Exploring relationships among workplace bullying, organizational commitment, work engagement and work-related stress in Vietnamese academic libraries

Purpose This study seeks to investigate the impact of workplace bullying on organizational commitment, with a particular focus on the mediating roles of work-related stress and work engagement within Vietnamese academic libraries. Design/methodology/approach The research was carried out through the collection of responses from 570 Vietnamese librarians. To test the hypotheses, linear regression analysis was utilized. Findings The findings reveal that workplace bullying has a partial effect on both organizational commitment and work-related stress. Furthermore, work-related stress partially mediates the relationship between workplace bullying and organizational commitment. This study contributes to the theoretical framework of workplace bullying in the context of the library sector. Practical implications The results offer several practical recommendations for Vietnamese academic libraries. First, it is crucial for leaders and administrators to implement policies aimed at reducing the negative effects of workplace bullying. Second, supervisors and managers should provide targeted training to help librarians understand the detrimental effects of workplace bullying and work-related stress and develop strategies to address these issues. Originality/value This research broadens the theoretical understanding of workplace bullying by examining its relationships with work engagement, work-related stress and organizational commitment. Given the limited previous research on these four organizational variables within academic libraries, this study aims to fill an important gap in the literature.