A Meaningful Life at Work

A Meaningful Life at Work
The Paradox of Wellbeing

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AT WORK
A MEANINGFUL LIFE

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A MEANINGFUL LIFE
AT WORK
BY
Raida Abu Bakar

Rosmawani Che Hashim
Sharmila Jayasingam
Safiah Omar
Norizah Mohd Mustamil
University of Malaya, Malaysia
United Kingdom North America Japan

India Malaysia China
Emerald Publishing Limited
Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK
First edition 2018
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Dedicated
To good friends …

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is a result of an amazing and meaningful journey

made by all the authors who care and respect for the life and
wellbeing of individuals. Inspired by their own experiences

at work, the authors accentuate the pertinent aspects of an
individual’s mental capability and emotions. In essence, this
book enables them to communicate their carefully referred
thoughts and practices to readers of how powerful choice is
in determining an individual’s life in the pursuit of happiness,
particularly at the workplace.
This project is fully supported by Equitable Society
Research Cluster (ESRC), University of Malaya, under award
grant number RP043-16SBS.

CONTENTS
About the Authors xi

Introduction 1
1. Passionate about Work or Addicted

to Work? 9
2. ‘Being Good or Being Bad in the

Workplace?’ Does Moral Imagination
Influence Employees’ Ethical Behaviour? 43
3. Cyberbullies: Hurt Me Not! 71
4. It’s Not a Compliment, It’s Harassment! 105
5. Positivity and Happiness in the Workplace 155
Employee Wellbeing: A Matter of Choice 189
Index 195
ix

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Raida Abu Bakar is Senior Lecturer at the Department of

Business Policy and Strategy, University of Malaya. Her areas
of research interest are organisational psychology/employee

motivation. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in
Management from Purdue University, USA, an MBA from
University of Malaya, and a PhD from RMIT University,
Australia. Her research has been published in International
Journal of Human Resource Management, and International
Journal of Training and Development, among others. She has
15 years of experience in consultancy and research projects.
She was a consultant to numerous projects, that is, the
Ministry of Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development, the
Master Builder Association of Malaysia, ANGKASA, Akademi
Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan and others.
Rosmawani Che Hashim is Senior Lecturer at University of

Malaya (UM) with 23 years of teaching experience. Her areas
of expertise are Commercial Law, International Trade Law and
Islamic Banking and Finance Law. She obtained a Bachelor of
Laws (Hons) degree in 1992 and Bachelor of Shariah Law
(Hons) degree in 1993 from International Islamic University
Malaysia (IIUM). Following her Bachelor degree, she obtained
her Masters in International Commercial Law from University
of Nottingham, UK, in 1995. She holds her PhD in Islamic
Banking and Finance Law at International Islamic Banking and
Finance Institute, (IIiBF) IIUM. She started her carrier as
xi
xii About the Authors
Lecturer at Universiti Utara Malaysia in 1995 before transfer-

ring to UM in 2005. Currently, she is teaching Commercial
Law and Legal Aspect of Banking Law at the Faculty of
Business and Accountancy (FBA), UM, and serves as
Coordinator for Industrial Training. Apart from her consider-
able teaching experience and administration posts, she is active
in literary pursuits. Her articles have been published in various
law journals as well as proceedings in national and interna-
tional conferences.
Sharmila Jayasingam received her MBA and PhD from the

University of Science Malaysia in the field of Management.
She is currently Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Organisa-
tional Behaviour at the Faculty of Business and Accounting,
University of Malaya. Prior to joining University of Malaya,
she was teaching courses such as management, leadership
and knowledge management at the Universiti Tenaga
Nasional and Multimedia University. Her research is interdis-
ciplinary and addresses knowledge management issues, lead-
ership and organisational behaviour. Her current interest
includes the influence of social media on leadership effective-
ness. She has written several journal articles which have been
published in Knowledge Management Research and Practice,
Industrial Management & Data Systems, International
Journal of Human Resources Management, Management
Research and many other outlets. She has several years of
experience in consultancy projects with agencies such as Per-
modalan Nasional Berhad, FELDA and HC Consultancy and
so forth.
Safiah Omar is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Business

Policy and Strategy, University of Malaya. Her areas of
research interest are organisational strategy, organisational
psychology and employee motivation. She obtained her
Bachelor of Science in Business Management from University
About the Authors xiii
of Sunderland, UK, an MBA and PhD from Universiti

Teknologi MARA. She has eight years of experience in train-
ing, consultancy and research projects. She was a consultant
to numerous projects, that is, the Ministry of Higher
Education, the Cooperative College of Malaysia, the Ministry
of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, the Ministry of Education
Malaysia and others. She is also Founder of SmartAKAL, an
association that provides free education-seminars for schools
in Malaysia.
Norizah Mohd Mustamil is currently Senior Lecturer in

Business Ethics and Human Resource Management at the
Faculty of Business and Accounting, University of Malaya.
She received her MBA from the University of Malaya and
DBA from the Curtin University of Technology, Western
Australia. Her research is interdisciplinary and addresses ethi-
cal issues in business practices and the human resource man-
agement area. Her current interest includes the antecedent
factors on individuals’ ethical behaviours in organisations.
She has written several chapters in books and journal articles
which have been published in Journal of Organizational
Change Management, Journal Management & Marketing
and many other outlets. She has several years of experience in
consultancy projects with government and private agencies
such as the Ministry of Human Resources, the National
Population and Family Development Board, the Institute of
Labour Market Information and Analysis, ANGKASA,
ASWARA and so forth.

INTRODUCTION
At the heart of every individual is the belief that life revolves

around many things, part of which, is work. Central to this
notion of work is economic necessity where people work to
live. Work has always been the fundamental feature of
human experience, and one of the most baffling issues in
current research concerns this human experience at the
workplace. Although much thought has been given into
improving work conditions, enhancing motivation and
enriching employee satisfaction, our limited understanding of
the nature of this experience, has therefore, restricted our
opportunities to grow.
In the work context, employees are individuals who are
given salaries or wages in return for their contributions to the
work organisation they are attached to. Coming from differ-
ent backgrounds with different social values and beliefs, these
individuals often experience difficulties and trials at their
workplace, and if unattended, these negative experiences can
affect their wellbeing. Regardless of how well an employer
tries to ‘care’ for the employees, there is always some form of
damaging effect caused by work that affects an employee’s
wellbeing. Due to this outcome, an abundance of research,
particularly in the area of psychology, tends to focus on
studying the concept of wellbeing and its effect on mental
1
2 A Meaningful Life at Work: The Paradox of Wellbeing
illness. Unfortunately, the tendency of research to focus on

the negative effects of work, such as mental illness, only offers
a form of resolution for problem-solving. It does not highlight
the actual experiences of the employees at the workplace.
This inclination was noted by Myers (2000), who stated
that the number of publications focusing on the negative state
of work, as compared to the positive state of work, is in the
ratio of 14:1. Consequently, much criticism was directed
to those studies focusing on mental illness rather than

mental wellness. Researchers (e.g. Bakker & Schaufeli, 2008;
Cameron & Spreitzer, 2011; Guest, 2017) have also argued
that studies should be giving more emphasis to positive
behaviour at work. Any outcome derived from such studies
can provide some enlightenment into the positive effects of
work on employees’ mental wellness and wellbeing; the
results of which can be used to enhance future workplace
conditions, where necessary.
This book contributes to the issue of employees’ wellbeing
in a developing country such as Malaysia, where the topic
has not been thoroughly researched before. The book offers
readers an insight into the Asian cum Malaysian perspective
and experience of what wellbeing means. It must be noted
that while developing countries consider the need for equity
and sustainability to be evident, the conditions for sustain-
ability and equity, or indeed the very necessity for both, are
not immediately apparent, particularly in Malaysia. Part of
the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (2016) consists of the commit-
ment in empowering all the citizens by means of participating
and benefitting from the country’s prosperity. This commit-
ment is anchored on the belief that inclusive growth is not
only key to an individual’s wellbeing and societal wellbeing,
but it is also critical for sustaining longer periods of solid
economic growth. Thus, one of the priorities in sustainable
and equitable progress is the focus on human capital
Introduction 3
development. While the social and economic indicators of

wellbeing are highly explored, there seems to be limited
research that focuses on the concept of the emotional well-
being of the individual. Relevant to this, a sustainable work-
force is shaped and nurtured through employment practices
that associate the individual’s wellbeing to positive employ-
ment experiences in the organisation (Kossek, Valcour, &
Lirio, 2014). Yet, despite the growing significance in schol-
arly literature, the individual’s wellbeing at the workplace has

not been well researched and so, it is less conspicuous in
practice. This observation highlights a gap that needs to be
addressed because the concept of wellbeing has important
implications for personal and work-related outcomes, such
as a transparent and justifiable process in building an equita-
ble society. The concept of wellbeing serves as the pillar of a
sustainable and equitable socioeconomic development as it is
associated with human development and their experiences.
Based on this, the aim of this book is to examine the various
domains of the employees’ positive and negative experiences
at the workplace in order to assess how this contributes to
their wellbeing.
In doing so, this book takes into consideration the
perspectives of Choice Theory by William Glasser (1999).
Choice Theory elucidates on the choices that we often make
in life. This includes the good and the bad choices. The most
practical way to understand Choice Theory is to concentrate
on why we select the common despairs or negativity that we
feel befall us. When we are unhappy, we believe that we
cannot control our misery. For example, when we failed at
work, we often blame our colleagues, our leaders, our jobs,
the forces that caused our despair. In fact, the greatest
mystery of any human misery is probably whether we can
find ways to resist that force. The real question is, is resis-
tance a choice? Indeed, it certainly is.
An extension of the Choice Theory argument is that our

behaviour consists of four components which are acting,
thinking, feeling and the physiological association with all
our actions, thoughts and feelings, which is what Glasser
called total behaviour. The epitome of Choice Theory is
the concept of choosing to stop a negative behaviour. We
could, in a great way: (1) change our desire, (2) change
our action or (3) change both. The notion that we always
try to make the perfect choice is essential to understanding

our total behaviour.
However, one rather significant matter in Choice Theory
is the fact that humans prefer to obtain more than what is
available. For instance, with reference to the need for belong-
ingness, it should be defined by ‘how much we are willing to
give, not by how much we are willing to receive’ (Glasser,
1999, p. 80). And as long as people think that they want
more and are not willing to give more, then conflicting issues
will arise in any relationships, be it between a subordinate
and a supervisor, or from a colleague to another. Therefore,
it is vital that individuals should expect that life is not a fair
process. In some cases, one individual could give more
towards a relationship in comparison to others. Having an
awareness of this, and realising this, will help an individual
stay on their toes. That is to say, once we have accepted real-
ity, it is easier to deal with reality as opposed to always
expecting more from others. How we behave and how we
choose to live our lives depends on us, and only us. If we
understand Choice Theory, then all logical external premises
or control would diminish. So instead of blaming others, we
would question ourselves if we had made the right choice to
begin with. That is, have I thought of that? Have I tried the
other way? Could I have done it differently?
One of the most important reminders from Choice Theory
is that we must believe that people will find better ways to
Introduction 5
take control of their everyday lives. And in doing so, we may

help them as well. As leaders or as peers, we need to put this
in consideration because once the fear is removed, people
‘can learn that other choices are possible, and acting on those
new, more effective choices sets them free’ (Glasser, 1999,
p. 129). Choice Theory does not guarantee that individuals
will be perfect at work or that they will have a great working
life, but it does help people to be great in having to deal with
problems at work. If, as humans, we need to be surrounded

by happy and supportive people, in the context of work, it is
the job of leaders, supervisors, colleagues, subordinates, etc.
to be so. Nevertheless, there are too many people in these
roles that do not realise just how important they are. Thus,
the intention of this book is to create this awareness among
individuals about how they have a major role in affecting
their own wellbeing as well as the wellbeing of others.
The concept of wellbeing is defined as one that revolves
around the actualisation of human potential and a meaning-
ful life. It focuses on how individuals thrive in the face of
adversity in life, how they react to these issues emotionally
and how satisfied they become with their experiences at
work or outside of work. In the context of this book, the
phenomenon of wellbeing will focus on the pursuit of
happiness and a pleasant life at work. The book commences
with two chapters that focus on making choices at the
workplace. Chapter 1 is entitled ‘Passionate about Work or
Addicted to Work?’ This chapter focuses on how engage-
ment and ‘workaholism’ have pertinent roles in affecting
the employees’ wellbeing at work. Readers will find that
there is a stark contrast in the wellbeing of a passionate
employee and an addictive employee. Chapter 2 is entitled
‘Being Good or Being Bad in the Workplace? Does Moral
Imagination Influence Employees’ Ethical Behaviour?’ This
chapter explains the importance of employees’ behavioural
conduct in dealing with ethical issues at the workplace.

Both Chapters 1 and 2 emphasise that life is about choices
and employees can make their own choices on how they
want to develop themselves at the workplace.
Of the subsequent chapters of the book, Chapters 3 and
4, focus on the issues that induce negative effects on one’s
wellbeing. Chapter 3 places a special attention on the issue
of cyberbullying and it is entitled, ‘Cyberbullies: Hurt Me
Not!’ as there is no denying that cyberbullying can affect the

wellbeing of employees. As an important reminder to read-
ers, Chapter 3 emphasises on how victims are subjected to
psychological and physiological distress which, inevitably,
impacts on the organisation’s wellbeing and performance.
Chapter 4 offers an insight into the issue of sexual harass-
ment. Entitled ‘It’s Not a Compliment, It’s Harassment!’, this
chapter provides an all-encompassing elucidation on what it
takes for sexual harassment to occur, how one can overcome
it and how to succeed in the face of a challenging situation.
Chapter 5, ‘Positivity and Happiness in the Workplace’ dis-
cusses the different perspectives of positivity at work. This
chapter enlightens the reader on how positivity, and its link
to happiness, can be exceptionally significant in ensuring
excellent organisational performance. Finally, the book con-
cludes with a highlight on ‘Employee Wellbeing: A Matter of
Choice’.
Today’s generation places a great demand for their voices
to be heard. Individuals want to be involved and consulted
as to how they could improve their wellbeing at work.
Therefore, understanding their work values, their choices
and the problems they face in the workplace, may help orga-
nisations to structure job designs, human resource policies,
compensation packages, working conditions, among others,
so as to be able to provide good working conditions for their
employees. It is hoped that this book can act as a conduit in
Introduction 7
contributing to organisational discourse which encompasses

the need to improve employees’ wellbeing. Undoubtedly,
organisations that nurture employees’ experiences, would
eventually also nurture the organisation’s work and people
quality.
REFERENCES
Bakker, A. B., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2008). Positive

organizational behavior: Engaged employees in flourishing
organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29(2),
147 154.
Cameron, K. S., & Spreitzer, G. M. (Eds.). (2011). The

Oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship.
New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Glasser, W. (1999). Choice theory: A new psychology of

personal freedom. New York, NY: HarperPerennial.
Guest, D. E. (2017). Human resource management and

employee well-being: Towards a new analytic framework.
Human Resource Management Journal, 27(1), 22 38.
Myers, D. G. (2000). The funds, friends, and faith of happy

people. American Psychologist, 55(1), 56.

CHAPTER 1
PASSIONATE ABOUT WORK OR

ADDICTED TO WORK?
Some people strive to make a living, while others

strive to make a life.
INTRODUCTION
Work has been an integral part of our lives. In the past, work
was perceived to be a purposeful human action which
involves physical and mental efforts that are carried out for
economic values, and not for pleasure (Budd, 2011). In other
words, people work to live. Many of us have the belief that
the harder we work, the better we become. This has led to
the hierarchical structure of work where individuals are often
segregated according to their status at work. With the advent
of technology, today’s working conditions have also changed
as organisations become competitive with one another. In the
modern world, organisations need employees who are dedi-
cated to their work and who perform their best at work. This
makes up for the organisation’s productivity and quality. To
9
begin with, it is important to note that some employees allo-

cate more time and energy to their work, in comparison to
others. On the one hand, organisations may push their
employees towards working hard, but on the other hand, the
individual themselves may want to put in heavy work invest-
ments into their jobs. As employees, this is the choice we
often make at work, for the purpose of making a living out
of our work or for making a life out of it. Making a living
involves securing sufficient income while making a life con-

cerns the issue of work life balance. Our wellbeing is very
much dependent on the choice that we need to make.
The fact that some choices may be good does not mean
that more choices are better. At times, the choices that we
make can cause more harm than good. Schwartz and Ward
(2004) assert that doing more could actually mean achieving
a lot less. For example, people who are perfectionists, tend to
do more to exceed their usual standard of performance.
However, this could have detrimental effects on the person’s
efficiency; in fact, it could actually reduce work productivity
(Sherry, Hewitt, Sherry, Flett, & Graham, 2010), thereby,
lowering work satisfaction (Fairlie & Flett, 2003). While
work has been a means for one’s survival in the past, the con-
temporary way of looking at work is that it is more than just
for survival purposes. To understand its success, some rele-
vant questions can be asked: Would hard work equate to
success? Would success be an antecedent to our happiness
and wellbeing, and what does it take to be successful?
A large array of studies (e.g. Chang, Jia, Takeuchi, & Cai,
2014; Macky & Boxall, 2008; Shin & Konrad, 2017) have
shown that competitive working conditions cause employees
to compete among themselves so as to achieve that state of
‘success’. Employees seem to equate success with better com-
pensation, respectable top management positions, bigger
houses, longer life savings plans and many other goals. Thus,
Passionate about Work or Addicted to Work? 11
the concept of ‘survival of the fittest’ blends in well with their

lifestyle which is to compete for higher positions, better pay
and perhaps, even longer working hours, all of which cause
major drawbacks on the wellbeing of the individuals. Some
potential drawbacks can be traced to the incidences of
depression, anxiety, mental disorders and physical health
problems.
A recent report by the World Health Organisation
(WHO, 2017) showed that anxiety and depression have a

significant impact on the economy. This amounted to an esti-
mated cost of about US $1 trillion per year, just for lost
productivity, throughout the world. In 2017 alone, more
than 300 million people worldwide experienced depression,
and in 2015, the estimated number of people living with
anxiety disorders throughout the world was 264 million.
Additionally, about one in five adults in the US, that is, 43.8
million people, became victims of mental illness within a
given year. In Malaysia, The Star newspaper (2 April 2017)
reported that four out of every 10 Malaysians will experi-
ence some mental health issues in the course of their lives,
and psychologists are confident that the figure will continue
to rise. Other studies (e.g. Rusli, Edimansyah, & Naing,
2008) which focused on Malaysian employees have also
shown that many individuals at work are suffering from job
stress symptoms such as anxiety and depression (Idris &
Dollard, 2014).
One factor relating work with anxiety and depression is
work-related stress that is usually caused by overwhelming
work demands, but the perplexing thing about this is that
these anxieties and depression symptoms are not treated.
Lauber and Rossler (2007) reported that mental illnesses are
rarely dealt with in developing countries in Asia and the
reason is often traced to the problem of stigma, and neglect
as well as discrimination. In this regard, employees, as human
beings susceptible to these emotional distress, are often

prevented from getting the help and treatment they require.
More often than not, these problems occur within a culture
that views stress and depression as well as mental illness,
negatively, as if it is the individual who is unstable. Conse-
quently, the anxiety and depression issues become some kind
of stigma and taboo in society. Moreover, Asians, in particu-
lar, do not like to talk about their problems, especially with

regards to work. Therefore, individuals keep many issues to
themselves and then become overwhelmed and suffer intern-
ally. Observations show that individuals who suffer from
emotional problems are often perceived to be weak, there-
fore, when overwhelmed with work-related stress, these indi-
viduals are more likely to put the blame on their physical
problems, such as their back pain, headache, inability to
sleep and constant fatigue, instead of their internal distress.
Undeniably, these issues with stress stem from the modern
day culture of working.
In today’s changing and challenging organisations,
employees tend to work longer hours (Drago, 2000). The
pressure exerted by the organisation’s management as well
as the economy has prompted organisations to compensate
those employees who are willing to work hard and sacrifice
their time for their profession. As a result of this, indivi-
duals continuously aim to enhance their capability and
knowledge, build networks with others inside and outside
the organisation and work harder than ever, so as to
remain competitive and be ready for the rewards offered by
their organisations. Taken together, these pressures can
stimulate employees to work hard in their career because
they want to move up the corporate ladder in their respect-
ive organisations.
WORK ENGAGEMENT AND WORKAHOLISM
A review of relevant literature indicates two categories of

‘working hard’: (1) an intrinsically positive form of working
hard where employees are passionate about their job; this is
known as work engagement, and (2) an intrinsically negative
form of working hard where employees seem to be more
addicted to work; this is known as workaholism. Neverthe-
less, the motive that propels people to be engaged at work or

to become workaholics, has not been examined extensively,
thus, it remains unclear. Despite the growing significance
noted in scholarly and management literature, there seems to
be a disconnection between the two constructs where the out-
come is not related to work. This chapter aims to explore the
differences, similarities and the interconnection between the
two constructs, and the impact these may have on the well-
being of employees. Ultimately, this chapter will also examine
the concept of work engagement and workaholism domains
so as to understand how this affects the employees’ attitude
towards work and its implications for their wellbeing.
Drawing from the self-determination and choice theory,
this chapter looks at the differences between employees who
are passionate about their work and employees who have an
addiction to their work. Within these theories, a major motiv-
ation regulating an individual’s behaviour is intrinsic motiv-
ation. As workaholics and as engaged employees, both
actually focus on the degree in which individual is self-
motivated to make their own decisions without the influence
of external factors. For instance, workaholism has little to do
with a person’s love or truthful need to contribute to organ-
isational goals. Instead, workaholics work excessively hard
because they feel that they must do so. Not doing so may
induce anxiety and unhappy emotions such as shame, guilt
and anxiety (Beek, Hu, Schaufeli, Taris, & Schreurs, 2012).
In contrast, work engagement is associated with positive out-

comes and it is characterised very much by the individual’s
dedication towards work, an absorption with work and the
vigour in doing work (Schaufeli, Salanova, González-
Romá, & Bakker, 2002).
Past research tends to underestimate the importance of
these two constructs of work (Christian & Slaughter, 2007;
Schaufeli, Taris, & Van Rhenen, 2008). In this regard, this
chapter posits that both work engagement and workaholism

have pertinent roles in affecting employees’ wellbeing at
work. To date, there are apparent gaps in the current knowl-
edge and understanding of why people work, and what
drives people towards working hard. These gaps can be
addressed accordingly, so that the outcomes drawn can serve
as the foundation for future studies to understand what
drives people towards working hard. The outcome extracted
will serve as the significance of this chapter, thereby setting it
apart from previous studies. The justification for addressing
this research centres on the claim that both work engagement
and workaholism have pertinent implications for employees’
personal wellbeing and other work-related outcomes. The
argument and conceptualisation of work engagement and
workaholism will serve as two different models of working
hard.
ENGAGEMENT AS PASSION TOWARDS WORK
Scholars and practitioners (e.g. Gorgievski & Bakker, 2010;

Towers Watson, 2010; Zivnuska, Kacmar, Ferguson, &
Carlson, 2016) assert that passion or engagement for work is
a major determinant of employees’ wellbeing and perform-
ance. Passion for work has been conceptualised as a strong
inclination towards work that one loves, it is considered as
highly important and it serves as a vital part of one’s self-

concept; work is an area where one invests a significant
amount of time and energy (Forest et al., 2012). Recent years
have witnessed an immense degree of research that focused
on the concept of engagement at work. Due to some of their
outcomes, consultancy agencies have begun calling for some
variants of engagement to be adopted at the workplace as a
policy goal for organisations.
The notion of employees being engaged at work focuses

on positivity; it looks at the fulfilling aspects of doing work.
In a sense, being engaged at work allows the individual to
feel satisfied and happy. This positive reflection is in line with
the notion of positive organisational behaviour. Thus, work
engagement presents a positive form of resource that can be
beneficial for the individual. Studies (e.g. Kahn, 1990;
Schaufeli et al., 2002) indicate that work engagement can be
defined as a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind
where employees bring all their physical, cognitive and
emotional energies into the work, and this is equivalent to
passion. Work engagement predominantly refers to the
experiences employees have while working. Being passionate
helps the employees to identify themselves with the work they
are doing.
Work engagement is a disposition that was found to be
relatively stable. It also comprises three elements: vigour,
dedication and absorption in work (Schaufeli et al., 2002)
(see Figure 1.1). The first of these, vigour, refers to the ener-
getic resources that the individual has, for example, physical
strength, emotional energy and cognitive liveliness. Vigour,
as a resource, demonstrates a high level of mental resiliency,
thus, individuals who have a high level of perseverance in
facing any difficulty at work are considered to have vigour.
Individuals who are high on vigour also experience a higher
will power to achieve their goals; they invest exceptional
Figure 1.1. Elements of Work Engagement.

Source: Schaufeli, Martinez, Pinto, Salanova, and Bakker (2002).
effort in at their work or job. A person who is vigorous

demonstrates a person who is engaged at work and conse-
quently, he/she grows into a passionate employee.
The second element, dedication, represents the experience
the individual feels, such as a feeling of significance, motiv-
ation, pride and enthusiasm, when doing work. Dedication is
demonstrated by giving one’s best at work. In a sense, a dedi-
cated employee would be a very disciplined person who
follows rules and regularly tries his/her best in solving work
problems. An individual who is dedicated to his/her job
would surely be an engaged person.
The third element, absorption, is relevant to the feeling of
contentment while performing one’s work. It demonstrates a
state of attentiveness. An individual who is absorbed at work
exhibits the characteristics of persistency and being engrossed
in doing work. In most cases, absorbed individuals are happy
to undertake responsibilities at work. They also do not notice

how time flies. Essentially, an individual who is absorbed
would be very much engaged in his/her work, appearing to
be passionate in the job.
Unlike workaholics, engaged employees lack the typical
compulsive drive; they treat work as fun, not an obsession,
and they work hard due to their intrinsic motivation. These
individuals are hardworking not only because they like their
job, but also because they are driven by a resilient internal

urge which they find difficult to fight (Bakker & Schaufeli,
2008). Engaged workers feel drawn to their work out of
passion. They have effective connections to their work.
However, they remain in control. Due to this, they normally
find a balance between work and family. Not only do they
enjoy work and find work a challenge, but they also enjoy
their free time. Hence, an engaged employee will work hard,
but only to the extent which they feel is necessary. In this
regard, they can choose to disengage themselves from work
when the need arises. If anything, the one aspect that makes
an employee passionate about work is his/her identification
with the work he/she does. This implies that such individuals
demonstrate a strong passion towards their work, as in a
‘strong inclination towards work which they find important,
and in which they invest time and energy’ (Vallerand, Paquet,
Philippe, & Charest, 2010, p. 290).
Studies on work engagement revolve around the job-
demand resources (JD-R) model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007)
which helps us to understand the sources that trigger work
engagement. At the centre of the JD-R model lies the notion
that every job may have its own sources to the employee’s
wellbeing. These sources may be grouped into two elements:
job resources and job demands. The first of these, job
resources, represents elements that can facilitate engagement
such as the support of supervisors, help from co-workers, the
range of skills and knowledge available and the autonomy

and learning opportunities offered by the organisation.
Studies suggest that supportive environments, acknowledging
the individual’s emotions, providing feedback and opportun-
ities for decision-making are all antecedents to work passion,
that is, engagement (Bonneville-Roussy, Vallerand, &
Bouffard, 2013). The second of the two, job demand, on the
other hand, represents those elements that reduce engagement
such as workload, unfavourable physical environment, diffi-

cult colleagues and other things. The JD-R model illustrates
that job resources may become more prominent when indivi-
duals are threatened with high job demands. For example,
when employees have a high workload (job demand), the
presence of supportive supervisors (job resource) will be sig-
nificant in ensuring that employees are highly engaged and
are on a positive level.
Evidence drawn from other studies (e.g. Abu Bakar,
Cooke, & Muenjohn, in press; Hobfoll, Johnson, Ennis, &
Jackson, 2003) seems to suggest that personal resources can
facilitate engagement. It appears that individuals who have
positive core self-evaluation and a belief in themselves, are
more likely to be resilient in their ability to control and to go
through their daily activities. In a sense, individuals with per-
sonal resources have a higher degree of coping; thus, they are
able to withstand challenges (job demand) and be more
engaged in their job.
OUTCOMES OF ENGAGEMENT
Ultimately, the discourse among work engagement is that it is

highly valuable to organisations. There are four major reasons
why engaged workers are performers (Bakker & Leiter,
2010). First, they feel positive emotions such as joy and
enthusiasm. Second, they construct their own personal and job

resources. Third, they experience better health and fourth,
they transfer their engagement to other people. These optimis-
tic outcomes should be the aim of any modern organisation.
Having a passion towards one’s work is one way to main-
tain one’s wellbeing and to perform well (Zigarmi, Nimon,
Houson, Witt, & Diehl, 2011). This is because passion can
fuel motivation, so eventually work is seen as something
meaningful for those individuals. Under such circumstances, a

person would feel intensely alive when involved in doing the
work which he/she is supposed to be doing. Being passionate
about one’s job will facilitate one’s performance because nat-
urally, individuals would use all their mental and physical
resources at work to the best of their ability. Consistent with
this view, research (i.e. Bakker, 2011) also shows that passion-
ate employees demonstrate greater in-role and extra-role
performance. In-role performance refers to the core-task
behaviour that is required in each employee. Extra-role per-
formance refers to those behaviours that are not defined as
part of the individual’s work. Employees who are passionate
about their job will go the extra mile in helping other people
as well as improving themselves. Consequently, this has a
large impact on the financial performance of an organisation,
thereby, producing happier customers, and better working
relationships with people outside the organisation.
When an individual is being passionate at work, his/her
behaviour can also affect and benefit team members, and the
environment. Passionate workers are seen as role models due
to their positive emotions and energy. This form of behaviour
is indeed contagious. Passionate employees transfer their
emotions and behaviour to others in the workplace, and this
would have a large effect on organisational performance.
Ultimately, passionate employees who are highly engaged
with their work would say that their work makes them feel
invigorated, happier and motivated. In other words, they get

something in return. Conversely, workaholics do not work to
get something in return. Workaholics display an overwhel-
ming need to keep on working even though it could be detri-
mental to their health and personal life. The following section
elaborates on the concept of workaholism and how it can be
an addictive disposition.
UNDERSTANDING THE ADDICTIVE SIDE

OF WORKAHOLISM
I am afraid to sleep.
Every time I wake up,
I have to go to work.
Anonymous
Over engagement at work could indeed lead to detrimental

outcomes. In most cases, workaholics are described as those
who are reluctant to be disengaged from work. What is worse
is that they frequently, and persistently, ponder about work
even when they are not at work. Schaufeli, Taris, and Bakker
(2008) define workaholism as having two elements: (1) spend-
ing countless hours on a person’s work and (2) being incap-
able of disconnecting from work. Andreassen, Hetland, and
Pallesen (2013, p. 8) define workaholism as:
being overly concerned about work, to be driven by

an uncontrollable work motivation, and to put so
much energy and effort into work that it impairs
private relationships, spare-time activities, and/or
health.
The discourse on workaholics seems to revolve around the

idea that workaholism is, generally, a stable excessive work-
ing disposition. This means that individuals are preoccupied
with their work on a daily basis; they devote their time into
thinking about work and they would even free up their time
for work. In the end, workaholics spend a lot of working
hours doing more work than was initially intended.
Workaholism appears to be synonymous to working
hard where working hard, at times, is seen as parallel to
working long hours. However, conceptualising the concept
of workaholism solely on the total number of working
hours can be a problem of misrepresentation because it

neglects the addictive nature (Schaufeli, Shimazu, & Taris,
2009). This is because workaholics have difficulty in dis-
engaging from work issues. Therefore, workaholism can be
classified as a behavioural addiction. One thing to note in
workaholism is the excessive work behaviour which is not a
requirement, but is performed by the employee. In fact,
these employees often do much more than what is realistic-
ally expected of them.
On one side of the debate, this compulsive and domineer-
ing thought about work seems to calm their thoughts.
Workaholics have an urge to work to attain pleasure. On the
other side of the debate, workaholics do not necessarily enjoy
or love their jobs. They only have an obsessive, guilt-ridden
compulsion to keep on working. Based on this, the question
that arises is that if workaholism involves the latter explan-
ation, how then do these workaholics attain pleasure out of
their work, as is enjoyed by those who are engaged with their
work? A general consensus among scholars (e.g. Beek et al.,
2012; Schaufeli, Taris, & Van Rhenen, 2008) can be used to
explain this misperception. Although workaholics are driven
by their compulsion to work, the motive behind their com-
pulsion is quite different from the motive of those who are
engaged in work. Figure 1.2 shows that people are motivated
to work due to internal and external drivers. Internal drivers
represent the compulsion to work due to the individual’s state
Figure 1.2. Motivation to Work.

