| Australian Journal of Educational Technology 1995, 11(1), 50-67. |
AJET 11 |
This paper compares two studies carried out in the area of small business in Australia. The first of these studies examined one branch of the 'scientific' small business community, veterinary practitioners. In particular, the study examined the computer training required by the city-based and country-based veterinarians. The second study examined the computer training needs of general small business managers in a city-based environment. Not only did both studies attempt to determine specific curricula needs, both examined the effect of vendor/consultant services on those curricular choices. The paper begins by briefly describing the nature of both the veterinary profession and small business in Australia. The paper then presents details of each of the studies. Finally the paper compares the findings of each of the studies, highlighting similarities as well as differences in the small business types.
A major concern facing curriculum designers is to provide a balanced course of instruction such that upon completion an individual is employable and useable within an organisation. In the area of Information Systems (IS) Nelson (1991) suggests that the rapid advances of Information Technology (IT) has widened the gap between what an individual knows and what they are expected to know to fully exploit IS in their organisation. No more apparent is this than in the area of small business. Indeed, while many studies have examined the needs of larger organisations in the development of an IS curriculum (Lo, 1991; Ang & Lo, 1991; Ang, 1992; Trauth et al, 1993), few have focused on the needs of their small business counterparts.
While the desire for small business to adopt IT in their day to day running has increased (Neergaard 1992, MacGregor & Cocks 1994), the skill and knowledge required by most small business managers to plan, implement and maintain that technology has lagged behind (Holzinger & Hotch 1993). Thus, despite recent findings (Delvecchio 1994) which suggest that there is a genuine desire by small business managers to acquire requisite knowledge of IT, most small businesses have tended to rely on vendors for the necessary background knowledge to purchase and use computers.
A number of factors appear to impinge both on small business management's perception of IT as well as their perception of curricula inclusions. Yap et al (1992) have shown that management's perception of IT is positively associated with consultant expertise and the level of vendor support. Igbaria (1993) found that factors such as organisational size, age, decentralisation, system quality and user involvement would normally form part of such models. However, he suggests that when considering non-computing professionals, and in particular the association with vendors, variables such as staff training, vendor assistance and manuals provide a more valid view of management's perception of IT.
Perhaps the most detailed definition of a small business was provided by Reynolds et al (1994). They suggested that the following characteristics make up the organisational environment in which a small business operates:
Added to the views and findings concerning small business, are the variety of definitions of what actually constitutes a small business. Some definitions tend to be based purely on a quantitative perspective, either amount of staff, or amount of turnover, while others attempt to utilise a qualitative definition, similar to those provided by Savage et al (1994). Meredith (1994) suggests that any definition of a small business must include a qualitative as well as a quantitative component. The quantitative component should examine staff, turnover, assets as well as any other financial measure, while the qualitative component should reflect mode of operation as well as organisational procedures.
Not only are there a myriad of views concerning the nature of small business, but from a governmental standpoint there are a variety of definitions of small business. In the United Kingdom a small business is defined as:
having fewer than 50 employees and was not a subsidiary to any other company.In the United States:
a small business concern shall be deemed to be one which is independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation (United States Small Business Administration - based on section 3 of the Small Business Act 1953).While in Australia, a small business is defined as:
small business is one in which one or two persons are required to make all the critical decisions (such as finance, accounting personnel, inventory, production, servicing, marketing and selling decisions) without the aid of internal (employed) specialists and with the owners having knowledge in one or two functional areas of management. (Meredith 1994, p 31 ).The definition of small business is further 'clouded' when current research is considered. Many researchers not only ignore governmental guidelines concerning the nature of small business, but tend to apply their own criteria, further narrowing political parameters. Recent studies, however. (Delone 1988, Chen 1993), have attempted to utilise governmental guidelines, by utilising mailing lists prepared by governmental agencies. Thus decisions concerning the nature and definition of small businesses becomes the responsibility of such agencies, rather than the researcher. This current study has adopted a similar approach.
