1. Introduction
1.1 Overview of the BIZ Programme
The BIZ programme was established by the Government in 1998, and services under it commenced in early 1999.
BIZ aims to provide two types of services to owners and managers of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs - typically, firms with fewer than 20 employees):
- building management capability amongst SMEs - through assessment of business needs, training and seminars, one-on-one mentoring and networking;
(We generally refer to this component of BIZ as "BIZ training" throughout this report.) - building awareness and providing referrals to sources of assistance to SMEs.
BIZ had its origins in programmes such as the Small Business Agency (SBA), which operated from 1978 to 1986, and the Business Development Programme, under which the former Ministry of Commerce provided grants to individuals (for example the New Business Investigation Grant) through its own agencies (the Business Development Boards).
In 1998 the BDBs were disestablished as a result of a Review of Enterprise Assistance. The review also recommended the launch of BIZ to be delivered through a "local autonomy model" driven by assessment of demand and provision of services at the local level. Subsequently, the Ministry of Commerce (now the Ministry of Economic Development) contracted appropriate agencies to offer a range of training programmes and information services.
BIZ services are provided by a range of non-governmental organisations, which initially made proposals to the Government based on their assessment of local needs. They are funded by the Ministry of Economic Development, under contracts managed by the BIZ Unit of the Ministry (now part of Industry NZ, which has assumed responsibility and funding for BIZ).
The management capability services are provided by 46 agencies, with an emphasis on the training aspect. The referral service, known as BIZinfo, is provided by a national consortium which operates an 0800 number through 4 regional call centres, a website and contracts 34 local centres.
BIZ services commenced in February-March 1999. Between then and June 2000, approximately 31,000 people from 7,000 SMEs engaged in BIZ training, plus diagnosis, mentoring and networking services on a smaller scale. BIZinfo has developed a database of 2,500 training courses and other services provided by 900 organisations, and has received over 16,000 calls to call centres, almost 8,000 visits to local centres, and almost 3 million hits and about 500,000 page accesses to its website.
Funding for BIZ for the first round of contracts (from its inception to the end of the 2000/2001 year) was around $26 million (excluding the costs of operating the BIZ Unit).
Within the BIZ target group of SMEs, participation by Maori, Pacific Peoples, and women owning and managing SMEs has been promoted. Of participants in BIZ training, 24% were Maori, 9% Pacific Peoples and 61% women. Of calls and visits to BIZinfo, 16% originated from Maori, 3% Pacific Peoples and 42% women.
The BIZ programme was implemented in a short period of time, and this contributed to many difficulties for the Ministry and providers. However, in the 18 months that have passed since the establishment of BIZ, there has been a lot of positive activity and many lessons learnt. The time is now right for the experience to be reviewed and improvements to be made to BIZ.
1.2 Evaluation of the Programme
In June 2000 the Ministry of Economic Development contracted a team of researchers to undertake an evaluation of the BIZ Programme. The team consisted of a consortium comprising:
Business and Economic Research Ltd (BERL), which specialises in business and economic analysis and has its offices in Wellington.1 BERL economists engaged in the project were Grant Andrews and Sara Whyte.
National Research Bureau Ltd (NRB), which is a social and market research firm supplying mainly large-scale surveys for local and central government and having its offices in Auckland.2 Andy Heinemann was the principal researcher from NRB.
The NZ Centre For SME Research, which is hosted within the College of Business at Massey University in Wellington.3 It researches and writes both applied and academic studies among New Zealand small and medium enterprises. Dr Claire Massey and David Tweed were the principal researchers from the Centre.
1.3 Project Objectives
The main objectives of this evaluation were that it should:
- assess whether the government should continue to deliver the BIZ programme in its current form, including, but not limited to, whether the current approach is meeting the right business assistance needs, and is the most appropriate way to meet those needs;
- assess the effectiveness and impact of BIZ, including, but not limited to, whether the management enhancement capability and referral services are achieving their objectives;
- assess whether BIZ provides value for money and efficient service delivery, including, but not limited to, whether the approach used to deliver services is as efficient as possible; and
- assess the conduct and operation of the programme implementation of BIZ, including, but not limited to, whether the implementation of, and operation of, BIZ is effective and appropriate.
- assess the efficiency, impact and appropriateness of the BIZ scheme as it relates to Maori and Pacific Peoples and women-owned and operated SMEs. This should cover conduct and operation of the programme including the mechanisms used to target Maori, Pacific Peoples and women for both the management enhancement capability and referral services.
1.4 Project Components
To meet these primary objectives, the evaluation was undertaken as seven components:
- Awareness Survey of SMEs
- Survey of BIZ Clients
- Focus Groups of Maori and Pacific Peoples BIZ clients
- Survey of BIZ Providers
- Mystery Shopper Trial of BIZ
- Analysis of BIZ Provider Reports
- Analysis of reporting, management and implementation of the programme
NRB undertook primary responsibility for the surveys of awareness and of BIZ clients, and the mystery shopper trial; Massey University, the BIZ provider survey; and BERL, the analysis of BIZ provider reports and programme management. However, there was a significant input from each party to all components of the evaluation, and to this Overview Report. The evaluation was managed by BERL.
Reports from each of the above components are available on www.med.govt.nz.
1.5 Report Structure
The report has four sections. The following sections are as follows:
Section 2 describes the research that was undertaken in the various components of the project and presents a summary of each, including the objectives, methodology and key findings.
Section 3 includes a discussion of the overall themes that emerged from the project.
Section 4 presents the research team's conclusions and its recommendations to the Ministry.
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