Pudji Herijanto, Nilawati Fiernaningsih, Anna Widayani
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a central role in economic development and business innovation, particularly in emerging markets. However, many SMEs struggle to sustain innovative behaviour due to resource constraints and capability gaps. Grounded in social cognitive theory, this study develops and empirically tests a behavioural model explaining how entrepreneurial passion, self-efficacy, self-leadership, and entrepreneurial resilience jointly influence innovative entrepreneurial behaviour. Data were collected from 400 SME owners in East Java, Indonesia, and analysed using SmartPLS structural equation modelling. The findings show that entrepreneurial passion significantly strengthens self-efficacy, self-leadership, and resilience, which subsequently enhance entrepreneurial intention and innovative behaviour. Self-leadership and resilience act as key mediators linking passion to innovation performance. This study contributes to the innovation and entrepreneurship literature by integrating affective and cognitive factors. Practically, the results suggest that fostering passion, confidence, and self-leadership can improve SMEs' innovation capability and competitiveness in developing economies. Copyright © The Author(s) 2026. Published by Inderscience Publishers Ltd. This is an Open Access Article distributed under the CC BY license. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Department of Business Administration, State Polytechnic of Malang, Indonesia; Department of Digital Offices Operationalization, State Community College of Putra Sang Fajar Blitar, Indonesia