The impact of entrepreneurial leadership and international explorative-exploitative learning on the performance of international new ventures

In this study, we propose entrepreneurial leadership as an important enabler of emerging market international new venture growth (EINVs) and investigate how and when it enhances EINVs. We examined this by considering international explorative and exploitative learning as key mediators and gender diversity of senior management as an important contingency variable. By using survey data from 110 EINVs in Pakistan, the results indicate that international explorative and exploitative learning mediate the effect of entrepreneurial leadership on the international performance of EINVs. Furthermore, the moderation analysis revealed that the positive impact of entrepreneurial leadership on international explorative and exploitative learning is conditioned on the gender diversity of senior management. The implications of the findings are discussed.