motivational analysis of organizations

❚❘ THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION
INVENTORY: MEASURING THE LOCUS OF
CONTROL
T. Venkateswara Rao
One of the factors that contribute to the development of any community or nation in
modern society is the involvement of its people in economic activities. Thus, many
countries are making efforts to promote self-employment and entrepreneurship among
their people. David McClelland of Harvard University, through a series of research
studies, identified characteristics of entrepreneurs and actually trained people to be
entrepreneurs, using experiential methods (McClelland, 1961; McClelland & Winter,
1969). McClelland’s models of Achievement Motivation Training have been used
widely and successfully to train a variety of people to become more enterprising and to
initiate business activities for economic betterment.
Subsequent research studies and training experiences have revealed that
internalization (internal locus of control) is an important characteristic of entrepreneurs
(Rao & Moulik, 1978; Rao & Pareek, 1978; Sarupriya, 1982). In fact, an internal locus
of control appears to be a primary characteristic of those who act as change agents to
improve themselves or their groups, communities, or organizations (Pareek, 1981;
Reichard, 1975).
THE CONCEPT OF LOCUS OF CONTROL
The concept of locus of control was developed by Rotter (1954) as an extension of his
social learning theory. Locus of control describes the ways in which individuals attribute
responsibility for events that occur in their lives to factors within themselves and their
control or to factors outside their control. Factors within one’s control include one’s
abilities, efforts, and the like. Factors outside one’s control include fate, luck, the
influence of other powerful people, and the like. The attribution of locus of control
affects the way in which people perceive contingency relationships between their actions
and outcomes. People who believe that they have some control over their destinies, that
is, that control resides within themselves, are referred to as internal locus-of-control
oriented or “internals.” People who perceive an external locus of control, who believe
that their outcomes are determined by factors extrinsic to themselves such as fate, luck,
or powerful others, are called “externals.”
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 19, 2nd Edition. Copyright © 1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer ❚❘ 25