Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB) is organising a PhD Management Dissertation Defence, "Impact of Workplace Climate on Employee Workplace Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Bottom-line Mentality and Moderating Effects of Leadership and Personality Factors” by Sania Moazzam, Candidate PhD Management.
August 26, 2025
Time:
2:30 pm
Faculty Lounge, 4th Floor, SDSB Building
For those joining online, please use the following Zoom credentials:
Zoom link: https://lums-edu-pk.zoom.us/j/95892673235?pwd=awoN19mgi9LLBfP4ubovqkVRvhht8e.1
Meeting ID: 958 9267 3235
Passcode: 563087
Dissertation Defence Committee
Dr. Muhammad Abdur Rahman Malik - Supervisor & Chair
Dr. Ghulam Ali Arain – Member SDSB
Dr. Attique Ur Rehman – Member SDSB
Dr. Suleman Shahid ‐ Member (LUMS)
Dr. Aamir Khan - External Examiner (LSE)
Abstract
Research gap:
Literature has widely asserted that bottom-line mentality (BLM) leads to detrimental consequences. However, little attention is paid to the contextual antecedents of employee BLM. Second, studies have examined BLM’s negative outcomes more than its positive outcomes. The negligence of BLM’s positive outcomes presents an incomplete understanding of the BLM phenomenon. Third, little empirical research exists about the moderating role of social environment conditions that could amplify BLM’s positive outcomes and mitigate its harmful outcomes.
Research Objective:
This dissertation first presents a systematic review of BLM literature to consolidate various theoretical perspectives adopted in studying its antecedents, outcomes and boundary conditions and identify the research gaps that deserve empirical examination. Insights from this review were utilised to develop and empirically test new theoretical framework. The framework aims to examine ‘why’ and ‘when’ individuals develop BLM and ‘how’ BLM influences workplace behaviors. Social information processing (SIP) theory was adopted to develop a theoretical framework. Specifically, this research empirically examines organisational climate, specifically competitive climate and PPR climate, as powerful driving forces of employee BLM. This research further examines the role of supervisor’s leadership style (i.e. supervisor BLM) and individual’s personal attributes (i.e. career self-interest orientation and trait Machiavellianism) in strengthening the effect of organisational climate on employee BLM. Additionally, this research examines the effect of employee BLM on a range of multifaced employee outcomes i.e. career goal progress (CGP), task performance (TP), organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB), incremental creativity (IC), radical creativity (RC) and self-serving unethical behaviour (SSUB). Further, this research examines whether the difference in quality of leader-member exchange (LMX) can mitigate BLM’s harmful outcomes and amplify its positive outcomes. Finally, this research proposes actionable strategies for practitioners to leverage BLM’s positive outcomes and curtail its dysfunctional outcomes.
Methodology:
Systematic review of literature involved critically assessing eighty-seven articles for identifying the research gap and guiding the development of new theoretical framework for empirical testing. For framework 1, data were collected in two-time waves from 236 full-time working adults. For framework 2, the data were collected in three-time waves from 302 subordinates and 168 supervisors. The employees and their supervisors were employed in diverse industries and occupations in Pakistan. Both Framework 1 and Framework 2 were tested using structural equation modeling. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the measurement model and path analysis was performed to test proposed hypotheses.
Findings:
Both Competitive climate and PPR climate positively influenced employee BLM. Career self-interest orientation strengthened the positive relationship between Competitive climate and employee BLM while trait Machiavellianism amplified the positive relationship between PPR climate and employee BLM. Contrary to expectations, Supervisor BLM did not significantly moderate the relationship between PPR climate and employee BLM. Although BLM resulted in fast career progress and improved task performance, it also increased self-serving unethical behaviour, decreased OCB, lowered incremental creativity and radical creativity. High quality leader-follower relationship effectively mitigated self-serving unethical behaviour while enhancing OCB and creativity of BLM employees. However, quality of leader-follower relationships did not moderate employee BLM and task performance relationship. The dissertation offers theoretical and practical implications for researchers, practitioners and policymakers.
Contribution:
This research advances SIP theory by demonstrating how individuals gather, process and evaluate dominant social information received from their work environment in light of their personal values, beliefs and dispositions. Guided by the dominant social information, individuals align their attitude and display behaviours that are congruent with organisational norms and expectations. This research contributes by identifying PPR climate and Competitive climate as two powerful driving forces of employee BLM. Further, this research empirically established the personal and social environmental factors that amplified employee BLM. Third, this research contributes by empirically testing a multi-variable framework contextualised in the real-world case of Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal. Very few empirical studies have captured the multifaceted and nuanced nature of BLM phenomenon. This study examines BLM’s dual effects on workplace behaviours, proposing actionable recommendations for practitioners to regulate BLM’s harmful effects in a competitive and pressure driven work environment.
