The prevention of workplace bullying as a question of human resource management: measures adopted and underlying organizational factors

The aim of this study has been to analyze measures adopted to counteract workplace bullying from the perspective of human resource management. First, the kind of measures that are adopted to prevent bullying were examined. Second, factors affecting the extent of such measures were explored. The introduction of written anti-bullying policies and the provision of information were found to be the most common measures adopted. The policies strongly emphasized the role of supervisors and the immediate superior. Measures to counteract bullying were positively related to the adoption of ‘sophisticated’ human resource practices, previous negative publicity concerning bullying and the presence of a young human resource manager. The results, however, also indicated that imitation seemed to provide an important impetus behind anti-bullying efforts.

The Significance of Gender in the Prevalence, Forms and Perceptions of Workplace Bullying

Workplace bullying has been shown to have severe negative consequences for both the victims and organisations concerned. Thus, the aim of this paper is to further understanding of workplace bullying by in particular exploring the significance of gender in this phenomenon. The focus is on the prevalence, forms and perceptions of bullying, and the extent to which these interactions and perceptions can be understood as gendered. The aim of the paper is twofold: firstly, to describe gender differences in bullying in the male-dominated business world, and, secondly, to explain these differences by discussing how gender is linked to bullying and victimisation. It is argued that the higher prevalence rates reported by women can be seen as the result of an interaction between higher actual exposure rates to negative behaviours, lower perceived possibilities to defend themselves, and less reluctance to classify negative experiences as bullying, which all are mediated by perceptions of power.

Ways of Explaining Workplace Bullying: A Review of Enabling, Motivating, and Precipitating Structures and Processes in the Work Environment

This paper summarizes literature explaining workplace bullying and focuses on organisational antecedents of bullying. In order to better understand the logic behind bullying, a model discussing different types of explanations is put forward. Thus, explanations for and factors associated with bullying are classified into three groups, i.e. enabling structures or necessary antecedents (e.g. perceived power imbalances, low perceived costs, and dissatisfaction and frustration), motivating structures or incentives (e.g. internal competition, reward systems, and expected benefits), and precipitating processes or triggering circumstances (e.g. downsizing and restructuring, organisational changes, changes in the composition of the workgroup). The paper concludes that bullying is often an interaction between structures and processes from all three groupings.

Workplace Bullying among Business Professionals - Prevalence, Organisational Antecedents and Gender Differences (summary section only)

Workplace bullying can be defined as repeated and persistent negative acts that involve a power imbalance and create a hostile work environment. Partly because of the many negative consequences associated with the phenomenon, bullying has recently become the focus of many studies by contemporary organisational researchers. Drawing on a survey, this thesis provides information on the prevalence and forms of bullying among business professionals, a group of employees neglected in previous bullying research. The thesis follows a tradition among Nordic researchers that emphasises the role of the psychosocial work environment in bullying. In particular, it illustrates how high internal competition and a high degree of organisational politics in business life may lead employees to use bullying as a tactic to gain benefits over their colleagues. Furthermore, it explores the significance of gender in bullying in male-dominated work environments, with women tending to be subjected to more negative acts, tending to feel less capable to defend themselves in these situations, and tending to feel less reluctant to classify these experiences as bullying. In addition to the introductory essay, this thesis consists of a book chapter and four articles. These five papers address particular aspects of workplace bullying: the prevalence and forms of bullying, the significance of gender in bullying, and organisational antecedents of bullying.

Organizational Measures Taken against Workplace Bullying: The Case of Finnish Municipalities

Although workplace bullying and other inappropriate treatment in the workplace have received growing attention, especially in Northern Europe, in the past few decades, little research has so far been conducted about the prevention of and intervention in such phenomena. This paper provides a review of different organizational measures typically recommended for preventing and intervening in workplace bullying and other forms of inappropriate treatment in the workplace. These measures include anti-bullying policies, training and information, appropriate job designs, active monitoring, and early intervention. As for intervention, both informal and formal strategies are discussed. Furthermore, the paper reports findings from a study among Finnish municipalities on the extent to which these measures are actually used in Finland, a country that has fairly recently introduced anti-bullying legislation.

