A new model of entrepreneurship with entrepreneurial leadership capacity (EELC) for high-technology ventures: a biotechnology application

High-technology entrepreneurship for new ventures in emerging economies has taken a critical role in the creation and growth of economies. There is a strong demand for a fresh approach to the study of entrepreneurship in high-technology industry due to the unique nature of its research and development for innovative products. This thesis proposes a different approach, where a model of entrepreneurship with entrepreneurial leadership capacity (EELC) for high-technology ventures is used to enhance the pursuit of modes of entrepreneurial exploitation within good business models and enterprise performance. By including entrepreneurial leadership capacity (ELC) in the entrepreneurial process, it is proposed that there would be a higher chance for successful ventures. In the EELC model, the independent variables include entrepreneurial type (PA, EI, SS and RM), market orientation, business climate, environmental uncertainty, competitive advantage, and organisational strategy, while the dependent variables comprise presence of opportunity, opportunity recognition, decision for opportunity exploitation, resource acquisition, process management, business models and enterprise performance. It is proposed that independent variables will act on dependent variables only indirectly via an intervening variable that has entrepreneurial leadership capacity (ELC) as the mediator. The EELC model was applied to the high-technology industry, in this case the biotechnology industry, to validate its findings. The survey data was analysed statistically by using Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS-PM) for Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). It was found that entrepreneurial type and market orientation were the two important drivers affecting the entrepreneurial leadership capacity and the vi entrepreneurial process. The role of ELC as the mediator is confirmed to be critical to enhancing the pursuit of modes of entrepreneurial exploitation in the presence of opportunity.