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What is the impact of a manager focused solely on the bottom line? How do employees respond to different forms of ethical or unethical leadership? Matt Quade, the Kimberly and Aaron P. Graft Professor in Christian Leadership in Business in the Department of Management, is a prolific researcher into workplace ethics. He takes listeners inside the importance and impact of workplace ethics in this Baylor Connections.

Matt Quade Baylor Connections

Matt Quade

Matt Quade, PhD, is the Kimberly and Aaron P. Graft Professor in Christian Leadership in Business and he serves as the Associate Dean for Values-Based Leadership and the Director of the Center for Christian Leadership and Ethics at the Hankamer School of Business. He earned his PhD in Business Management from Oklahoma State University. Quade is passionate about equipping leaders to fulfill their calling and preparing students for Christian leadership in business. In his administrative roles, he helps to integrate values-based initiatives across the HSB as well as steward Christian leadership and ethics programs for internal and external stakeholders. 

Dr. Quade's research interests center on behavioral ethics in the workplace, both ethical and unethical behavior. He studies topics such as ethical leadership, bottom-line mentality, amoral management, and abusive supervision. His research has been published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Vocational Behavior, and Journal of Business Ethics, among others.

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Associate Dean for Values-Based Leadership | Director, Center for Christian Leadership and Ethics | Kimberly and Aaron P. Graft Professor in Christian Leadership in Business | Associate Professor of Management

‘Bottom-line mentality’ can lead to loss of employee respect and loyalty, research shows  Supervisors driven by profits could actually be hurting their coveted bottom lines by losing the respect of their employees, who counter by withholding performance, according to a new study led by Baylor University. 

The study, “The Influence of Supervisor Bottom-Line Mentality and Employee Bottom-Line Mentality on Leader-Member Exchange and Subsequent Employee Performance,” is published in the journal Human Relations. “Supervisors who focus only on profits to the exclusion of caring about other important outcomes, such as employee well-being or environmental or ethical concerns, turn out to be detrimental to employees,” said lead researcher Matthew Quade, Ph.D., assistant professor of management in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business. “This results in relationships that are marked by distrust, dissatisfaction and lack of affection for the supervisor. And ultimately, that leads to employees who are less likely to complete tasks at a high level and less likely to go above and beyond the call of duty.”

While other studies have examined the impact of bottom-line mentality (BLM) on employee behavior, Quade said this is the first to identify why employees respond with negative behaviors to supervisors they perceive to have BLM.

The research team surveyed 866 people. Half of those surveyed were supervisors; the other half were their respective employees. Data was collected from those who work in a range of jobs and industries, including financial services, health care, sales, legal and education. 

Researchers measured supervisor BLM, employee BLM, task performance and leader-member exchange – the rating employees gave of their relationships with their supervisors. 

Employees rated their supervisors’ BLM by scoring on a scale statements like: “My supervisor treats the bottom line as more important than anything else” and “My supervisor cares more about profits than his/her employees’ well-being.” They rated leader-member exchange via statements such as “I like my supervisor very much as a person” and “My relationship with my supervisor is composed of comparable exchanges of giving and taking.”

Supervisors rated their employees by scoring statements such as: “This employee meets or exceeds his/her productivity requirements,” “This employee searches for ways to be more productive” and “This employee demonstrates commitment to producing quality work.”

Based on the responses and the data collected and analyzed, the researchers found:

High-BLM supervisors create low-quality relationships with their employees.  In turn, employees perceive low-quality leader-member exchange relationships. Thus, employees reciprocate by withholding performance. When supervisor BLM is high and employee BLM is low, the damaging effects are strengthened. When both supervisor and employee BLM are high, the negative performance is still evident.  The last finding on that list was particularly significant, Quade said, because it contradicts a common belief that when two parties (in this case, supervisors and employees) think alike and have similar values, there will be a positive outcome. Not so much in the case of BLM, the study shows. 

“When supervisor and employee BLM is similarly high, our research demonstrates the negative effect on performance is only buffered, not mitigated – indicating no degree of supervisor BLM seems to be particularly beneficial,” the researchers wrote. “It seems even if employees maintain a BLM, they would prefer for their managers to focus on interpersonal aspects of the job that foster healthier social exchange relationships with their employees in addition to the bottom line.”

The profit-performance relationship can spark a conundrum for companies, Quade said, because organizations want to be profitable, and performance is an important indicator of an organization’s health and vitality.

If leaders believe a negative dynamic regarding BLM exists in their organization, the researchers suggest a few practical steps:

Be cautious of a BLM approach or emphasizing bottom-line outcomes that could neglect other organizational concerns, such as employee well-being and ethical standards. Managers should be aware of the message they pass along to employees (and the possible performance repercussions) when they tout bottom-line profits as the most important consideration.  Organizations that need to emphasize bottom-line outcomes should consider pairing the BLM management style with other management approaches known to produce positive results, such as practicing ethical leadership.   “Supervisors undoubtedly face heavy scrutiny for the performance levels of their employees, and as such they may tend to emphasize the need for employees to pursue bottom-line outcomes at the exclusion of other competing priorities, such as ethical practices, personal development or building social connections in the workplace,” the researchers wrote. “However, in doing so they may have to suffer the consequence of reduced employee respect, loyalty and even liking.”

