Antecedents of ethical infrastructures against workplace bullying

Abstract

Purpose Drawing on the resource-based view, the purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which the level of the organization’s human resource management (HRM) practices, perceived financial resources and organizational size predict the existence of a well-developed ethical infrastructure against workplace bullying. Design/methodology/approach The human resource (HR) managers or the main health and safety representatives (HSRs) in 216 Norwegian municipalities responded to an electronic survey, representing some 50 percent of the municipalities. Findings The level of high-quality HRM practice predicted the existence of an ethical infrastructure against workplace bullying, particularly informal systems represented by a strong conflict management climate. Perceived financial resources did not predict the existence of such ethical infrastructure. Organizational size predicted the existence of policies and having training against bullying. Practical implications This study informs practitioners about organizational resources associated with organization having a well-developed ethical infrastructure against workplace bullying. A high level of high-quality HRM practices seems to be more important for the existence of a well-developed ethical infrastructure against workplace bullying compared to financial resources and organizational size, at least as perceived by HR managers and HSRs. Originality/value This study provides empirical evidence for the importance of having a high level of high-quality HRM practices as predictors of the existence of ethical infrastructure to tackle workplace bullying. An essential finding is that the existence of such an infrastructure is not dependent on distal resources, such as organizational size and perceived financial resources.