Bullying in the workplace is quite different from malicious Harassment. When bullying is discussed, there is no indication of who is the bullying perpetrator. That is because, very much like harassment, it may be anyone within the organization or from outside the organization such suppliers or customers who are perpetrators or victims of bullying. In addition when the hostility is peer to peer, it is easier for a manager/supervisor to detect symptoms of bullying and to quell it through positive disciplining in a timely manner and with necessary documentation of the disciplining procedure. It is much more difficult to detect bullying in a supervisor, who may be justifiably communicating to or disciplining a member of his team the necessity to conform to production or processing norms without valid justification.

Managers/supervisors are often the perpetrators. The other misconception about bullying is that it is not similar to the schoolyard bullying we read about. It can be physically violent but generally, it is better defined as psychological harassment rather than the other forms of harassment described in an accompanying publication on Prevention of Harassment in the Workplace.