• Home
• NZ Economic Development
• Industry Development
• Archive
• Evaluation of BIZ Programme
• Analysis of BIZ Interviews
• 1.0 Introduction

• Industry Development

• Archive

• Evaluation of BIZ Programme

• Overview Report
• Analysis of Programme
• Analysis of BIZ Interviews
• Awareness & Understanding
• BIZ Management Services
• Mystery Shopper Survey
• BIZ among Pacific People
• BIZ among Maori People
• Expressions of Interest

• 1.1 Research Specifications
• 1.2 Preparing for the Field Work
• 1.3 Data Collection - Face to Face Interviews
• 1.4 Data Collection - Telephone Interviews
• 1.5 Data Collection - BIZinfo

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 researchers from the Bureau for Economic Research (BERL), the National Research Bureau (NRB) and the New Zealand Centre for Research into SMEs (at Massey University).

Their brief was to assess how well the BIZ programme is meeting its objectives, and in order to gain the perspective of the different groups involved (or potentially involved) in the programme, the overall research design included seven different components. This included a survey with BIZ clients (administered by telephone), a survey with SME owners/managers (also administered by telephone), analysis of the documentation collated by the BIZ Unit and a "mystery shopper" assessment of the BIZinfo service. A further component was focused on seeking the views of those involved in delivering BIZ.

The New Zealand Centre for SME Research at Massey University led this segment of the research, and three interviewers were involved: Claire Massey, David Tweed and Shirley Barnett. They visited a number of BIZ Providers and conducted interviews with staff who were most closely connected with the BIZ programme. They also conducted telephone interviews with a further group of providers.

The research team also identified the key individuals from organisations delivering the BIZinfo element of the programme. Face to face interviews were carried out with one of the parties and the remaining partners were interviewed by telephone.

1.1 Research Specifications

The contract required the research team to undertake a survey of 32 BIZ providers, including:

1. A minimum total of 15 in-depth, face-to-face interviews with providers who deliver a substantial proportion of their services to Maori and Pacific peoples. The minimum sample of providers of services to Pacific peoples should be 5 completed interviews
2. Interviews with the 12 largest BIZ providers
3. Telephone interviews with sufficient other BIZ providers to provide a representative sample of providers of different sizes and service type and locations.

The survey was designed to assess BIZ providers'

1. Perceptions of:
1. The effectiveness of the programme and its impact on SMEs
2. The contracts and the contract management process operated by the Ministry and their performance in relation to this
3. Their general satisfaction with the services provided to them by the BIZ Unit of the Ministry
4. Opportunities for improvement
5. How they monitor and respond to market demands.
2. Views on:
1. How they target client needs
2. Whether the uptake of their services is as they expected and if not, what action they take
3. How they assess the quality and effectiveness of the services they provide to clients.

1.2 Preparing for the Field Work

The research team identified the 12 largest organisations from information provided by staff from the BIZ Unit. This list included 11 organisations that deliver a substantial proportion of their services to Maori clients, and 5 organisations that deliver to Pacific People. In order to meet the contractual specifications a further 4 organisations were selected that deliver to Maori clients (see Table 1). NBIS (the National Business Information Service) was also identified as a key provider.

The research team devised a set of questions to address the requirements of the contract and this was circulated amongst team members. The Ministry of Economic Development approved a revised version (Attachment 1). This questionnaire schedule was designed to act as a framework for a semi-structured interview. The researchers were also free to follow any particular line of questioning that seemed to be of value. An information sheet was also designed and sent to the interviewee prior to the interviews (Attachment 2).

1.3 Data Collection - Face to Face Interviews

The researchers carried out the majority of the site visits in the week of July 15-19. They visited the 16 organisations that had been identified as critical in terms of the contract specifications, and a further three organisations, in case any data proved to be invalid. In total, 19 BIZ providers were visited and at one organisation the researcher interviewed the manager and one of his main contractors separately (because of the geographical distance).

The interviews lasted between one and three hours. The variation in length was mainly due to the number of people present, as some providers chose to include those involved in the delivery of services to a particular target group as well as the BIZ manager.

1.4 Data Collection - Telephone Interviews

Once the face to face interviews were complete the researchers identified the questions that seemed to be generating the most interesting responses - in relation to the overall objective of the evaluation. This set of 9 questions (Attachment 3) was used as the basis for 12 telephone interviews.

1.5 Data Collection - BIZinfo

As a key provider to the Ministry the National Business Information Service (NBIS) was also interviewed. This organisation is made up of four partner organisations. One of these organisations was visited and representatives of the other partner organisations were interviewed by telephone.