Globalization of Workplace Bullying - Essay Example

Globalization of Workplace Bullying al Affiliation: Globalization of Workplace Bullying With the increasing levels of globalization resulting from liberalization of markets, efficient flow of information, and integration of economies, the level of competition in the local market has increased tremendously. These results from the entry of multinational companies which have huge financial base to segment the market, position themselves strategically in the market, and attract customer loyalty towards their products and services. In order for the local businesses to remain competitive, they are putting pressure on the subordinates who are expected to work for even extra hours in order to meet the set target. Workplace bullying is persuasive practice that has been prevalent in many organizations. Workplace bullying involves repeated health harming mistreatment through the form of verbal abuse, offensive conduct with the aim of threatening, humiliating, intimidating, or interfering with other person’s work. Those who bully others try to jeopardize other people’s career and destroy their relationship with others especially the top bosses (Wiedmer, 2011). Statistics indicate that at least thirty seven prevent of employed people are bullied in their workplaces. Majority of them are women. Workplace bullying has been associated with stress-related health problems. For instance, majority of the people who have been bullied show signs of anxiety, panic attacks, depression and even post-traumatic stress (Wiedmer, 2011). If these conditions are not resolved, some of them can lead to suicide. This explains the reason why there has been an increase in the number of people who are committing suicide in the current society. Currently, the local businesses are expanding their operations to different parts of the world in order to reduce the risks and uncertainties associated with concentrating on a single market. Some of the countries where these organizations have established their intermediaries have not developed effective policies to protect the employees. As a result, the top-level managers and supervisors are using these gaps to bully the employees with the aim of maximizing returns from the employees. However, instead of achieving the goals, workplace bullying reduces the morale of the employees. Employees who are bullied by their seniors or their fellow subordinates are unable to unleash their full potential because of anxiety. In addition, they are unsettled, an aspect that creates fear in them. This is even worse when the threat is coming from the boss (Wiedmer, 2011). In such a case, the employee fear losing the job. Therefore, an employee prefers not to report any problem that may be affecting them. This might affect the overall performance of the organization. Nevertheless, this aspect has been fuelled by lack of effective international laws which are to monitors the workplaces of the global businesses. Therefore, the organizations are under no pressure to reduce this vice. This has seen the number of those who are bullied in the workplace increase tremendously. With the increasing levels of globalization, the movement of people across the world has increased immensely. In the meantime, the world is experiencing a high level of interconnectedness. The economy and policies of one country has a major effect on the other. Moreover, liberalization of markets has led to attraction of people from one country to the other. However, some countries do not have effective laws to protect the foreigners. Therefore, people who move from less developed countries to developed countries are becoming highly exposed in the foreign land. This is because they can hardly join the trade unions as some of them have temporary working permits. Therefore, they end up being bullied. Many of these people fear reporting to the authority because they can end up being deported back to their country. As a result, their silence has escalated the worsening conditions (Caponecchia & Wyatt, 2011). However, in many cases, the governments are unaware of such incidences because majority of these people are either undocumented or their work permits have already expired. This aspect has made it hard for the governments to crack a whip on organizations that are allowing this vice to continue. Many of the businesses are looking for ways to reduce the competition in the local market. As a result, majority of them have outsourced their operations to developed countries. This is with the aim of setting up the production base near the source of raw materials. Moreover, the businesses are setting businesses in these areas because there is cheap labor. These countries are experiencing high levels of unemployment. People in these regions are willing to offer their labor at very low costs. Therefore, they are desperate in such a way that even when they are bullied; they are not willing to report to the authority. Furthermore, the governments in these countries do not have well set laws to protect their citizens against being bullied by foreign companies which are only interested in making immense profits. Nevertheless, research indicates that workplace bullying has a major impact on the overall performance of the organization. When bullying emanates from the workmates, it becomes hard for the employees to work as a team. As a result, each employee would like to frustrate the effort by the other. In such a case, the activities become hard to coordinate. Furthermore, bullying causes high turnover rate in the organization (Rayner, Hoel, & Cooper, 2002). Mainly, the employees who leave the organization join the competitor’s business. Therefore, they share the competitive tactics to the other business. This weakens the business in the market. Moreover, it becomes hard to hire new employees because of the bad reputation of the business in the society. However, multinational businesses are not considering these as setbacks. This is because there are very many qualified people who are willing to take up and fill the gaps that have been left by the employees who have left the organizations. Globalization has made many governments to open up their boundaries for foreign investors. Initially many of the countries had no adequate source of taxes. However, with the increasing risks associated with the integration of economies, the countries are looking at different ways of diversifying their sources of revenues. Therefore, multinational businesses have taken this as an opportunity to exploit cheap labor in developing countries. Governments in these regions are only interested in taxes being levied by these companies. Moreover, the political leaders have liaised with the top managers of the organizations. As