ABOUT THE STUDY “The Influence of Supervisor Bottom-Line Mentality and Employee Bottom-Line Mentality on Leader-Member Exchange and Subsequent Employee Performance” is published in the journal Human Relations. Authors are Matthew Quade, Ph.D., assistant professor of management in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business; Benjamin McLarty, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, Mississippi State University; and Julena Bonner, Ph.D., assistant professor, Utah State University. 

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY At Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, integrity stands shoulder-to-shoulder with analytic and strategic strengths. The School’s top-ranked programs combine rigorous classroom learning, hands on experience in the real world, a solid foundation in Christian values and a global outlook. Making up approximately 25 percent of the University’s total enrollment, undergraduate students choose from 16 major areas of study. Graduate students choose from full-time, executive or online MBA or other specialized master’s programs, and Ph.D. programs in Information Systems, Entrepreneurship or Health Services Research. The Business School also has campuses located in Austin and Dallas, Texas. Visit www.baylor.edu/business and follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Baylor_Business.


Supervisors Driven By Bottom Line Fail To Get Top Performance From Employees, Baylor Management Study Says

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Managers should consider ethics and performance when rewarding employees, Baylor professor says  Do you consider yourself more ethical than your coworker?
Caution! Your feelings of ethical superiority can cause a chain reaction that is detrimental to you, your coworker and your organization, according to Baylor University management research.

A new study published in the Journal of Business Ethics suggests that your feelings of ethical superiority can lead you to have negative emotions toward a “less ethical” coworker. Those negative emotions can be amplified if you also believe you do not perform as well as that coworker. And, furthermore, those negative emotions can lead to your mistreatment and/or ostracism (social exclusion) of that less ethical, higher-performing coworker.

“One way to think of this is that it is – and should be – concerning to us to believe that we are more ethical than our coworkers, especially if we do not perform as well as they do,” said lead author Matthew Quade, Ph.D., assistant professor of management in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business and an expert on workplace ethics and ostracism. The research, Quade said, can help managers create better atmospheres and improve the bottom line.

“The managerial implication is that we need to create environments where ethics and performance are both rewarded,” he said.

A total of 741 people, among them 310 employees (“focal employees”) and an equal number of their coworkers (“comparison coworkers”), were surveyed for the study. Focal employees compared themselves with their coworkers based on two areas: perceived ethics and performance. Then they rated their levels of negative emotions (i.e., feelings of contempt, tension or disgust) toward those same comparison coworkers.

Results show that employees who believe they are more ethical than similar coworkers (i.e., those that hold similar positions, have similar education background and similar tenure in the organization) feel negative emotions (i.e., contempt, disgust, stress, repulsion) when thinking about those coworkers. These negative emotions about the coworker are amplified when the employees also believe they do not perform as well as those same coworkers.

In turn, the comparison coworkers rated how often they experienced social undermining (i.e., insults, spreading of rumors, belittling of ideas) and ostracism (i.e., ignored, avoided, shut out of conversations) from the focal employee.

Results also show that the negative emotions that the “more ethical, lower performing” employees experience may result in them behaving in unethical ways directed at their coworkers. Specifically, they become more likely to socially undermine and ostracize those “less ethical, higher performing” coworkers. All the study’s results exist regardless of gender and any positive emotion the employees may experience as a result of believing they are more ethical.

Ultimately, such workplace scenarios pose a conundrum for managers, Quade said. On one hand, there is the ethical worker who doesn’t perform as well. On the other hand, there’s the less ethical worker who hits all the goals.

Who gets rewarded?

“If high performance is the result of questionable or unethical behavior, that combination should not be celebrated,” the researchers wrote. “Instead, organizations should be cautious when rewarding and promoting performance within organizations, ensuring that they also consider the way the job is done from an ethical standpoint.”

The ideal situation, the study reveals, is when high ethics and high performance are the norm – and employees are rewarded.

“Enhancing the ethical behavior of all employees should be an emphasis to attempt to remove some of the disparity that tends to exist between employees when it comes to their moral behavior at work,” the researchers wrote.

ABOUT THE STUDY “’If Only My Coworker Was More Ethical’: When Ethical and Performance Comparisons Lead to Negative Emotions, Social Undermining, and Ostracism,” published in the Journal of Business Ethics, is authored by Matthew Quade, Ph.D., assistant professor of management, Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University; Rebecca Greenbaum, Ph.D., associate professor of management, Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University; and Mary Mawritz, Ph.D., associate professor of management, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business provides a rigorous academic experience, consisting of classroom and hands-on learning, guided by Christian commitment and a global perspective. Recognized nationally for several programs, including Entrepreneurship and Accounting, the school offers 24 undergraduate and 13 graduate areas of study. Visit www.baylor.edu/businessand follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Baylor_Business.



