If this recent study is to be believed, strong arm tactics rule the day in the Japanese workplace. In fact, the study by the Japan Industrial Counselors Association found that eight out of 10 industrial counselors have had to deal with cases of workplace bullying.
Not surprisingly, reports of bullying tend to involve managers and their subordinates. This doesn't necessarily involve violence, but other intimidating factors that make the workplace hostile, including power tripping (abuse of power), insults or other forms of denigration, harassment due to workplace error, and even sexual harassment.
According to the study, the bullying was meted out either via abusive language or shouting, ostracization, and getting the employee in trouble with others.
As far as we know, the study doesn't implement any suggestions for how to regulate such workplace problems. Given these results, it's a safe bet to say that harassment tends to manifest itself quite a bit – what actions do employers take against it?
The article isn't clear on what role the counselors play in bullying situations, though it seems like they are there to help victims deal with the issues. For my money, they've be of better value by working with those guilty of bullying so that they change their behavior rather than making the victim adapt to handle such workplace aggression.
