UTILISATION OF TWO PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAINING IN FOSTERING ORGANISATIONAL SUCCESS AMONG SMALL SCALE BUSINESS OWNERS IN IBADAN, NIGERIA

Abstract

Organisational Success (OS) is vital to the development of businesses, considered 
indispensable for aspiring business owners and pivotal in fostering the growth of 
the nation’s economy. However, literature has shown that many small-scale 
business owners in Ibadan have poor organisational performance. Previous 
studies on small-scale businesses concentrated more on areas like financial 
management, and operational efficiency than on intervention using psychological 
training. This study, therefore, was designed to determine the effects of Goal-
setting Training (GST) and Relational Intelligence Training (RIT) in fostering OS 
among small-scale business owners in Ibadan, Nigeria. The moderating effects of 
Locus of Control (LoC) was examined. The Vroom’s Performance-based 
Expectancy theories provided the framework, while the study adopted the pretest
post-test, control group, quasi-experimental design with a 3×2 factorial matrix. 
Three Local Government Areas (LGAs) (Akinyele, Ibadan North and Ibadan 
Northwest) were purposively selected based on the ample number of small-scale 
businesses. The cluster sampling technique was used in selecting relevant trade 
associations, while small business owners whose businesses were not performing 
optimally (adjudged by OS screening scale) were purposively sampled in the 
selected LGAs. The participants were randomly assigned to GST (22), RIT (21), 
and Control (20) groups. The instruments used were OS (α=.96) and Locus of 
Control (α=.83). The training lasted nine weeks. Analysis of covariance and Bonferroni Post-hoc served as analytical tools at 0.05 level of significance. There 
was significant main effects of training on OS (F(2; 45)=27.19; partial η2=0.55). 
Participants in RIT had the highest adjusted mean score (157.27), followed by 
those in the GST (141.45) and control (103.84) groups. There was a significant 
two-way interaction effect of training and LoC on OS (F(2; 45)=5.08; partial 
η2=0.18), in favour of participants with internal LoC in RIT group. Both training 
fostered organisational success of small-scale business owners in Ibadan, Nigeria. 
Personnel psychologists, human resource managers and entrepreneurs should 
utilise these interventions with consideration for locus of control.