Entrepreneurial passion and technological innovation: the mediating effect of entrepreneurial orientation

Abstract

A thesis of the affective and emotional origins of entrepreneurial orientation and technological innovation is yet to emerge. This is highly unusual given the origins of a firm-level entrepreneurial orientation in the decision-making styles, methods, process and practices set by the upper echelons (the CEO) of the firm. This research aims to investigate the mediating effect of firm-level entrepreneurial orientation in the connection between the entrepreneurial passion of CEOs and technological innovation in SMEs. Using data collected through a structured survey questionnaire of privately-owned Chinese SMEs mostly operating in manufacturing industries, the findings show that firm-level entrepreneurial orientation significantly mediates the relationship between CEOs' entrepreneurial passion and technological innovation. Our findings suggest that CEOs entrepreneurial passion indeed predicts firm-level entrepreneurial orientation, and CEOs passionate for entrepreneurship can realize increases in their firm's technological innovation when they can first set in place a strategic posture and set of behaviors commensurate with entrepreneurial orientation.

The Mediating Effect of Innovation in Between Strategic Orientation and Enterprise Performance: Evidence From Malaysian Manufacturing Small-to-Medium-Sized Enterprises

“…On the other hand, Adedeji et al (2019) found that strategically oriented enterprises are more involved in innovative firm processes. In general, taking risks, being a trendsetter for change, and innovating are unique attributes of entrepreneurial-oriented enterprises ( Kiani et al, 2021 ). Muangmee et al (2021) documented that entrepreneurial orientation promotes innovation among Thai SMEs.…”

“…Moreover, entrepreneurial orientation plays a pivotal role in innovation by promoting values of receptiveness that constitute innovativeness ( Kiani et al, 2021 ). Being proactive about emerging opportunities and responding with innovative strategies are the fundamental requirements of being entrepreneurially oriented ( Tutar et al, 2015 ).…”

“…Small-to-medium-sized enterprises contribute significantly to national growth and employment; SMEs’ performance is critical to national development ( Kamalaldin et al, 2021 ). The emerging economies also need to concentrate on developing innovation among the SMEs to remain competitive and harness economic growth with the superior performance of the SMEs sector ( Akhtar et al, 2021 ; Kiani et al, 2021 ). However, SMEs-level innovation requires the necessary strategic acumen and commitment to engage in product or service-level innovation ( D’souza et al, 2021 ).…”

From entrepreneurial passion to business model innovation: The role of entrepreneurial learning and curiosity

“…Entrepreneurial passion assists entrepreneurs in exploring several approaches toward entrepreneurs’ success in business model innovation. Researchers contend that looking into the association between business model innovation and entrepreneurial passion is imperative ( Krueger, 2007 ; Kiani et al, 2021 ). The intentions model provides the foundation for evidence of this relationship.…”

How Authoritarian Leadership Affects Employee's Helping Behavior? The Mediating Role of Rumination and Moderating Role of Psychological Ownership

“…The Process Macro (Hayes, 2013) is adopted to test the moderation and mediation effects (Ghani et al, 2020). The process Macro has also been used in the recent studies to the test the similar models (Kiani et al, 2020(Kiani et al, , 2021Usman et al, 2020;Halima et al, 2021).…”