Since the generation of enterprises, the problems of corporate integrity have emerged one after another. Prohibitions and punishments could not change the mentality of some corporate managers that ignore morality and law for profit. Scholars define this 1-dimensional thinking that revolves around securing bottom-line outcomes to the neglect of competing priorities as the bottom-line mentality. The concept of bottom-line mentality is of great value both in theory and in practice. In theory, the bottom-line mentality research has made important advances and expansions in the field of goal management. Compared with the previous focus on a single goal, the bottom-line mentality reveals that individuals have different preferences for different goals, which can better reflect the goal management style of individuals facing complex organizational problems in reality. Practically speaking, by carrying out the bottom-line mentality research, it can help managers realize the benefits and harms brought about by only focusing on profit goals and ignoring other matters (such as environmental protection, employee welfare, etc.), and reduce the company’s neglect of social responsibility, which could in turn improve the long-term competitiveness of the organization. As people’s attention to corporate social responsibility increases, companies that blindly adhere to a bottom-line mentality will find it increasingly difficult to adapt to social development.

Although the bottom-line mentality is essential for understanding the individual goal management style, related research is still in its infancy, and many issues remain to be resolved. In view of this, this paper makes an in-depth summary of bottom-line mentality on the basis of combing the existing literature, constructs an overall analysis framework, and prospects the future research direction. Through reviewing the literature, the study finds that: (1) The bottom-line mentality is an independent concept. There are obvious differences between it and similar concepts such as short-term orientation and performance-prove goal orientation. (2) The measurement method of bottom-line mentality is scalable, but still relatively single. (3) The environment, personal characteristics and personal resources are the three main factors that affect the generation of individuals’ bottom-line mentality. (4) The bottom-line mentality has a double-edged sword effect on individuals’ work attitudes, behaviors, and performance, and the negative effect is greater than its positive effect.

This paper suggests that future research can extend the bottom-line mentality research from the following five aspects: (1) Deepen the conceptual connotation of bottom-line mentality. For example, researchers can distinguish BLM from other similar concepts by using empirical studies, and explore the consistency of bottom-line mentality before and after the goal is completed. (2) Enrich measurement methods and extend the bottom-line mentality measurement to non-management posts and non-management fields. (3) Explore the generation mechanism of bottom-line mentality from the individual, team, organizational and social levels. (4) Expand the impact of bottom-line mentality to the team level and the organizational level. (5) Explore the boundary conditions that affect the follow-up effect of bottom-line mentality. Generally, this paper provides a reference for domestic scholars to grasp the current context and development trend of bottom-line mentality research and at the same time helps enterprises to correctly understand and effectively intervene in the bottom-line mentality of managers and employees.