Workplace bullying in top management: a constructivist grounded theory study

Abstract

Workplace bullying is a worldwide phenomenon, and the onus of safeguarding the employees from the same, remains with the top managers of the organisation. While exploring this phenomenon, the authors wondered what if the executives within the top management themselves become the target of bullying? Thus, this paper aims to explore aspects of workplace bullying within the top managers of organisations. A constructivist approach was taken for the study, which adopted a constructivist grounded theory method to capture and analyse 13 in-depth interviews with top executives from public and private sector organisations in India. It was found that top managers face intensified bullying. The study explored the antecedents, forms, repercussions, and ways of coping with bullying. Findings show that targets primarily face peer bullying and/or mobbing. This study bridges a gap in the literature which lacks empirical studies on bullying at the top level of organisations.