Internal
drivers
External
drivers
of mind. In other words, workaholics work in order to avoid

or lessen their anxiousness and guilt as well as to fulfil the
feeling that one ‘should work’. This is the very nature of
workaholics. By comparison, external drivers are related to
the compulsion to work as a result of external causes such as
financial requirements, financial problems, poor marriage,
organisational requirements and the obligation to meet the
supervisor’s order.
In light of the above, it can thus be argued that work-
aholics do not engage in excessive work due to external
drivers, for example, they work not because of their family
nor to earn a living. Rather, a significant feature of work-
aholism is driven by internal drivers, that is, workaholics
need to work hard because they feel that it is a necessity to
work hard. A moment of not working would arouse feel-
ings of distress, shame and irritability. In some respect, due
to these internal drivers, workaholics would continue work-
ing even in the condition of negative outcomes (such as an
increase in health problems or marital issues). In fact, worka-
holics strive to work to forget about their other problems
such as family or other personal issues. Work, it seems, pro-
vides a heavenly getaway for them to forget about other
important things in life. Apparently, workaholics throw
themselves into their work so as to avoid these negative
Figure 1.3. Causes of Workaholism.

feelings. By the same token, in order to lessen their emotional

state of guilt and irritability, workaholics are also driven
by two major causes of workaholism, as depicted in
Figure 1.3.
CAUSES OF WORKAHOLISM
Workaholism can occur as a result of behavioural reinforce-

ments. To some degree, the organisations’ reward systems
and punishments could be a source that affects people and
turn them into workaholics. For instance, Mudrack (2006)
accentuates that workaholics have a greater tendency to want
to prove themselves as compared to employees who are not
workaholics. Thus, receiving good rewards and avoiding
punishments would be an agenda that workaholics abide by.
Evidence (e.g. Aziz, Zamary, & Wuensch, 2018) suggests
that this relates to the concept of low self-worth and low
self-esteem. The need to be competitive and the need to

‘prove’ themselves characterises a workaholic employee. An
individual with low self-image may exhibit a workaholic’s
behaviour when he/she associates hard work with success.
Another issue related to the concept of self-esteem is the
notion of perfectionism. Often people strive for perfectionism
at work. This attempt at flawlessness regularly affects how
people work. In fact, Stoeber and Stoeber (2009) mention
that the majority of working individuals have at least one

sphere in their life span where they are perfectionistic, and
the domain that is most affected by this is, work. The close
link between workaholism and perfectionism goes a long
way back to the work of Spence and Robbins (1992), who
consider perfectionism as one of the main dimensions of
workaholism. The strive to become a perfectionist, it seems,
stimulates individuals to work harder than they should.
Eventually, workaholism was also regarded as a personal-
ity trait. Andreassen, Ursin, Eriksen, and Pallesen (2012)
assert that workaholics have a high score on traits such as
narcissism, neuroticism and conscientiousness. It is possible
that these personality traits are also related to dysfunctional
work behaviour, that is, being consumed with thoughts about
work. For example, a person who is highly narcissistic would
be driven to working hard so that he/she can boast of his/her
accomplishments. A narcissistic person would value power
and pursue career development at a different rate. Their pre-
occupation with work may eventually precede other activities
in life.
Robinson (2013) proposed four dimensions of workahol-
ism, as shown in Figure 1.4. They include: (1) the bulimic
workaholic, who is a person who does his/her work with per-
fectionism or not at all (i.e. it is hard for the person to begin
any job, a form of procrastination, and once the person
begins a the job, he/she will finish it in the shortest time, but
Figure 1.4. Dimensions of Workaholism.
Bulimic
workaholic
Attention-
Workaholism Relentless
deficit
workaholic
workaholic
Savouring
workaholic
Source: Adapted from Robinson (2013).
mostly with sloppy effects); (2) the relentless workaholic,

who is a person inspired by completing tasks and objectives
in the shortest possible time and thus, the person is unable to
stop working on meeting deadlines (3) the attention-deficit
workaholic, who is a person that becomes easily uninterested
and impatient and constantly pursues different projects; and
(4) the savouring workaholic, who is a person that is pre-
occupied with meticulous details and feels that anything less
than perfect is undesirable.
Behavioural addiction is a form of functional dependency
whereby an individual is hooked on a stimulus. This
stimulus provides pleasure or relief from an internal discom-
fort (Spivack, McKelvie, & Haynie, 2014). This addictive
experience exhibits qualities that compel the individual to
repeat the experience so as to reinforce his/her own motiv-

ation, be it positive or negative. Building on the works of
Spivack et al. (2014) and Block (2008), it is believed that
behavioural addiction includes different conducts such as
excessive use, withdrawal, tolerance and negative repercus-
sions (Figure 1.5). It shows that people who are addicted
to work may also carry these addictive elements. In this
respect, workaholics may continue to have obsessive thoughts
about work (constant thinking about their action and search-

ing for novelties); they may be involved in withdrawal or
engagement cycles (ritualised behaviour of anxiety and
Figure 1.5. Components in Behavioural Addiction.
Spivack, McKelvie
Block (2008)
& Haynie (2014)
Obsessive
Excessive use
thoughts
Withdrawal or
Withdrawal engagement
cycles
Tolerance Self-worth
Negative
Tolerance
repercussions
Neglect
Negative
outcomes
Sources: Block (2008) and Spivack et al. (2014).

engaging whenever possible) and their daily actions at work

may provide them with a sense of self-worth (action serves as
feeling of self-worth). Additionally, workaholics may spend so
much time and money at work due to their tolerance that they
later neglect other activities and eventually, become isolated
from family and friends. Most of these behaviours become a
source for negative outcomes, such as stress and emotional-
guilt and the sacrificing of the individual’s wellbeing.
THE OUTCOME OF WORKAHOLISM
Workaholism is a complex phenomenon that can be activated

by many factors. For the most part, workaholism has con-
flicting psychological, physical and social effects for indivi-
duals and the people surrounding them. Thus, it can be
concluded that a workaholic is not identical to a person with
a strong work ethic. An individual with a strong work ethic
would place a significant importance in their work and family
life. In a sense, balancing home and work should be a per-
sonal agenda, but this is not the practice of the workaholic.
In this respect, personal meaning and value-added impacts
are not important for the workaholic. A seminal work by
Oates (1971) introduced the concept of workaholism to
include those whose work has become so extreme that it cre-
ates disruption to the employee’s happiness, leading to deteri-
orating health, disturbance to interpersonal relationships, as
well as social functioning competence.
As mentioned previously, working long hours or thinking
about work excessively is a necessary, but not sufficient, con-
dition for workaholism. An obsessive-compulsive tendency to
working hard induces people to become workaholics, and
this can be very toxic to the individual’s health. An obsessive-
compulsive disorder often involves an urge of doing repetitive
behaviours to avoid anxiety. Due to the fact that there is

lesser societal shame or stigma linked to workaholism than to
other addictions, problematic health signs that emerge among
workaholics, therefore, remain undetected and untreated.
Heavy work involvement, combined with low enjoyment,
comes at the expense of one’s emotional wellbeing. A recent
meta-analytic review by Clark, Michel, Zhdanova, Pui, and
Baltes (2016) found that workaholism leads to various nega-
tive outcomes encompassing individual, interpersonal and

organisational outcomes. These outcomes range from burn-
out, work life conflict, job stress and the detriment caused to
the individual’s physical as well as mental health. In particu-
lar, workaholics have the tendency to possess the personality
traits of perfectionism, where the perfectionist focuses more
on high standards, discrepancy and order, unnecessarily.
In the long run, workaholism is unhealthy and not benefi-
cial to the individual and the organisation. For instance,
workaholism leads to a blurred line between home or per-
sonal life and work; it also has a damaging effect on the indi-
vidual’s motivation and work enjoyment. The workaholic’s
guilt-ridden approach to work can reduce personal job and
life satisfaction to the extent that it makes the workaholic less
effective in his/her role, be it at work or at home. Ultimately,
workaholism is not just bad for the individuals, but also for
those people surrounding those individuals.
Workaholism can also promote severe negative conse-
quences which then lead to a negative behavioural tendency
among the individuals. In particular, workaholism can be
exacerbated by the implementation of modern technological
gadgets such as smartphones, laptops and also social media
platforms introduced by the Internet. As a result of the
advent of technology, heavy work investment is now more
commonly seen, with employees now thrown into the high
pace gear of the changing work conditions. Thus, it is easier
for individuals to become immersed in their work until they

become addicted. Based on this, workaholics can be cate-
gorised as heavy work investors who spend most of their
waking hours ‘working’. Eventually, workaholics lose their
perspective of what a full life means.
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ENGAGEMENT AND

WORKAHOLISM TO WELLBEING
The discussions provided above demonstrate that there are

differences in the characteristics of employees who are
engaged in their work and those who are workaholics.
Clearly, workaholism is not associated with wellbeing
because one of the main aspects of workaholism is to work
longer hours. Although people who work longer hours may
be seen as champions, and may even be treated as role
models at the workplace, the reality is that they are not
champions because they do not yield any positive symptoms
as well as any healthy work behaviours. Further to this,
workaholics are more inclined towards investing their
resources such as time, energy, emotion and attention into
their work and they will continue to do so regardless of the
outcomes. Often workaholics pursue their work at the
expense of their private lives and ultimately, their wellbeing.
Unlike engaged workers, workaholics feel more stress if
they are unable to do work, or if they are prohibited from
working. Their need for work is extremely excessive, to the
point that it can diminish their chances of happiness.
Workaholism endangers the health of employees and it also
worsens their relationship with other people. Such kinds
of people are not really welcomed by organisations as it
will only have a negative impact on the organisation’s
performance. These negative impacts vary from having lower
productivity, reduced efficiency and reduced profitability to

an organisation with high turnover rates.
In order to prosper and survive in today’s working condi-
tions, organisations need to hire engaged and passionate
employees. Work engagement, it seems, has positive conse-
quences on employees in terms of their wellbeing and their
work performance. Engaged employees are persistent and
fully immersed in their jobs. A culture that stimulates people
to work smarter instead of longer hours and a place that

stresses the importance of work life balance would be valu-
able to any organisation. In the case of engaged employees,
positive symptoms prevail and individuals would find more
enjoyment in their workplace.
Essentially, managers must realise the true difference
between workaholics and engaged employees. Organisations
should hire people who are engaged and passionate about
their work because engaged employees treat work as fun and
feel happy to be at work. In essence, being happy at work
will cause employees to be more productive while simultan-
eously enhancing their performance. In addition to that, hap-
pier employees are easy to work with, and this indirectly,
affects the performance of other individuals in the organisa-
tion. Understanding how workaholism and work engagement
can attribute to health, life satisfaction and wellbeing, is
pertinent.
INTERVENTION: HOW DO WE HELP WORKAHOLICS?
So, what can be done about those employees who are already
in the system? First and foremost, organisations need to inter-
vene and take charge by ensuring that workaholism does not
go unabated. Such problems should not be condoned, and be
allowed to prevail. At the global level, the World Health
Organisation had developed a plan for improving workers’
health. The Mental Health Action Plan (2013 2020) had

also outlined several significant objectives and implementa-
tion strategies which can be used to counter the prevalence of
workaholism. They are as depicted below:
• address the social causes of mental health, such as the

standard of living and the working conditions;
• conduct activities for the prevention and promotion of

health and mental health, including activities that can help

to reduce stigmatisation and the discrimination of mental
health; and
• increase access to evidence-based care through health

service development, including access to occupational
health services.
At the organisational level, the top management should take

serious considerations in applying intervention techniques to
help workaholics in improving their lifestyle and daily activ-
ities. Figure 1.6 illustrates several intervention techniques
Figure 1.6. Intervention Techniques to Help Workaholics.
Motivational
Coaching
interviewing
Work–life Group-
balance focused
programme initiatives
that can be used by organisations and the members in ‘heal-

ing’ the workaholics.
According to Andreassen (2013), motivational interview-
ing can help the workaholics into realising the negative
aspects of their work behaviour. This approach begins with
some principles of showing empathy, open communication
and reflection, exploring the problem and eventually, setting
a good discourse with the workaholic individuals. For
instance, a workaholic should not be told to reduce his/her

work because it will only create animosity and resistance.
Instead, the intervention should focus on exploring his/her
thoughts about work, what the person would change if
he/she has the opportunity to do so, what is important to the
individual, and how he/she would like to work. The goal is to
give the workaholic a clear view about life and what is
imperative in it. This interview process can be conducted by
peers as well as supervisors.
Coaching is another form of treatment programme that
can be used to heal workaholics. Coaching is a distinctive
technique that has value in supporting individuals into
making behavioural changes that can enhance their health
and wellbeing (Anstiss & Passmore, 2017). Similar to motiv-
ational interviewing, the purpose of coaching is to enhance
self-awareness and trigger personal responsibility. Seligman
(2012) recommends different coaching styles that focus on
five aspects of the wellbeing. First, is the need to help indivi-
duals to increase their experience of positive emotions.
Second, is to coach individuals to be more engaging in life,
that is, spending time on other activities (e.g. sport, spiritual-
ity and recreation) aside from work. Third, is to coach indivi-
duals to improve their relationship with others, whether at
work, or at home. Fourth, is to help the individuals grow by
assisting them in clarifying their values and ranking these
values according to importance, so that the workaholics can
reflect on these values, thereby implementing these into their

lives. Fifth, is to coach the individuals towards achievement
so that these individuals will acquire a sense of accomplish-
ment and closure, once their work is completed. Through this
way, it is deemed that workaholics would not feel the
compulsion to work excessively. Most coaching activities are
usually conducted by supervisors and those who are more
experienced than the workaholic individuals.
Another intervention technique is the group-focused initia-

tives. This technique considers the members inside the organ-
isation or work group as well as the social context of work
(Day & Penney, 2017). Among the things which organisa-
tions can do is to take into account the issue of interpersonal
compatibility among workaholics and their work group.
Restructuring the work teams may be a good strategy so as
to ensure that workaholics are grouped with individuals who
are more engaged at work. This alternative may provide a
valuable context, thereby, enhancing the social interactions of
the workaholics with non-workaholics. This can lead to an
improvement in co-worker civility, trust and wellbeing.
A decent work life balance programme should also be
introduced to curb workaholism. The integration of work
and family has been a prevalent issue, particularly in today’s
changing society. Although research on work life balance
has proliferated over the past decade, in reality, employers
are still ignoring the necessity of practising it in the work-
place. Employer recognition in supporting this as a pertinent
matter may very much affect the way employees do their
work. If workaholics are constrained from having a balance
between family and work, the syndrome may become worse.
An appropriate work life balance programme offered by
organisations can aid in ‘healing’ the workaholism syndrome.
To fulfil this, organisations can organise company outings,
provide a fitness gym, offer childcare services within the
work domain, structure flexible working hours, provide short

breaks and have team-building exercises among co-workers.
These strategies would enable the workaholics to find their
ground and a chance to experience the balanced work and
family lifestyle.
CONCLUSION
Fundamentally, it is clear that having a passion for work and

an addiction for work are two different sides of the coin. In
light of the above discussions, work engagement can be dis-
tinguished from the concept of workaholism. In predicting
employees’ wellbeing, passion for work may be a better pre-
dictor than workaholism. Workaholics and employees who
are engaged with work spend a lot of time and effort in their
work, but the distinction between passion and addiction is its
controlled motivation.
Every so often we find ourselves in a place where work
plays a major role in our lives. To be committed to work is
good but the key to wellbeing is to take note of our level of
commitment. In a sense, understanding that work should be
meaningful may guard us against being too obsessive in our
line of duty. As Ryan and Deci (2001) commented, psycho-
logical wellbeing calls upon human beings to live a life that
corresponds with their true self. It appears that when the
values of human beings are most consistent with their actions
and activities, they become completely engaged, be it at home
or at work.
The paradox to wellbeing is rather baffling. It must be
noted that being passionate and addicted to work are
heavy forms of work investment. In most cases, addicted peo-
ple work hard to justify their dysfunctional behaviour.
Essentially, workaholism has little to do with the passion one
has for work or even the sincere desire to contribute to

organisational goals. In ensuring our wellbeing as employees,
we must not succumb to such a state of disposition because
an addiction to work can be detrimental to our health and
performance, thereby, affecting our personal lives as well as
the lives of other people surrounding us.
Based on the above argument, should one, then, work
hard or not? It would seem that this is neither a choice, nor a
resolution. From the lighter side of things, work should be

seen as something fun and enjoyable. After all, as the saying
goes, ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’.
Ultimately, we should create a life that we cannot wait to
wake up to: a life full of engagement and passion, be it at
home or at work. Only then would life be fulfilling.
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CHAPTER 2
‘BEING GOOD OR BEING BAD IN

THE WORKPLACE?’ DOES MORAL
IMAGINATION INFLUENCE
EMPLOYEES’ ETHICAL
BEHAVIOUR?
INTRODUCTION
To date, there is an increase unethical practices and beha-

viours occurring at the workplace have been reported (Gino,
2015) especially with cases involving employees in the work-
place. A survey done by the Association of Certified Fraud
Examiner (ACFE) in 2016 has found that financial statement
fraud is the most common occupational fraud with 2,410
occupational fraud cases reported and the estimation loses of
US$6.3 billion. This finding addresses the issue of employees’
behaviour at the workplace which leads to the question why
employees choose to misrepresent financial statements by
creating misstatements and making omissions. In addition,
questions such as: Why do employees have to lie about the
43
numbers? Why do employees engage in this unethical action?

What is so difficult about being a good employee at the work-
place? Don’t employees feel that it is an immoral thing to do
at the workplace? are all the questions that lead to query
about choices that we make as an employee at the workplace.
According to Glasser’s theory of choice (1999), each person’s
behaviour is driven by his/her own choice and is in ultimate
control of the choice. Thus, each person is responsible for his/
her behaviour and the outcome of the choice. Glasser (1999)

emphasised that people choose responsible actions and
thoughts that positively impact their feelings which lead to
another query: Does making unethical choices make us feel
better? What influences the choices?
Based on the gap noted by these questions, this chapter
will provide a clear understanding of the fundamental need
to have ethical behaviour among employees. More specific-
ally, this chapter explores the antecedent factors influencing
the choice of employees when dealing with issues involving
ethical elements. This exploration provides a description on
how an individual makes his/her ethical decision and what
influences him/her choice into doing so.
O’Fallon and Butterfield (2005) have conceded that ethical
decision-making is a complex process for the individuals
attached to a work organisation. The basis of this argument
stems from the idea that there are multitude factors that have
been determined as antecedent factors. Among these, one of
the most critical factors that influences such decisions is the
moral imagination of the human mind, which addresses the
ability of the individual in predicting consequences of his/her
decision (Werhane, 1998). This chapter, will therefore,
expound on the role of moral imagination in shaping employ-
ees’ choice and ethical behaviour at the workplace. In the first
section, the fundamentals of ethical behaviour are addressed
first, by discussing the theories of ethics. Four major models
Does Moral Imagination Influence Employees’ Ethical Behaviour? 45
are utilised to explain ethical behaviour and these models will

also address the multitude factors that influence the ethical
behaviour of the individual in the subsequent section. This is
followed by an explanation on how moral imagination plays
a significant role on the employees’ ethical behaviour, espe-
cially in the workplace context. In addition to this, how the
relationship affects the wellbeing of the employee in the
organisation is also discussed. The last section highlights
the role of culture at the workplace and its impact on encour-

aging moral imagination among employees, thereby, leading
them to practise good and ethical behaviour.
ETHICS AND MORAL: WHICH ONE IS BETTER?
The topic of ethics and morals can trigger much discussion

because everyone concerned has a certain explanation, some
of which are ambiguous or vague, depending on the indivi-
dual’s character, values or attitude. Despite this notion, it is
generally accepted that ethics and morals are used to decide
what behaviours are good especially in dealing with ethical
issues. The term, ethics, was derived from the Greek word,
‘ethos’, which means custom or character. Philosophically,
ethics refer to some beliefs, decisions and actions that are
good. In the context of the social system, ethics provide the
rules of conduct on ‘how people ought to act to be moral’
(Buchholz & Rosenthal, 2005, p. 314). It lays out the stan-
dards, depicting what is good or bad, right or wrong and
permissible or not permissible, in one’s conduct. Ethics
provide a guideline to human beings on how people make
decisions and lead their lives. Those who possess highly
defined ethics are more associated with good behaviours
because they are more concerned with what is good for the
individual, society, environment and others.
Meanwhile, morality can be defined as the basic guideline

for the individual about what is right or wrong (Velasquez,
1998). It sets ‘the standards of behaviour by which indivi-
duals are judged, especially in their relationship with others’
(Stedham, Yamamura, & Beekun, 2007, p. 165). Based on
this definition, it can be accepted that ethics reflect the nature
and justification of right and wrong. On the other hand, mor-
ality can be referred to as the principle or rule of moral con-
duct, as defined by society. According to Fischer (2004),

morality and ethics are two different elements in the same
area. For instance, an action can be ethically right but
morally wrong. Perhaps, the following scenario provides a
better picture of this argument. (In this scenario, imagine that
you are Suzi.)
Scenario 1: My Boss or My Colleague?
Your boss meets you in a café for breakfast.
Boss: ‘Hi Suzi, what happened to your friend? Was

she feeling OK yesterday?’
Suzi: ‘Why Boss? I have not met her yet’
Boss: ‘I received a call from her. She was on medical

leave for two days. I asked her to take proper rest.
I am quite worried too. Please call her, Suzi and let
me know if everything is ok’.
Suzi: ‘OK Boss, will do’
Concerned about her friend’s condition, Suzi called

her friend. Surprisingly, her friend did not sound
unwell; instead, an exciting voice answered the
phone. Before Suzi could ask anything, the
friend said:
Friend: ‘Suzi, I am at my daughter’s school. She has

a performance today and I cannot miss this. I am so
excited and happy to be here with my girl’.
Suzi: ‘Is everything OK with you? You did not come

in for work today. Are you feeling unwell?’
Friend: ‘Oh! I am well. Actually, I want to tell you

something and please don’t tell anyone. I have to
take my medical leave today and tomorrow because

of my daughter’s performance. I don’t want to take
annual leave because I want to use that for later.
Don’t worry Suzi, I am OK and please don’t tell
anyone’.
Suzi felt relieved to hear that and she answered,

‘No worries dear, you take care and enjoy your
days’ and the conversation ends.
Suzi just smiled. Suddenly, the boss who was just

passing in front of Suzi, smiled at her, and asked,
‘Have you called her? So, how’s everything?’
The smile on Suzi’s face disappeared. Suzi is in a

dilemma now.
Should she tell him the truth? He is Suzi’s Boss.
Or
Should she lie? She is Suzi’s friend.
The above scenario is an everyday situation in a workplace.

Despite the fact that there are arguments defining what is eth-
ics and what is moral, Suzi is still required to make a right
decision, which is ethically and morally right to do so. This is
where the fundamental principle of her decision comes into
discussion, especially on the reasons behind her decision and

action.
For now, there is still no clear definite rationale that can
be deduced to determine whether a certain action is ‘ethical’
or ‘unethical’ or ‘moral’ or ‘immoral’. Nonetheless, one pos-
sible explanation for this matter is related to the philosophy
about the subject itself (Watley, 2002). Thus, the meaning of
ethics and morality are validated based on the individual’s
philosophical view.
There are two schools of thought, namely deontological
and teleological, which emerged as a basis that tries to explain
this subject. Both theories are fundamentally based on the
righteousness of behaviour and the consequence of the behav-
iour. First, the deontology view believes that a decision is
moral only to the extent that it is consistent with universal
moral philosophies (Kant, 1980). The notion that ‘doing unto
others as you would have them do unto you’ is the golden
rule in the deontological view. The deontological view
believes that ethical actions should be based on universal truth
or moral values such as fairness, truthfulness and harmony.
These values are set as a benchmark for ethical analysis.
In contrast, the teleology view determines ethics and mor-
ality through the end result of an action. A decision is ethical
if the decision produces better consequences rather than uni-
versal values (Mill, 1963). Cost benefit evaluation is used to
weigh certain actions in order to determine whether the
action is acceptable or unacceptable. Although certain actions
might harm others, they can still be ethical if the ‘positive
outcome “outweighs” the negative’. In other words, an action
is considered moral as long as it provides the greatest good
for the greatest number of people.
Although these two views can be used to explain the dif-
ferences in an individual’s moral reasoning, it is still difficult
to be applied in solving ethical dilemmas due to the variety
of values, moral beliefs and attitudes present in the individ-

ual. This diversity is explained by the concept of ethical
relativism which defines ethics as being relative to the
norms of one’s culture. Therefore, whether an action is
right or wrong, depends on the moral standards of the soci-
ety in which it is practised. One practice may be ethically
right in one society, but it can be ethically wrong in
another. For example, gift-giving practices is a normal trad-
ition in many non-Western cultures, including Malaysia.

