Entrepreneurial Leadership and Turnover Intention in Startups: Mediating Roles of Employees’ Job Embeddedness, Job Satisfaction and Affective Commitment

Abstract

Entrepreneurial leadership is critical for the sustainable development of start-ups and plays a key role in employees’ turnover intentions. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and turnover intentions of employees within enterprises established in the last five years. This paper explored this relationship through multiple serial mediators, specifically, employee affective commitment, job embeddedness, and job satisfaction. A quantitative approach was employed on a sample of 403 participants from 62 ventures. The results demonstrated that entrepreneurial leadership can reduce employee turnover intentions, and the impact is through job embeddedness, job satisfaction, and affective commitment, in series. This study is the first try of a three-serial-mediator model for the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and turnover intentions, and it leads to a better understanding of the significance of entrepreneurial leadership.