Ethics and Workplace Conflict: Bullying and Harassment
This paper reviews two prominent ethical issues that arise in workplace conflict: bullying and sexual harassment. Drawing on research from the Journal of Business Ethics, it explores how paternalistic and authoritarian leadership styles foster cycles of bullying behavior, citing data showing that nearly 47 million U.S. workers have experienced psychological aggression at work. The paper then examines sexual harassment, outlining specific prohibited behaviors and employer liability, and illustrates a real-world breach of workplace ethics through the case of former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding company guidelines and applying personal ethical judgment.
- Introduction: Overview of ethics in workplace conflict
- Workplace Bullying and Leadership Style: Paternalistic leadership linked to bullying
- The Cycle of Unethical Behavior: Bullying spreads through social learning
- Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Defining harassment behaviors and employer liability
- A Real-World Ethics Breach: The Mark Hurd Case: HP CEO fired over conflict of interest
- Conclusion: Practical guidance for ethical workplace conduct
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What makes this paper effective
- Grounds abstract ethical concepts in concrete statistics, such as the Washington State Labor & Industries data showing 41.4% of U.S. workers have experienced psychological aggression at work.
- Connects individual misconduct (bullying, harassment) to systemic causes (leadership style), showing that ethical issues are structural rather than merely personal.
- Uses a real corporate case—the Mark Hurd/Hewlett-Packard situation—to illustrate how ethics violations lead to tangible professional consequences.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative case analysis: it selects two distinct but related workplace ethics problems, develops each with supporting evidence and scholarly citation, and draws a unifying conclusion. This structure allows the writer to show breadth of understanding while maintaining analytical focus within each section.
Structure breakdown
The essay opens with a brief framing introduction, then dedicates the bulk of its body to two major issues: workplace bullying (examined through Soylu's research on paternalistic leadership and amplified with national statistics) and sexual harassment (defined through specific behaviors, illustrated with the Hurd case, and linked to employer liability). A short conclusion synthesizes both issues with practical guidance for workers.
Introduction
There are a number of instances in which ethical questions can be raised when conflict occurs in the workplace. This paper reviews and critiques two examples of workplace conflict that raise ethical issues: workplace bullying and sexual harassment.
Workplace Bullying and Leadership Style
An article in the Journal of Business Ethics discusses what can happen in a workplace environment with a "paternalistic" leadership style. Ethical issues can often arise when the workplace features "individualized relationships," "loyalty-seeking," and employees with "formal power" (Soylu, 2011, p. 217). Within the research on workplace environments and conflict, one particular ethical issue stands out: bullying (Soylu, 217). It is almost a given that when bullying occurs, it reflects on the leadership of that workplace. The author explains that there is a proven link between workplace leadership styles and the incidence of "unethical practices"—including bullying (Soylu, 217).
The bottom line is that bullying is not a stand-alone issue in the workplace; rather, the leadership style that encourages or permits bullying is often the source of the real ethical problem. Soylu explains that bullying at work includes "harassing, offending, socially excluding someone or negatively affecting someone's work task" (218). The paternalistic or authoritarian manager uses bullying—or condones it among loyal subordinates—as a "punishment tool" to "deter subordinates from behaving against their will" (Soylu, 219). In turn, employees with abusive managers "are more likely to learn bullying behaviors from their managers via social learning" and then "bully their peers or subordinates" (Soylu, 219).
The Cycle of Unethical Behavior
This creates a cycle of unethical behavior. According to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, a recent study of U.S. workers found that 41.4%—or approximately 47 million workers—have experienced "psychological aggression at work in the past year." Nearly 15 million workers (about 13% of American employees) report experiencing "psychological aggression" (bullying) on a "weekly basis" (Washington State Department of Labor & Industries). Clearly, there is no shortage of serious ethical problems in the American workplace.
Conclusion
Every worker should carefully read the company's workplace guidelines regarding what is considered ethical and what is not, prior to settling into a full-time or part-time position. Moreover, every worker should exercise good judgment and common sense, protecting his or her standing by behaving appropriately and ethically at all times.
Works Cited
Heathfield, Susan M. "Did You Bring Your Ethics to Work Today?" About.com, 2011.
Huhman, Heather. "How to Recognize Sexual Harassment in the Workplace." U.S. News & World Report, 2011.
Soylu, Soydan. "Creating a Family or Loyalty-Based Framework: The Effects of Paternalistic Leadership on Workplace Bullying." Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 99, no. 2, 2010, pp. 217–228.
Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. "Workplace Bullying and Disruptive Behavior: What Everyone Needs to Know." 2011.
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