Exploring the Coping Strategies of Bullying Targets in Organisations Through Abductive Reasoning: An Agent-Based Simulation Approach

Chia-Hao Ho (), Marco Campenni (), Constantine Manolchev (), Duncan Lewis () and Navonil Mustafee ()
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Chia-Hao Ho: National Sun Yat-Sen University
Marco Campenni: University of Exeter Business School
Constantine Manolchev: University of Exeter Business School
Duncan Lewis: University of Plymouth
Navonil Mustafee: University of Exeter Business School

Journal of Business Ethics, 2025, vol. 199, issue 4, No 10, 839-861

Abstract: Abstract Over recent decades, workplace bullying and other forms of ‘negative acts’ have become a phenomenon of global interest. Extant scholarship has recognized the negative effects, which escalating acts of verbal and physical aggression can have on individuals and the wider, ethical infrastructure of organisations. While previous studies have explored the antecedents of such negative acts and proposed various intervention and prevention strategies, there remains a critical need to examine the coping strategies employed by those targeted by bullying, particularly in instances where silence is the chosen response. In this pioneering study, we use primary data from two UK National Health Service trusts and agent-based social simulation, to determine whether it is possible to influence the coping strategies of bullying targets. Our findings suggest that perceived organisational support has a strong effect on changing bullying coping strategies, away from external (solicitors, Court of Law) and towards internal channels (colleagues, managers, etc.). We also find that TU membership can moderately influence a change in bullying coping strategies from doing nothing to taking actions. The article makes a conceptual contribution to the literature on coping strategies as a result of (un)ethical behaviour in organisations, offers methodological innovation and makes recommendations to organisational policymakers.

Keywords: Ethical infrastructure; Bullying; Negative acts; Organisational support; Agent-based social simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-024-05861-2

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