a result, even when cases of bullying are reported, the managers have political protections. In addition, the governments in these areas have suppressed the trade unions. Therefore, there are no bodies to listen to the grievances by the employees (Caponecchia & Wyatt, 2011). This has worsened the already bad situation. On the other hand, the governments are not willing to interfere with the operations of the companies because they might lose their source of revenues. This would make it hard to support critical operations and projects that are aiming at alleviating poverty. Consequently, the power of the companies in these areas has increased tremendously. The leaders of these organizations feel that there are untouchable. This has increased the level of workplace bullying. Globalization has given an opportunity for businesses to expand their operation to different parts of the world. As a result, in order to serve a large market, the organizations have set up strict deadline and measures in order to ensure that they satisfy the interests of the target market. Employees are required to work extra harder in order to ensure that the organization does not fall off its target. Therefore, those who fail or drag the rest of the team are bullied through insults, threats, etc. Communication has become an important aspect towards the success of any organization. Bullying in the workplace has been associated with poor communication. The victims fail to open up to the top management. This affects their mental stability, an aspect that is replicated in their overall performance in the organization (Wiedmer, 2011). When these cases are many, the organization cannot be able to remain united especially during harsh economic times or when the level of competition in the market intensifies. This can make the business lose its competitive position in the market. However, the top management has already lost touch with the rest of the employees. In order to gain the trust of the employees, they need to employ an open office strategy. This is through ensuring that employees can raise their grievances directly without the use of intermediaries. This is significant in enabling the top-level managers to know the employees or supervisors who bully others. Globalization has increased pressure on the top-level managers in the organization. Initially, the managers used to monitor the operations of the business because it used to cover a very small market segment. However, in the meantime, they have to deal with customers emanating from different parts of the world. Therefore, they have different culture, tastes, preferences, and consumption behavior. These are aspects that the managers have to consider in order to maintain the competitiveness of the business in the market. However, there are internal aspects that they are supposed to deal with. For instance, with the expanding business, the number of employees has increased (Caponecchia & Wyatt, 2011). As a result, wrangles among the subordinates and interdepartmental conflicts have become common. As a result, the managers have become overwhelmed by both external and internal forces. As a result, workplace bullying is being treated as a minor issue. This is despite many workers suffering in the hands of their supervisors or fellow subordinates. Many of the global businesses started as local firms with a small market share. However, with globalization, they have been able to expand their operations to different parts of the world, an aspect that has been replicated in their overall revenue. However, in order to match with the new demands, there has been a need to restructure the operations. Some of the changes include retrenchment, mergers, and acquisition. Through these changes, new positions are being created. As a result, employees are desperate to fill them. This aspect has given supervisors and managers more power to dominate desperate employees. Therefore, in order to frustrate some employees, the top-level managers are bullying the potential candidates in order for them to quit or lose hope of clinching the new positions (Caponecchia & Wyatt, 2011). This is in order to increase the chances of the candidate of choice. Currently, the level of technology has increased tremendously over the past one decade. Many people have access to the internet through their mobile phones, laptops, tablets, or even computers. Furthermore, the entry of social media in the world has revolutionalized the communication sector. In the meantime, people are able to communicate easily. In addition, they are able to share critical information about their activities. Although this aspect has had a positive impact towards the operations of the organization, it has also increased the cases of workplace bullying. Initially, these cases were concentrated in just few organizations, however, some people are seeing as a strategy to suppress competition for top positions. Therefore, through the social media, people have been able to share these tactics. As a result, the vice has become widespread across the world. In addition, the social media has made it hard for the relevant authority to curb the vice because it is hard to track the activities of the people over this platform. Some of the employees are threatening their workmates through these platforms. This is having a major impact on the mental stability of these subordinates (Caponecchia & Wyatt, 2011). Therefore, an urgent intervention from global bodies such as World Trade Union is required in order to reverse the already escalating condition. In conclusion, globalization has had major impact on the success of the businesses across the world. However, it has increased the cases of workplace bullying. This is through creating a serene environment for these vices to take place. With the new opportunities, the top managers are overwhelmed and they are unable to control the vice. In addition, the relevant authorities have fallen short of expectation of the employees. Therefore, they are offering little protection to the exposed workforce. In some cases, they are liaising with the organization with their major focus being the benefits accrued from these businesses. As a result, the fight against this vice needs a holistic approach that will involve all stakeholders. References Caponecchia, C., & Wyatt, A. (2011). Preventing workplace bullying: An evidence-based guide to preventing workplace bullying for managers and employees. Crows Nest, N.S.W: aAllen & Unwin. Rayner, C., Hoel, H., & Cooper, C. L. (2002). Workplace bullying: What we know, who is to blame, and what can we do?. London: Taylor & Francis. Wiedmer, T. L. (2011). Workplace Bullying: Costly and Preventable. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 77(2), 35-41. Read More