We examine the relationships and intervening mechanisms between founding CEOs' transformational/transactional leadership and the innovative behaviour of managers. We develop and test our hypotheses on a sample of 39 participating CEOs and 105 managers with the use of a multilevel structural equation model. The results show that both transformational and transactional leadership on the part of the CEO relate positively to managers' innovative behaviour. We also discover that firm's innovative climate mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and innovative behaviour. However, we fail to find the mediating effect of innovative climate between transactional leadership and innovative behaviour. Our findings contribute to an improved understanding of how founding CEOs' different leadership styles affect employees' innovative behaviour in start-ups and to what extent the innovative climate influences the relationship.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the venture development processes (or ''entrepreneurial processes'') of ''sustainable'' entrepreneurs, i.e. entrepreneurs who create and build profitable companies that also pursue environmental or social causes. The paper aims to find how these mission-oriented entrepreneurs achieve their business objectives while serving their social and environmental causes. Design/methodology/approach -The paper identifies 21 successful sustainable entrepreneurial companies in various industries ranging from apparel to biotechnology that were exemplary in their pursuit for sustainability. The paper examined their key decisions and activities in their ''entrepreneurial process'', collecting most of the relevant information from published or self-developed case studies. Findings -The paper finds that most of sustainable entrepreneurs are an unusual breed with limited business backgrounds. Most obtain financing from non-conventional sources and employ unorthodox, yet sound human resource management practices. They are shrewd in their marketing strategies and effective in running efficient, environmentally sound operations. Also, they find innovative methods for balancing their financial goals against their objectives of making a difference in their environment and society. Practical implications -The paper's findings help demystify and provide some insights into how values-oriented entrepreneurs and their companies can simultaneously meet economic, social and/or environmental objectives. Originality/value -This paper is one of the few studies that examine the business practices of for-profit, sustainability-oriented entrepreneurs. It is also one of the few formal studies that identify commonalities among a relatively large and diverse sample of companies. Most important, this research suggests practical guidelines for aspiring entrepreneurs to follow as they build their sustainable business ventures.

This empirical study advances entrepreneurial cognition research by examining whether entrepreneurs possess a high nonlinear (e.g., intuitive, creative, emotional) thinking style, as some studies and a common stereotype of entrepreneurs would suggest, or whether they possess a more versatile balance in both nonlinear and linear (e.g., analytic, rational, logical) thinking styles. As predicted, 39 entrepreneurs demonstrated greater balance in linear and nonlinear thinking styles than their professional actor (n = 33), accountant (n = 31), and frontline manager (n = 77) counterparts, though they did not significantly differ in thinking style balance from senior executives (n = 39). Unexpectedly, educational background was associated with thinking style balance, suggesting that years of formal education may contribute to one's versatility in utilizing both linear and nonlinear thinking styles. For the entrepreneur sample, linear and nonlinear thinking styles balance predicted years in current business after controlling for industry, number of employees, and demographic variables. Implications for future entrepreneurial cognition research and entrepreneurship education are discussed.

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