Bullying in global organizations: A reference point perspective

Why does bullying occur in an organization? How will the globalization of an organization facilitate the process and encourage bullying to occur in that organization? What can be done to reduce the level/impact of bullying in an organization that is in transition? These are the focal questions addressed in this paper. Reference Point Theory (RPT) is applied to the bullying phenomena in an effort to illustrate the various reference points that can be used by the bully, the bullied, 'others' in the global organizations, as well as the management of the organization. The divergent reference points used by individuals in the organization can encourage bullying to occur and make attempts to reduce the resulting conflict much more difficult to implement. The paper develops a process to reduce the level of bullying during the transition to global organization and to limit the impact of bullying events that do occur in the organization.Bullying Reference Point Theory Multiple perspectives on bullying Innate characteristics of bullies Social context of bullying

Mentoring global female managers in the global marketplace: Traditional, reverse, and reciprocal mentoring

A stream of research exists that focuses on traditional mentoring (senior female managers mentoring junior members in a domestic organization). The literature further indicates that females are increasing in number but may receive less mentoring than males and expatriates may receive less mentoring than domestic employees. A new paradigm, reverse mentoring, has emerged (e.g., a junior person, knowledgeable of the rapid technological change and globalization of business, acts as the mentor for a senior person). This paper proposes a third type of mentoring, 'reciprocal', as essential for competition in global markets. It is argued that mentoring can become a strategic tool in the organizational knowledge creation and transfer process. Moreover, mentoring could serve as a competitive advantage in creating an effective support system for female global female managers