Pharmacists as Entrepreneurs or Employees: The Role of Locus of Control

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate whether locus of control distinguished between pharmacists who chose to become entrepreneurs and those who took up employee roles in pharmaceutical establishments. Methods: The enlarged version of Rotter's I-E scale designed to measure an individual's locus of control was used to survey a sample of pharmacists in two major cities in Southern Nigeria. The sample consisted of 34 pharmacists who were owners/proprietors of retail pharmacies and 35 pharmacists employed in retail pharmacies or hospitals. The difference between entrepreneur pharmacists and employee pharmacists in terms of locus of control was analysed using student's t-test. Results: The mean locus of control score for entrepreneur pharmacists was significantly different from that of employee pharmacists ( p < 0.01). Entrepreneur pharmacists had higher scores on the variable than employee pharmacists indicating greater locus of control internality. Conclusion: Pharmacists characterized by locus of control internality are more likely to assume entrepreneurial rather than employee roles in pharmaceutical undertakings. Such pharmacists are more disposed to adopt innovative pharmaceutical care philosophy. Hence there is need to incorporate entrepreneurial education in the curriculum of pharmacy programmes to encourage positive attitude toward entrepreneurship.