This is known as ‘guanxi’ or relationship-building which is
defined as an ‘interpersonal linkage with the implication of
continued exchange of favours’ (Luo, 2000, p. 2). The prac-
tice of ‘guanxi’ relies on the belief that the business relation-
ship involves a personal relationship between the involved
parties; it is more than just a business deal. Thus, giving
souvenirs, including money and entertainment, means to
show politeness, and to establish a good relationship. From
a cultural perspective, this practice is considered to be eth-
ical (Lovett, Simmons, & Kali, 1999), but it is often mis-
interpreted by the West, which misunderstood this practice,
and mistakes it for bribery.
Through the reflection of the concept of ‘ethical’ or ‘un-
ethical’ and ‘moral’ or ‘immoral’, and addition of ‘deontol-
ogy’, ‘teleology’ and ‘relativism’, it can thus be deduced that:
It is ethical for Suzi to lie to the boss because that is

her duty (deontologist) as a friend. Futhermore, her
decision can save her friend from trouble. However,
lying is immoral (universal values), so lying should
not be tolerated for any reason. Thus, if Suzi
chooses not to tell the truth; it is ethical but
immoral. BUT
If she chooses to tell the truth, it is considered

unethical but morally right.
In general, however, it is common for the terms of moral-

ity and ethics to be used interchangeably. Ethics and morality
is a synonymous concept (Grace & Cohen, 1998), and these
two terms are difficult to differentiate as there is no clear sep-
aration in meaning between ‘ethics’ and ‘morality’. However,
Taylor (1975) highlighted that there is a similarity in these

two terms, based on the element of ethics, that is, ‘the nature
and ground of morality where the term morality is taken to
mean moral judgements, standard and rules of conduct’
(p. 1). Furthermore, existing studies also prefer to use both
terms mutually (Stedham et al., 2007).
WELLBEING: WE NEED A GOOD AND

ETHICAL EMPLOYEE
According to previous research (Jones, 1991), ‘ethical behav-

iour’ is the behaviour that involves consideration of others,
which is both ‘legally and morally’ acceptable to the majority
of the community. Additionally, based on the above discus-
sion, defining the ethical behaviour of an individual can some-
times be difficult, due to the fact that there is no consensus
about the definition of ‘ethics’. The meaning of ‘ethics’ varies,
depending on the individual’s perspective. Hence, one’s eth-
ical behaviour might be unethical to another and vice versa.
This scenario creates a complexity in dealing with such issues
involving ethical contents, especially in the workplace.
Perhaps, the difficulty to exactly determine the meaning of
ethical decision can serve as a possible reason to explain why
so many employees proceed with wrongdoing at their
workplace (Jones, 1991). For example, accepting gifts from
suppliers is considered misconduct for some employees, but it

is a norm for others. In another situation, some employees do
not hesitate in using the company’s facilities for their personal
use, whereas others try to avoid such behaviours.
These two examples of actions are both influenced by the
employees’ judgement and perception on how they define
the situations. If they believe that accepting bribes and
using company’s facilities for their personal benefits are
acceptable actions, then they will continue to do so because

the actions benefit them. Furthermore, this will continue
because these employees believe that they are not engaged in
any wrongdoings. Such employees are obviously unsure of
what is right or wrong, which puts them in the ‘grey’ areas
which are common in organisations. They are the ones creat-
ing a blurred boundary between ‘black’ and ‘white’ for their
employees to determine the morality of certain decisions
(Bruhn, 2009). As a result, employees may not even know
that they have engaged in unacceptable activities.
Despite this scenario, it is still vital for an organisation
to ensure that ethical behaviour is being practised among
employees so that any work performed by these employees is
conducted with honesty and integrity. Employees whose
behaviour is guided by ethics tend to adhere to their workplace
policies and rules while also striving to meet company goals
and objectives. In general, employees are the asset of an organ-
isation, thus, to be able to engage good employees to work at
the organisation is the good fortune of the organisation as it
has acquired the most valuable asset any company can have.
This is important because good employees can provide a com-
petitive advantage for the company in achieving organisational
goals and objectives. The most important significance of ethical
behaviour is the establishment of wellbeing in the workplace.
Good employees are always referred to as people who have
positive attributes; they not only practice good behaviour, but
they also encourage positive behaviour within the workplace,

thereby promoting wellbeing which, indirectly, leads to
engagement and commitment within the workforce. This
argument is supported by Clegg (1983) which confirmed that
there is a positive relationship between an employee’s attitude
and his/her performance. Thus, the practice of ethical behav-
iour among employees is crucial in enhancing employees’
wellbeing in the workplace. On the contrary, to have uneth-
ical employees can jeopardise the employees’ wellbeing at the

workplace, thus, it serves as a liability for an organisation.
These notions clearly demonstrate the importance of prac-
tising ethical behaviour among employees. As the employee
performs his/her duties, tasks and responsibilities, his/her
actions and decisions play a vital role in how much success
or failure he/she creates for the company in creating a
comfortable workplace environment. Since it has been estab-
lished that employing good employees can set the tone of the
employee’s wellbeing in the company, it is apt to uncover the
factors that are most likely to influence their attitudes and
decisions. Having such knowledge enables the organisation to
gain full understanding of its employees’ behavioural conduct,
particularly when dealing with ethical issues. In that regard, a
better policy and programme can be designed so as to encour-
age ethical behaviour among employees, which will enhance
the employees’ wellbeing at the workplace. Thus, a discussion
on major models of ethical behaviours in explaining on how
and why individuals make ethical decision is crucial.
MAJOR MODELS OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR
The development of a theoretical framework in the area of

ethical behaviour has proven to be very challenging due to
the complex and varied factors that contribute to employees’
ethical behaviour, especially at the workplace (Mustamil,

2010). Nonetheless, for all its challenges, this area is also
receiving increasing attention from scholars of ethics who are
exploring the process and antecedent factors affecting such
behaviour. In dealing with moral issues, Rest (1986) claims
that an individual is likely to engage in a process that consists
of four logical sequential components: moral awareness, moral
judgement, moral intention and moral behaviour (Table 2.1).
Table 2.1. Rest’s Four Component Model.
Four Components Elements of the Components
Moral awareness The person must have been able to make some
sort of interpretation of the particular situation in
terms of what action were possible, who
(including oneself) would be affected by each
course of action, and how the interested parties
would regard such effect on their welfare
Moral judgement The person must have been able to make a
judgement about which course of action was
morally right (or fair or just or morally good), thus,
labelling one possible line of action as what a
person ought (morally ought) to do in that
situation
Moral intention The person must give priority to moral values
above other personal values such that a decision
is made to intend to do what is morally right
Moral behaviour The person must have sufficient perseverance,
ego strength and implementation skills to be able
to follow through on his/her intention to behave
morally, to withstand fatigue and flagging will, to
overcome obstacles
Source: Adapted from Rest (1986).

These four logical sequential processes are important

because a deficiency in any one of the four components can
lead to moral failure. Thus, there is a need to bear in mind
that the ethical decision-making process is a complex and
diverse cognitive process. In that regard, the interrelationship
among these four components, which has been described as
feed-forward and feedback loops, can also be expected.
This four-component model has received much attention
in previous studies (Ford & Richardson, 1994; O’Fallon &

Butterfield, 2005) as researchers strive to explore the ante-
cedent factors that influence such decisions. These antecedent
factors can be divided into two major groups: organisational
and individual factors. Organisational factors refer to the
factors related to the established system and structure of the
organisation. In contrast, individual factors include the per-
son’s belief system and demographic profile. For example,
existing literature has shown that many studies were con-
ducted to examine the influence of gender, age and level of
education in ethical behaviour.
Generally, it is accepted that women subjects are more
sensitive to and less tolerant of unethical actions than their
male counterparts; older individuals are more ethical than
younger ones and the higher the level of a person’s education
level is, the higher his/her ability to make moral decisions.
Despite these findings, the subject of ethical dilemmas in a
workplace is more complex. As ordinary individuals, we have
our own beliefs and perceptions about good or bad behav-
iour. This belief is embedded in our whole being and it serves
as a guide to us when we perform our action at the work-
place. However, when we enter the workplace, it too has a
guideline which as employees we need to follow. The work-
place has a workplace culture, thus, there are norms and
practices to adhere to. Therefore, it is important for the
employees to modify their beliefs according to the attitudes,
skills and behaviours required so that they can function

effectively at their workplace.
According to Jones (1991), despite these differences and
misconceptions about good or bad, a common conclusion
has been reached to describe the process and the antecedent
factors influencing the ethical behaviour of individuals at a
workplace. Jones (1991) addressed four major models which
are consistently being referred to in describing the indivi-
dual’s ethical behaviour.

The first model is that of Hunt and Vitell (1986), called,
the ‘General Theory of Marketing Ethics’. It proposes that an
individual’s ethical judgement is a function of both the indivi-
dual’s deontological and teleological evaluation. The model
also suggests that cultural environment, industry environ-
ment, organisational environment and personal experience
can act as influencing factors in determining the individual’s
ethical behaviour. The second model comes from Ferrell and
Gresham (1985). This model proposes three major compo-
nents which are used to explain the individual’s ethical
behaviour; they include individual factors and the significant
others who are present in the organisational setting, as well
as opportunities for action. The model specifies that the
behavioural outcome of ethical dilemmas is related to
the interaction that occurs among these components. The
third model belongs to Trevino’s (1986) ‘Person-Situation
Interactionist Model’. It proposes the moderating effect of the
individual factor as well as other situational factors that can
influence the individual’s moral judgement. Individual factors
include ego strength, field dependence and locus of control,
whereas situational factors include elements of immediate job
context, organisational culture and the characteristics of
the work. The fourth model is attributed to Dubinsky and
Loken’s (1989) model that is based on the theory of reasoned
action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). This model proposes that
ethical attitude is derived from the individual’s personal

beliefs and outcome evaluations while normative beliefs and
motivation to comply affect the subjective norms towards
ethical behaviour.
Referring to these four models, Jones (1991) proposed the
‘Issue-contingent Model of Ethical Decision-Making’. The
model synthesises the four major models in the ethical deci-
sion area by using Rest’s Four Component Model. Jones
(1991) suggests that the individual’s ethical action depends

on the content of the moral issues faced. If the issue is consid-
ered to have a highly ethical content, the individual tends to
engage with ethical decisions. According to Jones (1991),
there are six characteristics to measure the moral intensity of
the issue: magnitude of consequences, social consensus, prob-
ability of effect, temporal immediacy, proximity and concen-
tration of effect.
Observing these models, it can be concluded that it is not
an easy process for employees to conduct themselves within
the ethical behaviour boundary. In this regard, it thus raises a
question about the thinking process of the employees as to
how they form a coherent problem-solving decision when
caught in ethical dilemmas. Focusing on this process provides
a better understanding of how employees actually make deci-
sions and behave in the context of complex moral matters.
Most importantly, the model provides the answer as to why
some people prefer to be a good employee in a workplace.
MORAL IMAGINATION
Based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that vari-

ous multidimensional constructs as the antecedent factors
that can influence an employee’s behaviour, such as definition
of moral and ethics, personal values on deontology, teleology
and relativism, organisational factor, moral intensity and

many others. Therefore, it can be said that this confirms the
complexity of the employees’ behaviour in the workplace.
Nonetheless, one of the most crucial factors that has a signifi-
cant effect on the employees’ behaviour, when talking about
‘good’ or ‘bad’ behaviour, is, moral imagination (Werhane,
1994).
Moral imagination refers to the individual’s ability to
understand any situation or moral dilemmas from multiple

perspectives which represent new possibilities that are not in
context, followed by the initiation of evaluating those possi-
bilities from a moral point of view (Werhane, 1999). It has
been proven that employees with high levels of moral imagin-
ation will be more engaged with good and ethical behaviour
as compared to those with low levels of moral imagination
(Whitaker & Godwin, 2013).
As discussed previously, moral is an internal personal
compass of right and wrong, which usually provides a con-
sistent guideline, despite differences in the individual’s beliefs.
Moral and ethics go hand in hand in the workplace which
effect the individuals’ work-life, as well as their relations with
their performance, loyalty, competition and satisfaction.
Meanwhile, imagination refers to the individual’s capacity
of thought, which can be applied to many domains including
the moral sphere. Kudriavtsev (2001) defines imagination as
‘the ability to see the whole before the parts’, (p. 19). It refers
to the ability of a person to reproduce, in the conscious mind,
the ‘images or concepts originally derived from the senses’
(Singer, 1999, p. 13). Imagination is considered crucial for
the individuals in enhancing their ability to predict the con-
sequences of some action. With imagination, a person is able
to establish the mind’s eye, which can be considered crucial
in dealing with complex matters.
The combination between moral and imagination can,

thus, be referred to as an individual’s ability to determine and
comprehend a particular situation by looking at the situation
from all possible points of view or dimensions. With moral
imagination, an individual will be able to stimulate his/her
ability to develop fresh thoughts about the situation, noticing
the negative perspective of the situation and discerning the
ethical dilemmas from the particular situation.
Moral imagination is closely related with the concept of

moral sensitivity (Buchholz & Rosenthal, 2005). It enhances
the individual’s ability to imagine him/herself in the perspec-
tives of others by taking into consideration the others who
will be affected by the course of such decisions. This situation
can enhance the individual’s moral values, especially when
dealing with ethical dilemmas. The individual will be more
careful in his/her behaviour. In this regard, moral imagination
helps the individual to create more possible solutions that are
related to the course of actions when making decisions. It
enhances the individual’s self-knowledge in imagining past
situations, in recreating the situation and in reflecting on it.
Moral imagination is a type of creative energy in decision-
making where the individual gains benefit from it. In other
words, it influences the individual’s system of thoughts when
dealing with a complex situation.
MORAL IMAGINATION AND WELLBEING
Being ethical or unethical in a workplace is an important pos-

ition; it plays a crucial role in our attempt to lead meaningful
and truthful lives. How we judge, decide and perform what
we do, especially in dealing with ethical dilemmas, is very
important because the consequence of our behaviour can
impact the way we do things in the workplace, as well as our
relationship with others working with us. Most of the time,

ethical dilemma can be a complex problem, particularly
when it is related to business ethics. To deal with such issues,
the organisation and its employees need to take moral issues
into consideration. Ethical mistakes occur when an organisa-
tion and its employees lack moral imagination. Therefore,
moral imagination is important and essential for the culti-
vation of morally imaginative employees’ behaviour in
organisations.
Imagination becomes morally right when it is utilised for
the wellbeing of others, especially in ethical behaviour con-
duct. Although at times, the ethical dilemmas that we face
may be lacking in terms of information, such as incomplete
or uncertain information, we still proceed with making our
decisions and behaving in a particular way. Truly, making
decisions under such levels of ambiguity is fraught with diffi-
culty, and this makes it impossible to determine the conse-
quences fully. This situation sometimes leads the individual
to engage in unnecessary behaviour due to the limited con-
ceptual schema and the failure to consider the ethical impact
of their behaviours. Such a situation emphasises the import-
ance of moral imagination as a means to be intimately con-
nected to one’s ethical behaviour. Within the context of
moral imagination, there are certain elements that encourage
a person to think about moral elements, thereby, guiding
them to perform good behaviour.
Werhane (1994) explains that there are three components
of moral imagination: reproductive imagination, productive
imagination and creative imagination. Reproductive imagin-
ation is about being aware of the contextual factors
that affect moral perception: (i) awareness of one’s context,
(ii) awareness of the script schema functioning in that context
and (iii) awareness of possible moral conflicts or dilemmas
that might arise in the context.
Reproductive imagination is referred to as the awareness

of scripted responses in dealing with specific situations.
It establishes an understanding of what an individual is
expected to do in certain specific situations. Some examples
are: when one is put in jail as a punishment for theft, being
issued a summons for exceeding highway speed limit or ter-
minating a student from the programme for cheating in the
examination. These are considered as expected, understand-
able and appropriate actions in these specific situations.

Productive imagination goes beyond reproductive imagin-
ation; it involves reframing the problem from different per-
spectives; ‘to take into account new possibilities within the
scope of one’s situation and/or within one’s role’ (Werhane,
1994, p. 85). For example, a typical organisation which oper-
ates conventionally in its working routine has decided to
apply an environmentally friendly solution in its organisation
with the objective of saving the environment. Therefore, the
organisation will start introducing policies related to the
environment in the company and emphasising on its import-
ance to the employees who are then encouraged to practise
recycling or zero wastage. This policy may also include creat-
ing a cohesive policy on paper usage, zero plastic and poly-
styrene usage in the company. Added to this could be an
additional policy such as car-pooling or taking public trans-
port to go to work; all of these is because the organisation
wants the employees to show care for the environment, as is
guided by the company’s policies. The reaction to these
implementations of policies is productive imagination. As
the employees become aware of the issue, they are able to
reframe the issue from different perspectives.
Among the three components, creative imagination is the
most crucial component for dealing with ethical issues.
Moberg and Seabright (2000) had emphasised that creativity
represents a type of automatic preconscious state that can
influence how an individual responds to an ethical situation.

Therefore, creativity can be described as an unconscious,
automatic, goal-directed activation of schemas (i.e. harm
avoidance and non-narrow-minded thinking) outside con-
scious awareness, resulting from an ethical dilemma. As
mentioned before, a complex moral issue normally contains
incomplete and uncertain information. Therefore, a creative
imagination will help the individual to complete the puzzle.
Creativity will expand the individual’s ability to create alter-

natives, imagine how other people will be affected by these
alternatives, and to consider the possible complications of
these alternatives on the interests of other people.
Creative imagination involves the act of developing fresh
and morally acceptable alternatives to solve problems: (1) the
ability to envision and actualise possibilities that are not
context dependent, but are encouraged by a fresh schema,
and/or (2) the ability to envision possibilities that other
reasonable persons could envision and (3) evaluation: the
ability to envision how to morally justify actualising these
possibilities and/or how to evaluate both the status quo and
these newly formulated possible outcomes. Moral imagin-
ation requires not only an understanding of the moral issues
embedded in a particular situation, but also the generation of
ideas, and recognising the impact of all potential solutions on
other people. Therefore, creativity may also influence the
individual’s ability to practice moral imagination as the indi-
vidual’s level of creativity is also strongly associated with
moral imagination. The relationship of creativity and moral
reasoning is hypothesised and established by including idea
generation and the ability to identify implications of the deci-
sions as the basis of creative thinking. It was concluded that
creative individuals have the potential for creative thinking,
and the capacity to oversee more options than non-creative
individuals. After the moral issue has been recognised,
creativity will expand the individual’s ability to create alter-

natives by imagining how others are affected by these alterna-
tives. Creative individuals will strive to avoid harm and they
use a non-narrow-minded thinking strategy when facing eth-
ical dilemmas (Moberg & Seabright, 2000; Werhane, 1999).
Based on these three components of moral imagination, it
can be deduced that moral imagination is crucial for employ-
ees, especially when dealing with ethical issues. To apply the
concept, employees must first have the awareness of the vari-

ous factors (organisational, personal or social) that can affect
others. They must also have the awareness of moral conflicts
that might arise based on the ethical issues. If employees have
a strong value of moral imagination, they are less likely to
make decisions or take the course of action that is narrowly
embedded in a restricted context. In addition, employees with
moral imagination have the capability to reframe these
ethical issues from numerous perspectives. This component of
productive imagination helps the employees to understand
different situations or experiences. Subsequently, creative
imagination enables employees to create fresh alternatives
towards problem solving. These fresh alternatives must be
morally justified with the presence of the others who may be
affected by the decisions. In the past, organisations used to
have values that contribute to the wellbeing of the organisa-
tion, but these are no longer appropriate in today’s situation.
Therefore, creative imagination can assist the employees in
creating new sets of values that would be relevant to the
organisation they work for. As a result, they become more
aware of the ethical issues, and so, better at making decisions
which can enhance the wellbeing of others and self at
the workplace. This cause effect relationship emphasises
the importance of encouraging moral imagination in the
workplace.
A RIGHT CULTURE FOR MORAL IMAGINATION
However, moral imagination cannot be practised if the envir-

onment is not conducive. In order to allow moral imagination
to grow in a workplace, it is important for an organisation to
take the necessary approaches. One way to do that is through
the implementation of organisational ethical culture. In the
context of this chapter, organisational culture can be defined
as the expressed shared assumptions, values and beliefs

that bind members of the organisation together. Through cul-
ture, organisations can establish the standards of certain
acceptable behaviour, and induce the required environment
to be practised. Therefore, when ethical elements are brought
into the culture of organisations, the ethical atmosphere and
moral environment within the organisations can be estab-
lished (Douglas, Davidson, & Schwartz, 2001). This is due to
the fact that ethical culture contains all relevant details about
an individual’s ethical conduct in the workplace, through
formal and informal, written and unwritten structures and
systems. As result it becomes the guideline for individuals to
follow when faced with ethical dilemmas; most importantly
in enhancing moral imagination.
Therefore, it is important to establish some mechanisms to
prioritise and implement the ethical principles, for example,
by implementing through codes of ethics. Further to this,
moral imagination should also be enforced throughout the
entire organisation, involving top management as well as all
those rising from the bottom of the pyramid. Moral imagin-
ation must be practised systematically so that it can facilitate
a more solid moral thinking process, thereby, enhancing the
process of moral judgement among all who are attached to
the organisation. This is because individuals and organisa-
tions have moral responsibilities, thus, they should be made
accountable for their actions. For this to work, employees
need to be aware of the consequences of their decisions, and

on how these will affect themselves, other people, the organ-
isation and the society as a whole. They must not only put
the importance of the decisions that would only benefit them,
but also consider other perspectives. To avoid any conflict of
interest, the employees concerned ought to think out of the
box and envision ways that are both ethical and effective.
Hughes-Rease (2015) proposed the ‘IF-THEN’ conversa-
tion as one of the most suitable tools that can be used to test
whether organisational practices encourage the moral imagin-
ation of the employees or not, as shown in Figure 2.1.
In this context, employees are given a problem or issue to
discuss. Employees are instructed to answer the questions
given, based on the issue provided. An indication of the cul-
tural practices of their respective organisations can be deter-
mined from their answers. From the outcomes noted, an
organisation can be more aware of the practices and this
information can be used to enhance moral imagination in the
respective workplace.
In addition, moral and ethical behaviour also requires the
leader to plan a role (Lee, Choi, Youn, & Chun, 2017). In
Figure 2.1. IF-THEN Approach.

1. IF the problem is complex and the decision has the potential for causing harm,
THEN how do you reframe the problem from a variety of perspectives to get a
better understanding of the situation?
2. IF you are entangled in the immediate situation, THEN how do you create a
forum to discuss the problem in the context of the bigger picture?
3. IF you recognize the group is using a typical way of thinking to address an

issue not faced before, THEN how do you challenge the group to use a creative
approach?
4. IF you suspect an ethical conflict is present as part of the decision, THEN

how do you make sure it is addressed?
this regard, the leader should understand the basic simple

truth about how things function at the workplace to encour-
age moral imagination in the workplace. For example, if you
were the leader of that organisation and you want certain
behaviours to be practised, then you need to practise it first,
as a role model. If you want certain behaviours to be discon-
tinued, then you need to make sure that you do not reinforce
such a behaviour. As the leader, you need to provide an
environment that encourages an alternative behaviour.

Although this is a straightforward fact, it is often hard to
implement for leaders. Therefore, leaders must be mindful
about what actions and behaviours they want to reinforce
and what behaviours they do not want reinforced. They
should be good examples who ‘walk the talk’ as they are the
role model for their employees. Failure to perform this will
cause employees to develop undesirable behaviours at the
workplace. Consequently, everyone’s wellbeing is affected.
CONCLUSION
As an individual who needs to make choices, it is often not

easy when faced with an ethical dilemma to make a right
choice for the decision. Each one of us has our own percep-
tion on what is considered as ‘ethical’ and ‘morally right’.
Thus, when we enter a workplace, our perspective on this
concept will be modified and shaped according to the norms,
culture and values of the workplace. Understanding this
theme can, therefore, potentially widen our beliefs so that we
can establish a relationship with others. The most important
thing about this practice is the connection to our wellbeing.
With ethics functioning as the personal compass, employees
will be able to ensure that the decisions and behaviours which
they perform and portray are ones that are based on a good
choice; it is for the purpose of improving their wellbeing.

Hence, moral imagination should be enhanced so as to estab-
lish such choices, decisions and behaviours. Through the
application of the moral imagination of the individuals,
awareness is raised and caution is applied when making deci-
sions, and when acting on these decisions. Based on the dis-
cussion, it would appear that organisational culture should
be the most appropriate tool to guide the employees into
being good and ethical employees.
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CHAPTER 3
CYBERBULLIES: HURT ME NOT!

Sarah enters her home and drops her handbag on

the couch. She looks forward to unwinding after a
long day at work. As she cuddles up in her sofa, she
hears the all familiar chime of incoming messages.
She breaks into a sweat and her hand trembles as
she reaches out for her phone. She turns the phone
on while praying hard it would not be the dreaded
message from her colleague. Sadly, her prayers went
unanswered. It was indeed the text message from
her colleague who is degrading her for a report she
just submitted. Nothing she does is good enough in
the eyes of her colleague. To make matters worse,
the colleague shared the derogatory text message
with everyone else within the department’s chat
group. Oh, how she wishes this will stop!
The scenario above is not a scene from a movie, nor is it a fig-

ment of one’s imagination. It is not a passing fad; it is some-
thing that happens in reality. While Sarah’s name may be
fabricated, her experience is real and it is related to cyberbul-
lying at the workplace.
71
It may seem strange to some people that even adults such

as Sarah can be victimised through cyberbullying. Although
most people are guided by the preconceived notion that
cyberbullying is just a phase of adolescence and does not
affect adults in the workplace, the fact is that it exists. The
misguided notion about cyberbullying can be attributed to
the numerous reports quoting the cases of cyberbullying
among children and adolescents. Related to this, recent statis-
tics provided by CyberSecurity Malaysia indicate that the

number of cases related to cyberbullying has increased from
300 cyber harassment cases in 2012 to 529 cases in 2016
(The Star, 2017, April 11). A large portion of these cases
involved cyberbullying among students. In 2012, 250 cases,
out of the 300 reported cases, involved students. Moving
forward to 2016, 338 cases from the total of 529 reported
cases were noted to involve students. A recent DigiSurvey
indicates that more than 50 per cent of Malaysian youths
experience cyberbullying through social media or online
chats, and 90 per cent of social media users believe that they
are at risk of being cyberbullied (DigiSurvey, 2017). With
similar reports about the prevalence of cyberbullying emer-
ging among youths, more attention has been given to cyber-
bullying cases among students, instead of adults.
In Malaysia, there is no empirical evidence that can be
traced to workplace bullying (FMT, 2017, July 8). Despite
that, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has
received numerous reports from all over Malaysia, citing acts
of workplace bullying (FMT, 2017, July 8). If this is the scen-
ario, it can be expected to involve workplace cyberbullying
too. Fundamentally, workplace cyberbullying and its impact
on employee’s wellbeing has not been widely discussed in
literature nor in practice (Forssell, 2016; Keskin, Akgün,
Ayar, & Kayman, 2016; Kowalski, Toth, & Morgan, 2018;
Piotrowski, 2012; Privitera & Campbell, 2009). In fact, there
Cyberbullies: Hurt Me Not! 73
has been copious amount of work done on workplace bully-

ing, but not about workplace cyberbullying and its implica-
tions on the organisation (Gardner et al., 2016; Piotrowski,
2012, p. 17).
Undeniably, workplace cyberbullying is a deviant work-
place behaviour that can adversely affect the wellbeing of
employees (Forssell, 2016; Keskin et al., 2016; Vranjes,
Baillien, Vandebosch, Erreygers, & De Witte, 2017). While
some studies found that traditional workplace bullying was

more rampant in the workplace (e.g. Gardner et al., 2016),
there appears to be a shift in trend. Kowalski et al. (2018)
found that adults in their current workplace are being
exposed to cyberbullying and the occurrence is more frequent
than traditional bullying. The prevalence of workplace cyber-
bullying can be attributed to the advent of modern high-tech
work environment (Gardner et al., 2016; Piotrowski, 2012;
Synman & Loh, 2015).
In line with the transition towards a digitalised workplace,
the act of workplace bullying has also transcended to include
cyberbullying (Kowalski et al., 2018). Devices (e.g. cellular
phones, computers) and channels (e.g. social media, email
and online forums) have not only enhanced the way people
communicate at the workplace, they have also paved the path
for cyberbullies to conduct their undesirable behaviours.
These modern devices and technological channels have
provided cyberbullies with alternative mechanisms to target
their victims (Keskin et al., 2016; Synman & Loh, 2015).
However, is cyberbullying at the workplace a mere extension
of workplace bullying through digitalised channels? Apparently
not. These two behaviours are clearly not identical. While, the
main distinction between workplace bullying and cyberbullying
appears to be the channel employed by the perpetrator to
harass their victims, there is more to it than what meets the eye
(Kowalski et al., 2018).
DECIPHERING CYBERBULLYING AT THE WORKPLACE
Cyberbullying is referred to as ‘cyberabuse, cyberharassment,

online bullying, online harassment, online abuse, elec-
tronic bullying, electronic harassment and electronic abuse’
(D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013, p. 325). Cyberbullies may engage
any form of communication technology such as text mes-
sages, images, video clips, telephone calls, email, chat rooms,
instant messaging (IM) or websites and social networking

