost/detail? id=d5623a44-d5aa-4807-bf79-b41798dd0c1a%40sessionmgr110&vid=2&hid=103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=sih&AN=14779862 Factors and impact of workplace bullying. (2006, March 15). Retrieved from http://www. stopbullyingsa. com. au/factors. asp Field, T. (2006, March 25). Uk national workplace bullying advice line history and statistics. Retrieved from http://www. bullyonline. org/workbully/worbal. htm Fisher-Blando, J. L. (2008). Fisher-blando. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Phoenix)Retrieved from http://www. workplaceviolence911. com/docs/20081215. pdf Gale encyclopedia of small business: Workplace violence. (n. d. ). Retrieved from