| Subtopics | Brief Description |
| Structure and function of computer hardware | study of the major components of the microcomputer |
| Programming | problem solving and program development |
| Database/Spreadsheets | the use of databases and spreadsheets in common business problems |
| Business Analysis | analysis of the major functions and data in the business |
| Information Analysis | data modelling techniques |
| Office Automation | integration of the microcomputer into the office |
| Business Accounting Systems | design and use of accounting software |
| Computer Evaluation Techniques | techniques for testing and comparing potential hardware and software purchase options |
| Accountancy | introductory principles of accounting |
| Finance | introduction to corporate valuations and financial markets |
| Marketing | market segments, buyer behaviour, etc. |
| Business Law | partnerships, liabilities, contracts, etc. |
| Statistics | descriptive and inferential statistics |
| Management Principles | goal determination implementation, etc. |
| Interpersonal Skills | verbal, written, formal and informal communication |
For the study involving the veterinary practitioners, the questionnaires were distributed throughout Australia through the Australian Post Graduate Veterinary Foundation as an inclusion in their regular information package.
For the study involving general small business, a mailing list was developed by a government agency. The mailing list was developed by the Illawarra Chamber of Commerce and is known as the Illawarra Business Directory. The geographic area covered by this directory includes the southern suburbs of Sydney, Wollongong and Nowra (population approximately 500,000). The sampling frame developed from this directory was small companies who had a work force of 50 or less, where the company was not a subsidiary of a larger company. Computing companies were excluded from the survey.
Small businesses were categorised into one of four types, these categories being gleaned from the directory:
| Finance | includes investment and tax consultants, accounting firms and insurance brokers |
| Industrial | includes manufacturing, building and construction industries |
| Customer Service | retail, transport, tourism, media |
| Professional | architects, medical, surveyors, legal |
| Table 2. Demographics of the veterinary return sample (Practices using IT = 166; practices not using IT = 53) | ||
| Practices without a computer |
Practices with a computer | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person 2 person 3 person 4 person 5 person 5+ person |
10 18 9 6 2 6 |
28 39 28 24 11 36 |
| Table 3. Demographics of the general small business return sample | ||
| Industrial Professional Customer Services Financial |
46 16 32 37 | |
Table 4 provides an overall summary of responses concerning the perception of vendor services.
| Service | Veterinary respondents | Small business Respondents | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satisfied | Not Satisfied | Satisfied | Not Satisfied | |
| Training After Sales Service Manuals/ Documentation |
106 117 108 |
101 90 99 |
81 99 87 |
54 36 48 |
| Category | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Those who thought that some form of IS training was very important | At least one of the subtopics rated as 5 - very important |
| Those who thought that some form of IS training was quite important | At least one of the subtopics rated as 4 - quite important |
| Those who did not think that IS training was important | No subtopic rated above 3 - little importance |
Table 5 indicates overall responses.
| Rate | Veterinary practitioners | General small business managers |
|---|---|---|
| Very Important Important Not Important |
174 30 15 |
99 12 9 |
Table 6 is a summary of responses by veterinary practitioners and small business managers showing the importance of each of the subtopics.
| Topic | Veterinary practitioners | General small business | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mean | rank | mean | rank | |
| Structure/function of hardware Programming Database/ Spreadsheet Business Analysis Information Analysis Office Automation Business/ Accounting Systems Evaluation Techniques Accounting Finance Marketing Business Law Statistics Management Principles Interpersonal Skills |
1.96 1.84 2.74 2.66 2.69 2.31 2.70 2.19 2.48 2.25 2.49 1.69 2.00 2.51 2.24 |
13 14 1 4 3 8 2 11 7 9 6 15 12 5 9 |
3.16 3.09 4.18 4.04 4.08 3.75 4.28 3.39 4.01 3.65 3.10 2.65 2.99 3.16 3.19 |
10 13 2 4 3 6 1 8 5 7 12 15 14 10 9 |
An examination of introductory computing courses offered to professionals suggests that they normally offer no more than 6 subtopics (MacGregor & Cocks 1994). It is instructive to examine which six subtopics are required by each of the small business groups (see Table 7).
