Founder Narcissistic Admiration and Young Firm Performance: The Mediating Role of Innovative Ambidexterity

Abstract Personality characteristics of entrepreneurial leaders appear to play an important role in facilitating the kinds of innovative activities that enhance young firm performance. Scholars have highlighted the need for these firms to demonstrate innovative ambidexterity, or an ability to simultaneously engage in exploration (of new opportunities) and exploitation (of existing products and processes), as innovation strategies. Yet, little is known about the impact of personality characteristics on ambidexterity and its outcomes. We draw on the strategic leadership theory to examine how founder narcissistic admiration relates to young firm performance and whether innovative ambidexterity intervenes as a mediator. Moreover, we contribute to extant research in the field by assessing the moderating effect of gender on the relationship between founder narcissistic admiration and innovative ambidexterity. Using data from 153 young firms drawn from the GUESSS 2018 survey in Russia, we demonstrate that founder narcissistic admiration positively influences performance and innovative ambidexterity mediates this relationship. Furthermore, our moderated mediation analysis reveals that founder gender is an important demographic factor that intensifies the effect of narcissistic admiration on performance through innovative ambidexterity.