This model is based on Education Queensland but it could be applied to any workplace. It explains how Bad Apple Bullies are able to abuse the official polices and how Bad Apple practices eventually become the dominant culture.
Bad Apples (one or more than one) are the rotten core of a mob. If there was no bad apple there would be no Mob. An incident of workplace mobbing is initiated when a Bad Apple reacts to some form of change suggested by another employee. The Bad Apple deals with the suggested change in the quickest and easiest way - by destroying the employee who suggested change. The Bad Apple moves secretly from person to person, gossiping, hinting and suggesting, maliciously "beating up" half-truths, lies and misunderstandings until she/he has gathered together a Primary Mob who believe that they have common "concerns" about the target. The Bad Apple uses the "concerns" that he/she has beaten up among the Primary Mob to camouflage the real nature of his/her workplace harassment.
The Primary Mob are Education Queensland employees who are sucked into the mob by the Bad Apple. Individual members of the Primary Mob are selected by the Bad Apple because they are easy to manipulate. Some members of the Primary Mob are easy to manipulate because they are inexperienced. Some may be unintelligent or lazy. Some members may be "Mr Nice Guy" characters who always take the easy path and "go with the flow". Some members of the Primary Mob may have a special reason to be grateful to the Bad Apple. Some members of the Primary Mob may be Bad Apples themselves and may enjoy maliciously abusing other employees.
The "concerns" of the Primary Mob are based almost entirely on their own gossip, half truths, lies and misunderstandings, rather than on fact. The Bad Apple's grooming behaviours convince the Primary Mob that they need to destroy their target mentally, physically, financially and professionally. The decision-making process employed by the Primary Mob in deciding to destroy the target is an abuse of the official Education Queensland polices. For example, the Mob do not allow the target the opportunity to respond to their "concerns".
Individual members of the Primary Mob may eventually realise that they are involved in mobbing, but by then they (and their misunderstandings, gossip and half-truths) are an important part of the structure of the "concerns" created by the mob. They cannot escape. They know how easily the target has been destroyed. They may be afraid that the Mob will turn on them if they start to "rock the boat". They continue to lie because they are afraid of the Bad Apple and the Mob.
The Bad Apple and the members of the Primary Mob reward each other for compliant behaviour with celebrations, ceremonies, special awards and promotion opportunities. Through this process of "Primary Mob selection, induction and training", the Bad Apples and their Mob members eventually become the dominant culture. They demonstrate to each other that the official Education Queensland policies are irrelevant and that the informal practices of the Mob will prevail.
The Seconday Mob are other Education Queensland employees, other public servants and union officials who carefully avoid "knowing" about workplace mobbing. Their desks are piled full of complaints from employees who have been abused. The Secondary Mob spend every day of their working lives dealing with distressed targets of workplace mobbing whose careers and health have been destroyed. So the members of the Secondary Mob know what will happen to them if they follow the official policies and try to deal with the members of the Mob. Members of the Secondary Mob have to secondary mob. It is their function. No mob, no job.
Targets are seen as "troublemakers" who believed in the official policies. They caused trouble by discussing their work, asking questions and trying to do their job properly. The fact that a target's career has been unjustly destroyed is of little concern to a member of the Secondary Mob. They have learned not to care. They may become annoyed with the target for "putting them on the spot" and expecting "the system" to work.
So the Secondary Mob passively facilitate the workplace mobbing by quietly "losing" documents, delaying investigations, "putting down" the target, "misunderstanding" the complaint, "not accepting" complaints, changing the target's complaint, agreeing between themselves not to "get involved" in resolving the situation, writing official letters to the target full of untruthful and offensive new allegations, refusing the target the opportunity to respond to the new allegations, "considering the matter finalised", advising the target that they "need to have closure", advising the target to "look to the future", etc.
and finally there are -
The Fearful Observers - classroom teachers who suspect that workplace mobbing is happening. At first they try to support the target. But they are intimidated by the "warnings" of the Bad Apple that they must not discuss the mobbing. They believe the Bad Apple when he/she assures them that there are confidential reasons why the target has to be punished. The classroom teachers want to feel safe at work themselves and so they need to believe the Bad Apple's false assurances. Bad Apples create a culture of mystery and fear because abusing teachers and bluffing about the abuse is quicker and easier than doing their own job properly.
And Queensland teachers feel unsafe at work because Queensland teachers are unsafe at work.