Bully or Boss?

Abstract

Ted Genoways was the editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review (VQR), an award winning journal published by the University of Virginia (UVA). He became the editor of VQR in 2003 at the age of 31. VQR had won a number of prestigious awards during his tenure as editor. However, the economic downturn in 2008 and other organizational factors had put pressure on him and threatened the very existence of VQR. In order for VQR to survive and remain at its current level of excellence, Genoways had found it necessary to encourage his employees to work hard and be especially attentive to details in operating the journal. Recent complaints made him wonder if perhaps he needed to reevaluate his management approach. Was he, as one employee complained, really a workplace bully?