The influence of chief executive officer (CEO) entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on firm performance and the underlying mediating mechanisms are worth studying because CEO EO may have a double-edged sword effect on firm performance. Drawing on the social information processing theory and social cognitive theory and using multilevel, multi-source data from 198 Chinese firms, this study found that CEO EO affects firm performance by triggering middle managers’ confidence in the organization’s prospects or workplace anxiety, moderated by middle managers’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy. It explicates the CEO EO–performance relationship and the vertical pervasiveness of EO in organizations.
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