| Topic | Veterinary practitioners | General small business |
|---|---|---|
| Structure/function of hardware Programming Database/ Spreadsheet Business Analysis Information Analysis Office Automation Business/ Accounting Systems Evaluation Techniques Accounting Finance Marketing Business Law Statistics Management Principles Interpersonal Skills |
* * * * * * |
* * * * * * |
| Veterinary study Subtopic |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Finance | Satisfied | 11 | 12 | 32 | 14 | 24 |
| Dissatisfied | 10 | 14 | 27 | 33 | 17** | |
| General small business study Subtopic |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Marketing | Satisfied | 9 | 6 | 20 | 22 | 5 |
| Dissatisfied | 3 | 6 | 19 | 10 | 16** | |
| ** significant (p < 0.05) | ||||||
The data were examined, using a chi-square analysis, to determine if satisfaction/dissatisfaction with vendor training affected the rating of subtopics. Table 8 shows those subtopics affected by the level of satisfaction with vendor training.
Similarly, the data was examined using a chi-square analysis, to determine if satisfaction/dissatisfaction with vendor supplied manuals and documentation affected the rating of subtopics. Table 9 shows those subtopics affected by the level of satisfaction with vendor provided manuals and documentation.
| Veterinary study Subtopic |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Evaluation Techniques | Satisfied | 8 | 20 | 39 | 14 | 27 |
| Dissatisfied | 12 | 8 | 24 | 20 | 35* | |
| Marketing | Satisfied | 10 | 12 | 33 | 23 | 33 |
| Dissatisfied | 7 | 15 | 11 | 29 | 27** | |
| General small business study Subtopic |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Statistics | Satisfied | 5 | 13 | 17 | 24 | 28 |
| Dissatisfied | 6 | 6 | 20 | 7 | 9** | |
| * significant (p < 0.1 ); ** significant (p < 0.05) | ||||||
The final parameter suggested by Igbaria was termed vendor after sales assistance. A chi-square analysis was applied to the data from both studies to determine if satisfaction/dissatisfaction with vendor after sales service affected the rating of any of the subtopics. Table 10 provides those subtopics affected by satisfaction/dissatisfaction with vendor after sales assistance.
| Veterinary study Subtopic |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Programming | Satisfied | 35 | 23 | 19 | 21 | 19 |
| Dissatisfied | 20 | 15 | 22 | 4 | 11** | |
| Accounting | Satisfied | 9 | 16 | 35 | 25 | 33 |
| Dissatisfied | 5 | 11 | 10 | 27 | 18** | |
| Interpersonal Skills | Satisfied | 18 | 13 | 27 | 23 | 35 |
| Dissatisfied | 6 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 20 | |
| General small business study Subtopic |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Structure/Function of Hardware | Satisfied | 8 | 3 | 21 | 27 | 19 |
| Dissatisfied | 2 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 11** | |
| Statistics | Satisfied | 5 | 11 | 21 | 27 | 14 |
| Dissatisfied | 6 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 3** | |
| Interpersonal Skills | Satisfied | 4 | 12 | 17 | 24 | 21 |
| Dissatisfied | 5 | 1 | 13 | 12 | 6* | |
| * significant (p < 0.1 ); ** significant (p < 0.05) | ||||||
If the overall responses are considered (see Table 5), the results from both studies suggest that there is a perception by small business managers of the importance of some form of IT training at the college level. This appears to be consistent with the findings of Ang (1991, 1992). Not only does there appear to be a positive response towards computer courses' but any examination of Tables 6 and 7 would suggest that there is a high degree of consensus about the subtopics which should be included in such a course.
Table 8 indicates those subtopics affected by the level of satisfaction in terms of vendor supplied training. A number of issues are apparent. Firstly, as already noted, almost 50% of respondents in both studies indicated that they were dissatisfied with the training provided by the vendor. In both studies it is only those subtopics which do not fall into the group deemed most desirable that are affected by the level of satisfaction with vendor training. An examination of responses would suggest that those respondents who were dissatisfied with vendor provided training rated subtopics higher than those respondents who were satisfied.