sites to carry out their devious act of bullying their victims
(Gardner et al., 2016). Most victims who have experienced
cyberbullying in their adulthood have been typically harassed
through social networking sites, IM, email and cellular
phones (Kowalski et al., 2018). In most cases, the culprits
are their colleagues or co-workers (Kowalski et al., 2018;
Piotrowski, 2012).
Fundamentally, workplace cyberbullying can be categorised
into work-related and person-related cyberbullying (Farley,
Coyne, Axtell, & Sprigg, 2016). Work-related cyberbullying
includes acts where computer-mediated communication is
used to blame the target for certain work problems; it bypasses
the target in group communications which may be pertinent to
their work role; they unfairly criticise the target and make
other claims (Farley et al., 2016). The perpetrators may go the
extra mile to constantly monitor their targets. For instance,
D’Cruz and Noronha (2013) found that some leaders used IM
to constantly query and disparage their target’s performance.
Some leaders harass their victims on work-related matters, at
odd hours, or even during their time off (D’Cruz & Noronha,
2013). Others may intentionally ignore someone’s emails at
work, delete their target’s files, or even forward the target’s
emails to third parties with the intention of sabotaging the tar-
get (Farley et al., 2016; Vranjes et al., 2017).
In contrast, person-related cyberbullying includes acts

such as sending intimidating emails or text messages to
harm or humiliate the targets (Farley et al., 2016; Gardner
et al., 2016; Hong, Chien-Hou, Hwang, Hu, & Chen,
2014). It could also involve hacking into the target’s email
accounts or spreading rumours about the target on cyber-
space (Farley et al., 2016; Gardner et al., 2016). Some may
make unsolicited phone calls to harass or threaten their
target (Gardner et al., 2016), others may backstab their

target or falsify information about the target (Hong et al.,
2014). An example of such a case is when the perpetrator
repetitively telephones the family members of his/her target
so as to criticise the target’s performance. This behaviour
was meant to imply an impending lay-off with the under-
lying intention of getting the target to stop questioning the
perpetrator’s behaviour at work (D’Cruz & Noronha,
2013). Another example is related to unsolicited workplace
romance where the perpetrator pursues his/her one-sided
love by hacking into his love interest’s personal accounts,
then retrieving the love interest’s fiancé’s email address and
subsequently, sending derogatory emails about her to the
fiancé with hopes of breaking their relationship (D’Cruz &
Noronha, 2013).
While the above-mentioned scenarios may depict work-
place cyberbullying as an extension of workplace bullying
performed through technology, researchers have been in a
constant tussle on how to define cyberbullying. Farley et al.
(2016) state that workplace bullying and cyberbullying are
theoretically similar. While the power play using technology
in cyberbullying may vary from the face-to-face context,
cyberbullying is still characterised by repetition and power
imbalance (Farley et al., 2016).
Hence, Farley et al. (2016) defined cyberbullying as:
a situation where over time, an individual is

repeatedly subjected to perceived negative acts
conducted through technology (e.g. phone, email,
web sites and social media) which are related to
their work context. In this situation the target of
workplace cyberbullying has difficulty defending
him or herself against these actions. (p. 3)
Consequently, Farley et al. (2016) systematically exclude

the intent to harm in the definition provided because of the
complexities associated with measuring the perpetrators’
actual intention.
While most definitions provided in the body of literature are
aligned with the definition provided by Farley et al. (2016),
these definitions go one step further to include the element of
intent to harm as one of the required criteria. Four common
facets noted in literature include: (1) cyberbullying is an alterna-
tive form of workplace bullying (Hong et al., 2014), (2) cyber-
bullying is an act of workplace bullying which is mediated by
technology (Gardner et al., 2016), (3) cyberbullying constitutes
a deliberate and intimidating behaviour which is meant to
harm the target and (4) cyberbullying is carried out repeatedly.
In other words, workplace cyberbullying involves cyberbullies
logging on to online or wireless communication devices to
intimidate their victims through inappropriate and unwanted
social exchanges, on a repeated basis (Gardner et al., 2016).
However, disagreement seems to be brewing primarily on
one of the above-mentioned facets. Most researchers attempt-
ing to decipher and define workplace cyberbullying adhered
to the definition of workplace bullying instead.
Workplace bullying is viewed as repeated

unwelcomed negative act or acts (physical, verbal,
or psychological intimidation), that can involve

criticism and humiliation, intended to cause fear,
distress, or harm to the target from one or more
individuals in any source of power with the target of
the bullying having difficulties defending himself or
herself. (Bartlett & Bartlett, 2011, p. 71)
The common definition of workplace bullying emphasised

that repetition of the behaviour is a defining condition for the

act to be considered as bullying. Therefore, most researchers
abide by this requirement when defining the act of work-
place cyberbullying as well. For illustration, Leymann and
Gustafsson (1996) stated that an act is deemed bullying and
not a simple private conflict when the act is repeated weekly
with a reporting period of over six months.
Nevertheless, the repetition of the act of cyberbullying
may not be an appropriate criterion for all contexts. This is
mentioned by Privitera and Campbell (2009) who found that
only 11 per cent of their respondents experienced some form
cyberbullying when Leymann and Gustafsson’s (1996) cri-
teria was followed. It was observed that when repetition was
not made a compulsory requirement, the number of respon-
dents who reported their experiences of being cyberbullied
increased to more than half of the respondents. This incre-
ment implies that the earlier percentage was unable to offer
an accurate picture of real workplace cyberbullying acts.
Thus, it can be seen that an inclusion of this criteria would
have prevented many victims from voicing out their experi-
ences; they would have gone unnoticed and suffered in
silence.
Vranjes et al. (2017) reasoned that a single act of a nega-
tive cyber behaviour can sometimes have the same implica-
tion as an act that was repeated. While repetitions may be
essential in the private context, it may not be required in the
public context. For instance, a single derogatory social media

posting that has been shared with individuals other than the
victim increases the chance of the posting to be shared exten-
sively by others. Hence, even though the perpetrator may not
share the particular posting repeatedly, that single act of post-
ing the message facilitates the repeated exposures made by
others. In relation to this, it can also be observed that a single
act of hacking into an individual’s private account and for-
warding the confidential email, with the intention of harming

the victim, may be sufficiently considered as an act of
cyberbullying.
Fundamentally, Vranjes et al. (2017) stressed that when a
negative cyber behaviour invades the boundary of one’s pri-
vate life, a one-time act suffices to be considered as an act of
cyberbullying. In a nutshell, workplace cyberbullying includes:
all negative behaviour stemming from the work

context and occurring through the use of ICTs,
which is either (a) carried out repeatedly and over a
period of time or (b) conducted at least once but
forms an intrusion into someone’s private life,
(potentially) exposing it to a wide online audience.
This behaviour leaves the target feeling helpless and
unable to defend. (Vranjes et al., p. 326)
THE COVERT OPERATION OF CYBERBULLIES
Undeniably, workplace cyberbullying holds an immense

potential to negatively affect the victims. The question is,
how can cyberbullies operate without facing legal repercus-
sions that usually accompany workplace bullying? One may
also ask, why are the victims not standing up to fight for
their rights and confronting the perpetrator(s)? Why is the
perpetrator actively engaging in the vicious behaviour online

despite knowing that such a behaviour can be captured as
evidence? The answer to all these questions lies in the unique
features of cyberbullying that facilitates the covert operations
of the cyberbullies.
As discussed earlier, workplace cyberbullying is a form of
workplace bullying. The main difference between these two
forms of bullying is that the former has the perpetrator con-
ducting his/her behaviour covertly, online. Other similarities

and differences of the two forms of workplace bullying are
depicted in Figure 3.1. There are some common elements
shared between workplace bullying and cyberbullying, as
indicated by the overlapping elements. The perpetrator in
both contexts engages in bullying acts to intentionally hurt or
harm the victim. This involves a power play that reflects a
significant power imbalance between the cyberbully and the
victim, with the latter being pushed to a corner, with no
means of escape.
Figure 3.1. Similarities and Differences between

Workplace Bullying and Cyberbullying.
Anonymity
Deliberate
act Lack of
supervision
Power
imbalance Boundarylessness
Hurtful on
victims Publicness
Workplace bullying Workplace cyberbullying
Source: Adapted from Gardner et al. (2016).

From the figure, it can be deduced that workplace cyber-

bullying is an extension of workplace bullying. Despite some
similarities, workplace cyberbullying has four unique features
(anonymity, lack of supervision, boundarylessness and public-
ness) which possibly, make it more detrimental than trad-
itional workplace bullying (Forssell, 2016; Gardner et al.,
2016). The perpetrators in this regard are usually more daring
in their evil quest of bullying their victims online, protected by
these features. The underlying nuances of these features and

its implications on cyberbullying are further discussed.
Anonymity
Acts of cyberbullying usually leave a digital footprint online.

Experts will be able to track down the perpetrators using tools
such as caller identities, call records or even IM identities.
Anonymous emails or postings can be traced back to the perpet-
rator by using the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (D’Cruz &
Noronha, 2013). Some of the messages which are in the forms
of emails or social media posts can be downloaded and used as
evidence against the perpetrators (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013).
Since ‘cyberbullying acts sometimes leave a digital footprint,
perpetrators may be even more careful to disguise behaviours to
prevent being reported’ (Farley et al., 2016, p. 4).
In order to protect themselves from the legal repercus-
sions, cyberbullies, in general, adopt anonymity as their
modus operandi. They shield themselves behind anonymous
identities and bravely spew their hurtful attacks on their tar-
geted victims, online. In most cases, there is no identifiable
face or name for these bullies’ online personas as they cover
their tracks carefully. In fact, most cyberbullies have an
extensive list of strategies to avoid being identified and they
have little remorse in their conduct.
Hence, cyberbullies at the workplace are no different from

cyberbullies elsewhere. Embracing the protective shield pro-
vided by cyberspace, they may even amplify their bullying
behaviour online. They hide behind pseudonyms or tempor-
ary accounts that cannot be traced back to them and so the
opportunity to operate stealthily with no discernible identity
further encourages the perpetrators to engage in behaviours
that they would not normally participate in real life (Forssell,
2016). This lack of constraint when online, can be clearly

explained through the concept of online disinhibition effect
which states that people may portray themselves differently
when they are online (Vranjes et al., 2017). In this regard, the
cyberspace creates an avenue for such people to express their
online persona which deviates from their offline persona.
Consequently, when online, these people become less inhib-
ited because the chances for negative social appraisals are sig-
nificantly reduced (Vranjes et al., 2017). Unlike bullies from
the physical environment, cyberbullies are shielded from the
watchful eyes of others. This makes them braver because no
one can identify and judge them.
Due to the hyper personal view of computer-mediated
communication, an individual’s online persona takes on a dif-
ferent outlook and this drives them to express their thoughts
even more intimately, so as to make up for the lack of their
non-verbal identity indications (Vranjes et al., 2017). The pri-
mary purpose of such intense messages is to ensure that their
underlying intention and emotion are clearly reflected in their
messages. Likewise, bullies too will express their harassment
towards their target in a more overt manner when they are
online. Not only does their anonymous identity encourage
them to go the extra mile in ensuring that their messages to
the victims emphasise their negative intentions, they also
hope that the impact of the messages reverberates through
cyberspace and pierces the heart of their victims.
Anonymity also allows cyberbullies to turn a blind eye

towards the pain experienced by their victims (Forssell,
2016). In this regard, victims are unable to confront their per-
petrators, hence, making it possible for the perpetrators to go
unrecognised or even to the point of being cold and cruel, as
they choose to disregard the sufferings of the victims
(Forssell, 2016). Fundamentally, the anonymity makes the
cyberbullies even more capable of distancing themselves from
the victims and not show any empathy towards them to the
point of becoming exceptionally cold and dangerous.
Lack of Supervision
When the cat’s away, the mice will play.
The idiom above encapsulates the unregulated cyberspace

environment which has been transformed into a playground
for cyberbullies. Evidently, acts of cyberbullying at the work-
place can go undetected, unless they are highlighted by the
victims themselves. However, fear and embarrassment often
inhibit the victims from reporting this matter to the author-
ities (Hong et al., 2014). To make matters worse, they do not
know their perpetrators who hide behind the shield of
anonymity. This then makes it very difficult for the victims to
confront the perpetrators. Moreover, when advised to report
the matter to the ‘relevant’ authorities, the victims often do
not know who to turn to.
Such a problem as experienced by the victims can be attrib-
uted to the lack of a visible and authoritative watchdog(s) who
can regulate deviant behaviours (which include cyberbullying)
in cyberspace (Forssell, 2016; Keskin et al., 2016). While
companies usually have anti-harassment policies in place,
most employees still ‘feel vulnerable to cyber abuse from
fellow employees’ (Piotrowski, 2012, p. 49). In many cases,
cyberbullies at the workplace continue to rear their ugly head

because organisations do not treat cyberbullying as a corporate
crime (Piotrowski, 2012). Clearly, the existing policies, rules
and guidelines implemented by organisations today, are insuffi-
cient and inadequate for addressing workplace cyberbullying
(Gardner et al., 2016). In some cases, this lackadaisical attitude
of the organisations may be due to the failure of administrators
in understanding the full degree and impact of cyberbullying
on their employees (Piotrowski, 2012). Consequently, this laid-

back attitude will encourage more cyberbullying acts since the
attempt to deal with such allegations of workplace bullying
and cyberbullying turn to become a futile effort.
In addition to this, the lack of supervision by organisations
on cyberbullying incidents may also be attributed to the orga-
nisation’s culture and norms of behaviour. It was reported (see
Power et al., 2013) that in countries with high performance
orientation such as Confucian Asia, workplace bullying is
embraced as a cultural norm that promotes performance. In
such a context where workplace bullying is generally tolerated
and accepted, workplace cyberbullying may thrive even better.
This certainly puts the victims at more risk.
Boundarylessness
Turn off your phone, try to hide

Do not forget your electronic device
You can run, but you cannot hide
As I will always be by your side
With hate,
Your Cyberbully
As is common in all cases of bullying, victims of cyberbully-

ing yearn for their safe haven. Unlike their counterparts who
experience workplace bullying, victims of cyberbullying feel

that their torment never ends even when they have stepped out
of their workplace. Evidently, cyberbullying pervades the ‘tar-
gets’ spatial, temporal, personal and social boundaries, to
unleash strain and harm’ (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013, p. 330).
The victims’ tormentors follow them everywhere they go, con-
tinuing to torment their victims with their despicable acts, out-
side the traditional work-related spaces (Forssell, 2016) and
outside work hours (Kowalski et al., 2018). In general, cyber-

bullies can access their victim or target, at any time of the day,
from any nook or corner of the world and through various
means (Forssell, 2016; Gardner et al., 2016). Such boundary-
lessness offers the perpetrators unrestricted access to their
victims, thereby, depriving their victims of any miniscule
opportunity to find solace and peace, away from the attention
of their bullying experiences (Kowalski et al., 2018).
An easy solution for these victims may be to turn off their
phones or any electronic devices they use, for it is assumed
that their tormentors are unlikely to reach them when these
devices are turned off. One may want to believe in this sim-
plistic solution. However, it may not be as easy as it seems.
These devices are the heart line for communication in the pre-
sent digitalised world. Employees need to keep their devices
on at all times for work and family communication (Forssell,
2016; Gardner et al., 2016). While this is a necessity, it also
provides a deadly tool for the cyberbullies to reach them at
any point of time (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013).
Publicness
The cyberbullying experience by itself can be daunting for

any victim. The negative implication of this experience is
amplified when the audience range widens. In any typical
cyberbullying case, the audience range may be classified into

three possible categories, as shown in Figure 3.2 (D’Cruz &
Noronha, 2013).
In a fully confined context, the bullying experience
remains a private matter between the bully and the victim
(D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013). Even though the act of cyber-
bullying is conducted via cyberspace, messages or postings
from the bully is directed only to the victim. Unless the victim
himself/herself confides in someone, no one would be aware

of these acts of workplace cyberbullying. These exchanges,
may, at times transcend the private confines of the bully
victim relationship and involve others known to the victim.
This audience range involves a partially confined situation
which allows colleagues within the workspace and family
members to be in the know about the bullying situation
(D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013). Cases discussed earlier on how
the act of bullying is extended to family members or the sig-
nificant other of the victim, are perfect examples of the partial
confined audience range.
In extreme cases, the messages posted by cyberbullies
may transcend the boundary of the workgroup and shared
Figure 3.2. Audience Range in Cyberbullying.
Fully confined
Unconfined
Partially confined
Source: Adapted from D’Cruz and Noronha (2013).

within the public domain (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013;

Farley et al., 2016). A wide range of audience in the fully
unconfined situation, allows anyone within the public sphere,
to view, share and comment, based on their own interpreta-
tions, with no restrictions. Such unconfined audience can
even allow bystanders who do not know the victim, to ‘add
salt to the wound’, by further spreading the posting and add-
ing their comments to the postings (D’Cruz & Noronha,
2013; Farley et al., 2016). Indirectly, these bystanders

become the bully’s co-conspirators as they intentionally facili-
tate the widespread dissemination of the postings.
Returning to the experience of Sarah above, it can be noted
that Sarah’s pain has been aggravated manifolds when the
offensive text message was shared with everyone else within
the department’s chat group. Some of her colleagues who
knew her well enough would have had the courtesy to check
on her and verify the information. Others would have accepted
the information presented at face value and make their own
judgements about her competency. The rumour mongers, on
the other hand, would have had a feast with this bit of infor-
mation, and they may continue to spread the message.
Sarah’s experience reflects the publicness of cyberbullying.
Digital communication technologies allow the bullies to reach
out and spread their vile messages to a large group of audi-
ence, instantly (Gardner et al., 2016; Vranjes et al., 2017).
There is no turning back for the victim, once this message
goes viral. Any amount of damage control may not be able to
diminish the permanent existence of this message in the
public sphere. Postings through social media sites, emails or
blogs, remain perpetually available. This allows the postings
to be continually distributed and viewed by others (Farley
et al., 2016). Sadly, the character damage has been done even
before the victim becomes aware of it (Gardner et al., 2016;
Vranjes et al., 2017).
CYBERBULLYING AND EMPLOYEES’ WELLBEING
Some may say cyberbullying is just an attempt to mess with

the victim’s mind and there is no physical harm involved.
However, words can cut deeper than knives. The quote by
Demi Lovato above clearly emphasises how words were used
when bullying someone and these words can be embedded in
the heart and soul of the victim, seriously affecting their well-
being. While there may be some similarities between cyber-

bullying and traditional bullying experiences, the subjective
experiences between these two forms of bullying, vary to
some extent. Clearly, the lack of a physical self or a face-to-
face contact in cyberbullying encourages the bullies to use
piercing words to penetrate the mind of their victims so as to
break their spirit.
In general, victims of cyberbullying at the workplace, may
experience the same negative consequences that have been
reported by child victims or adolescent victims (Kowalski
et al., 2018). Cyberbullying victims frequently complain about
physical and emotional sufferings that arise from their sense of
defencelessness induced by cyberbullying (D’Cruz & Noronha,
2013). When bullies drain the resources (e.g. personal charac-
teristics) that their victim holds dear to their heart through
relentless bullying, the victims experience poor physical and
mental health (Gardner et al., 2016). Clearly, the implication
of workplace cyberbullying on victim’s wellbeing can be cate-
gorised into two primary categories: (1) psychological well-
being and (2) physiological wellbeing. These implications are
further elaborated in the subsequent sections.
Psychological Wellbeing
While cyberbullying may not directly induce physical pain, its

impact on the psychological wellbeing is severe. As in the
case of traditional bullying, cyberbullying can incite negative

psychological, emotional and social implications (Hong et al.,
2014). Some victims are deeply affected by the humiliation
associated with being targeted (Gardner et al., 2016). Most
victims are psychologically upset due to being cyberbullied
(Hong et al., 2014) and they experience negative emotions
such as distress, apprehension, embarrassment, rage, unhap-
piness and emotional exhaustion (D’Cruz & Noronha,
2013). Such emotional turmoil can adversely affect the vic-

tim’s level of stress and satisfaction at work (Farley et al.,
2016). In general, about one-third of the victims experience
depression (Hong et al., 2014). It was noted that the risk of
suicide among victims of cyberbullying were notably higher
than victims of traditional bullying (Hong et al., 2014). Their
level of confidence drops significantly, and they are unable to
handle issues at the workplace (Hong et al., 2014).
The above-mentioned implications on the victims’ psycho-
logical wellbeing can be attributed to their feeling of being
disempowered. The disempowerment theory helps to shed
some light on this experience among victims of cyberbullying.
In general, any negative workplace event is capable of rob-
bing the victims of their self-respect (Farley et al., 2016). This
applies to the case of cyberbullying as well. Most victims’
psychological wellbeing is severely affected when the bullying
causes a disparity of power (Gardner et al., 2016) particularly
when the power is within the perpetrator who utilise it to vio-
late the self-respect of the victims. One such example was
highlighted in the work of D’Cruz and Noronha (2013) who
found that women who were sexually harassed online by
their work colleagues, felt that their honour was tainted.
Such acts, inevitably, caused the victims to feel disempow-
ered, thereby, triggering negative repercussions on their psy-
chological wellbeing (Farley et al., 2016). To make matters
worse, victims are usually reluctant to confront the bullies
(Hong et al., 2014) which inevitably cause the feeling of dis-

empowerment to spiral further downwards.
The extent of negative implications on the victims’ well-
being depends on the sense-making process of the victims.
When victims are subjected to any act of harassment, they go
on to analyse and make internal or external attributions
about their unpleasant experiences (Hershcovis & Barling,
2010) on their own. This practice can gradually drain the vic-
tims’ confidence. The disempowerment theory does not

explore the perception of the victims with regards to who is
to be blamed for their emotional distress (Farley et al., 2016).
Nonetheless, it is possible that the blame attribution process
can elucidate the impact of cyberbullying on the wellbeing of
victims. The attributional model of work harassment clearly
delineates that the perception about the fairness of the situ-
ation influences the extent to which their wellbeing, attitude
and behaviour is affected (Bowling & Beehr, 2006; Farley
et al., 2016). Victims experience a reduced wellbeing when
they internalise the cyber abuse experience and blame them-
selves for being the target of cyberbullies (Farley et al., 2016).
In such cases, the victims do not think that their self-respect
was dishonoured but they believe that they deserve to be bul-
lied (Farley et al., 2016). This acceptance of blame leads to a
greater deterioration of the victims’ psychological wellbeing.
In contrast, when a victim feels that he/she is not to be blamed
for being bullied, the level of the victim’s psychological well-
being is less adversely affected (Farley et al., 2016).
Physiological Wellbeing
As mentioned earlier, cyberbullying does not facilitate the

actual physical aggression that may be noted in traditional
bullying; it does not cause physical pain directly. However,
cyberbullying can have an adverse impact on the victim’s phys-

ical wellbeing (Kelly, 2011). In this regard, the psychological
wellbeing of the individual has the potential to affect his/her
physiological wellbeing. An individual’s poor mental health
can translate into poor physical health in the long run. Some
of the physiological impact experienced by victims of cyber-
bullying include weight loss, headaches, insomnia, hyperten-
sion, digestive problems, lethargy and weariness (D’Cruz &
Noronha, 2013). Some victims may even experience post-

traumatic stress disorder. Of those employees who remained in
the organisation despite being cyberbullied, it appears that this
was used as a waiting of time, where the victims are waiting
for the opportune moment to leave or resign from their work
(D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013). Most cyberbullied victims do not
hesitate to leave their organisations when better opportunity
arises. As a result, this leads to an increased turnover for
the organisation concerned. While there may be no physical
contact and harassment in cyberbullying, the implication on
the victim’s physical wellbeing, certainly, cannot be ignored.
STOPPING CYBERBULLIES IN THEIR PATH:

WHAT CHOICE DO WE HAVE?
Technology and computer-mediated communication is here

to stay. In fact, it is difficult to pinpoint any organisation that
does not rely on such communication technology for their
daily operations. Undeniably, such technology has helped
many companies to enhance their operations and to spread
their wings globally. While the benefits of technology-
mediated communication is boundless, the downside to this
tool is also notable, one of which is how it can be used by
cyberbullies as a ‘weapon’ in their quest to harm other indivi-
duals through cyberspace.
Can this phenomenon then be inferred as a case where the

victims should just embrace this torture and move on in life?
The answer may not be a simple ‘No’ because we have
a choice as outlined in Glasser’s (1999) Choice Theory.
Something has to be done to stop these bullies. Failure to
take control of one’s act and thinking will result in detrimen-
tal effects on the victim’s wellbeing, which will eventually
affect the organisation’s performance. The responsibility in
curbing this deviant behaviour of cyberbullying should be

shouldered by all parties involved, whether directly or indir-
ectly. The list of people to be involved should include the
victims themselves, the organisation concerned and even
bystander colleagues who witness the act of bullying. The
role of each party in making a choice in their act and thinking
to curtail workplace cyberbullying is further elaborated.
Victims: Fight or Flight?
Living each day as a victim of cyberbullying is never easy.

