AI Insight
This study examined how leader bottom-line mentality (excessive focus on measurable results) affects employee innovation in 355 Chinese workers. Leaders with strong bottom-line mentality reduced employees' workplace spirituality (sense of meaning and connection at work), which in turn decreased their innovative work behavior. The negative effect operated indirectly through reduced workplace spirituality rather than directly, and employee-organizational value alignment did not buffer this relationship as hypothesized.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that when leaders prioritize results above all else, they may inadvertently stifle innovation by diminishing employees' sense of purpose and meaning at work. Organizations seeking to foster innovation should consider how leadership approaches affect workplace culture and employee motivation beyond just performance metrics.
Understand the Science
IntroductionLeader bottom-line mentality (BLM) may focus employees’ attention on measurable results, but it may also narrow the conditions under which they are willing to develop and implement new ideas. This study examines the indirect association between leader BLM and innovative work behavior (IWB) through workplace spirituality (WS) and tests whether individual-organizational value congruence (IOVC) moderates the BLM-WS association.MethodsSurvey data from 355 Chinese employees aged 18-43 were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).ResultsLeader BLM was negatively associated with WS, whereas WS was positively associated with IWB. In the structural model, the direct association between BLM and IWB was not significant, whereas the indirect association through WS was negative and significant. The BLM x IOVC interaction was also not significant, providing no support for the proposed buffering role of IOVC.DiscussionThe findings were more consistent with a negative indirect association through employees’ experience of meaning, connection, and value alignment than with a direct negative association between BLM and IWB. The proposed buffering role of value congruence was not supported in this sample. Because the data were cross-sectional and collected from a single source, the results should be interpreted as associations rather than causal evidence.