On January 13, 2026, the Faculty of Business at City University of Macau invited Dr. Angela J. Xu, Associate Professor in Management from Bay Area International Business School of Beijing Normal University, to deliver a lecture titled "Can unethical pro-supervisor behavior help employees build good leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships with supervisors?" The session provided an in-depth analysis of pro-supervisor behavior and relational dynamics in the workplace. The lecture highlighted that a supervisor's level of moral identity serves as a core moderating variable in the relationship between subordinates’ unethical pro-supervisor behavior and leader-member exchange (LMX). This research offers important theoretical and practical insights for managing workplace relationships and regulating unethical conduct.

During the lecture, Dr. Xu drew upon the Conservation of Resources Theory to explain that when employees engage in unethical behavior to please their supervisor, supervisors face a dual conflict between "recognizing subordinates’ efforts" and "worrying about reputational risks." Through experiments and multi-source questionnaires, the study validated that a supervisor’s moral identity moderates the relationship between subordinates’ unethical pro-supervisor behavior and LMX. Supervisors with high moral identity tend to be more concerned about reputational risks, perceive less effort from subordinates engaging in such behavior, and consequently establish lower-quality exchange relationships with them. Conversely, supervisors with low moral identity exhibit the opposite tendency. This research provides new insights and practical implications for workplace relationship building and unethical behavior management.

In the Q&A session that followed, students demonstrated great enthusiasm, actively posing questions to Dr. Xu regarding the research content and its practical applications in the workplace. Dr. Xu addressed each question in detail and engaged in in-depth academic exchange and intellectual discussion with the students and Professor Jiashun Huang, Associate Dean of the Faculty. After the Q&A, Dr. Xu also recommended two professional books, The Leadership Pipeline and Give and Take, based on her research field and career development expertise, offering valuable reading guidance for the students’ further learning and research.

This lecture not only provided a platform for cutting-edge academic exchange between teachers and students at the City University of Macau Faculty of Business but also deepened participants’ understanding of workplace ethics and leadership interactions. It also served as a useful reference for research and practice in related fields.