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The Relationship Between Supervisor Bottom-Line Mentality and Subordinate Work Performance: Linear or Curvilinear
Yun Zhang1, Hong Zhao1, Song Chen2
1School of Management, Wuzhou University, Wuzhou, 543002, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
Supervisor bottom-line mentality (BLM) shows an inverted U-shaped relationship with employee performance. Performance increases with moderate BLM but declines with excessive focus on results, especially for employees with high power distance orientation.
Area of Science:
- Organizational Behavior
- Industrial-Organizational Psychology
- Management Studies
Background:
- The transactional model of stress and coping and the challenge-hindrance stressor framework are integrated.
- Supervisor bottom-line mentality (BLM) is defined as prioritizing results above all else.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between supervisor BLM and subordinate work performance.
- To determine if this relationship is linear or curvilinear.
Main Methods:
- Survey data collected from 284 employees in a Chinese insurance company.
- Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and hierarchical regression analysis were employed.
Main Results:
- An inverted U-shaped relationship was found between supervisor BLM and subordinate work performance.
- Subordinate performance increases with moderate supervisor BLM but decreases with high supervisor BLM.
- The inverted U-shaped relationship is stronger for subordinates with high power distance orientation.
Conclusions:
- This study provides the first empirical evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between supervisor BLM and subordinate work performance.
- Supervisor BLM's impact on performance is moderated by subordinate power distance orientation.
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