POLICY CHARACTERISTICS FOR THE PREVENTION OF WORKPLACE BULLYING ANTECEDED BY HETEROSEXISM: A DELPHI STUDY(USE AS GUIDE ONLY)

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POLICY CHARACTERISTICS FOR THE PREVENTION OF WORKPLACE
BULLYING ANTECEDED BY HETEROSEXISM: A DELPHI STUDY

A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the Degree Doctor of Management in Organizational Leadership

University of Phoenix
ABSTRACT
Since the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, LGBTQ individuals have orchestrated
a significant movement toward equality; however, heterosexism, and workplace bullying
are still prevalent concerns for LGBTQ workers. This is important because workplace
bullying has been found to cause psychological and physical illness, and been found as a
cause for reduced organizational effectiveness. Therefore, the purpose of this Delphi
study was to build consensus about organizational diversity practices or policies that can
help to diminish the risk of workplace bullying. Following the theoretical foundations of
status inconsistency theory, social identity theory, procedural justice theory, and
heteronormativity theory, the research questions for the study examined what
characteristics of current diversity policies can and should organizational leaders use, and
what practices or policies organizational leaders must address to diminish the risk of
workplace bullying of LGBTQ employees. The study employed a manual constant
comparative analysis, measurement of median scores, and ranking measurements to
analyze data collected through a three round Delphi study of human resource and
diversity experts. Cronbach’s Alpha was measured to determine study reliability. Based
on 26 items with consensus, the expert panelists further conceded on seven top
recommendations. This study contributes to social change by helping inform
organizational leaders, politicians, advocacy groups, and scholars on recommendations to
help safeguard the mental and physical health of employees, safeguard the operational
effectiveness of an organization, and reduce workplace bullying of LGBTQ and other
marginalized employees.

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DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to my parents Barbara and Robert McCalla. Your
lifetime commitments to educating children, and providing a safe and caring environment
for children from all socio-cultural backgrounds to learn and excel is inspiring. Thank
you for your love, support, inspiration, and encouragement. I would like to express the
deepest appreciation to my wife and my three daughters who have endured my time away
from familial duties and offered me their unwavering support as I worked on this
research.
I would also like to dedicate this dissertation to all employees who have been
marginalized and bullied. It is my hope that this work and other similar work will be
used to improve working environments. I dedicate this work to you, and hope you find
the support and strength to overcome the challenges you face.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my committee chair Dr. Leah Hollis, who has
demonstrated and demanded high levels of research, scholarship, and an excitement
regarding this research. Without her guidance, this dissertation would not have been
possible. Likewise, my committee members, Dr. Lockwood and Dr. Paluch provided
guidance, time and expertise. I appreciate their contribution to this work.
I would like to acknowledge the many instructors I have had at University of
Phoenix. Your professionalism, knowledge, and your commitment to quality have made
me a better scholar, practitioner, and leader. I would also like to acknowledge my past
organizational leaders, some who used or required bullying as a management tactic.
Your actions or inactions largely forged my desire to search for a solution to the problem
of workplace bullying.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge a couple of my fellow peer doctoral
students. Sheila and Terresa you seemed to know when I needed help or support. Thank
you for being such great students, teammates, and friends.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Page
List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... xi
Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1
Description of the Problem ........................................................................................... 4
Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................. 7
Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 9
Objectives, Nature, and Scope of Study ..................................................................... 12
Policy Delphi as a Research Method .......................................................................... 13
Research Design.......................................................................................................... 14
Delphi rounds ........................................................................................................ 14
Identification of experts and population ............................................................... 15
General population .......................................................................................... 17
Specific population ......................................................................................... 17
Sample................................................................................................................... 19
Conceptual Framework of the Study .......................................................................... 20
Status inconsistency theory ................................................................................... 20
Social identity theory ............................................................................................ 21
Procedural justice theory....................................................................................... 22
Heteronormativity theory. ..................................................................................... 23
Assumptions ................................................................................................................ 24
Limitations .................................................................................................................. 25
Scope and Delimitations ............................................................................................. 26
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Operational Definitions ............................................................................................... 27
Summary ..................................................................................................................... 29
Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................ 31
Documentation ............................................................................................................ 31
Historical overview of workplace bullying........................................................... 33
School bullying to workplace bullying ................................................................. 33
Current findings in workplace bullying. ............................................................... 38
Laws ...................................................................................................................... 43
Gaps in workplace bullying research. ................................................................... 45
Heterosexism and LGBTQ Bullying .......................................................................... 47
Status Inconsistency .................................................................................................... 49
Historical overview of workplace diversity. ......................................................... 51
History of affirmative action. ................................................................................ 52
Equal employment opportunity............................................................................. 52
Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)........................................................ 54
Current findings in diversity. ................................................................................ 54
Organizational challenges in diversity. ................................................................. 57
Research Gaps and Knowledge Gaps ......................................................................... 61
Themes and patterns. ............................................................................................ 62
Contradictory findings or disagreements .............................................................. 62
Remaining questions. ............................................................................................ 65
Delphi Research .......................................................................................................... 68
How Delphi research is used ................................................................................. 69
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Delphi research and human resources policy development. ................................. 70
Summary ..................................................................................................................... 71
Chapter 3: Method ............................................................................................................ 75
Qualitative Policy Delphi Research Method............................................................... 75
History of Delphi research method ....................................................................... 76
Appropriateness of Design .......................................................................................... 79
Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 81
Population ................................................................................................................... 82
Sampling Frame .......................................................................................................... 83
Informed Consent and Confidentiality........................................................................ 85
Instrument Selection, Appropriateness, and Reliability ............................................. 87
Data Collection ........................................................................................................... 92
Validity and Reliability ............................................................................................... 96
Construct validity and reliability .......................................................................... 97
External validity .................................................................................................... 97
Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 98
Qualitative analysis. .............................................................................................. 98
Quantitative analysis. .......................................................................................... 100
Summary ................................................................................................................... 102
Chapter 4: Results ........................................................................................................... 104
Pilot Study ................................................................................................................. 106
Overview of the Policy Delphi Study ....................................................................... 107
Round one overview. .......................................................................................... 107
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Demographic Results ................................................................................................ 110
Data Reduction Summary ......................................................................................... 112
Category Theme Development for Research Question One ..................................... 116
Thematic categories identified for question 1. .................................................... 116
Thematic categories identified for question 2. .................................................... 118
Category Theme Development for Research Question Two .................................... 120
Thematic categories identified for question 3. .................................................... 120
Thematic categories identified for question 5. .................................................... 123
Common Themes Identified for Survey Question 4 ................................................. 126
Round 2 Likert-Type Survey .................................................................................... 128
Round 2 Analysis of Research Question One Item Descriptors ............................... 130
Round 2 Analysis of Research Question Two Item Descriptors .............................. 132
Round 3 Ranking Assessment .................................................................................. 133
Summary ................................................................................................................... 136
Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................. 140
Review of the Research Study .................................................................................. 140
Final Study Conclusions ........................................................................................... 142
Conclusion of the Study in Relationship to the Research Questions ........................ 146
Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 147
Implications............................................................................................................... 149
Theoretical Implications ........................................................................................... 150
Implications for the Study of Leadership.................................................................. 155
Practitioner implications. .................................................................................... 156
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