Most victims prefer to adopt the flight strategy. In some
cases, this preference could be attributed to the anonymity
provided by cyberspace. Since victims are unable to confront
their perpetrator because they do not know who the tormen-
tors are, they avoid taking any action (Hong et al., 2014). In
other cases, victims may opt for the flight strategy when they
do not have the ammunition to fight the cyberbullies. For
instance, when the victims have no evidence against the per-
petrator, they feel they are left with no choice but to rely on
their inner strength and support from their social network to
cope with the torment (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013).
In such situations, the victims resort to less radical
steps such as changing their phone numbers, ignoring the tor-
ments or even blocking the unwelcome contact, as a way of
eliminating any communication with the bully (D’Cruz &

Noronha, 2013). The victims hope that by removing them-
selves from the reach of the perpetrators, they would, eventu-
ally, be left alone. While these strategies may work at the
initial stage, it is pertinent to realise that the strategy is a
short-term remedy that can be countered by a persistent
bully. Cyberbullies may seek alternative avenues to reach
their targets (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013).
Kelly’s (2011) metaphorical anecdotes on interventions for

victims is a good guide for the flight versus fight strategies.
While the victims are not asked to run from the perpetrator,
Kelly (2011) suggests protection from being a target through
the flight strategy. The interventions suggested by Kelly have
been categorised into flight versus fight strategies, as shown
in Tables 3.1 and 3.2. Strategies described in Table 3.1
indicate that Kelly wanted the victims to develop their
internal strength and protect themselves from becoming
victims. As can be noted in Table 3.2, Kelly emphasises that
victims have a choice to fight back by enforcing some prac-
tical strategies.
Organisation as the Protector
Employers have a responsibility to ensure that

employees have a workplace free from
discrimination, intimidation, bullying and
harassment. Employees should report harassment to
the organisation at an early stage to prevent its
escalation. (Taylor et al., 2015, p. 326)
While it is pertinent for victims of cyberbullying to raise their

voice and to assert their rights, most employees do not know
what their rights are when it comes to cyberbullying. Hence,
Table 3.1. Flight Strategies for Victims of Cyberbullying.
Flight Strategies
Become invisible Remove your digital traces by changing your

number, blocking the perpetrator, ignoring the
perpetrator until they lose interest in you (that is if
they lose interest)
Do not overshare Do not share more information (texts or pictures)

than necessary with others. This information can
be manipulated and used against you in future.
Keep intimate information off the cyberspace
Set your boundaries Maintain safe boundaries for relationships with
work colleagues. A relationship that gets too
intimate may reveal private information that can
be used against you
Run in packs Cyberbullies target lone rangers who appear to
be susceptible. Get along with your colleagues to
ensure you are generally liked and appreciated.
You may still be bullied but you will have a
support system to fall back on
Bully back…NOT! Never bully the bully! Giving them a taste of their
own medicine will not work. They can become
defensive and retaliate with vengeance
Source: Adapted from Kelly (2011).
organisations should play a vital role in taking necessary

action to curb workplace cyberbullying. This can be achieved
by introducing rules and regulations, working culture, bene-
fits and rights for its employees (The Star, 2013, October 22).
However, as mentioned earlier, most organisations fail to
acknowledge cyberbullying as an act of corporate crime
(Piotrowski, 2012) because of the lack of clear guidelines. It
is possible that most organisations do not carry a set of
Table 3.2. Fight Strategies for Victims of Cyberbullying.
Fight Strategies
Power of mind Only with a positive mindset can one

overcome the advances of cyberbullies.
While the experience is painful, it is
necessary to have a strong mind to confront
the bully and take action
Confront your bully Give your bully the benefit of doubt. Perhaps
they did not realise their behaviour amounts
to bullying. So, you should meet the bully in a
non-confrontational manner and tell them
frankly how you feel about their behaviour.
One can hope that this will stop such
behaviour in future
Make noise If the bully ignores your plea to stop, do not
remain silent. Nip the problem in the bud by
reminding the bully to stop. Tell the bully you
will take the matter up to higher authorities if
they do not stop. Quick action can help
address the problem before it grows out of
hand. If that does not work, get help!
Don’t wait, get help You tried and you failed. Now what? If all
other interventions failed, take action
according to the policies in place. Do not wait
until your psychological and physiological
wellbeing is adversely affected. You can
report the behaviour to the social networking
site and get the site to remove the bully. You
could refer to available policies against
cyberbullying and place the complaint
through appropriate channels. If the case is
severe, you can contemplate legal action
Source: Adapted from Kelly (2011).

formal anti-bullying policies in place, and since the existing pol-

icies may be incomprehensive for addressing such acts of cyber-
bullying (Gardner et al., 2016), something needs to be done.
This is another reason that discourages victims from choosing
to pursue any remedial actions, thereby extending their torment
even further instead of ending it (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013).
Clearly these stumbling blocks need to be aborted, and
organisations need to persevere in looking for good practices
that can enable them to provide a safe workplace for their

employees (Taylor et al., 2015). Organisations need to deal
with such cyberbullying cases professionally, and Piotrowski
(2012) had highlighted that organisations can accomplish this
through an organisational framework that applies to crisis
management, and the psychosocial safety climate. Piotrowski’s
(2012) recommendation, and the works of other researchers in
the field suggest that there are five primary areas through
which the organisation can facilitate the establishment of a
positive work environment that is safe from cyberbullying,
and they include: (1) policies, (2) channel for redress, (3) com-
puter forensic investigation, (4) threat assessment and (5) sup-
portive climate. These factors will be discussed further in the
subsequent sections.
Policy
The first responsibility of the top management of any organ-
isation is to create effective policies that are related to cyber-
bullying (Farley, Coyne, Sprigg, Axtell, & Subramanian,
2015) so as to protect the wellbeing of their employees.
The literature on cyberbullying (e.g. Farley et al., 2015;
Piotrowski, 2012) indicates that these policies should encap-
sulate three pertinent areas: (1) online code of conduct,
(2) employers’ right to access and (3) privacy protection.
These policies (as described in Table 3.3) must be explicit,
and disseminated to all employees (Farley et al., 2015).
Table 3.3. Policies against Cyberbullying.
Online code of It is important for the organisation to set ground

conduct rules on acceptable, and unacceptable online
behaviour (Farley et al., 2015). By providing a
clear definition of what behaviour constitutes
cyberbullying, individual employees are
encouraged to think about their online behaviour
carefully before engaging in inappropriate

behaviour (Piotrowski, 2012). This could include
simplest guidelines from determining if electronic
communication is suitable for the message to more
delicate issues such as weighing if their tone of
online communication could be misconstrued as
an act of bullying (Farley et al., 2015) or how to
handle workplace romance (Piotrowski, 2012). It is
important to explicitly delineate these guidelines in
the policies and disseminate them to all
employees through practices such as training
(Morrison, 2014; Piotrowski, 2012). Fundamentally,
the organisation’s anti-bullying policy should
emphasise the company’s firm stand against all
acts of bullying including cyberbullying (Piotrowski,
2012)
Employer’s right to While privacy is an employee’s right, there are
access situations which may require the violation of
privacy to address cyberbullying. In cases where
acts of cyberbullying were conducted using the
company’s computing hardware, and devices, the
company should have the right of access, and
gather relevant digital evidence from those devices
(Morrison, 2014). Therefore, this right should be
clearly stipulated in the company’s Internet, and
electronic communication policies (Morrison, 2014)
Privacy Most victims hesitate to report the act of
cyberbullying for fear of the negative
repercussions. Therefore, the company policy
Table 3.3. (Continued )
should clearly stipulate how the privacy of the

complainant will be protected at all costs
(Piotrowski, 2012) so that they are aware of their
choices in addressing this issue. The procedure
involved in addressing the complaints by the
victims should be transparent, and unbiased
(Piotrowski, 2012). Confidentiality should be
guaranteed, and legal advice should be sought

prior to taking any intervention (Piotrowski, 2012)
Independent Channel for Redress

As mentioned before, in some cases, victims choose not to
report the cyberbullying act despite knowing that anti-
bullying policies are in place (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013).
Some victims are affected by fear or embarrassment (Hong
et al., 2014); by declining to take action, they hope not to be
victimised further (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013). Others per-
ceive the formal channels for redressal as something not
worth pursuing (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013) because it takes
time, and victims have to relive their torments, causing pain
and shame to resurface. While supervisors or the Human
Resource Department should be the authority or the formal
channel for employees to report such harassments, victims
remain doubtful about such channels’ objectivity in handling
the report, given the influence of power imbalance and so
forth (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013). In worst cases, the super-
visor or the Human resource executive is the perpetrator, and
victims fear that their employment would be negatively
affected (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013). Even when a minority
of the victims may have contemplated legal actions or govern-
ment intervention, their employers usually discourage them
from doing so (D’Cruz & Noronha, 2013). Thus, one may
deduce that it is basically, the lack of independence in the

internal channel for redress that makes victims uncomfort-
able, thereby, preventing them from filing a report against
their tormentors.
Typically, any internal department that functions as a
channel for redress should protect the rights of the victims,
and ensure that investigations are carried out independently.
It is important to have a clear policy in place to guide the
independent redressal process. Reporting the matter to the

immediate supervisor would be the norm in such situations,
unless the supervisor himself/herself is the perpetrator. In
such instances, the victims could bring the complaint to the
supervisor’s superior, the Human Resource department, or
even the union’s representative, within the company (Taylor
et al., 2015). Providing employees with a clear description of
the redressal channel that is within the organisation, and
guaranteeing victims their rights can increase the confidence
level of the victims. When victims are seen to be fairly treated
throughout the process, other victims are further encouraged
to file their own reports of other incidences of harassment.
Accordingly, the MTUC recommends that the Malaysian
government set up a National Anti-Bullying Council to study
the issue of workplace bullying. It was proposed that this be
done in a manner, where specific strategies that are created to
address the bullying problem in the long term, are endorsed
(FMT, 2017, July 8).
Engage Computer Forensic Investigation

There are cases where victims of cyberbullying remain silent
because they believe that they do not have enough evidence
to persecute their tormentors. Such a stance is especially evi-
dent when the perpetrators are able to shield themselves
through anonymity (Farley et al., 2016), making it almost
impossible for the victims to confront their perpetrators.
Although the perpetrators may go to extreme lengths to

cover their digital footprints (Forssell, 2016), they are not
invincible. In many instances, anonymous online communica-
tion can be traced back to the perpetrators, given that the
organisation is willing to employ the services of reliable com-
puter forensic investigation experts (Taylor et al., 2015). If
digital evidence can be gathered against the bullies who hide
behind anonymity, then there is a high chance of breaking their
daredevil stance in bullying others. In this regard, a systematic

computer forensic investigation should be engaged so as to
ensure that the perpetrators do not get away unpunished. This
process should include tracing every inch of the digital
footprint, gathering reliable evidence that cannot be disputed
on the grounds of technicalities, and documenting all actions
of the forensic investigation process (Taylor et al., 2015).
Having the knowledge that one’s employer is ready to extend
the necessary support during investigations would be able to
reduce the anxiety, and stress experienced by victims when
building the case against the perpetrators. This gesture of the
company promotes the wellbeing of the victim.
Threat Assessment
Technology evolves with time. While this is a good thing, it
could also mean that cyberbullies will be able to find more
innovative ways of targeting their victims. Therefore, it is per-
tinent for organisations to embed the component of threat
assessment into the company’s policy as a measure of prevent-
ing cyberbullying. Piotrowski (2012) had proposed that threat
assessment should be in place to facilitate the prevention of
cyberbullying. He emphasised that top management should
stay well-informed of recent technological developments which
could serve as potential channels for cyberbullying. In addition,
management personnels should also be more alert to current
technologies, and the act of cyberbullying by locating: (1) signs
of harassments which could indicate potential abusive behav-

iour in the cyberspace (e.g. abusive messages and emotional
outburst) and (2) signs of individuals who are being victimised.
Such competence of managers can deter cyberbullying incidents
thereby, serve to promote the wellbeing of the employees.
Supportive Climate
A supportive climate plays an important role in managing
cyberbullying at the workplace, and protecting the wellbeing

of employees. Such climate not only eliminates any possible
avenue for the employees to bully each other; it also guaran-
tees that actions would be taken to address any act of
bullying or harassment (Gardner et al., 2016). In addition,
a supportive climate implies that it is a safe place to work,
where people will look out for each other. This would encour-
age even bystanders who may have witnessed the bullying to
take the initiative to report the harassment to the manage-
ment, even when the victim chooses to remain silent. Such
acts of bystanders will be significantly greater in a context
where the supportive climate prevails (Taylor et al., 2015).
Finally, a supportive climate encourages the management to
reach out to potential perpetrators, and to provide counselling
so as to mitigate the problem, and to identify possible trigger
factors such as anger issues (Piotrowski, 2012). Fundamentally,
a supportive climate provides employees with a protective
shield thereby ensuring their wellbeing.
CONCLUSION
There is no denying that workplace cyberbullying affects

the employees’ wellbeing. The victims are subjected to psy-
chological and physiological distress which, inevitably, also
affect the organisation’s wellbeing and performance.

However, in most cases, victims choose to believe that they
do not have a choice and they must suffer the consequences.
As technology advances, it also paves the way for more
cyberbullying to occur, due to the unique characteristics of
technology-mediated communication. Hence, there is a need
to address this issue, and to nip it in the bud before it prolif-
erates further. Both the victim, and organisation need to play
proactive role in addressing this problem by making the right

choice. On one hand, the victims need to build their courage
to face the perpetrators, and to remind themselves that what
they are doing will help to prevent future incidents from hap-
pening. On the other hand, they cannot do this without the
support of the organisation, hence organisational mitigative
actions must be implemented so as to extend support, and
protection to the victims, thereby enhancing their wellbeing.
An organisation that is free of bullying, and harassment of
any kind is a safe haven for employees. Such an environment
promotes the employees’ wellbeing which then translates to
improved organisational performance.
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CHAPTER 4
IT’S NOT A COMPLIMENT,

IT’S HARASSMENT!
INTRODUCTION
The occurrence of sexual harassment at the workplace is not a

new phenomenon. Studies looking at this issue have been
initiated decades ago by researchers, and various epithets were
used as a reference for sexual harassment. To name a few, ‘an
endemic feature of the contemporary workplace’ (Jackson &
Newman, 2004); ‘a pervasive, and destructive workplace prob-
lem’ (Vuckovic, Altvater, Helgesson Sekei, & Kloss, 2017) and
‘a drain of corporate resources’ (Elizabeth & Brian, 1999).
Indeed, sexual harassment, alleged to be the most common
form of sexual violence (Buchanan & O’Connor, 2014; Pina
et al., 2009; Spitzberg & Rhea, 1999), seriously jeopardises
employees’ wellbeing (Holland & Cortina, 2016; Sojo,
Wood, & Genat, 2016). A hostile working environment tainted
by sexual harassment incidences trigger discomfort among
employees, and the grievances suffered by the victims may include
health complications, financial difficulties and other negative
global impact. In a worst scenario, sexual harassment at the
105
workplace also affects the health of the victims, emotionally and

mentally, and this can lead to a loss of self-esteem and self-worth.
Sexual harassment is unsolicited sexual behaviours, which
have a negative impact on the victims. In the initial stages,
sexual harassment can be in the form of physical, verbal or
written harassment. It can then escalate to harsher versions of
insults. Some countries consider and treat sexual harassment
as a criminal offence, punishable by the State. Other countries
categorise sexual harassment as a form of tort, where damages

will be the remedy. All cases of sexual harassment in the work-
place, be it serious or not, warrant immediate investigation by
the employers. Simultaneously, it is a choice for employees to
control the prevalence of this undesirable behaviour in order
to protect their wellbeing at the workplace. This chapter aims
to define the scope of sexual harassment and to examine its
impact on employees’ wellbeing at the workplace. It also
attempts to propose some preventive measures that can be
used to eradicate such wrongful conducts. This can serve as a
guide for employers as well as employees, particularly about
the accessible protection measures. In particular, this chapter
focuses on the prevalence of sexual harassment in Malaysia,
and some of its legal perspectives.
DEFINITION OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Throughout the world, there is no standard definition for

sexual harassment. Due to the difficulty of measuring the spe-
cific act or behaviour of sexual harassment, it is a challenge to
come up with precise definition for the term, and what exact
criteria should be used to determine this offensive misconduct
(Mohamed, Ali, Mallow, Baig, & Baig, 2011; Worsfold &
McCann, 2000). Nonetheless, it has been unanimously agreed
that sexual harassment should include the simple element of
unsolicited behaviour, which has the quality of being ‘hostile,
It’s Not a Compliment, It’s Harassment! 107
insulting, offensive, or intimidating’ (McDonald, 2012; Salman,

Abdullah, & Saleem, 2016). Another suggestion made by
Fitzgerald, Magley, Drasgow, and Waldo (1999) listed four
dimensions that constitute sexual harassment. They are:
(1) sexual coercion;
(2) crude and offensive behaviours;
(3) unwanted sexual attention; and
(4) gender harassment.
In Malaysia, a comprehensive definition of sexual harassment

is provided by the Code of Practice on the Prevention and
Eradication of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. This
was implemented in 1999, and the code depicts sexual har-
assment as:
Any unwanted conduct of a sexual nature having

the effect of verbal, non-verbal, visual, psychological
or physical harassment that might, on reasonable
grounds, be perceived by the recipient as placing a
condition of a sexual nature on her/his employment;
or that might, on reasonable grounds, be perceived
by the recipient as an offence or humiliation, or a
threat to his/her well-being, but has no direct link to
her/his employment.
By virtue of the above definition, Mohamed et al. (2011)

highlight three elements which, they claim, must be fulfilled
in order to be deemed as sexual harassment at the workplace.
They include:
(1) It happens at the workplace.

(2) It happens due to the offender’s sexual conduct,
unwelcomed and involuntarily compromised by victim.
(3) It jeopardises the work environment.
The first criterion indicates that any incident of sexual harass-

ment must be demonstrated by the perpetrator at the work-
place. The second criterion suggests that the perpetrator’s
conduct must be unwelcomed by the victim. Unwelcomed
conducts can be based on the surrounding circumstances that
adversely affect the victims, causing them to feel discomfort,
and it causes victims to make refusal to participate. In this
regard, it appears that if the jokes or any form of conduct is
not offensive to the victim, they will not be deemed to be sex-

ual harassment. Moreover, the third criterion of unwelcomed
conduct suggests that there should be a history of complaints
made about similar conducts by the victim before (Mohamed
et al., 2011). Lastly, the prevalence of sexual harassment
must affect the harmonisation of the work environment.
FORMS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Sexual harassment in the workplace comes in various forms.

The following are among the most common forms:
• Verbal harassment
Verbal harassment includes remarks or noises applied
directly to the victim, such as calling a victim dirty
nicknames or uttering words in a vulgar manner. Calling a
victim dirty nicknames was verified to be the most typical
form of sexual harassment at the workplace (Vuckovic et
al., 2017) while uttering a word or statement in a vulgar
manner can cause discomfort to victim employees. Another
conduct that amounts to verbal sexual harassment is the
use of inappropriate sexual sounds such as whistling and
kissing, and any discussion revolving around sexual
matters or any form of question pertaining to sexual
connotations or repeatedly asking the victim for dates are
all considered as behaviours that come under sexual

harassment.
• Non-verbal harassment
Non-verbal harassment is not demonstrated expressively
but through gestures. It is in the form of implied sexual
gestures such as leering, licking lips, elevator eyes or body
signals which are made in sexually provocative ways. To a
certain extent, this kind of conduct may harass the

victims much worse than verbal harassment. When this
occurs, there is a high possibility that the victims will lose
focus towards their tasks, thereby, causing them to be in
distress.
• Written harassment
Sending sexually oriented notes, letters, Short Message
Services (SMS), WhatsApp and electronic mails (e-mail)
are all behaviours that come under the category of written
harassment. Although in the form of printed materials,
they can indirectly, harass the victims.
• Visual (environmental) harassment

This form of harassment involves environmental features
because the harassment is not perpetrated directly on the
victim. It concerns the hostile working environment
created by the perpetrators, such as the display of naked
pictures on the wall, or through the media such as
Facebook and e-mails. It may also come in the form of
sexual jokes or sexual comments.
• Physical conduct of sexual nature

Physical conduct that amounts to sexual harassment may
consist of touching, kissing or grabbing of victims,
unnecessarily. The conduct will be deemed as sexual
harassment should the victim not solicit it, and who
considers the conduct as offensive and undesirable.
• Psychological harassment
Psychological harassment is a shameful conduct that comes
in the form of verbal comments, actions or gestures. Other
features of this type of harassment are repetitive or
unwanted attention which can affect the dignity and
honour of the victims, thereby causing harmful effects to
the victims in their work environment.
These categories are not exhaustive. The Malaysian Code

of Practice on the Prevention and Eradication of Sexual
Harassment in the Workplace 1999 categorises two other
forms of sexual harassment:
(1) Sexual coercion

This kind of sexual harassment involves a superior and
an employee who is under his/her supervision. The
superior or perpetrator is an authority who controls the
employees’ salaries, and promotions but he/she performs
his/her mischievous acts against the employee, as a trade
of for certain benefits. These benefits, however, are
denied upon the victim’s refusal to participate.
(2) Sexual conduct triggers an offensive or hostile working

environment such that employees are forced to
compromise in order to retain their job. This type of
sexual harassment is not associated with any job benefit
but it is applied by one employee against another
employee or by a company’s client against an employee.
Besides these categories of sexual harassment, it should be

noted that there is a certain range of conduct which do not
amount to sexual harassment. Such conducts include praises
on dressing or the smart appearance of employees or any
joke which has no intention to be offensive. The fact that
some people can accept these behaviours as reasonable while
others who are oversensitive cannot, has excluded these
conducts from the definition of sexual harassment. Similarly,

a kind treatment or attention given by an employer to an
employee does not amount to sexual harassment, as employ-
ers have a responsibility to demonstrate an appropriate
behaviour towards their employees. Therefore, as long as
these acts were conducted in a reasonable manner, and within
an acceptable limit, they would not be considered as a sexual
harassment at the workplace.
STATISTICS AND STUDIES ON SEXUAL

HARASSMENT AT THE WORKPLACE
In every country, the data lifted to illustrate sexual harass-

ment at the workplace are normally provided by the Ministry
of Human Resource. However, in countries where there is
no specific regulation governing sexual harassment offences,
then no specific statistics are available. Studies (Prekel,
2001; Salman et al., 2016; Vuckovic et al., 2017) looking
at sexual harassment in developing countries are still rare;
there is almost zero data to focus on for comparison unlike
developed countries, where there are resources offering a
detailed information and statistics. Developing countries
seem to rely more on anecdotal instances and less formal
information to outline this offence (United Nations, 2006).
Previous research (Prekel, 2001; Salman et al., 2016;
Vuckovic et al., 2017; Wynen, 2016) showed that workplace
injuries caused by sexual harassment incidences are highly
rated. Surveys in selected Asian countries discovered that about
30 40 per cent of women have experienced sexual harassment
incidences at their workplace (UN Secretary-General, 2006). In
industrialised countries, including the United States and the
European Union, studies (Dromm, 2012; MacKinnon, 1979;
Rubenstein, 1987; United Nations Women, 2011) estimate
that between 40 and 50 per cent of female workers have

experienced sexual harassment. It was observed that the preva-
lence of sexual harassment goes beyond the domestic level.
To date, the issue has received the attention of various
international organisations and trade union committees, such
as the International Labour Organisation, the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the European Union
and the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women. Notwithstanding the awareness,

and existing legal provisions made for sexual harassment, it
seems its prevalence remained unaltered (Salman et al., 2016;
Yousaf & Schmiede, 2016).
VICTIMS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT: MORE

WOMEN THAN MEN
A perpetrator and victim can be either a man or woman,

thus, sexual harassment can happen to a same sex colleague
or the opposite sex colleague. However, various studies
(Aggarwal & Gupta, 2000; Chappell & Martino, 2006;
Foote & Goodman-Delahunty, 2005; Gruber, 1998; Hogh,
Conway, Clausen, Huitfeldt Madsen, & Burr, 2016; Kim &
Kleiner, 1999; MacKinnon, 1979; McCabe & Hardman,
2005; McDonald, 2012; Mohamed et al., 2011; Rubenstein,
1987; Willness, Steel, & Lee, 2007; Wynen, 2016) have
observed that majority of women, as compared to men, were
reported to be victims of sexual harassment. This trend is
reflected by the majority of reported cases depicting women
as victims of sexual harassment (European Commission,
1998; Pina & Gannon, 2012; Stockdale, 1996; USMSPB,
1981, 1988, 1995; Zippel, 2006). Nonetheless, the reported
cases do not reflect the actual volume of sexual harassment
suffered by women (UN Report, 2006).
Apart from gendered issues, previous studies (Chamberlain,

Crowley, Tope, & Hodson, 2008; Fredman, 1997; McCann,
2005; Myriam et al., 2017; O’Neill & Payne, 2007) have also
detected that most of the victims who were vulnerable, and
were subjected to such unethical offences were those who
were newly employed, young and unmarried. It appears that
this was so due to their way of dressing. It was also added
that their behaviour of not refusing advances made by their
male colleagues also encouraged the perpetrators to easily

harass them (Vuckovic et al., 2017). Thus, it is a matter of
choice for the employees to either expose themselves to the
perpetrator’s misbehaviour or to be on the safe side by not
compromising this undesirable conduct.
IMPACT OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT ON EMPLOYEES'

WELLBEING
The relationship with work colleagues is among the three

sources causing stress at the workplace, apart from organisa-
tional constraints and workload (Ismail et al., 2015). In this
regard, maintaining a harmonious relationship with work col-
leagues seems crucial as this will contribute to the wellbeing
of the employees. In the workplace, the wellbeing of employ-
ees denotes the quality of the employees who operate the func-
tions of the organisation (Grant, Christianson, & Price, 2007;
Pawar & Pawar, 2016). The employees’ wellbeing is used as a
determinant to assess the organisation’s work environment
thus, the healthy wellbeing of the employees is a feature of
healthy organisations (Nisbet, Wilson, & Smallbone, 2004).
In this regard, it is fundamental to the organisation’s life
(e.g. Grant et al., 2007). This can be traced to the statement
which states that employees’ wellbeing has been marked as
‘one of the greatest challenges facing leaders today’ (Fry &
Slocum, 2008; Pawar & Pawar, 2016).
The wellbeing of employees has wide-ranging consequences

for organisations (Ilies, Pluut, & Aw, 2015). Employees who
manage their physiological and psychological stresses well
while discharging their duties, are capable of enhancing their
job performances (Ismail, Chee, & Bee, 2007). This character-
istic of the employees tends to promote healthy competitiveness
within the organisation, thereby, promoting global economy.
In contrast, a negative relationship that is tainted by sexual
harassment diminishes the employees’ personal resources, and

threatens their wellbeing (Crull, 1982; Dionisi, Barling, &
Dupré, 2012; Fitzgerald, Drasgow, Hulin, Gelfand, & Magley,
1997; Munson, Hulin, & Drasgow, 2000; Pina & Gannon,
2012; Bargh, Raymond, Pryor, & Strack, 1995; Vuckovic
et al., 2017; Willness et al., 2007).
Unlike other physical crimes, sexual harassment is a silent
offence involving only a perpetrator and a victim. Due to its
inaudible nature, the risk and prevalence of sexual harassment
are always neglected (Kleinsasser, Jouriles, McDonald, &
Rosenfield, 2015; Wynen, 2016). The impact of sexual harass-
ment on the employees’ wellbeing at the workplace, can be
categorised under the following effects:
• psychological stress;
• physical stress; and
• economic harm.
Psychological Stress
Psychological stress has always been perceived as ‘an emo-

tional reaction, such as anxiety and depression, burnout, job
alienation, hostility, depression, tension, anger, nervousness,
irritability and frustration’. It is experienced by the individual
as a result of the stimulation that occurred at the workplace
(Ismail et al., 2009, 2010; Millward, 2005; World Health
Organization, 2005). These symptoms are experienced by

employees when their adaptive capacity does not fit the envir-
onmental demand (Cohen, Janicki-Deverts, Turner, & Doyle,
2015).
In contrast to the effects of physical injuries, which are
commonly apparent, such as a broken leg or arm; psycho-
logical stress produces latent grievances which trigger nega-
tive feelings of anxiety, anger and depression (Kim &
Kleiner, 1999; Merkin, 2008; Nielsen & Einarsen, 2012;

Tomiyama et al., 2014; Vuckovic et al., 2017). Indeed, this
category of invisible injuries which are strongly connected to
job performance (Ismail et al., 2015), can severely affect the
employees’ performance (Cincotta, 2005; Farquharson et al.,
2013; Johnston et al., 2013; Kazi & Haslam, 2013; Nabirye,
Brown, Pryor, & Maples, 2011).
Previous studies have established that victims of sexual
harassment mainly suffer psychological stress, for instance,
‘job dissatisfaction and absenteeism’ (Fitzgerald et al., 1997;
Kauppinen-Toropainen & Gruber, 1993; Schneider, Swan, &
Fitzgerald, 1997); ‘nervousness, anger and irritability’
(Loy & Stewart, 1984) and ‘low self-esteem and elevated
stress’ (Kauppinen-Toropainen & Gruber, 1993). Other
negative emotions include increased-anxiety, depression and
eating disorders (Harned, 2000), and fear, shame and guilt;
(Ho, Dinh, Bellefontaine, & Irving, 2012; Huerta, Cortina,
Pang, Torges, & Magley, 2006; Van Roosmalen & McDaniel,
1998). Most victims are also enveloped by feelings of self-
doubt, betrayal, powerlessness and low self-worth (Ho et al.,
2012).
It is well documented that despite the interference on the
victims’ rights and the deterioration of their psychological
health, sexual harassment also negatively affects their scho-
lastic achievement and degrades their productivity (Mamaru,
Getachew, & Mohammed, 2015). Sexual harassment poisons
the psychological wellbeing of employees because the victims

are unable to focus on their assigned tasks as their mind is
dominated by the feelings of fear, annoyance and insecurity.
Sexual harassment can absolutely deprive the individual of
his/her right to be respected and treated with fairness. This
hostile atmosphere at the workplace will adversely affect the
employees’ wellbeing which may lead to imminent failures of
the organisation. Sexual harassment contributes to a reduc-
tion in productivity, an increase in legal fees and an escal-

ation of negative public image (Hoel & Lewis, 2011; United
Nations, 2006).
Evidently, sexual harassment sparks off the signal to vic-
tims that they are being insulted at the workplace (Parker &
Griffin, 2002), and this not only threatens the victims but
also causes them to lose grasp of the things that are going on
well (Berdahl & Aquino, 2009). Indeed, psychological dis-
tress is the direct negative impact caused by the destructive
misconduct (Barling, Rogers, & Kelloway, 2001; Fitzgerald
et al., 1997; Gettman & Gelfand, 2007; Glomb et al., 1997).
Physical Distress
The psychological effects suffered by victims of sexual harass-

ment happening at the workplace can trigger physical distress
(Chan, Lam, Chow, & Cheung, 2008; Ho et al., 2012; Koss,
1990; Lenhart, 1996). In this context, the physical distress
can lead to weight loss, fatigue and symptoms of post-
traumatic stress disorder (Ho et al., 2012; Marsh et al., 2009;
Vuckovic et al., 2017) as well as headaches, insomnia
(Ho et al., 2012) and poor appetite causing a reduction to
body weight (Ho et al., 2012; Huerta et al., 2006; Van
Roosmalen & McDaniel, 1998) and also nausea (Kim &
Kleiner, 1999).
If left unattended, these symptoms will further affect the

employees’ performance, causing it to deteriorate. This is
because victims of sexual harassment tend to apply for sick
leave and they prefer to stay away from work. Specifically,
physical distress diminishes job satisfaction (Sipe, Johnson, &
Fisher, 2009; Willness et al., 2007); it can also impair the
victim’s mental health and physical health (Liao, Liu,
Kwan, & Tian, 2016; Willness et al., 2007). Other conse-
quences caused by the aftermath of sexual harassment include

low morale (Keshavarz & Mohammadi, 2011), alcohol
consumption (Rospenda, Fujishiro, Shannon, & Richman,
2008), poor time-keeping, decreased work performance
(COHSE, 1991; Stanford & Gardiner, 1993; Worsfold &
McCann, 2000), increased use of spiritual or legal services
(Shahnon, Bright, Gibson, & Tyndall, 2007) and high turn-
overs (Sims, Drasgow, & Fitzgerald, 2005).
Results from previous studies (McDermut, Haaga, &
Kirk, 2000) indicate that women who had experienced
sexual harassment suffered more severe post-traumatic
symptoms characterised by post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), such as growth of several painful psychological and
physical symptoms due to a traumatic experience (American
Psychiatric Association, 1994). Moreover, post-traumatic
stress is also associated with a greater number of physical
diagnoses, riskier health behaviours and greater physical
disabilities (Ciechanowski, Walker, Russo, Newman, &
Katon, 2004). Thus, women who suffered pain, a series of
coronary heart disease symptoms and chronic fatigue were
traced to the effect of post-traumatic stress (Gill, Szanton,
Taylor, Page, & Campbell, 2009; Ho et al., 2012) caused
by some traumatic experiences such as sexual harassment at
the workplace.
Such forms of distress worsen when the victims are domi-
nated by the feeling that they would suffer severe detriment
should they attempt to fix the sexual harassment incidences

