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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 realise increases in their firm's technological innovation when they can first set in place a strategic posture and set of behaviours commensurate with entrepreneurial orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Government in Nigeria has of recent years raised the awareness of Entrepreneurship practices through the introduction of different entrepreneurship programmes among all forms of corporations including the Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and conglomerates in the country; especially those manufacturing Corporations in the densely populated areas of the South western Nigeria. The Government has also raised entrepreneurship awareness among the citizenry by improving the accessibility to bank loans and also by including entrepreneurship courses in the curriculum of all postsecondary tertiary institutions in order to improve employability status of young graduates before they are recruited by the conglomerates. Unfortunately, mere observation of the Nigerian economy has not shown any improvement. Hence the need to assess the level of Entrepreneurial variables and Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) in Conglomerates in South-western and Lagos industrial axes of Nigeria. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The variables/elements of Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) were categorized into innovation/invention, risk-taking, and proactiveness. Corporate entrepreneurship in this paper is measured by behaviour and characteristics of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the coalition group. Multi-stage sampling technique was adopted in selecting the sample population. Subsequently, the data generated were analysed with appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings showed that: Nigerian manufacturing industries were not highly entrepreneurial oriented. Though traces of innovations were observed, none for invention, Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) practices among the top management team were dominated by men. This gender imbalance calls for further research in future; The paper discovered that poor infrastructural development repelled most industries away from industrial estates as most CEOs prefer outright purchase of private sites. This made advantages of economies of scale to elude them, especially in the areas of research resulting in poor CE activities. Also, not many of these industries were listed on Nigerian Securities Exchange (NSE), thereby limiting amount of public funds available for research activities in these companies, and lastly, the three key variables/elements/Dimensions (Invention/Innovation, Proactiveness and Risk-taking) of Corporate Entrepreneurship were identified as channels through which Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) can be promoted in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation in the Pharmaceutical industry, the current study investigates the moderation role of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) on the influence of innovation on Pharmaceutical SMEs performance in Jordan. The current research was conducted on Jordanian pharmaceutical SMEs including manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies with employee numbers of less than 100. The research design was quantitative, descriptive, causal, and cross-sectional held by an online questionnaire tool targeted all employees, managers, and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in pharmaceutical SMEs. Using the AMOS software, the Structural Equation Model (SEM) was adopted to analyze a sample of 162 surveys and examine the hypotheses. The outcome of this study indicated that the research model variables can explain 69.4 % of the variance of SMEs' performance. Additionally, it confirmed that innovation has a significant positive impact on pharmaceutical SMEs, and Entrepreneurial Orientation moderates the influence of innovation on pharmaceutical SMEs' Performance. Furthermore, current research findings contribute to extending existing relevant knowledge about the innovation impact and moderating role of Entrepreneurial Orientation on pharmaceutical SMEs' performance in Jordan and understanding the relationship between these variables to be of significant guidance to managing entrepreneurship in emerging economies. Further, the results show SMEs' methods and directions to follow during crises, such as COVID-19, to maintain business performance and sustainability. The current research paper contributes to the present literature since very limited studies investigated the innovation impact on SMEs' performance. Moreover, previous studies did not sufficiently analyze the impact of management, product, and process dimensions of innovation on SMEs' performance with the contribution of EO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]