World-View, Locus of Control and Entrepreneurial Orientation in Social Entrepreneurship Endeavour

Abstract

Purpose: Social entrepreneurship emphasizes on the social value creation through adoption of market-like behaviors. This study aims to explore the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and two independent variables comprise of locus of control and world view among those involve in social entrepreneurial venture in Malaysia. Design/Method/Approach: Self-administered questionnaires had been distributed to 87 natural farming participants in Pulau Banggi Sabah and Batang Lupar Sarawak. The questionnaire consists of 4 sections aimed to measure studied variables comprise of the benefit of project, entrepreneurial orientation, locus of control and worldview. Findings: The cross tabulation analysis shows that participants with the open world of view have demonstrated a higher entrepreneurial orientation (EO); while the closed-group demonstrates lower entrepreneurial orientation (EO). Furthermore, the analysis also shows that participants with external locus of control demonstrate higher EO as opposed to the internal locus of control group. The Spearman correlation analysis also indicates a significant association between EO and locus of control [r=0. 473, p= 0.00] as well as EO and world view [r= 0.552, p=0. 00]. Such results indicate that social entrepreneurs must possess high locus of control and opened-world view as both determine the existence of EO in social entrepreneurial endeavors. Originality/Value: The originality of this study lies in its attempt to explore the individual factors that potentially influence the effectiveness and variation in social entrepreneurial projects. Besides, the most important contribution of this study is to incorporate EO variable into social entrepreneur research context.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s1p592