When Results Eclipse Sustainability: Supervisor Bottom-Line Mentality, Moral Disengagement, and the Ethical Climate of Environmental Responsibility in Logistics

Abstract

This study examines how supervisor bottom-line mentality (SBLM) shapes the ethical climate needed for environmental responsibility in logistics firms. Drawing on ethical climate theory (ECT) and self-determination theory (SDT), it argues that performance-focused supervisory signals weaken the moral conditions through which employees uphold environmental and compliance duties. Using time-lagged survey data from 379 employees in Pakistan’s logistics sector and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), results show that SBLM weakens workplace ethical climate directly and indirectly through moral disengagement. Job autonomy buffers these effects by reducing employees’ tendency to justify questionable operational choices under pressure. The findings reposition ethical climate as a workplace foundation for managing organizations’ environmental impact, showing that sustainability implementation depends not only on policies and reporting systems but also on moral regulation and autonomy in daily operations.