Abstract
This paper examines upward bullying (UB) within the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), where subordinates systematically undermine managers attempting to enforce performance standards.
Through interpretative phenomenological analysis of twelve senior civil servant managers' lived experiences, this research reveals that the primary harm stems not from subordinate behaviour but from institutional betrayal (IB): organisational abandonment that transforms routine performance management into career-threatening ordeals.
The study extends IB theory from sexual harassment contexts to workplace bullying, demonstrates how formal authority becomes structural vulnerability when institutions withdraw support, and identifies moral injury (MI) as the psychological consequence of value-based trauma. Findings challenge dominant workplace bullying frameworks that locate harm in interpersonal dynamics, positioning UB instead as a system-sustained phenomenon requiring institutional accountability rather than individual-level interventions.
This research contributes theoretically by reconceptualising power as institutionally operationalised, methodologically by demonstrating IPA's utility for examining organisational phenomena, and practically by offering evidence-based recommendations for reform that address procedural paralysis, leadership accountability, and the weaponisation of equality frameworks.