(Bergman, Langhout, Palmieri, Cortina, & Fitzgerald, 2002;
Cortina, Fitzgerald, & Drasgow, 2002). Ergo, female victims
would rather tender their resignations than fight against this
sexual offence. As a result, this increases the high employee
turnover rate (Merkin, 2008; Salman et al., 2016). Thus, for
safety reason, female employers should choose to take an
effective control to prevent from being the victims of sexual
harassment.
Economic Harm
Sexual harassment at the workplace is a global problem caus-

ing serious economic harm to individuals, organisations and
society. The following section will elaborate how the eco-
nomic harm affects those individuals involved in sexual
harassment at the workplace.
On the Victim
Due to the hostile environment caused by sexual harassment,
the tormented employee tends to stay away from work
frequently. Such absence due to long-term sickness may
affect the employees’ credibility in their job performance.
Moreover, sexual harassment may also cause the loss of a
job. This occurs when the victim is the subservient party
being harassed by a dominant employer. The victimised
employee either loses his/her claim due to the lack of evidence
of the sexual harassment or he/she tenders his/her resignation
without making any complaint. These endings choices are
neither satisfactory nor practical. The loss of a job will put
the victim in financial difficulties for being unemployed while
seeking for another job.
The above implications are not only suffered by the vic-

tims; they can also affect their dependents such as their
spouse and children. In pursuant to this, sexual harassment
at the workplace causes economic harm to the life of the
victim, to the extent that it is claimed to be a method used to
coerce, bully and intimidate (Kim & Kleiner, 1999).
On the Perpetrator
The perpetrator of a sexual harassment will be penalised by

his/her employer, upon being proven guilty. This will mark a
bad working record for the offender; to a certain extent, dis-
qualify him/her from any position or future promotion. Upon
receiving a complaint from the victim, the organisation may
conduct an inquiry, and a disciplinary action will be taken
against the perpetrator. To some degree, the case will be pro-
longed, and may involve court proceedings. Should the victim
choose to lodge a police report, the case will be investigated
and tried in accordance with criminal procedure. The courts
proceeding, and the consequences borne by the perpetrator
will be undesirable. Given the nature of the trial that is con-
ducted in an open court which is accessible to the public,
such cases also attract public attention, thus, the image of the
perpetrator will be severely damaged. The punishment, be it
internal, if imposed by the employer against the employee or
external, if the case was reported to the police, can leave a
serious scar on the perpetrator.
Moreover, the loss of a job, the bad reputation and the
upheaval of public anger signals of the sad ending for the per-
petrator’s life. The price that the perpetrator has to pay, due to
the commission of his/her sexual harassment offence, is much
more than what is imaginable. The family, in particular, the
spouse and children, are also negatively affected by the conse-
quences and this can break family relationships. Indeed,
feelings of embarrassment that haunts the affected family is

not easy to recover in a short time.
On the Organisation
Organisations that are tarnished by incidences of sexual
harassment often experience employee absenteeism, turnover
increase, lower job performance and poor productivity
(Hogh, 2016). They also incur more use of legal services
(Rospenda et al., 2008; Shahnon, Rospenda, & Richman,

2007), poor teamwork (Pearce & DiLullo, 2001) and an
unwanted negative public image (Hoel & Lewis, 2011; United
Nations, 2006).
The absence of employees may deteriorate the flow of
job performance in the organisation. It delays the process of
dealing with customers or meeting with clients, should the
nature of the company be dealing, and serving customers.
Consequently, this lowers job performance and productivity
of the company, thereby, affecting customers’ confidence in
dealing with the company.
The hostile working environment generated by sexual har-
assment incidences can cause high turnover rates of employ-
ees. Feeling unsafe, insecure or in fear of experiencing sexual
harassment pushes the employees to look for a less threaten-
ing workplace. The turnover of the employees affected by the
consequence of sexual harassment, can tarnish the organisa-
tion’s name, degrade the image and reputation of the organ-
isation and cause the management to be viewed negatively.
Such repercussions can take years to repair before the organ-
isation can regain public confidence again.
The prevalence of sexual harassment at the workplace also
increases the use of legal services. It is the employer’s responsi-
bility to assist the victims during such traumatic experiences,
thus, organisations tend to incur more costs in hiring legal
advisers to represent the victims the financial allocation of the
organisation. Simultaneously, being involved in legal repercus-

sions is not an enjoyable experience for employers. There is a
possibility that the employers may close the case due to fear of
being publicised since their name, reputation and image will
be certainly tarnished, particularly in today’s current advance-
ment of information technology where a simple information
can go viral within seconds.
CHALLENGES FOR THE ORGANISATION
The initiative of an organisation in combating sexual harass-

ment marks a significant progress for the organisation.
However, due to the issue of standardisation on what actu-
ally constitutes egregious sexual harassment; difficulties are
created when trying to determine whether the incident amount
to a sexual harassment or not. Subsequently, it triggers hard-
ship for employers to set up appropriate policies, and to be
consistently implementing remedial action (Jensen & Kleiner,
1999; McDonald, 2012).
Another challenge is the volume of the actual report of
the case of sexual harassment. Due to the unwillingness of
the victims in lodging a report, it appears that majority of the
complaints or reports received, do not reflect the actual pat-
tern of happening. Further to that, fewer complaints mirror
fewer incidences of sexual harassment, and this gives the mes-
sage to the authorities concerned that the problem is not a
serious issue that require prompt corrective action.
Subsequent to this, the question of confidentiality of the
identities involved in the sexual harassment incident also
places the organisation in a dilemma, that is whose side to
take for further action. The disclosure of the employees’
identities may put the organisation in a vulnerable position
should the charge against the perpetrator fails and the
innocent perpetrator counters a legal action of defamation

against the organisation for damaging his/her reputation
(Roumeliotis & Kleiner, 2005). Taking cues from these impli-
cations, majority of employers choose to play a passive role
when dealing with any complaints about sexual harassment.
Nonetheless, despite all the constraints mentioned above,
it is hereby, emphasised that compared to legal enactments,
the management of the organisation is more capable of initiat-
ing preventive measures for sexual harassment offences

(McDonald, 2012). The offenders can be trained, educated,
allocated with incentives and imposed a sanction in order to
change his/her negative attitudes and behaviour. This effort
can save the life of the victim employees who would rather
seek for internal protection than to be involved in a legal reper-
cussion (Hulin, Fitzgerald, & Drasgow, 1996; Parker, 1999).
PREVENTIVE MEASURES
Most victims of sexual harassment are normally stand-alone

strugglers. They have no strength to lodge a formal report
(Cairns, 1997; McDonald et al., 2010) due to fear (De
Haas & Timmerman, 2010; Liyanarachchi & Newdick,
2009), and their lack of awareness of accessible resources
(Sadruddin, 2013; Salman et al., 2016). The only aid for
them are friends or co-workers who support them in their
trials and tribulations, or in a worst case scenario, by com-
promising the behaviour of the perpetrators through tender-
ing their resignations, and attempting to struggle in their own
ways. Studies (Bergman et al., 2002; Lee, Heilmann, & Near,
2004) reveal that the reports made of sexual harassment
experiences, often, do not serve justice to the victims, and in
fact, make matters worse. It was reported that around 5 per
cent and 30 per cent of victims had lodged their formal
complaints, and less than 1 per cent proceeded in legal pro-

ceedings (Fitzgerald, Gelfand, & Drasgow, 1995; McDonald,
2012; Wayte, Samra, Robbennolt, Heuer, & Koch, 2002).
Thus, harassers are released and the prevalence of sexual
harassment hangs in the air, uncontrolled (Mamaru et al.,
2015).
Steps towards combating sexual harassment at the work-
place need to have a concerted effort from all parties
involved, such as victims, organisations, the public as well as

the world at large. An awareness about this dangerous crime
should be widely highlighted; campaigns against sexual har-
assment must be seriously conducted and commitment from
all authorities must be pledged. A review of literature noted
the following measures:
(1) Discussion
Discussions can be conducted between perpetrators and
victims so as to further prevent any continuous
occurrences of sexual harassment at the workplace. Salin
(2008) suggests that holding discussions and counselling
sessions for either or both the perpetrator and victim, in
the presence of a neutral mediator, can be a useful
approach, at the early stage of the conflict. Labelling this
method as conciliatory, it was observed that this strategy
is identical to what has been described before as an
informal mechanism (Hubert, 2003) which carried some
similarities to the rehabilitative view of discipline
(Rollinson, Handley, Hook, & Foot, 1997). The effort is
more towards rectifying the perpetrator’s behaviour
instead of imposing punishment, or deterrence on the
perpetrator (Salin, 2008). However, it was later noted
that this approach is not practical when it involves a
highly serious case of sexual harassment, where a
discussion will no longer be an adequate remedy (Salin,

2008; Zapf & Gross, 2001).
(2) Punitive
A more radical approach is to impose a punitive measure
by focusing on the perpetrator of the sexual harassment
(Rollinson et al., 1997). This method aims to deliver a
message to the perpetrator that his/her behaviour is
unacceptable. It can lead to the last resort of job

dismissal (Salin, 2008), or the perpetrator may have his/
her contract of service shortened. This approach serves as
a lesson to other employees about the adverse effects of
sexual harassment, reprimanding and reminding them
about the evils of such negative behaviours. Eventually,
the employers must set up some form of disciplinary
action so as to ensure that a strict adherence is followed,
when implementing the punishment.
(3) Transfer and avoidance

Permanent physical separation is another effort to stop
sexual harassment at the workplace (Salin, 2008). This
move separates the perpetrator and victim by way of
transferring either or both of them to another centre, or
department. The main objective of this move is to protect
the victim. More often than not, it is the victim, not the
perpetrator, who choose to be transferred. The sole
reason is due to the higher position of the perpetrator
who may be in a superior managerial role (Rayner,
Cooper, & Hoel, 2002). This often serves as a push
factor for the victim to opt for a transfer. Nevertheless,
this approach is a shortcut solution of deterring
incidences of sexual harassment; its implementation tends
to cause other repercussions, such as staff shortage and a
delay in replacement of transferred staff. These
consequences can affect the flow of resource
management. This mechanism, however, is not practical

when incidences of sexual harassment persist.
(4) Written Policy

A written policy is a clear notice to highlight the
employers’ rule for the employees. Thus, to control
sexual harassment at the workplace, a written anti-
harassment policy should be set up. This policy must be a
no-tolerance policy; it should strictly be complied with by

both employers and employees. By virtue of this policy, it
is expected that the incidence of sexual harassment at the
workplace can be reduced and exclude the authorities
excuse from taking immediate actions against the
perpetrators (Parker, 1999; Richards, & Daley, 2003). In
pursuant to this, it is important that the organisation
provides an appropriate policy to encourage the
reporting of sexual harassment incidences (Worsfold &
McCann, 2000). This policy must be plainly written to
avoid uncertainty issues such as consequences of
performing unacceptable behaviours for the offenders,
victims and whistleblowers (Miceli, Near, & Dworkin,
2009; Seifert, Sweeney, Joireman, & Thornton, 2010). It
must secure sufficient protection for the victims who have
reported the incidence of sexual harassment, considering
that the most common reason for victim’s refusal to
lodge a complaint is due to their low confidence, fear of
losing their job and other possible actions by superiors,
should the perpetrator be in a higher position than the
victim. Previous studies (Mazer & Percival, 1989) found
that the incidence of sexual harassment rarely occurs in
an organisation that engages an anti-harassment policy.
Hence, a policy should be highlighted frequently at the
workplace through any reasonable means. For instance,
it can be physically posted in the employees’ newsletter,
on pantry walls, restrooms or uploaded into websites or

e-mails, so as to make it more dominant and effective.
This strategy implies the employer’s commitment in
warranting the employees’ safe and secure working
environment. Indeed, a power of control remains on the
employer. Thus, it is a choice for the employers to come
up with a serious policy for the sake of enhancing
employees’ wellbeing at the workplace.
Yet, a written policy has no legal enforcement,

thereby, rendering its implementation as not mandatory.
Thus far, there is no standard universally accepted policy
that is applicable in combating sexual harassment
incidents in a workplace (McCann, 2005).
(5) Training
Educational training is known to be the most effective
method in combating the occurrences of sexual
harassment at the workplace (Takeyama & Kleiner,
1998). It is a platform to create awareness for employers
and employees about sexual harassment and its side
effects towards others in the same working environment.
Training can expose and enlighten the employers and
employees understanding with the meaning of sexual
harassment and its forms. Due to the ambiguity noted in
the definition of sexual harassment, employees are always
unsure of what actually constitutes sexual harassment. By
attending the educational training, it could, therefore,
guide the employees to identify sexual harassment
behaviours at the workplace. Simultaneously, training
educates the employers who are responsible for the
implementation of policies governing sexual harassment,
particularly, against women, to effectively enforce the
policies. It urges them to be sensitive to all forms of
sexual harassment in the workplace and to solve it
prudently. In most cases, sexual harassment is

compromised and perceived as legitimate acts of jokes, or
conducts. In this instance, the misconduct will survive
and actively flourish, thereby mitigating the severity of
sexual harassment.
Furthermore, the contents of the training may include
regulations governing sexual harassment, court cases as
well as case studies. The training must also describe the
element of interpersonal skills that need to be acquired by

employees, and the significance of ethical values which
they should observe in performing their duties. It is
highlighted that the loss suffered by employers in ignoring
the prevalence of sexual harassment is huge compared to
the expenses that they have to bear in initiating an effort
to provide a preventive training.
(6) Effective complaint procedure

As stated before, many victims of sexual harassment are
reluctant to proceed with the reporting; they not only
fear for their own safety but also their loss of financial
support. They are at their most vulnerable and so they
fear that disciplinary actions would be taken against
them in their failure to prove the allegations against the
perpetrator, especially if they are junior employees and
the perpetrator is at a senior level. Consequently, these
victims compromise, either by resigning or keeping the
incidents confidential. In view of this dilemma, it is
essential that the organisation provides an effective
complaint procedure. The proposed procedure must be
simple and easy. It must facilitate the victims and protect
them from diminishing their position. With regards to
this, it is ideal to channel the complaint to another
unrelated party, or outsiders from another department
(Takeyama & Kleiner, 1998). Should the victims not be
satisfied with the manner the complaint was handled, an

alternative must be given for them to refer to other
authorities (Takeyama & Kleiner, 1998). All complaints
must be attended to in due course. The unreasonable
delay made in investigating the complaint implies non-
seriousness of the organisation to solve the issue. As a
result, the victim suffers and the incident of sexual
harassment prevails.
Nevertheless, the complaints must be handled

prudently. A detailed investigation is necessary to prove
that the victim of sexual harassment has a genuine case
against the perpetrator. This is crucial to avoid any
false allegations since sexual harassment is one of the
excuses to camouflage other issues. The legal
presumption that everyone is presumed guilty until
proven guilty must act as the basis for investigating
the case involving sexual harassment (Takeyama &
Kleiner, 1998).
(7) Campaigns on avoiding sexual harassment

Campaigns on avoiding sexual harassment at the
workplace should be included as one of the agendas in
any organisation. This campaign must emphasise the
steps towards avoiding sexual harassment. In addition,
the campaign must indicate the effects of sexual
harassment and the importance of penalising the
perpetrators. As the physical ‘sexy’ outlook of female
victims has been remarked to be one of the elements
that induces a perpetrator into committing misconduct
(Fineran & Bennett, 1999; Nyamhanga & Frumence,
2014a, 2014b; Parish, Das, & Laumann, 2006;
Vuckovic et al., 2017), it is imperative that the
campaign proposes the standards of dress code which
the employees must comply with.
(8) Audit on harassment

In order to warrant a workplace as sexual harassment-
free, employers must always conduct a continuous check
through special audits on harassment (Takeyama &
Kleiner, 1998). This effort aims to give a message to any
prospective perpetrators that their conducts are under
observation, and they are prohibited from committing any
acts amounting to sexual harassment. Simultaneously,
victims may feel protected and saved. Certain elements

must be used as the key indicator for sexual harassment
which may guide the victims and create their awareness
should the perpetrator apply such elements against them.
Conducting a special audit on any type of harassment
portrays the seriousness of the employers to eradicate the
prevalence of sexual harassment at the workplace.
It is expected that the audits can reduce the prevalence
of sexual harassment at the workplace as in many cases,
perpetrators are not charged. Even if the perpetrator was
prosecuted, the conviction is seldom proportionate to
their level of crime.
(9) The role of parties involved

Managers, victims, witnesses Managers, or employers,
are the first parties to be held responsible for developing
a solution when an incident of sexual harassment arises
in the workplace. Thus, an organisation must properly
strategise the reasonable steps towards combating the
prevalence of this offence, and in handling its
occurrences. Managers must observe integrity and
demonstrate high moral standards to warrant a
conducive working environment. Only in this setting, can
the anti-harassment policy be successfully implemented,
considering the facts that an ethical manager is supposed
to comply with ethical code and organisational policies
(Palanski & Yammarino, 2007). In the same vein, in

selecting the resource person to handle the cases of sexual
harassment, managers must ensure that the candidate to
be appointed as a resource person has the ability to
listen, can investigate, mediate, counsel and handle the
stress in resolving the conflict (Elizabeth & Brian, 1999).
In addition, the resource person must be committed to
attending trainings to be updated on relevant issues
(Elizabeth & Brian, 1999).

Underpinning this is the victim employees’ awareness
of the dangerous effect of sexual harassment. This is
fundamental. The victims must, therefore, not put
themselves in such a situation of inviting a perpetrator to
harass them. They should comply with the standard dress
code enforced by the employers, and they must not give
leeway to the perpetrator to exceed the limit while
dealing with them (Fineran & Bennett, 1999;
Nyamhanga & Frumence, 2014a, 2014b; Parish et al.,
2006; Vuckovic et al., 2017).
Again, the choice is in the victim’s hands to choose
the best way to save their position. The early steps to
be taken by victims who are being harassed at the
workplace is to take a reasonable effort to stop the
harasser from repeating his behaviour. Here, the
victims must signal their disagreement against the
perpetrator’s conduct; they must not give any
opportunity to the perpetrator’s sexual approach.
Simultaneously, the victims may seek the employers’
assistance to confront the perpetrator immediately,
upon realising that they were not able to stop the
offence alone. In handling this issue, the victim must
keep all information in writing, such as dates, times and
places, where the sexual harassment occurred including
the names of witnesses, if any. This will facilitate the
victim in establishing their case against the perpetrator’s

sexual conduct.
Another important individual in the sexual
harassment incidence is the witness who is an essential
factor in justifying the incidence of sexual harassment.
The claim of sexual harassment cannot be easily
established against a perpetrator in the absence of a
witness. Here, the first action the witness must take is to
advise the victim to lodge a complaint about the

incidence. Should the victim be reluctant to lodge a
report; the witness must take a reasonable effort to seek
assistance from authorities who are responsible in
handling the sexual harassment incidence. In taking all
the above actions, the witness is not only saving the
victim but also stopping such negative incidents from
further occurring. In performing all these steps, it should
be noted that the witness must not simply disclose the
identity of the person involved, or viral spread the
incidence.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT: MALAYSIAN SCENARIO
Sexual harassment incidences in Malaysia offer no initial on

the percentage of its prevalence in the workplace (Ho et al.,
2012). Likewise, reported cases are also rare. This phenom-
enon does not reflect the zero sexual harassment case in
Malaysia. In fact, it was announced by the late Deputy
Minister, Ministry of Human Resource (MHOR), Datuk
Noriah Kasnon, that between 2005 and 2008, there were
3,906 cases of sexual violence and harassment cases, includ-
ing rape and molestation, that were reported to the police
(Buang, 2017).
As far as the legal provision is concerned, there is no spe-

cific existing law that has been implemented to regulate and
curb the issue of sexual harassment in Malaysia. Effective
from 1 April 2012, the Amended Employment Act 1955 (EA
1995) had introduced some new provisions for sexual harass-
ment, for instance, Part XVA, Sections 81A 81G. By virtue
of these new provisions, it is mandatory for employers to set
up a procedure handling complaints of sexual harassment
between employees, employers, and employer and employees

(Section 81A, EA 1995). In addition, employers must conduct
a domestic inquiry into the complaint in compliance with the
MOHR’s requirement (Section 81B, EA 1995). Failure by
employers to take such necessary measures prescribed by the
MOHR will result in a fine not exceeding RM10,000.00
(Section 81F, EA 1995).
Sexual harassment may fall under the police’s purview if
claims are made under the Penal Code, through Section 509:
Whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any

woman, utters any words, makes any sound, or
gesture or exhibit any object, intending that such
word or sound shall be heard, or such gesture, or
object shall be seen by such woman, shall be
punished with imprisonment for a term which may
extend to 5 years or with fine, or with both.
The above provision implies that sexual harassment is an

offence under criminal law; the perpetrator is charged under
Section 509 of the Penal Code, with a custodial penalty of up
to five years. By virtue of this section, the victim has a choice
of bringing the sexual harassment incident for criminal
action. However, it has been criticised that this also serves as
a restrictive scope of element for sexual harassment.
Another form of protection that is offered to an employee

is the Occupational Safety and Health Act (1994). This act
imposes a duty of care on the employer to ensure the safety
and health of his/her employees at the workplace. This is
interpreted to include a workplace free from sexual harass-
ment incidents (Mohamed et al., 2011). Unfortunately, this
act maintains its lacuna as there is no expressed provision on
sexual harassment as an issue of safety at the workplace
(Mohamed et al., 2011).

Apart from the above legal regimes that were regulated to
uphold and sustain industrial harmony, and to set up the reg-
ulations governing the relationship between employers and
trade unions, Malaysia also introduced the Code of Practice
on the Prevention and Eradication of Sexual Harassment in
the Workplace. This Code is applicable to the private sectors;
it guides the employers on defining, setting up rules and
implementing preventive measures of sexual harassment inci-
dents within the workplace (Mohamed et al., 2011). Sadly, as
reported by the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), as
of August 2010, only 400 of the 450,000 registered and
active companies have adopted and implemented the code
(Buang, 2017). In contrast, the public sector is governed by
the Public Services Department Circular issued on 10
September 2005, known as the ‘Guidelines for Handling
Sexual Harassment in the Workplace among the Civil
Servant No 22 of 2005’. The Labour Department made it
mandatory for all organisations to have a Sexual Harassment
Policy in place as part of the Employment Act 1955 compli-
ance after the new provision in the amended act came into
force in 2013.
It is to be noted the Code, as well as Guideline, serves as
guidance for the proper conduct of employers and employees
in the workplace. Unlike acts, it does not have any legal force
(Mohamed et al., 2011). Therefore, it has been questioned
whether, due to the unenforceable legal nature of the Code

and Guidelines, could sexual harassment offence be permitted
to be inflicted on a person, without any sanction on the
perpetrator? (Mohd Ridzwan bin Abdul Razak v Asmah binti
Hj Mohd Nor, Court of Appeal (Malaysia), 2014).
Nevertheless, the 1999 Practice Code and the creation of Part
XVA in the Employment Act 1955 have given a new breath
to victims of sexual harassment, where they are entitled to
lodge a complaint to the employer, or superior, and this

requires the employer to investigate the complaint of the sex-
ual harassment (Section 2(g), Employment Act 1955).
In the same vein, it is urged that Malaysia takes a step fur-
ther in considering the regulation of a specific act governing
sexual harassment, as initiated by neighbouring countries
such as Singapore (Protection from Harassment Act 2014),
the Philippines (Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 1995), Australia
(Sex Discrimination Act 1984), France (Labour Code,
Criminal Code), Russia (Criminal Code), the United Kingdom
(Sex Discrimination Act 1975), India (Sexual Harassment of
Women at Workplace 2013), Israel (Sexual Harassment Law
1998) and Pakistan (Protection Against Harassment of
Women at the Workplace Act 2010) (Buang, 2017).
A remarkable decision on sexual harassment was delivered
by the Federal Court of Malaysia, in the landmark case of
Mohd Ridzwan Abdul Razak v Asmah Hj Mohd Nor
(2016). The court held that a victim of sexual harassment
may be able to recover exemplary and aggravated damages
from the harasser, provided she has sufficient evidence to
establish the harassment. In this case, the claimant was har-
assed by her superior and she lodged a complaint to the
employer. After conducting a domestic inquiry, there was no
adequate evidence to establish the claim of sexual harassment
against the perpetrator. Therefore, no disciplinary action was
implemented against the perpetrator, but he was reprimanded
by the Human Resource Department of the company and

asked to observe his ethics as an employer. The perpetrator
claimed that the victim’s allegation of sexual harassment
amounted to defamation and affected his reputation as a
senior officer. Premised on this condition, the perpetrator
brought an action against the victim before the High Court
seeking a declaration that he had not harassed the victim,
and was defamed by the victim. In addition, he sought for the
victim to hold a public apology. He also claimed damages for

the allegation of sexual harassment. The victim filed her
defence and counter claimed for damages. The High Court
dismissed the perpetrator’s claim and held that he was guilty
of sexual harassment. The perpetrator sought to appeal his
case before the Court of Appeal which upheld the High
Court’s decision and the perpetrator then appealed before the
Federal Court. The Federal Court again reiterated the deci-
sions held by the previous courts and confirmed the acts com-
mitted by the perpetrator as ‘unreasonable and oppressive
conduct targeted at the respondent, calculated to cause alarm,
fear and distress to her’. The appeal was dismissed and the
conviction of sexual harassment on the perpetrator was
upheld. The perpetrator was ordered to pay RM120,000.00
damages to the victim. In making this decision, the Federal
Court has delivered a very strong message in how sexual har-
assment at the workplace should be managed.
Sexual harassment is a very serious misconduct and

in whatever form it takes, cannot be tolerated by
anyone. In whatever form it comes, it lowers the
dignity and respect of the person who is harassed,
let alone affecting his, or her mental or emotional
well-being. Perpetrators who go unpunished will
continue intimidating, humiliating and traumatising
the victims, thus resulting, at least, in an unhealthy

working environment. (Suriyadi, 2016, p. 301)
Indeed, a working environment that considers the well-

being of its employees is fundamental for employees. A hos-
tile working environment will never be a productive working
environment, thus, each employee is entitled to be protected
in the workplace in order to sustain a great job performance.
Sexual harassment is the cause of victims having miserable

feelings in the workplace. The victims who suffered from the
consequences of sexual harassment will definitely lose focus
in their work. Consequently, it diminishes their wellbeing at
the workplace. Based on this, it is the responsibility of all the
parties entrusted with the protection and safety of their
employees to take any reasonable means to combat the pre-
valence of sexual harassment at the workplace. The Code of
Practice against sexual harassment should be strictly adhered
to by employers. Simultaneously, employers must devise an
internal method to control this offence. Even though the
policy exists, some employers do not seriously initiate the
awareness towards enhancing and implementing this policy.
Evidence shows that there is an absence of a policy on sexual
harassment in most businesses in Malaysia.
CONCLUSION
Taking preventive measures to combat the prevalence of

sexual harassment must be seriously considered at the early
stage. The grievances suffered by the victimised employees
can adversely affect their wellbeing at the workplace. Sadly,
the consequences not only prejudice the victim but also harm
those who are closely related to them, such as their families,
spouses and children. Sexual harassment tarnishes the
reputation of the perpetrator and reflects a bad image of the

organisation where the perpetrator is attached to.
Employers are responsible for controlling the occurrence
of sexual harassment at the workplace. Since penalising the
perpetrator is the last resort as it always creates a dilemma
for the employer, a serious step towards preventing it, is
mandatory. Nonetheless, it is to be emphasised that efforts
towards combating the prevalence of sexual harassment must
not only be borne by the employers. A concerted commitment

between employers and employees is a necessity to warrant a
wellbeing working environment, which is free from sexual
harassment. As far as employees are concerned, the choice is
always available for them that they must also take their own
precautions to prevent themselves from being harassed.
Employees should be aware of the illegality of sexual harass-
ment and its negative effects. Otherwise, ignorance and an
indifferent attitude towards this matter will jeopardise their
wellbeing at work.
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CHAPTER 5
POSITIVITY AND HAPPINESS IN

