Exploring the role of climate for conflict management and high involvement work practices as moderators in the workplace bullying and work-related depression link

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how organizational practices such as climate for conflict management (CCM) and high involvement work practices (HIWPs) reduce the negative consequences of workplace bullying (WPB) on work-related depression (WRD).

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 468 full-time employees working in the financial sector in Türkiye by applying a student-recruited sampling strategy. The aforesaid relationships were assessed using SPSS AMOS 29.

Findings

The results indicated that WPB leads to WRD; however, this effect is alleviated by employee perceptions of strong CCM and the administration of HIWPs in workplace settings.

Research limitations/implications

Collecting data from a single source poses the risks of self-report data bias; however, in the future, data may be collected from multiple sources to lessen this potential threat. The study was a cross-sectional study, which makes it hard to make casual inferences; longitudinal data would be more beneficial to establish casual associations.

Practical implications

Business owners and managers can draw from the study results to create a work environment perceived by employees to be fair when dealing with conflicts and the negative vices of bullying in workplaces. Also, organizations may administer practices that empower employees’ confidence and competence to deal with negative persecution in organizations.

Originality/value

Few studies, if any, have focused on examining the moderating effect of CCM and HIWPs in the association between WPB and WRD. Drawing upon conservation of resources theory, the study stands out as it tests the moderating effect of CCM and HIWPs in the connection between WPB and WRD. The findings contribute to the few available studies tackling organizational factors relevant to alleviating the negative consequences of WPB in organizations.

Citation

Ekmekcioglu, E.B., Nabawanuka, H., Mohammed Alhassan, Y., Akparep, J.Y. and Ergenç, C. (2023), "Exploring the role of climate for conflict management and high involvement work practices as moderators in the workplace bullying and work-related depression link", International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-06-2023-0114