기업가적 리더십의 효과성에 대한 탐색적 연구: 중국 전자제조 기업을 중심으로

In an era of chaos characterized by rapid environmental shifts, there is a burgeoning need for a new paradigm of leadership that transcends traditional types. To effectively understand leadership amidst these drastic changes, this study empirically analyzes the effectiveness of Entrepreneurial Leadership, which integrates the concept of entrepreneurship into leadership. Specifically, this research aims to identify the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and innovative performance, with a focus on the mediating role of self-efficacy. To achieve this, a survey was conducted from October 10 to October 17, 2025, targeting corporate organizations in China using convenience sampling. Out of 432 respondents, 394 valid responses were utilized for analysis after data cleaning. Statistical analyses, including reliability and validity testing, were performed using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS, and regression analysis was employed to examine the relationships and mediating effects among entrepreneurial leadership, self-efficacy, and innovative performance. The theoretical and practical implications based on the analysis are as follows: First, theoretically, this study expands the scope of leadership theory by proving that entrepreneurial leadership is a significant antecedent of innovative performance. It confirms that entrepreneurial attributes, such as risk-taking and opportunity orientation, are key mechanisms driving innovation in modern organizations beyond mere managerial leadership. Second, this study contributes to the stability of the measurement model by securing the reliability and validity of a framework designed to measure the multidimensional attributes of a leader’s vision, innovation-oriented attitude, and risk-taking propensity. Third, the analysis of mediating effects reveals a complex mechanism where entrepreneurial leadership exerts not only a direct influence on innovative performance but also a significant indirect influence through the mediation of members' self-efficacy. This suggests that leadership effectiveness is a result of interaction reflected in members' self-perception, providing an academic clue to opening the 'black box' of performance creation. Practically, the study suggests that to maximize innovative performance, companies should actively implement training programs to strengthen entrepreneurial leadership competencies (e.g., opportunity seeking, encouraging risk-taking, and visioning). Furthermore, it emphasizes the need for a multidimensional reward system that encompasses long-term innovative attempts and learning processes, moving away from evaluation methods focused solely on short-term financial performance. Finally, future research directions are proposed to address the limitations of this study. First, there is a need for a longitudinal study design and the acquisition of multi-source data (e.g., supervisor evaluations and objective performance indicators) to more precisely identify causal relationships. Second, by comprehensively considering various situational moderating variables such as organizational culture, compensation fairness, and industry characteristics, subsequent discussions can provide more multidimensional answers regarding the specific contexts in which entrepreneurial leadership best drives innovation.