THE WORKPLACE
Will economic growth contribute to happiness and a better

wellbeing in society? This subjective question requires careful
measures. There are two views on this. One view supports
the association of high levels of income with high level well-
being (Seghieri, Desantis, & Tanturri, 2006). Another view
known as the ‘Easterlin paradox’, connects wellbeing directly
with income, but it takes the view that over time the increase
of wellbeing will become stagnant despite the increase in the
country’s income (Easterlin, 1974, 1995, 2001). This is
because income that increases beyond a certain level will not
necessarily lead to a corresponding increment of human
happiness (Diener, Lucas, Schimmack, & Helliwell, 2009;
Easterlin, 2005; Inglehart, Foa, Peterson, & Welzel, 2008).
Fulfilling the basic needs and some slightly higher needs can
increase the individuals’ happiness. However, as the income
goes beyond a certain level, the individuals’ level of happiness
remains at the same level. Even though some takes the view
that the happiness level does increase, it nevertheless, goes at
155
a lower rate as compared to the speed when the basic need

was being fulfilled.
Whether income has any strong relationship with well-
being, or not, the important question that remains is: should
the focus just be on economic growth alone and not the indi-
viduals’ wellbeing? If individual wellbeing is important, can
the individual choose to determine his/her own state of well-
being? (Glasser, 1999). On the macro level, there is an
emerging focus given to the citizen’s wellbeing. Policy makers

and the government are beginning to apply the concept of
Happiness as part of the country’s important production. For
example, the ‘Gross National Happiness’ in the Kingdom of
Bhutan has replaced the concept of ‘Gross National Product’.
The country is concerned about its citizens’ wellbeing more
than the achievement of higher gross domestic products, or
incomes. Being a small country, it is hard but the focus to
divert from materialistic growth to individual emotional
development is invaluable. Thailand has released the Green
and Happiness Index (GHI) to evaluate the performance of
national development happiness. As one of the Asian coun-
tries, Thailand is also a developing country, but it is raising
its concerns about the individuals’ basic need for wellbeing
because this helps in working the balance between economic
growth and human potential growth.
On the micro level, especially among organisations, there
are also concepts that focus on the individuals’ wellbeing at
the workplace. This is practised as part of the organisation’s
performance outcomes (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005;
Meyers & Van Woerkom, 2016; Pepey, Jesus, Rubino,
Morete, & Perry, 2016; Wright, 2004). Research has begun
to cultivate an interest in looking at the individuals’ strength
together with the composition for higher work satisfaction
among employees. This interest has proven to have a positive
impact on work performances. In industrial practices, many
Positivity and Happiness in the Workplace 157
organisations have changed their paradigms from money

and productivity to the wellbeing of their employees. As an
example, Google introduces ‘laid-back’ workplace environ-
ments, where employees are provided with free meals, casual
wear dress code and many other facilities that are located in-
house, such as gymnasium, game rooms and nap-room.
Zappos, as a company that sells shoes online, emphasises on
happiness at work and its new policy really has a positive
impact on its performances. In Asia, a publisher company

named Mindvalley also focuses on employees’ happiness and
that too has contributed to the company’s international growth
with much success. The rising of these companies that focus on
individual’s wellbeing answers the questions of whether such
positivity practices can be implemented. It is a matter of a
choice: whether the company wants to adopt or decline.
The wealth of a company or a country is important, but
the wellbeing of the individuals who contribute to the wealth,
is equally important. For example, happier individuals were
found to be more helpful, creative, pro-social, charitable,
altruistic and healthier (Diener & Dean, 2007). Happier indi-
viduals also tend to win in the workplace; they have better
organisational citizenship and performance evaluations with
increased productivity (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005). The influ-
ence of the state of positive emotion on individuals at work
will be very much related to the collective organisational
performances. Therefore, to be happy at work is significant
for every individual, and every organisation (Warr, 2011;
Warr & Clapperton, 2010). Currently, the question that
needs to be answered is whether Malaysian companies have
chosen to adapt this positive organisational culture, and
whether academic researchers are already moving towards
investigating what will work in an organisation rather than
what will not work (negative perspectives). This is because
focusing on the strengths may open up doors for more
potential individuals to thrive in the organisations that they

are attached to.
This chapter looks at the notion of the individual’s well-
being at the workplace. In particular, it focuses on the
positive attitude, emotion and behavioural aspects of organ-
isational practices among individuals who can enhance organ-
isational success, both economically and psychologically.
First, this chapter will look at two areas of wellbeing, that is
on the theoretical and practical sides. The theoretical perspec-

tive will look at past research that was conducted, particu-
larly in the Malaysian work perspective, whereas the practical
side will examine the organisational practices that are related
to positivity and happiness. This encompasses their vision,
mission, core values and employee development. The integra-
tion of these two perspectives is important because both may
contribute to better organisational performances.
ACADEMIC RESEARCH EVOLUTION ON POSITIVITY

AND HAPPINESS IN THE WORKPLACE
The definition of positivity as stated by the Oxford Dictionary

(2017) relates it to the practice or tendency to be positive
or optimistic in attitude. The Cambridge Dictionary (2017)
defined positivity as the quality of having a positive attitude.
Both definitions bring about the decision of putting positivity
as something positive that relates to the attitude of the indi-
vidual. Happiness, on the other hand, is a broader construct;
it encompasses positive cognitions, and emotions, that can
result in a subjective view of wellbeing and general life satis-
faction (Diener, 2000). There are many definitions on what
happiness is. One of the definitions says that it refers to ‘rela-
tively high levels of positive affect, relatively low levels of
negative affect and the overall judgement that one’s life is a
good one’ (Peterson, 2006, p. 84). Another definition states

that happiness is ‘a positive emotional state that is subjectively
defined by each person’ (Snyder & Lopez, 2007, p. 128).
Promoting and securing both positivity and happiness at
the workplace is important, especially with the evolution
occurring in organisations in terms of challenges, job scope,
stakeholders, environment and the market itself. As an illus-
tration, employees nowadays are required to be multitaskers,
to respond to inquiries quicker, and to cope with techno-

logical changes efficiently. At the same time, the work life of
the employees is very much integrated with their social life
due to the existence of the social media that includes the use
of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp and any other
technology applications. Employees may discuss their social
life while working and/or discuss about work at home. In
addition, official work emails can reach the individuals’
smartphone anytime including mid-nights and during week-
ends. This triggers the question of how these employees cope
with multiple life-roles that they currently live in, especially
when they are at their workplace? Can they choose to not
work beyond working hours?
Research Around the World and Asia
Many research which focuses on positive attitudes, emotions

and behaviour as well as happiness have been conducted. To
trace these researches, some procedures were applied. The
search applied to the Scopus database used SciVal (research
performance assessment tool) to locate research conducted
from 2012 to 2017 with ‘happiness’ used as a keyword.
Under the discipline of Social, Business, Management and
Accounting, the result showed 4,446 scholarly outputs, with
a total citation count of 12,659. Among the scholarly
outputs, 78 were from Malaysia. The highest contributor to

this area is the United States, with a total number of 1,274
published articles followed by the United Kingdom (491) and
Australia (260). Referring to the graph in Figure 5.1, the
total number of articles published according to countries,
showed a significant increase year by year. The total number
for 2017 up to August and the trend for Malaysia is,
however, lower by four scholarly outputs in year 2016 as
compared to year 2015.

Figure 5.2 shows the number of published articles follow-
ing the breakdown of Asian countries. Among them, China
published the highest number with a total of 159 articles.
Next is India with 111 published articles followed by Taiwan
with 80 published articles. Malaysia has the highest scholarly
output produced (78 articles) for this particular research area
Figure 5.1. Positivity and Happiness: Research Scholarly

Outputs for the Period 2012 2017.
Positivity and Happiness World Scholarly Outputs

300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Australia 42 43 53 49 42 31
Malaysia 7 10 12 20 16 13
United Kingdom 72 74 87 106 103 49
United States 213 216 210 228 251 156
Australia Malaysia United Kingdom United States
Source: SciVal.com.
Figure 5.2. Positivity and Happiness: Asia Scholarly

Outputs of the Period 2012 2017.
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
China 21 28 27 29 30 24
Hong Kong 10 8 9 9 18 12
India 14 15 20 16 28 18
Indonesia 0 2 2 2 5 4
Malaysia 7 10 12 20 16 13
Philippines 2 6 4 5 4 3
Singapore 5 8 6 8 14 6
Taiwan 12 7 16 13 24 8
Thailand 7 6 7 11 6 11
China Hong Kong India Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Singapore Taiwan Thailand
as compared to its immediate neighbours, Thailand, which

produced 48 articles, and Singapore, 47 articles.
Research in Malaysia
A further detailed analysis of the scholarly outputs drawn

from the sources’ list (see Table 5.1) showed that 46 different
types of journal published articles related to happiness
research in Malaysia. The highest number contributed by
Asian Social Science (12 articles) followed by Pertanika
Journal of Social Science and Humanities (5 articles). There
were also four articles published in the ISI rated journal,
Journal of Happiness Studies.
After careful reviews, it was noted that many of these stud-
ies were not related to current workplace issues. The studies
Table 5.1. List of Journal Names Related to Happiness

Research.
No. Journal Name No. of Articles
1 2013 IEEE Conference on e-Learning, 1

e-Management and e-Services, IC3e 2013
2 2014 4th International Conference on 1
Engineering Technology and

Technopreneuship, ICE2T 2014
3 2014 the 5th International Conference on 1
Information and Communication Technology
for the Muslim World, ICT4M 2014
4 Advanced Science Letters 4
5 Applied Research in Quality of Life 1
6 Asian Social Science 12
7 Assessing Writing 1
8 GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies 2
9 Global Journal Al-Thaqafah 2
10 Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics 2
11 International Education Studies 1
12 International Journal of Applied Business and 1
Economic Research
13 International Journal of Applied Linguistics 1
and English Literature
14 International Journal of Business and Society 1
15 International Journal of Business Information 1
Systems
16 International Journal of Educational 1
Management
17 International Journal of Hospitality 1
Management
18 International Journal of Information 1
Management
19 International Journal of Occupational Safety 1

and Ergonomics
20 International Journal of Social Economics 1
21 International Journal of Sports Marketing and 1
Sponsorship
22 Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 1
23 Journal of Business Ethics 2
24 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 1
25 Journal of Happiness Studies 4
26 Journal of Hospitality Marketing and 1
Management
27 Journal of Mental Health Training, Education 1
and Practice
28 Journal of Organizational Change 1
Management
29 Journal of Service Theory and Practice 1
30 Journal of Technical Education and Training 1
31 Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of 1
Communication
32 Man in India 1
33 Marketing Intelligence and Planning 1
34 Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 2
35 Mindfulness 1
36 Pertanika Journal of Social Science and 5
Humanities
37 Planning Malaysia 3
38 Proceedings 6th International Conference 2
on Information and Communication
Technology for the Muslim World, ICT4M 2016
39 Proceedings of the 28th International Business 2

Information Management Association
Conference Vision 2020: Innovation
Management, Development Sustainability, and
Competitive Economic Growth
40 Recent Trends in Social and Behaviour 2

Sciences Proceedings of the 2nd
International Congress on Interdisciplinary
Behavior and Social Sciences 2013,
ICIBSoS 2013
41 SAGE Open 1
42 Social Indicators Research 1
43 Social Science Journal 1
44 Social Sciences (Pakistan) 2
45 Tourism in Marine Environments 1
46 Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies 1
Total 78
were general and they relate to social science issues, such as

youth development, wellbeing of the elderly, cultural issues
and family matters.
Work-related issues associated with positivity and happi-
ness are still lacking in the literature, possibly because they
have not received any serious attention from scholars in
Malaysia yet. Although working life is an important aspect of
an individual’s life, this area of research is still scarce. The
statistics, are however, not conclusive, as there are many
other researches which focused on wellbeing in general.
Nonetheless, the specific term of happiness is rarely used. For
example, among 78 happiness-related studies that SciVal

traced, there were only 25 that actually used happiness as the
title of their study. The rest of the articles were noted as
having similar/close meaning to happiness, either in their title,
or in the abstract. Reviewing further, only eight studies out of
78 were directly related to the work context. This shows that
there is limited research that focused on the happiness of the
employees at the workplace.
Assessing Malaysian Scholarly Outputs
One study published in Procedia Social and Behavioral

Science (Aziz, Mustaffa, Samah, & Yusof, 2014) examined
the relationship of the individuals’ personality with happiness
among 317 academicians in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
The instruments used for the study was the Big Five personal-
ity and the subjective wellbeing instrument (Lyubomirsky &
Lepper, 1999). Their study analysed the relationship between
individual’s personality and their happiness using correlation
analysis. They found that extraversion (r = 0.79), agreeable-
ness (r = 0.65) and conscientiousness (r = 0.72), openness
(r = 0.34) effects positively on happiness, while neuroticism
(r = 0.61) effects negatively on happiness. Although the find-
ings contribute to the literature, the outcome of the study,
cannot be generalised for all academicians in Malaysia.
Furthermore, the analyses conducted may be biased as the
least ‘regressions analysis’ was not conducted, or presented in
the study.
The four articles published in the ISI indexed journal
Journal of Happiness Studies, (Joshanloo et al., 2015;
Medvedev et al., 2017; Senf & Liau, 2013; Swami, Tran,
Stieger, & Voracek, 2015) were not focusing on Malaysian
work contexts. Their studies were related to the general social
and psychological practices only. Nevertheless, the existence

of these studies indicates that happiness research area is emer-
ging. In addition, it also indicates that Malaysian scholarly
outputs are able to reach out to the world through the known
(ISI) indexed journals.
The highest scholarly outputs came from Asian Social
Sciences. Similar with other journals, the articles published
were also not focusing on workplace context except for one
conceptual paper (Wesarat, Sharif, & Abdul Majid, 2015)

which suggested that employment status, income, friendship
and work activities might have indirect influence on happi-
ness at the workplace, through cultural values. However, this
concept has no further assessment and it remains conceptual.
The search using SciVal as the analytic method to look for
the needed articles using specific keywords was limited. Thus,
further searches were conducted to look for more published
scholarly outputs that are related to the happiness studies.
One distinguished study was noted in the study of 41 critical
care unit nurses (Hee, Subramaniam, Rahmat, & Phang,
2014). Applying the Mindfulness-based Cognitive Theraphy
(b-MBCT) programme as intervention, this quasi-experimental
study reported that there was a significant reduction level of
perceived stress, stress, anxiety and depression among the
nurses. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Depression Anxiety
Stress Scale (DASS) were used to measure the stress-related
outcomes. As for the wellbeing outcomes, the Mindfulness
Attention and Awareness Scale and the Subjective Happiness
Scale (SHS) were used. The findings indicate that b-MBCT can
be applied to any other work context, but further studies
should be conducted, especially to test the application for
other industries. Nonetheless, this quasi-experimental study
was only conducted within one group of nurses. There was no
control group and no follow-up done to assess the longitudinal
effect of the intervention programme.
Research Development Related to Positivity
Table 5.2 presents the research evolution on positivity studies

using keywords, such as wellbeing, satisfaction, quality of
work life, emotional intelligence, hope, resilience, mindfulness
and, of course, happiness. The result is limited to 100 articles
published between 1999 and 2010. In the early years of 1999
moving towards 2006, topics were mostly related to well-
being, satisfaction and the quality of work life. Job satisfac-

tion received a steady attention since 2004. Starting from
2008, scholarly outputs started to focus on happiness and
wellbeing. The emerging areas of research focused on the
individuals’ positive emotions and this signals a positive para-
digm shift in research related to the workplace. There are, of
course, more topics that can be categorised as positivity at
the workplace study, but the top 100 articles searched from
research database were selected.
POSITIVITY AND HAPPINESS IN PRACTICE
The assessment of positivity and happiness as practised in

companies in Malaysia was conducted with 150 public listed
companies. The assessment involved searching through their
public documents which are related to mission, vision, core
values, training and development as well as their common
practices reported in the annual report and the corporate
website. This is to detect if there were any traces linked to
positivity and happiness. Information about the company,
starting from 2011 to 2016, was examined. The vision, mis-
sion, core values and the employees’ development practices
were extracted from the companies’ official websites. The
annual reports were then downloaded to extract any sentence
Year
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2006
2005
2004
2002
1999
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Women's
Wellbeing
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Job
Satisfaction
✓
✓
Life
Satisfaction
✓
✓
✓
✓
Quality of
Work Life
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Wellbeing
✓
✓
✓
✓
Psychological
Wellbeing
✓
✓
Subjective
Wellbeing
Keyword
Employee
Wellbeing
Table 5.2. Research Development Area Related to Positive Studies.
✓
✓
Spiritual
Wellbeing
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Happiness
✓
Emotional
Intelligence
✓
Hope
✓
Resilience
✓
Mindfulness
A Meaningful Life at Work: The Paradox of Wellbeing 168

that may mention any activities related to the following

keywords:
• wellbeing;
• positivity;
• training/career advancement;
• quality of life;
• happiness;
• employee engagement.
The documents were identified through these keywords which

may appear a number of times and these were recorded.
Referring to Table 5.3, the highest count was positive train-
ing/career advancement, with 10 out of 150 companies (6.7
per cent) practising wellbeing, followed by nine companies
(6 per cent) promoting wellbeing. Quality of life, happiness
and employee engagement scored 4, 2 and 3, respectively.
The last one is positivity where only one company was identi-
fied to use the word, ‘positive’ for its future direction and cur-
rent practices.
Table 5.3. Number of Companies That Practice Positive

Approach by Keywords.
Positive Practices Total
Wellbeing 9
Positivity 1
Training/career advancement 10
Quality of life 4
Happiness 2
Employee engagement 3
Figure 5.3. Positive Practices by Year.

45
40
35
30
Total
25
20
15
10
5
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Total 1 6 25 21 20 39 30
Year
The number of word counts extracted from the documents

that were related to the positive themes were recorded as
shown in Figure 5.3. The data showed that the total number
of word counts mentioning positivity in the companies’
public document had increased year by year. Although there
was a slight decrease in number from 2012 to 2014, it was
noted that the number did not decline too steeply; it picked
up again in 2015. The overall picture shows the increasing
numbers in terms of years.
The total number of companies mentioning positivity from
2011 to 2016 was 71 out of 150 (47.33 per cent). By looking
at the increasing trend, many companies appear to be more
aware about positivity; they were also incorporating positivity
into their organisational practices. This is a good indicator as
organisations are now focusing on maximising shareholders’
wealth as well as caring for their employees’ wellbeing.
To uncover what types of practices were organisations
currently practicing, details in the annual reports and the
companies’ official website were examined. The points which
showed that positivity was related to practices were captured
and the summary is illustrated in Table 5.4. The most inter-
esting finding observed is that among 71 companies that
Table 5.4. Summary of Industry and Positive Practices.
Industry Item Positive Practice(s)
Retailing Core values 2012 Valued happiness

2015 Giving positive impact
to environment, consumers
and communities
Marble and granites Core values 2012 Mentioned happy to

business & property bring comfort and cheer to the
development needy
2014 Happy to bring
comfort and cheer to the
needy. A happy staff is a more
productive staff
2015 Positive relationship
with employees. A happy staff
is a more productive staff
Banking services Core values Take challenge positively
Staff wellbeing
Nutrition, beauty and Core values Employee engagement
home products Employees’ wellbeing
Chemical Core values Safety and health to promote
positive work environment
Manufacturing Core values Employees’ wellbeing
Engineering equipment Core values Employees’ wellbeing
Financial securities Core values Employees’ positive lifestyle
(Yoga, etc.)
Baby products Core values Employees’ and community
wellbeing
Roofing and rouver Core values Positive force
system
Iron & steel industry Core values Giving positive impact to
communities
Investment services Core values Employees’ wellbeing

Real estate investment Core values Employees’ wellbeing
trust (REIT)
Properties Core values Positive work culture
Port Core values Positive organisational values

Plantation and CSR Social wellbeing
investment
Financial services CSR Positive contributions
Aluminium productions CSR Positive contribution to society
Steel pipes CSR CSR brings positive
manufacturer development
Telecommunications CSR Positive development to
communities
Steel production CSR Positive impact through ethical
business practices and CSR
initiatives
Oil & gas CSR Positive contributions to
communities
Manufacturing and Management Management focused on
marketing of aluminium practice wellbeing of the employees
billets CSR focus on positive impact
Safety glass Management Ensure positive working
production practice environment
Environmental Management Positive at workplace
practice Employees’ wellbeing
Investment Off- Management Positive impact to
shore services practice stakeholders and society, and
positive work environment
Employee development:
positive, value-relevant impact
on the company
Automotive batteries Management Work life balance

industry practice
Tobacco Management Positive work environment
practice
Investment company Management Positive learning environment

practice
Hotels & resorts Management Quality of life
practice
Pharmaceutical Mission & Quality of life
vision
In-flight F&B catering Public Project strong positive image
relations
Investment bank Talent & Positive investment in talent
development pool
Business software Vision Positive corporate culture
solutions
mention positivity in their practices, 56 were related to posi-

tive corporate social responsibility (CSR) whereas only 15
companies incorporate positivity within the companies’ man-
agement practices.
The practices can be divided into two: external and
internal practices. CSR and public relations (PR) are under
the external category whereas core values, vision, mission,
talent and development and general management practices
are under the internal category. Most of the companies that
practised positivity in their CSR practices transferred the
positive values to the external parties, such as the society and
environment. This practice is considered as giving benefits to
others so as to project a good image to the external stake-

holders that the company actually practises good values.
Production Industries
The internal practices that came from vision, mission, core

values and general management practices focused mostly on
the employees’ wellbeing as a positive organisational culture.

A safety glass producer, for example, enhances the positive
working environment by ensuring adequate insurance cover-
age and other employee benefits. Having the vision to become
the leader in metal roll forming and safety glass processing in
Malaysia and South East Asia, places the safety glass produ-
cer at the top; its core values emphasized on giving a positive
impact on the community and society, in general.
The manufacturing industry is one that requires a work-
place that is in compliance with safety and occupational
health. Under the policy, creating a positive environment at
the workplace and ensuring the wellbeing of the employees is
also the responsibility of the organisation. In addition to this,
ensuring the quality of the end-products is also another
requirement which the company needs to process. This out-
come expected of the company, indirectly, states that the
employees’ wellbeing is of utmost importance. A good emo-
tional state among employees produces quality products and
in the work environment, mistakes and accidents can be
avoided, thus the losses from defective products can be
minimized.
Another interesting practice that was found in this assess-
ment came from the construction industry that runs a
marble and granite business, and property development. The
company clearly had evolved from practising positive CSR
(external) in 2012 before it eventually gave focus to its staff
happiness (internal) in 2015. This marked the evolution of

shifting the focus of positivity from external perspectives to
internal perspectives. This can be a major change in the
Malaysian work environment because the essence of taking
care of the people that the company is currently having is
equally important to taking care of the stakeholders.
Service Industries
An organisation that sells home and beauty products stated

in its annual report that it is committed to safeguarding the
employees’ wellbeing by looking at the safety and health pol-
icies. This includes a conducive, productive and safe work
environment for the employees. These elements are crucial
for the sales growth of the company because the implementa-
tion did improve its annual returns, year after year.
One organisation from the banking industry designed its
core value by approaching every challenge positively. At the
same time, the bank fosters its staff’s wellbeing, development
and intellectual growth. This can be a positive move for the
bank and it can be the benchmark for other banking institu-
tions in Malaysia. The bank is focusing on work life balance
for the employees; it also emphasises on internal positivity
elements instead of only looking at the external perspectives.
Developing individuals’ strength hand-in-hand with their
wellbeing and their intellectual growth can assist the com-
pany’s long-term development because both emotional intelli-
gence and intellectual intelligence can move in the same
platform. Companies that focus on long-term strategic plans
should start with this method sooner than planned because
the development of technologies is so rapid that it causes
inconsistencies to the economic growth of the country. Thus,
individual thoughts and emotion will somehow indirectly get

affected too by the changes.
External versus Internal Positivity Practices
Organisational practices that relate to positivity may come

from both sides of the positivity: external and internal. In the
earlier years since the 1990s, companies often emphasise on

good image from the external practices. They wanted to
make a positive impression as public image to show that they
are doing good things. The practices indirectly, contribute to
the brand recognition of the company, besides developing
customer loyalty (if CSR is perceived as positive by them) for
the organisations. Such impressions may assist the organisa-
tions to increase their market share and profitability. But the
question that needs to be answered crucially here is whether
external positivity practices are sufficient in retaining employ-
ees’ wellbeing and positive emotion. Can the contributions
towards the community/society improve the employees’ hap-
piness? It is not a matter of a choice for employees to conduct
CSR for public image, thus reaching happiness at this stage is
still in doubt.
As time passes, the positivity paradigm focus began to
turn towards the internal perspective among organisations.
From incorporating positivity, wellbeing and even happiness
in vision, mission and core values, organisations now also
include these elements in their management practices and
training and development. Every company can choose
whether it wants to incorporate positivity element or dis-
regard them totally. As seen in Figure 5.4, the external and
internal practices that have the possibility of including posi-
tivity and happiness elements may contribute to positive cul-
tural values within organisations. When the internal process
Figure 5.4. The External and Internal Practices.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Management Practice
E I
x n
t t
e e Vision Core Values Mission
r r
n n
a a
l l
Training & Development
Public Relations
of the organisation focuses on positive values, it will be

reflected on the external activities too. The process between
the internal and external positivity is interrelated, and this
indicates that organisations should be incorporating positiv-
ity in both perspectives.
Managing Internal Organisational Factors
Other than focusing on employee development by organising

trainings or workshops as a means of improving employees’
positivity and happiness, the management itself can choose to
be improved by promoting such positive culture. The man-
agement of the internal organisation is one way to improve
employees’ wellbeing. Child (2015) wrote about new internal
forms for contemporary organisational practices which
include simpler structures, achieving integration, control,
questions of reward and payment systems. These concepts
are further elaborated.
Simpler Structures
First, organisational structure should be simple. Removing
multi-level hierarchies can improve the work relationship
between managers and employees, thus, work understandings
can be enhanced. This is because multi-hierarchical bureau-
cracies in an organisation prevent top managers from being
informed with current real work situations that the employ-
ees are having. Furthermore, when instructions from top
managers need to be passed down through various other

levels (middle managers, line managers and supervisor), the
message gets twisted even before it can reach the employees
who work on the floor. As seen in Figure 5.5, top managers’
goal is to increase the company’s market share and the inten-
tion then is passed down to the execution levels. However,
without careful measures, the execution plan can affect the
employees’ motivation level. It can also have a negative
impact on their emotions.
Thinning the management layer may enhance mutual
understanding between the management and employees. For
Figure 5.5. Multi-level Hierarchy Can Lead to Negative

Emotion.
We need to increase
market share by 10%
Top
Increase profits
by RM1 million Managers
More productions
needed. Increase work
Middle Managers overtime
Overworked,
stress, unhappy
Line Managers
Operators
example, Zappos introduced ‘Holacracy’ and self-organisations

which consist of flat organisational structures. The aim is to
replace top-down predict-and-control paradigms with a new
way of achieving control by distributing power. The belief
that as companies get bigger, innovation or productivity
will generally reduce. Zappos’ CEO, Tony Hsieh, made the
365-degree change of its management. In addition, Zappos
emphasised on its 10 core values which are so related to posi-
tivity and happiness at work that this increases employees’

motivation. One of these is to build a positive team and a
family spirit which becomes integrated as part of its culture
of happiness at work.
Holacracy might work in the United States but the ques-
tion now is whether companies in Malaysia are ready for
such changes. Referring back to the culture theory introduced
by Hofstede (1984), Malaysia was then categorised as having
high power distance. This means that the respect to higher
authority is highly practised in the country. This may some-
how influence the organisational practices. Individuals must
respect others in higher level status, such as age, seniority and
the position held in the company. In this regard, flat organisa-
tions in management practice would require a much longer
time and more careful measures before it can be implemented
in practice. Nonetheless, for a start, we can see that there are
several multinational companies (MNC) in Malaysia practis-
ing the open space management where managers have no
designated rooms but need to sit together with their own
teams in an open floor. However, further assessment needs to
be conducted in measuring the level of productivity and/or
service performance, after the open-floor space implementa-
tions. It is also important to identify whether having an open
space concept can enhance positive emotions or even promote
happiness among the employees. Currently, there are very
limited studies that assess this management practice in

Malaysia.
Achieving Integration
Integration among departments in the organisation is another
concept which describes how important communication is in
management practices. Can every element of the organisa-
tional core values really reach every individual while perform-
ing the tasks? Sometimes one department’s value can be

different from another department. For example, the market-
ing department wants to present new product features that
emphasise on safety of the products but the operations
department have different values which are to go high on
quantity whereas the finance department may be thinking
about substituting the supplies (lower safety guaranteed) so
that they can save production costs.
When a company introduces positive behavioural values
as the cultural norm in the organisation, it has to be commu-
nicated to everyone in the company. For example, values of
integrity are highly emphasised in TM Berhad. The top man-
agement in TM makes sure that the values are communicated
to every department, from the CEO himself to the execution
level of employees. The value is currently upheld by everyone,
thereby, making the integration to achieve higher practices
through integrity.
Control
Going through the value chain system of an organisation, we
may divide the control of the company by focusing on the
expertise and outsource where the support functions, such as
payroll, marketing, customer service and any other functions
that serve little purpose for the company. According to the
theory formed by Adam Smith, the division of labour practice
can save a lot of cost and may assist organisations in growing

within the scope it serves/produces best.
Focusing on specialised areas can minimise over burden,
overwork and burnout among employees because unneces-
sary tasks are eliminated. This outcome may increase the level
of the wellbeing of employees because they are doing what
they are good at, thus, stress levels are reduced.
Questions of Rewards and Payment Systems

There are many questions of reward that need to be identified
before offering certain packages to the employees. The deter-
mination of whether such reward is direct and/or indirect
would be the first essential task for an organisation. Direct
compensation includes long-term incentive pay whereas the
indirect compensation can be in terms of Employees’
Provident Fund (EPF/KWSP) which enables employees to
withdraw, after reaching their retirement age or during spe-
cial circumstances, such as paying for the down payment of a
house purchase or tuition fees for those who continue their
studies at higher education levels. Both types are equally
needed because employees will interpret whether the organ-
isation values and cares for them. The perception that what
they give is compatible with what the company actually pays
can boost the motivation level, which may drive the employ-
ees to put stronger effort into completing their tasks.
Another question to note is what kind of benefits do
organisations need to cover. These benefits can range from
work-related, such as overtime pay and workplace accident
insurance to socio-related issues, such as healthcare, dental
care and personal accident insurance. Another important key
is to reward the employees with the deserved promotion in
terms of position, or monetary compensations. We can view
positions in terms of job levels, job promotions; moving from
assistant manager to manager, or we can view it in terms of
the type of employment, such as from contract to permanent.

