Locus of control of owner managers and business networks in SMEs
Research has shown locus of control to be an important construct for explaining leadership behaviour. A key component in this study is the exploration of the relationship between locus of control and how owner-managers of SMEs perceive and value their own firms use of networking. Our emphasis in this paper is on some of the psychological aspects of networking. Of particular interest is using the findings about leadership styles to gain a better general understanding of the processes and structural patterns of inter organisational networks. We have studied 60 SMEs in a small industrial park in rural Sweden, using the psychological construct locus of control as a main variable to investigate the perceived usage and value of networks. This result confirms hypothesis which states that the number of networks in which a firm participates is positively related to its owner-managers internal locus of control. Which means that owner-manager locus of control influences the use of business networks, with those having an internal locus of control appearing to be more active in networks and rating the benefits of networking higher than those with an external locus of control. This finding supports the general research direction of this study that owner-managers with an internal locus of control are more likely to view networking as a tool they can use to influence their business environment.
Managers SME locus of control business network
Karl W Sandberg Patrick Millet Olof Wahlberg
Mid Sweden University
国际会议
17th World Congress on Ergonomics(第十七届国际人类工效学大会)
北京
英文
1-6
2009-08-09（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）