Attachment 1: Interview Schedule for BIZ Provider Interviews
Note that this schedule forms the basis for an unstructured interview and should be regarded as a guideline only. Other questions may be asked - so long as the researcher takes sufficient notes to give some context to the answer.
Section 1: The Delivery of the Organisation that We Are Visiting
- Can you first explain what your organisation does (overall, in terms of business/economic development, in relation to BIZ)
- Going back to when you got involved in BIZ, how did the organisation identify its specific target groups? (Who was involved, what information was used to influence the decision?)
- Have these target groups been represented on your courses in the proportions you expected? (Why or why not?)
- How is the uptake of the services monitored? (get them to show/explain their recording systems/methods of analysis)
- Who uses this information, and for what purpose is it used? (e.g. planning, monitoring for payment purposes etc).
- Has the contract with the BIZ Unit been modified to reflect any difference between what was expected and what has occurred (or for any other reason)?
- Did you need to appoint new staff for the delivery and/or contract it out? How were these individuals selected? (what criteria were used for the selection?)
- If you were applying for funding today, what would you do differently?
Now we want to talk about the actual delivery of courses by your organisation. It would help if we could talk about a specific course (get them to name one and explain what it is, how long it lasts etc., and show any training materials such as OHP slides, session plans etc)
- Can you first explain who is eligible for the courses? (are these your own guidelines or has the BIZ Unit supplied them? Have they been easy to apply? do they need changing/tightening?)
- How are those delivering this course supported by the organisation and/or the BIZ Unit? (in terms of "training for trainers", advice on instructional design, assistance with content selection, designing evaluation processes etc).
- Can you explain the different ways in which this course would be evaluated (e.g. by attendees, peer review/benchmarking etc. is this evaluation approach working?).
- What specific features of this course would be evaluated (e.g. satisfaction with delivery, usefulness of content, perceived value in terms of a positive impact on the business).
- How is this information used? (does it influence modes of delivery, course content, delivery style, training material, advertising to potential attendees?)
- In relation to this course, are there any differences between the versions you deliver to different target groups?
- If you deliver courses yourself, and had the time to design a completely new course, would you do things the same as you are now or would you modify it? (what would you modify, why do you think this would be an improvement?)
- Is charging for courses a good idea? Who would it help and who would it deter? (and why do you think this?)
- What impact do you think your organisation's services have had on the owners and managers of SMEs? (how have you had this impact, and how have you come to this opinion?)
- What impact do you think your organisation's services have had on SMEs? (how have you had this impact, and how have you come to this opinion?)
Section 2: The Performance of the BIZ Unit
- Can you explain your role in the organisation (in relation to the BIZ programme) and tell us who you deal with in the BIZ Unit?
- Has this person/people changed since you have been involved?
- What does the Unit do for your organisation? (tease out expectations cf. contractual obligations)
- Are there services that you would like the Unit to provide? (how would additional services benefit you, your organisation, your clients?)
- Moving to specifics, can you describe a situation where you were very satisfied with the performance of the Unit (and/or the contract manager)? How did you communicate your satisfaction with the Unit and how did staff respond?
- Can you describe a situation where you were very dissatisfied with the performance of the Unit (and/or the contract manager)? How did you communicate your dissatisfaction with the Unit and how did staff respond?
- Are there any particular issues about the provision of BIZ services to Maori or Pacific clients?
- Do you feel the BIZ Unit has helped you to develop your capabilities as a provider?
- On a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 is poor and 5 is excellent), how would you rate the BIZ Unit?
If possible (in terms of time)
- How do you feel about reporting on-line? (would it make your job easier/harder. Can you see any advantages for the BIZ Unit, your clients, your staff?)
Section 3: The Programme Overall
- Are there any changes/ improvements that you would like to see made to the programme? (and why/based on what information?)
- Are there any particular issues for providers delivering services to Maori or Pacific clients?
- How do you share best practice amongst providers?
If possible (in terms of time)
- Do you think BIZ is displacing existing services, e.g. private training providers, polytechnic courses etc?
- Is there a need for the courses to be standardised across the country (in terms of eligibility, course content etc, pre-assessments) Why do you think this (e.g. are there clients who are using more than one provider, career development for training staff etc).
- Should the programme have accreditation e.g. NZQA?
- Is there confusion between the BIZ programme and BIZinfo?
- Does the present contract model allow for too much flexibility? Should it be standardised?
Closing
- Do you have any questions?
- Is there anything else you would like to say about the programme? (or anything else related to BIZ or bus development more generally).
Back to Top