Leader bottom-line mentality and employees' innovative work behavior: the role of workplace spirituality and value congruence.

INTRODUCTION: Leader 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. METHODS: Survey data from 355 Chinese employees aged 18-43 were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). RESULTS: Leader 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. DISCUSSION: The 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.