Supervisor bottom line mentality, self-regulation impairment and unethical pro-organizational behavior: investigating the moderating effect of perceived employability

Purpose Unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) is one of the major reasons behind high-profile financial frauds in the recent past. This study aims to explore how an exclusive focus on financial outcomes, i.e. supervisor bottom-line mentality (BLM) leads to UPB among employees and highlights the critical role of self-regulation impairment and perceived employability in the process. Drawing on self-regulation theory, this study examines how BLM and perceived employability interactively impact self-regulatory strength, which ultimately influences UPB. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical model is tested through a time-lagged field study of 171 employees and hypothesis testing in SPSS PROCESS Macros. Findings Results suggest that self-regulation impairment mediates a positive relationship between supervisor BLM and employee UPB and perceived employability moderates this indirect association between BLM and UPB, wherein the indirect positive relationship is stronger when perceived employability is low (than high). Originality/value This study contributes to the BLM and UPB literature by identifying the critical role of perceived employability and suggesting that UPB is an impulsive action rather than an intentional move.