Prevalence and Forms of Bullying among Business Professionals: A Comparison of Two Different Strategies for Measuring Bullying

The aim of this study was to analyse the prevalence and forms of workplace bullying among business professionals holding predominantly managerial or expert positions. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted among Finnish professionals with a university degree in business studies. In the study two different strategies for measuring bullying were used and compared. When provided a definition of bullying, 8.8% of the respondents reported that they had at least occasionally been bullied during the past 12 months. However, when using a slightly modified version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire (Einarsen & Hoel 2001), containing a list of 32 predefined negative and potentially harassing acts, as many as 24.1% of the respondents reported that they had been subjected to at least one of the negative acts on a weekly basis. The respondents had experienced predominantly work-related negative acts, e.g. that their opinions and views were ignored, that they were given unreasonable deadlines or that information was withheld. Although the prevalence rates reported with the two strategies varied considerably, there was still consistency between the two strategies in the sense that those who had classified themselves as bullied also reported higher exposure rates to almost all of the negative acts included.

Bullying and organisational politics in competitive and rapidly changing work environments

This paper argues that workplace bullying can in some cases be a form of organisational politics, that is, a deliberate, competitive strategy from the perspective of the individual perpetrator. A cross-sectional study conducted among business professionals revealed that there was a correlation between a politicised and competitive climate and bullying. This finding implies that globalisation, increased pressures for efficiency, and restructuring, which limits the number of management positions and thereby contributes to increased internal competition, may lead to more bullying. The findings have important implications for management, since the possible political aspects of bullying must be taken into account in order to be able to undertake successful prevention and intervention measures.

I konstens namn - scenen som arbetsmiljö : Arbetsplatsmobbning ur skådespelarperspektiv

Workplace bullying is a topic of current interest in Finland. Workplace bullying is found in all professions, including the artistic ones. This thesis aims to explore workplace bullying from the view of the Finland-Swedish actors as a phenomenon that within dramatic art is difficult to define due to the fact that the body and emotions of an actor constitute his or her working tools. The research aims to deepen the understanding of the actors’ working situation, and particularly of the difficulties and problems actors face when exercising their job. The research problems are: What forms of bullying are the actors exposed to? Who is bullying? How is the bullying received by the actors, and what are the possible consequences? The theoretical orientation of this thesis is based upon dialogical philosophy where phenomenology, hermeneutics and dialog meet in an orientation where the unseen is emphasized and made visible. Artistic leadership should be based upon a pedagogic understanding that by an open and equal dialog with the Other recognizes human diversity. The narrative research was undertaken by using an interview guide for the interviews with eleven actors, six women and five men with the voice of a sixth man represented by an article. The interviews, each on average 118 minutes, were recorded and transcribed. The method of discursive analysis was initiated by numerous reflective readings based on analytic induction. The inductive part of the analysis consisted of mapping out the individual experiences of bullying where after the process of finding connecting common features in the extensive material took place. The coded data was then deductively grouped together according to the research problems, and subgroups were formed for deeper description. The research findings show that workplace bullying is an everyday occurrence within the field of dramatic art. Actors are bullied by theatre managers and directors as well as by colleagues and other personnel. The main areas of bullying is depreciation of one’s professional skills, the existing jargon, sexual harassment, collective bullying and bullying because of personal qualities. A significant finding concerning this problem was the existing culture of silence. Even if actually seeing and hearing a colleague being bullied, few stood up to defend the person being bullied because of fear of retaliation. Even the person actually being the object for bullying found it difficult to take any actions.

Organisational Responses to Workplace Harassment: An Exploratory Study

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore what kind of measures personnel managers have taken to intervene in workplace harassment and to explore how organisational characteristics and the characteristics of the personnel manager affect the choice of response strategies. Design/methodology/approach – The study was exploratory and used a survey design. A web-based questionnaire was sent to the personnel managers of all Finnish municipalities and data on organisational responses and organisational characteristics were collected. Findings – The study showed that the organisations surveyed relied heavily on reconciliatory measures for responding to workplace harassment and that punitive measures were seldom used. Findings indicated that personnel manager gender, size of municipality, use of “sophisticated” human resource management practices and having provided information and training to increase awareness about harassment all influence the organisational responses chosen. Research limitations/implications – Only the effects of organisational and personnel manager characteristics on organisational responses were analysed. Future studies need to include perpetrator characteristics and harassment severity. Practical implications – The study informs both practitioners and policy makers about the measures that have been taken and that can be taken in order to stop harassment. It also questions the effectiveness of written anti-harassment policies for influencing organisational responses to harassment and draws attention to the role of gendered perceptions of harassment for choice of response strategy. Originality/value – This paper fills a gap in harassment research by reporting on the use of different response strategies and by providing initial insights into factors affecting choice of responses.