The type of employment is an important element for employ-
ees as it can be interpreted as a level of job security for the
individual. For example, individuals who are hired as con-
tract employees may not feel happy, or as happy as the indi-
vidual who was hired as a permanent employee.
Another aspect to look at is the basis of the payment
system made, whether through work performance (merit pay)
or through seniority (tenure pay). Merit pay falls within the

category of fair pay where employees are paid based on their
work performance, whereas seniority is based on the pay-
ment that is related to the number of organisational tenure of
the individual. This can happen, especially in the public
sectors. The salary increment is automatically credited on a
yearly basis in most public sectors including the ministries,
education institutions, hospitals, uniform officers, etc. It is
less likely that an automatic salary increment is practised in
the private sectors. Excellent managing of payment systems
can ensure a smooth payroll process. This process would be
highly related with the employees’ wellbeing because any dis-
ruption in payment, such as delayed payment, or a miss-pay,
will send a signal that the organisations do not value the hard
work that the employees contributed to the company.
CONCLUSION: INTEGRATION OF ACADEMIC

AND PRACTICE
Theories are relevant once they can be incorporated into

practice. Before that, it is important to note that there is no
single solution to every company. Individuals are unique with
their own interpretation of quality world (Glasser, 1999),
therefore, the approaches in defining what the best method is
to improve the wellbeing level of the employees should be
situational. There are companies that are stuck with the belief
that traditional method works. Traditional method is when
you look at practices that are still using the 50 years of scho-
lar’s approach without adding any improvisation. This needs
to be reviewed because the work environment today is very
different especially with the incorporation of technology in
every aspect of work. The world today has become more
divergent and managing the important assets of the organisa-
tion, which is the human capital, can be the most challenging

issue.
In general, most individuals spend at least 8 hours a day at
their workplace, which is one-third of their 24 hours. With-
out careful management in terms of their emotions and feel-
ings, work can be stressful. Therefore, organisations need to
emphasise on the individuals’ wellbeing including the aspect
of cultivating positive behaviour and stimulating happiness
and positive emotions at the workplace. Specifically, in
Malaysia, not many research conducted had focused on these
aspects of the workplace contexts. The scholarly output sta-
tistics obtained from SciVal database as well as from Google
Scholar did not show an encouraging number of research
conducted as compared to other Asian countries, such as
China and Taiwan. In addition, most Malaysian scholarly
outputs that were related to wellbeing, positivity and happi-
ness were generally from the social sciences’ perspectives and
not specifically related to the business research fields.
Although some organisations currently practise positivity,
the events are mostly related to external activities, such as the
CSR. Therefore, there is a need to construct internal manage-
ment practices that switched their paradigm from external
towards internal by focusing on identifying individual
strengths, polishing them and acting upon these strengths so
as to achieve a win-win situation where the individuals’ needs
are met and the organisations’ objectives and goals are

fulfilled.
The integration between academic research and practices
in promoting the wellbeing of employees in organisations is
crucial. This issue should not be taken lightly. As employees
and employers, we all need to act now for the better future of
work life balance, with individual who chooses to wake up
happy in the morning, and to show up for work with full
spirit to complete their work tasks with an open heart.
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EMPLOYEE WELLBEING:
A MATTER OF CHOICE
Glasser (1999) sheds light on the concept of choice and its

implication. The underlying principle of Choice Theory pro-
posed by Glasser explains how individuals have a choice in
determining their action and thinking so that they can go on
to indirectly influence their feeling and physiology. Failure
to embrace this proposition where individuals are expected
take control of his/her own behaviour, will inevitably cause
the declination in the level of wellbeing. Similar principle
can be applied in the context of individual wellbeing at the
workplace.
The workplace has a plethora of trigger factors that could
affect employee’s wellbeing. Work engagement versus work
addiction, ethical versus unethical behaviour, happiness
versus unhappiness and feelings of victimisation resulting
from hostile acts such as cyberbullying and sexual harass-
ment are but some examples of trigger factors. Naturally,
these factors possess the power to either make or break any
individual depending on the choices they make. While the
implication of such factors on wellbeing has been documen-
ted, we fail to explore the association between wellbeing and
the choices we make with regards to these trigger factors.
189
Hence, the discussion in this book is centred on the paradox

of wellbeing based on the choices we make.
Fundamentally, the extent of influence of these events on
employee wellbeing greatly relies on the choices one makes in
their thinking and action towards these events. For instance,
being passionate about work and addictive to work are
clearly a paradox. While one focuses on positive disposition,
the other focuses on negative outlook. We need to realise that
both dispositions are in our control. The Choice Theory

accentuates that the only individual whose actions we can
control is our own. We must take note that the pleasures of
life can be short-lived if we make the wrong choice. If we live
today and treat it as all that we have, we would not be caught
in the obsession of living in the past and be anxious of what
is to come, which is what most workaholics do. The fact that
we can take charge of our own choice is essentially a virtue.
When people work without envisioning an ideal life, be con-
tented with what they have, they can truly focus on a quality
life and nurture their wellbeing. Glasser articulated that it is
not easy to change our actions and thoughts, but we can
most certainly do it. Whether we want to be passionate or
addictive at work is in fact our own choice. And this choice
will ultimately lift that burden off our shoulders that we must
not carry. Only then would life be rewarding.
Similarly, it is always a choice for us to decide whether to
behave good or bad at the workplace. Referring to previous
researches, there are multidimensional factors that influence
the choice, especially when dealing with issues involving eth-
ical dilemmas. One of the crucial components in these ante-
cedents is moral imagination, which provides a description
on how an individual predict a moral effect of his or her deci-
sion. As discussed by the Choice Theory, human behaviour is
based on internal motivation, where moral imagination will
ensure the ethical elements are taken into consideration to

lead individuals to practice good behaviour at the workplace.
Likewise, a conducive working environment is an essential
factor to warrant employee’s wellbeing. Problems such as
cyberbullying at workplace are among the most common
reason for hostile working environment. Premised on this
condition, the theory of choice provides support to imply that
one must take control of their life in order to face challenges
in workplace environment. Workplace cyberbullying and

employee wellbeing are two concepts that are synonymous
with each other. Most victims of cyberbullies believe that
workplace cyberbullying has a negative implication on their
wellbeing. This notion is somewhat aligned with the beliefs of
individuals who are external control believers. Glasser (1998)
stated that such individuals choose to believe that the misery
they are feeling is attributable to what someone else does to
them. While this notion holds true to some extent, we argue
that victims have a choice a choice to determine to what
extent they are affected by the demeaning behaviour of the
perpetrators. Victims need to understand that they have
control over how they think and act towards acts of cyber-
bullying. Such realisation will let them take control of their
life and indirectly influence their feelings and physiological
health positively regardless of how the cyberbullies attempt
to break their spirit. As soon as the victims embrace the fact
that they have a choice, they pave their path to a heightened
wellbeing regardless of the act of the cyberbullies.
Another undesirable conduct at workplace that could
benefit from the Choice Theory is sexual harassment. This
misbehaviour should be prevented, and employers and
employees should be aware of its negativity. In pursuant to
this, all we do is behave (Glasser, 1999). It all starts with our
own choice either to choose the good or bad behaviour. In
order to maintain wellbeing at a workplace, both employers
and employees have their own choices which side they choose
to be. This is in line with the theory of choice which depicts
that we have much control in lives than we know. We can
only control ourselves but not others, thus what we can do is
to give information to others in the form of conveying a
message about our stand. Demonstrating our unfavourable
responses to any elements amounting to sexual harassment
may avoid a worse scenario. Premised on the fact that all
people are entitled to enjoy wellbeing at the workplace, it is

always a matter of choice for us to choose the right way of
saving ourselves from the hostile working environment.
Employers and employees must, therefore, take effective con-
trol against the prevalence of sexual harassment in order to
secure their wellbeing at the workplace.
Besides of the challenges life throws at one, individuals
can choose to be positive and be happy with their work life,
social-life and even their whole-life. Positivity is the new
cultural practices that can change the overall structure and
system of a company. This culture has strong influence on
positive emotional response on individual which may lead for
happiness at work among employees. The important people
behind the companies are also individual. These individual
can choose to bring wellbeing into the company by adapting
the positivity approaches such as equal treatment, provide
great facilities, flexible working hours, high medical cov-
erages or even promoting good communications between all
levels among the employees. It can be as simple as saying
‘Hi, Good Morning’ to everyone you meet along the corridor
at the office. Let everyone be noticed even if he/she is the per-
son in charge with the sewerage piping. It takes one person
especially those at the top level in the management to start, as
it will influence others to do the same. At the end, it is a mat-
ter of a choice to change the norms at the office, if you choose
to be happy.
In a nutshell, as posited by Glasser (1999), we may not

realise that the consequences we feel are the results of our
own choices. Most of the time, individuals tend to dwell on
the notion that they are victims of external circumstances
(e.g. work demands, unethical environment, perpetrators’
inner need to abuse power) and they are left with no choice
when their wellbeing suffers. On the contrary, what really
matters is the need to understand that we can indirectly con-
trol the implications on our wellbeing (i.e. our feelings and

physiological implications) by directly choosing how we act
and think in reaction to events such as those discussed earlier.
Embracing this fact helps us gain a great deal of personal
freedom. After all, as Glasser (1999) emphasised, ‘You can
control only your own life’.
REFERENCE


INDEX
Absorption, as element of positivity at workplace,

work engagement, 159 161
15 16 Asians, 12
Addictive side of Asian Social Sciences, 161,
workaholism, 20 23 166
Amended Employment Act Association of Certified
1955, 132 Fraud Examiner
Andreassen, C. S., 20, 24, 32 (ACFE), 43
Anonymity Attention-deficit
cyberbullies, 79, 80 82 workaholic, 25
digital evidence and, 99 Audit
perpetrators of crime and, on harassment, 129
82 as preventive measures,
Anonymous emails or sexual harassment,
postings, 80 129
Anti-Sexual Harassment Avoidance, as preventive
Act 1995, Philippines, measure, sexual
134 harassment, 124 125
Anxiety, 11
economy, impact on, 11 Bakker, A. B., 20
number of people living Baltes, B. B., 28
with, 11 Behavioural addiction,
as stigma and taboo, 12 25
work-related stress and, components in, 26
11 functional dependency
Asia and, 25
happiness at workplace, workaholism as, 21
159 161 Block, J. J., 26
195
196 Index
Bulimic workaholic, Creative imagination,

24 25 60 62
Bullying, 72 73 Creativity, 61 62
See also Cyberbullying Criminal Code, France,
Butterfield, K. D., 44 134
Criminal Code, Russia,
Campaigns 134
on avoiding sexual Crude and offensive
harassment, 128 behaviours, 107
as preventive measures, Cyberabuse, 74

sexual harassment, See also Cyberbullying
128 Cyberbullies
Campbell, M. A., 77 anonymity, 80 82
Child, J., 177 boundarylessness, 83 84
Choice Theory, 3 5, 13, covert operation of,
91, 189 191 78 86
Clark, M. A., 28 cyberbullying and
Clegg, C. W., 52 employees’ wellbeing,
Coaching 87 90
purpose of, 32 deciphering cyberbullying
workaholics and, 32 at workplace, 74 78
Code of Practice on the lack of supervision,
Prevention and 82 83
Eradication of Sexual publicness, 84 86
Harassment in the stopping cyberbullies in
Workplace, Malaysia, their path, 90 100
107, 133 Cyberbullying
Communication, anonymity, 80 82
computer-mediated, boundarylessness, 83 84
81, 90 deciphering at workplace,
Computer forensic 74 78
investigation, 98 99 and employees’ wellbeing,
Computer-mediated 87 90
communication, 81, 90 Farley on, 75 76
Confucian Asia, 83 lack of supervision,
Corporate Social 82 83
Responsibility (CSR), organisation as protector,
173 174, 176, 183 92 100
Index 197
publicness, 84 86 on the perpetrator,

victims: fight or flight?, 119 120
91 92 sexual harassment and,
See also Workplace 118 121
cyberbullying on the victim, 118 119
Cyberharassment, 74 Educational training as
See also Cyberbullying preventive measure
CyberSecurity Malaysia, 72 of harassment,
126 127
D’Cruz, P., 74, 85, 88 Effective complaint

Deci, E. L., 34 procedure
Dedication, as element of as preventive measures,
work engagement, sexual harassment,
15 16 127 128
Deontology, 48 49, 56 Electronic abuse, 74
Depression, 11 See also Cyberbullying
economy, impact on, 11 Electronic bullying, 74
as stigma and taboo, 12 See also Cyberbullying
work-related stress and, Electronic harassment, 74
11 See also Cyberbullying
Depression Anxiety Stress Electronic mails (E-mail),
Scale (DASS), 166 109
DigiSurvey, 72 Eleventh Malaysia Plan, 2
Digital communication Employees, 10
technologies, 86 compensations and, 10
Digitalised workplace, 73 cyberbullying and
Discussions, as preventive wellbeing of, 87 90
measures of sexual extra-role performance,
harassment, 123 124 19
Disempowerment theory, good and ethical,
88 89 50 52
Drasgow, F., 107 in-role performance, 19
Dubinsky, A. J., 55 job stress and, 11
wellbeing as matter of
‘Easterlin paradox’, 153 choice, 189 193
Economic harm workaholics vs. engaged,
on the organisation, 13 14, 17, 29 30
120 121 working longer hours, 12
198 Index
workplace sexual Gender harassment, 107

harassment and ‘General Theory of
wellbeing of, 113 121 Marketing Ethics’, 55
Employment Act 1955, Glasser, William, 3, 44, 91,
132 189 191, 193
Engagement Glasser’s theory of choice,
outcomes of, 18 20 44
as passion towards work, Google, 157
14 18 Google Scholar, 183
wellbeing and, 29 30 Green and Happiness

Eriksen, H. R., 24 Index (GHI), Thailand,
Ethical behaviour, 50 156
defined, 50 Gresham, L. G., 55
models of, 53 56 ‘Gross National
moral imagination and, Happiness’ in
45 Kingdom of Bhutan,
Ethical decision-making, 156
44 ‘Guanxi’, 49
Ethical relativism, 49 ‘Guidelines for Handling
Ethics, 45 50 Sexual Harassment in
defined, 45 the Workplace among
ethical relativism and, 49 the Civil Servant No
teleology and, 48 22 of 2005’, 133
European Union, 111, 112
External positivity, Happiness
176 177 academic research
Extra-role performance, evolution on,
defined, 19 158 167
assessing Malaysian
Facebook, 159 scholarly outputs,
Farley, S., 75 76 165 166
Federal Court of Malaysia, definition of, 158 159
134 135 integration of academic
Ferrell, O. C., 55 and practice, 182 184
Fischer, J., 46 managing internal
Fitzgerald, L. F., 107 organisational factors,
Four Component Model, 177 182
56 in practice, 167 182
Index 199
promoting and securing, Internet Protocol (IP)

159 addresses, 80
research in Asia on, ‘Issue-contingent
159 161 Model of Ethical
research in Malaysia on, Decision-Making’, 56
161 165
research in World on, Job demand, 17 18
159 161 Job-Demand Resources
Harassment (JD-R) model, 17 18
audit on, 129 Job resources, 17 18

non-verbal (gestures), 109 Jones, T. M., 55, 56
verbal, 108 109 Journal of Happiness
visual (environmental), Studies, 161, 165
109
written, 109 Kasnon, Datuk Noriah, 131
Hetland, J., 20 Kelly, L., 92 94
Hofstede, G., 179 Kingdom of Bhutan
Holacracy, 179 ‘Gross National
Hsieh, Tony, 179 Happiness’ in, 156
Hughes-Rease, M., 64 ‘Gross National Product’
Hunt, S. D., 55 in, 156
Kowalski, R. M., 73
‘IF-THEN’ conversation, 64 Kudriavtsev, V. T., 57
Imagination
creative, 59 62 Labour Code, France, 134
defined, 57 ‘Laid-back’ workplace
moral and, 57 58 environments, 157
productive, 59 60 Lauber, C., 11
reproductive, 59 60 Loken, B., 55
In-role performance, Lovato, Demi, 87
defined, 19
Instagram, 159 Magley, V. J., 107
Internal positivity, 176 177 Malaysia
International Code of Practice on the
Confederation of Free Prevention and
Trade Unions, 112 Eradication of Sexual
International Labour Harassment in the
Organisation, 112 Workplace, 107, 133
200 Index
comprehensive definition Moberg, D. J., 60

of sexual harassment Models of ethical
in, 107 behaviour, 52 56
happiness at the Mohamed, A., 107
workplace, 161 165 Mohd Ridzwan Abdul
mental health issues in, Razak v Asmah Hj
11 Mohd Nor, 134
National Anti-Bullying Moral, 45 50
Council, 98 imagination and, 58 59
positivity at the Moral imagination,

workplace, 161 165 56 58
Sexual Harassment creative imagination,
Policy, 133 59 62
Malaysian Code of Practice defined, 57
on the Prevention and productive imagination,
Eradication of Sexual 59 60
Harassment in the reproductive imagination,
Workplace, 110 59 60
Malaysian Employers right culture for, 63 65
Federation (MEF), 133 and wellbeing, 58 62
Malaysian Trades Union Morality
Congress (MTUC), 72, defined, 46
98 ethics and, 46, 48, 50
Managers, and sexual Motivation
harassment, 129 131 external drivers, 21 22
Manufacturing industry, internal drivers, 21 22
174 intrinsic, 13, 17
Mental disorders, 11 Motivational interviewing,
Mental Health Action 32
Plan, 31 Mudrack, P. E., 23
Merit pay, 182 Multinational companies
Michel, J. S., 28 (MNC), 179
Mindfulness Attention and
Awareness Scale, 166 National Anti-Bullying
Mindfulness-based Council, Malaysia, 98
Cognitive Theraphy Non-verbal (gestures)
(b-MBCT), 166 harassment, 109
Mindvalley, 157 Noronha, E., 74, 85, 88
Index 201
Oates, W. E., 27 simpler structures,

Occupational Safety and 178 180
Health Act (1994), 133 supportive climate, 100
O’Fallon, M. J., 44 threat assessment,
Online abuse, 74 99 100
See also Cyberbullying workaholism and, 13,
Online bullying, 74 28 33
See also Cyberbullying work life balance and,
Online harassment, 74 30, 33
See also Cyberbullying Outcomes of engagement,

Organisational culture, 18 20
defined, 63
Organisational factors, Pallesen, S., 20, 24
defined, 54 Passion for work, 14 15
Organisations, 9 10 Perceived Stress Scale
autonomy and learning (PSS), 166
opportunities offered Perfectionism, 24
by, 18 Person-related
control, 180 181 cyberbullying, 74 75
cyberbullying and, ‘Person-Situation
92 100 Interactionist Model’,
economic harm and, 55 56
120 121 Pertanika Journal of Social
engaging computer Science and
forensic investigation, Humanities, 161
98 99 Physical conduct of sexual
independent channel for nature, 109
redress, 97 98 Physical distress
integration, 180 sexual harassment and,
policy, 95 97 116 118
as the protector, 92 100 symptoms of, 117
punishments by, 23 Physical injuries, 115
rewards and payment Physiological wellbeing,
systems, 181 182 89 90
reward systems, 23 Piotrowski, C., 95
sexual harassment and Positivity, 192
challenges for, academic research
121 122 evolution on, 158 167
202 Index
assessing Malaysian effective complaint

scholarly outputs, procedure, 127 128
165 166 focus on the perpetrator,
Cambridge dictionary 124
definition of, 158 managers and, 129 131
external versus internal, transfer and avoidance,
176 177 124 125
integration of academic victims and, 129 131
and practice, witnesses and, 129 131
182 184 written policy, 125 126

managing internal Privitera, C., 77
organisational factors, Procedia Social and
177 182 Behavioral Science,
Oxford dictionary 165
definition of, 158 Production industries,
in practice, 167 182 174 175
promoting and securing, Productive imagination, 60
159 Protection Against
research development Harassment of Women
related to, 167 at the Workplace Act
research in Asia on, 2010, Pakistan, 134
159 161 Protection from
research in Malaysia on, Harassment Act 2014,
161 165 Singapore, 134
research in World on, Psychological harassment,
159 161 110
Post-traumatic stress, 117 Psychological stress, and
Post-traumatic stress sexual harassment,
disorder (PTSD), 117 114 116
Preventive measures, Psychological wellbeing,
sexual harassment 34, 87 89
audit on, 129 Publicness, and
campaigns on avoiding cyberbullying, 84 86
sexual harassment, Pui, S. Y., 28
128
discussions, 123 124 Relentless workaholic, 25
educational training, Reproductive imagination,
126 127 59 60
Index 203
Rest, J. R., 53, 56 economic harm and,

Robbins, A. S., 24 118 121
Robinson, B. E., 24 25 educational training and,
Rössler, W., 11 126 127
Ryan, R. M., 34 effective complaint
procedure, 127 128
Salin, D., 123 forms of, 108 111
Savouring workaholic, 25 gender harassment, 107
Schaufeli, W. B., 20 impact on employees
Schwartz, B., 10 wellbeing, 113 121

SciVal (research in Malaysia, 131 136
performance managers and, 129 131
assessment tool), 159, more women victims than
165, 166, 183 men, 112 113
Scopus database, 159 overview, 105 106
Seabright, M. A., 60 physical distress and,
Seligman, M. E., 32 116 118
Service industries, preventive measures,
175 176 122 131
Sex Discrimination Act psychological stress and,
1975, United 114 116
Kingdom, 134 punitive, 124
Sex Discrimination Act role of parties involved,
1984, Australia, 134 129 131
Sexual behaviours, 106 sexual coercion, 107
Sexual coercion, 107, 110 statistics and studies on,
Sexual harassment 111 112
audit on, 129 transfer and avoidance,
campaigns on avoiding, 124 125
128 unwanted sexual
challenges for the attention, 107
organisation, 121 122 victims and, 129 131
crude and offensive victims of, 112 113
behaviours, 107 witnesses and, 129 131
definition of, 106 108 written policy on,
dimensions of, 107 125 126
discussion and, See also Workplace
123 124 sexual harassment
204 Index
Sexual harassment at the United Nations Committee

workplace. See on the Elimination of
Workplace sexual Discrimination Against
harassment Women, 112
Sexual Harassment Law United States, 111
1998, Israel, 134 Universiti Teknologi
Sexual Harassment of Malaysia, 165
Women at Workplace Unwanted sexual attention,
2013, India, 134 107
Sexual violence, 105 Ursin, H., 24

Short Message Services
(SMS), 109 Verbal harassment,
Smith, Adam, 180 108 109
Social media, 72, 159 Victims
Social networking sites, 74 economic harm on,
Spence, J. T., 24 118 119
Spivack, A. J., 25 sexual harassment and,
Star newspaper, 11 129 131
Stoeber, J., 24 Vigour
Subjective Happiness Scale defined, 15
(SHS), 166 as element of work
‘Survival of the fittest’, 11 engagement, 15 16
as a resource, 15
Taris, T. W., 20 Visual (environmental)
Taylor, P. W., 50 harassment, 109
Technology, 9, 28, 75 76, Vitell, S., 55
90, 101 Vranjes, I., 77 78
Teleology, 48 49, 56
TM Berhad, 180 Waldo, C. R., 107
Training Ward, A., 10
educational, 126 127 Wellbeing
as preventive measures, connection between
sexual harassment, 127 engagement and
Transfer, as preventive workaholism to,
measures, sexual 29 30
harassment, 124 125 cyberbullying and
Trevino, L. K., 55 employees, 87 90
Twitter, 159 engagement and, 29 30
Index 205
good and ethical obsessive-compulsive

employee, 50 52 tendency to, 27
moral imagination and, workaholism and, 13,
59 62 21
physiological, 89 90 Work life balance, 10,
psychological, 87 89 175
workaholism and, 29 30 Work life conflict, 28
Werhane, P., 60 Workplace
WhatsApp, 109, 159 deciphering cyberbullying
Witnesses at, 74 78
sexual harassment and, digitalised, 73
129 131 happiness at. See
Work, engagement as Happiness
passion towards, positivity at. See Positivity
14 18 Workplace bullying. See
Workaholics, 13 Bullying
attention-deficit, 25 Workplace cyberbullying,
bulimic, 24 25 72 73, 191
coaching and, 32 person-related
helping, 30 34 cyberbullying, 74 75
relentless, 25 work-related
savouring, 25 cyberbullying, 74
Workaholism See also Cyberbullying
addictive side of, 20 23 Workplace sexual
causes of, 23 27 harassment
defined, 13 economic harm and,
outcome of, 27 29 118 121
wellbeing and, 29 30 employees wellbeing and,
work engagement and, 113 121
13 14 non-verbal (gestures)
Work engagement harassment, 109
absorption, 15 16 physical conduct of
dedication, 15 16 sexual nature, 109
defined, 13, 15 physical distress and,
vigour, 15 116 118
and workaholism, 13 14 prevalence of, 120 121
‘Working hard’ psychological harassment,
categories of, 13 110
206 Index
psychological stress and, World

114 116 happiness at the
sexual coercion, 110 workplace, 159 161
statistics and studies on, positivity at the
111 112 workplace, 159 161
verbal harassment, World Health
108 109 Organisation, 30
victims of, 112 113 World Health Organisation
visual (environmental) (WHO), 11
harassment, 109 Written harassment, 109

written harassment, Written policy, as
109 preventive measures,
See also Sexual sexual harassment,
harassment 125 126
Work-related
cyberbullying, 74 Zappos, 157, 179
Work-related stress, 11 Zhdanova, L., 28

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A Meaningful Life at Work

The Paradox of Wellbeing

Meaningful Life at Work. Emerald Publishing Limited 2018.

The Paradox of Wellbeing

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Raida Abu Bakar

United Kingdom North America Japan

First edition 2018

Copyright r 2018 Emerald Publishing Limited

Reprints and permissions service

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

ISBN: 978-1-78756-770-2 (Print)

Certificate Number 1985

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This book is a result of an amazing and meaningful journey

wellbeing of individuals. Inspired by their own experiences

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About the Authors xi

1. Passionate about Work or Addicted

2. ‘Being Good or Being Bad in the

3. Cyberbullies: Hurt Me Not! 71

4. It’s Not a Compliment, It’s Harassment! 105

5. Positivity and Happiness in the Workplace 155

Employee Wellbeing: A Matter of Choice 189

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Raida Abu Bakar is Senior Lecturer at the Department of

of research interest are organisational psychology/employee

Rosmawani Che Hashim is Senior Lecturer at University of

Lecturer at Universiti Utara Malaysia in 1995 before transfer-

Sharmila Jayasingam received her MBA and PhD from the

Saﬁah Omar is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Business

of Sunderland, UK, an MBA and PhD from Universiti

Norizah Mohd Mustamil is currently Senior Lecturer in

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At the heart of every individual is the belief that life revolves

illness. Unfortunately, the tendency of research to focus on

to those studies focusing on mental illness rather than

development. While the social and economic indicators of

arly literature, the individual’s wellbeing at the workplace has

An extension of the Choice Theory argument is that our

try to make the perfect choice is essential to understanding

take control of their everyday lives. And in doing so, we may

problems at work. If, as humans, we need to be surrounded

conduct in dealing with ethical issues at the workplace.

Not!’ as there is no denying that cyberbullying can affect the

contributing to organisational discourse which encompasses

Bakker, A. B., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2008). Positive

Cameron, K. S., & Spreitzer, G. M. (Eds.). (2011). The

Glasser, W. (1999). Choice theory: A new psychology of

Guest, D. E. (2017). Human resource management and

Myers, D. G. (2000). The funds, friends, and faith of happy

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PASSIONATE ABOUT WORK OR

Some people strive to make a living, while others

begin with, it is important to note that some employees allo-

involves securing sufﬁcient income while making a life con-

the concept of ‘survival of the ﬁttest’ blends in well with their

(WHO, 2017) showed that anxiety and depression have a

beings susceptible to these emotional distress, are often

lar, do not like to talk about their problems, especially with

WORK ENGAGEMENT AND WORKAHOLISM

A review of relevant literature indicates two categories of

less, the motive that propels people to be engaged at work or