Feelings of Ethical Superiority Can Lead to Workplace Ostracism, Social Undermining, Baylor Study Says

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The Ben Williams Professor in Management; Professor of Management

Professor; Department Chair of Management, Hankamer School of Business

Coupled with stress, ethical leadership can lead to employee deviance and turnover  Ethical leadership is a good thing, right?

Certainly, management experts say. But ethical leadership can have negative consequences, too, according to new research from management faculty in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business.

A 2018 Baylor study published in the Journal of Business Ethics reveals that ethical leadership compounded by job-hindrance stress and supervisor-induced stress can lead to employee deviance and turnover. The research reflects the thoughts of 609 employees who were surveyed across two studies.

“If someone is an ethical leader but induces stress, our research shows that his or her employees will feel less support,” said lead author Matthew Quade, Ph.D., assistant professor of management. “Thus, employees who do not feel supported are more likely to consider leaving their jobs or engage in workplace deviance – things like coming in late to work, daydreaming, not following instructions or failing to be as productive as they could be.”

Quade said that ethical leadership is a good thing and often beneficial in terms of employee resources. An example would be a trusted supervisor who listens to her employees and has her employees’ best interests in mind.

The trouble comes, he said, when supervisor-induced stress or job-hindrance stress enters the picture.

“When those stressors are added, there is a depletion of resources,” Quade explained. “Many of the gains or benefits from ethical leadership are negated.”
What does stress-inducing ethical leadership look like?

Quade said it could be as simple as supervisors setting expectations too high or, in the interest of “following all the rules,” not allowing for any deviation from a process, even if a shortcut, still within the bounds of behaving ethically, would deliver a desired result.

The researchers wrote: “Ethical leadership can be an exacting process of sustaining high ethical standards, ensuring careful practice and enforcement of all rules and meeting leaders’ lofty expectations, all of which can consume time and energy and be perceived by employees as overly demanding or an obstacle to job performance.”

As part of the study, those surveyed were asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the following statements:

My supervisor makes it so that I have to go through a lot of red tape to get my job done. Working with my supervisor makes it hard to understand what is expected of me. I receive conflicting requests from my supervisor. My supervisor creates many hassles to go through to get projects/assignments done. Working with him/her thwarts my personal growth and well-being. In general, I feel that my supervisor hinders my personal accomplishment. I feel that my supervisor constrains my achievement of personal goals and development.  Quade said his team in no way wants to discourage ethical leadership. Research consistently shows such leadership is very beneficial, he said. But this new research shows that there are boundaries to those benefits.

“This places quite an onus on appropriately managing the stress that comes from the leader and the job, in efforts to most fully realize the potential of ethical leadership,” the researchers wrote.

The study listed some tips and takeaways for organizations and leaders. They include:

Strike a balance between promoting ethical behavior and providing resources to help employees meet those standards. Encourage employees in word and deed by reducing ambiguity in ethical dilemmas that might otherwise drain resources. Model fair and ethical behavior. Communicate efficient methods to meet standards and reduce unnecessary steps or procedures. Equip and train leaders to balance the demands of leading ethically while not overburdening their employees.  ABOUT THE STUDY “Boundary Conditions of Ethical Leadership: Exploring Supervisor-Induced and Job Hindrance Stress as Potential Inhibitors” is published in the Journal of Business Ethics. Study authors are Baylor University Hankamer School of Business faculty members Matthew Quade, Ph.D., assistant professor of management; Sara Perry, Ph.D., assistant professor of management; and Emily Hunter, Ph.D., associate professor of management.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business provides a rigorous academic experience, consisting of classroom and hands-on learning, guided by Christian commitment and a global perspective. Recognized nationally for several programs, including Entrepreneurship and Accounting, the school offers 24 undergraduate and 13 graduate areas of study. Visit www.baylor.edu/businessand follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Baylor_Business.



Ethical Leadership Can Have Negative Consequences, Baylor University Researchers Say

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Christian Leadership &amp; Ethics: Matt Quade

In the twenty-first episode of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with Matthew J. Quade, the Kimberly and Aaron P. Graff Professor in Christian Leadership and Business and Director of Christian Leadership and Ethics at Baylor University. Quade begins by talking about the unique opportunities and challenges that come when educating the present generation of students when it comes to ethical deliberation and formation. Ream then asks Quade about his own research and, in particular, about Quade’s research as it applies to the relationship shared by work and other dimensions of one’s life. They then close their conversation by exploring the relationship business professionals and business educators share with the Church and ways that relationship can be brought into closer expressions of mutual service.

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