Eigennamen in Pressetexten : Ein Vergleich zweier Online-Zeitungen

Tämä pro gradu -tutkielma vertailee korpuksen avulla erisnimien kvantitatiivista jakautumista luokkiin kahdessa saksalaisessa verkkolehdessä. Työn tavoitteena on selvittää, kuinka erisnimiä voidaan luokitella ja mitä eroja niiden avulla on havaittavissa lehtien raportoinnissa. Laajempana kehyksenä toimii kysymys siitä, voidaanko erisnimiä hyödyntäen hahmottaa lehtien sisältöjä. Korpus on kerätty Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitungin ja Süddeutsche Zeitungin verkkolehtien http: //www.faz.net (FAZ) ja http://www.sueddeutsche.de (SZ) artikkeleista ajalta 2.11.2004-8.11.2004. Valitut sivustot edustavat Saksan arvostetuimpien päivittäisten, koko maan kattavien sanomaleh- tien verkkojulkaisuja. Näistä FAZ:ia pidetään konservatiivisena ja SZ:ia liberaalina lehtenä. Kumpikin korpus käsittelee USA:n presidentinvaaleja syksyllä 2004 ja sisältää hieman alle 30 000 sanaa noin 40 lehtiartikkelista. Aihesidonnaisen korpuksen valinta perustuu erityisesti siihen, että tutkimuksen päämääränä on saada erisnimien avulla selville, miltä osin FAZ ja SZ eroavat toisistaan käsitellessään samaa aihetta. Teoriaosassa käydään läpi saksalaisten verkkolehtien taustaa, työhön liittyviä tekstilingvistisiä teo- rioita sekä erisnimien erikoispiirteitä. Siinä käsitellään myös kolmea aiempaa, saksankielisen eris- nimitutkimuksen luokittelua ja yhtä englanninkielistä, kieliteknologian luokittelua. Näissä havaitut puutteet motivoivat yhdistelemään ja muuttamaan olemassa olevia luokitteluja tätä työtä varten. Uusi luokittelu sisältää neljä yläluokkaa (olentojen, maantieteelliset, instituutioden ja asioiden ni- met), jotka kaikki kattavat kahdesta yhdeksään alaluokkaa. Kummankin korpuksen erisnimet luo- kitellaan tämän perusteella. Kvantitatiivinen analyysi keskittyy ylä- ja alaluokkien vertailuun lehtien välillä. Lisäksi se kattaa sekä kummankin aineiston että pääluokkien frekventimpien sanojen tarkastelun. Vaikka FAZ ja SZ käyttivätkin pääosin samoja erisnimiä raportoinnissaan, voidaan lehtien välillä osoittaa selkeitä eroja alaluokkien kohdalla ja vähäisiä eroja erisnimien jakautumisessa yläluokkiin. chi2 -testin näytti kuitenkin, että erisnimien jakautuminen yläluokkiin on lehtisidonnaista. Siksi voidaan väittää, että muun muassa valittu media vaikuttaa erisnimivalintoihin. Erisnimien frekvenssit antavat ymmärtää, että SZ raportoisi monipuolisemmin kuin FAZ, joka käyttää erisnimiä keskitetymmin. SZ:in aineiston erisnimiä yhdistää eurooppalainen näkökulma vaaleihin, kun taas FAZ pyrkii tuomaan esille tapahtumia USA:n eri osavaltioissa. Niin lehdissä mainitut henkilöiden kuin instituutioden nimet tukevat tätä väitetettä. SZ korostaa maantieteellisesti kaupunkien merkitystä, FAZ osavaltioiden. Saadut tulokset osoittavat, että tämänkaltaisen erisnimitutkimuksen soveltaminen lehtiteksteihin on mahdollista. Luokitellut erisnimet heijastavat osittain käsiteltyjen aineistojen sisältöä ja paljastavat raportoinnin painopisteistä.

