Crises as Catalysts or Constraints? Exploring the relationship between CEO Passion and Corporate Entrepreneurship during Exogenous Crises

Highly passionate CEOs are often motivated to pursue corporate entrepreneurship. However, the exogenous crises cause unpredictable challenges and opportunities for CEOs and their firms. Taking the COVID-19 pandemic as a representative crisis, this study investigates the impact of CEO passion on corporate entrepreneurship and examines the moderating role of crisis strength (i.e., criticality and disruption) in this relationship. Using multi-source data from 492 firms in China, our findings reveal that CEO passion is positively related to corporate entrepreneurship. Moreover, crisis criticality strengthens the relationship between CEO passion and corporate entrepreneurship, while crisis disruption weakens this relationship. These findings offer insights into the contingency relationship between CEO passion and corporate entrepreneurship and provide practical implications for firms seeking entrepreneurial activities in times of crisis.