Table 9 shows those subtopics affected by the level of satisfaction in terms of vendor provided documentation and manuals. As already mentioned, there is a high degree of dissatisfaction by small business managers as regards the appropriateness of manuals and documentation. Unlike the effects of satisfaction/dissatisfaction with vendor/consultant supplied training, it would appear, at least with the veterinary respondents that the level of satisfaction/dissatisfaction with manuals does affect some subjects which are deemed essential by the respondents. Of particular interest is the effect of the level of satisfaction with vendor provided documentation and manuals on the respective respondent groups. In the general small business community, those who were satisfied with vendor produced documentation and manuals rated the subtopics higher than those who were dissatisfied. This trend is reversed in the veterinary responses. 35% of the veterinary respondents who were satisfied with vendor documentation and manuals rated the subtopic Evaluation Techniques as important or very important. By comparison, 53% of those who were dissatisfied rated the subtopic the same way. Similar figures can be seen for the subtopic Marketing (47% vs. 63%). In the general small business group, 59% of those who expressed satisfaction with vendor supplied documentation and manuals rated the subtopic Statistics as important or very important. By comparison, only 33% of those who were dissatisfied rated the subtopic in the same manner.
Table 10 provides those subtopics which were affected by the level of satisfaction with vendor after sales service. With the exception of the subtopic Accounting, all subtopics affected by the level of satisfaction with after sales service did not appear in the group deemed most required and in all cases those who were satisfied with after sales service rated the subtopic higher than those who were dissatisfied. By comparison, the subtopic Accounting received a higher rating by those who were dissatisfied with vendor after sales service than those who were satisfied with it.
A number of studies (Yap et al 1992, Holzinger & Hotch 1993, Delvecchio 1994) have shown that many small businesses seek external help when dealing with IT. These studies have concluded that very often the external help agent fails to understand the business, resulting in the lowering of satisfaction with the newly acquired computer technology. The two studies, presented in this paper show that not only is there dissatisfaction with external vendor groups, but that this dissatisfaction significantly affects perceptions of curriculum design and curricula inclusions.
Of particular interest are the type of subtopics which appear to be affected by the various measures of satisfaction. Broadly, it would appear that dissatisfaction tends to affect those subtopics not within the group deemed most required. However, it seems that the level of satisfaction with vendor provided documentation and manuals does affect subtopics within the 'essential' group.
Perhaps most importantly, this study has raised a number of important issues which need to be addressed both by vendor organisations as well as small business managers (scientific as well as general small business). It is apparent from this current study that there is a real need for the small business manager to communicate support requirements expected within the organisation.
For the vendor organisations the results suggest that for the most part training, assistance and documentation are less than adequate. Furthermore, it appears that these three criteria not only have an impact on future computerisation decisions, but they significantly affect long term training and education decisions. The results also show that there is a need for the vendor organisation to consider the major work carried out by the small business when determining the type of support and training to be provided.
This study has presented a number of factors which affect curricula inclusions. Although the results have important implications, additional research is required in a number of areas. Firstly, the reasons why certain measures of satisfaction only appear to affect certain subtopics, depending upon which type of respondent is being examined. In order to pursue this, these t;actors need to be refined and followed up by extensive interviewing. Secondly, a wider study needs to be undertaken to determine if city based and country based small businesses react differently to college course inclusions. Finally, a more intensive examination needs to be carried out to examine how small businesses communicate with vendors, such that the effect of various measures of satisfaction may be better explained.
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| Authors: R. C. MacGregor, and D. J. Bunker are from the Department of Business Systems, University of Wollongong. R. S. Cocks is at the Wollongong Veterinary Hospital, and J. K. Pierson and K. A. Forcht are with the Department of Information and Decision Sciences, James Madison University. Address for Correspondence: Robert MacGregor, Department of Business Systems, University of Wollongong, Wollongong NSW 2522, Australia.
Please cite as: MacGregor, R. C., Bunker, D. J., Cocks, R. S., Pierson, J. K. and Forcht, K. A. (1995). Do vendor/consultant services affect small business' IT course requirements? Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 11(1), 50-67. http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet11/mcgregor.html |