Pain among employees : risk factors and consequences

The overall objective of this study was to gain epidemiological knowledge about pain among employee populations. More specifically, the aims were to assess the prevalence of pain, to identify socio-economic risk groups and work-related psychosocial risk factors, and to assess the consequences in terms of health-related functioning and sickness absence. The study was carried out among the municipal employees of the City of Helsinki. Data comprised questionnaire survey conducted in years 2000-2002 and register data on sickness absence. Altogether 8960 40-60 year old employees participated to the survey (response rate 67%). Pain is common among ageing employees. Approximately 29 per cent of employees reported chronic pain and 15 per cent acute pain, and about seven per cent reported moderately or severely limiting disabling chronic pain. Pain was more common among those with lower level of education or in a low occupational class. -- Psychosocial work environment was associated with pain reports. Job strain, bullying at workplace, and problems in combining work and home duties were associated with pain among women. Among men combining work and home duties was not associated with pain, whereas organizational injustice showed associations. Pain affects functional capacity and predicts sickness absence. Those with pain reported lower level of both mental and physical functioning than those with no pain, physical functioning being more strongly affected than mental. Bodily location of pain or whether pain was acute or chronic had only minor impact on the variation in functioning, whereas the simple count of painful locations was associated with widest variation. Pain accounted for eight per cent of short term (1-3 day) sickness absence spells among men and 13 per cent among women. Of absence spells lasting between four and 14 days pain accounted for 23 per cent among women and 25 per cent among men, corresponding figures for over 14 day absence spells being 37 and 30 per cent. The association between pain and sickness absence was relatively independent of physical and psychosocial work factors, especially among women. The results of this study provide a picture of the epidemiology of pain among employees. Pain is a significant problem that seriously affects work ability. Information on risk groups can be utilized to make prevention measures more effective among those at high risk, and to decrease pain rates and thereby narrow the differences between socio-economic groups. Furthermore, the work-related psychosocial risk factors identified in this study are potentially modifiable, and it should be possible to target interventions on decreasing pain rates among employees.

Clustering Users of Online Content Service

Online content services can greatly benefit from personalisation features that enable delivery of content that is suited to each user's specific interests. This thesis presents a system that applies text analysis and user modeling techniques in an online news service for the purpose of personalisation and user interest analysis. The system creates a detailed thematic profile for each content item and observes user's actions towards content items to learn user's preferences. A handcrafted taxonomy of concepts, or ontology, is used in profile formation to extract relevant concepts from the text. User preference learning is automatic and there is no need for explicit preference settings or ratings from the user. Learned user profiles are segmented into interest groups using clustering techniques with the objective of providing a source of information for the service provider. Some theoretical background for chosen techniques is presented while the main focus is in finding practical solutions to some of the current information needs, which are not optimally served with traditional techniques.

Verkkomedian käyttö ja tutkiminen : Iltalehti Online 1995-2001

Marja Heinonen s dissertation Verkkomedian käyttö ja tutkiminen. Iltalehti Online 1995-2001 describes the usage of new internet based news service Iltalehti Online during its first years of existence, 1995-2001. The study focuses on the content of the service and users attitudes towards the new media and its contents. Heinonen has also analyzed and described the research methods that can be used in the research of any new media phenomenon when there is no historical perspective to do the research. Heinonen has created a process model for the research of net medium, which is based on a multidimensional approach. She has chosen an iterative research method inspired by Sudweeks and Simoff s CEDA-methodology in which qualitative and quantitative methods take turns both creating results and new research questions. The dissertation discusses and describes the possibilities of combining several research methods in the study of online news media. On general level it discusses the methodological possibilities of researching a completely new media form when there is no historical perspective. The result of these discussions is in favour for the multidimensional methods. The empiric research was built around three cases of Iltalehti Online among its users: log analysis 1996-1999, interviews 1999 and clustering 2000-2001. Even though the results of different cases were somewhat conflicting here are the central results from the analysis of Iltalehti Online 1995-2001: - Reading was strongly determined by the gender. - The structure of Iltalehti Online guided the reading strongly. - People did not make a clear distinction in content between news and entertainment. - Users created new habits in their everyday life during the first years of using Iltalehti Online. These habits were categorized as follows: - break between everyday routines - established habit - new practice within the rhythm of the day - In the clustering of the users sports, culture and celebrities were the most distinguishing contents. Users did not move across these borders as much as within them. The dissertation gives contribution to the development of multidimensional research methods in the field of emerging phenomena in media field. It is also a unique description of a phase of development in media history through an unique research material. There is no such information (logs + demographics) available of any other Finnish online news media. Either from the first years or today.