How do Chinese employees respond to leader bottom-line mentality? A conservation of resources perspective

Using conservation of resources theory as a framework, we proposed that in Chinese organizations, leader bottom-line mentality (BLM) would promote employee silence via emotional exhaustion. We also examined employee conscientiousness as a moderator of this indirect relationship. We collected three-wave data from 325 employees in four Chinese companies. Results show that leader BLM was positively related to employee silence, and employee emotional exhaustion mediated the positive relationship between leader BLM and employee silence. In addition, employee conscientiousness served as a first-stage moderator, such that the indirect relationship between leader BLM and employee silence via employee emotional exhaustion was significant and positive only when employee conscientiousness was low. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.