Bullying in a multinational company in Malta : a triangulated study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the problem of bullying among employees in one multinational company in Malta. All the employees present filled in a questionnaire and a random sample of 13 employees were chosen to participate in semi-structured interviews. The occurrence of bullying, its affects on victims, the employees' opinions, thoughts and feelings were assessed. This study indicated that although the majority of employees who said that they had not experienced bullying in the past year, there is a minority who have been subjected to various types of bullying behaviour, including verbal abuse, subjected to intimidating behaviour, given unsuitable tasks or unreasonable workloads, refused leave or time off, subjected to lies and false accusations, attempts at promotion were blocked, and other forms of bullying. Bullying is a serious phenomenon which leaves various negative affects on the victims. Very little research has been carried out on the topic locally. Therefore, certain recommendations have also been brought forward at the end of the study.