Entrepreneurial leadership of CEOs and employees’ innovative behavior in high-technology new ventures

Abstract

While previous research has underlined entrepreneurial leadership as an effective style of leadership that promotes innovative behavior, little is known about the mechanisms by which CEOs’ entrepreneurial leadership practices influence the innovative behavior of employees. Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study empirically examines whether creative self-efficacy and passion for inventing explain the process by which the entrepreneurial leadership of CEOs influences employees’ innovative behavior in high-technology new ventures. Drawing on data from 310 employees working in 32 Iranian high-technology new ventures, and their respective CEOs, entrepreneurial leadership is found to foster employees’ innovative behavior through the mediating mechanisms of creative self-efficacy and passion for inventing.