Survey
Business Information Needs Survey (BINS) has been carried out early in the Project to identify the needs for information about legislative changes and their impact on different types of businesses. A follow-up survey was conducted near the end of the Project to measure success in meeting those information needs.
Initial Research (“Before” BINS)
The report which is downloadable below presents in detail the results of the initial research, which comprised both quantitative research through a “baseline” Business Information Needs Survey (“Before” BINS) and qualitative research through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews.
The initial research had four objectives: to find out small businesses’ attitudes on the expected effect of Croatian accession to the EU on their businesses; to determine their level of knowledge about the EU and possible legislative changes in the eight fields; to determine their attitudes to such changes; and to examine the information channels used by small businesses for obtaining information and their effectiveness.
The qualitative research consisted of 5 focus group discussions and 10 in-depth interviews in different parts of Croatia. The quantitative research consisted of a telephone survey – using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) – of 2,000 SMEs and crafts from throughout Croatia. The average interview lasted 28 minutes. The research was conducted during February – April 2008.
The sample for the survey was carefully constructed, using publicly available data, to reflect accurately the structure of SMEs and crafts in Croatia. The sample was sufficiently large to enable a breakdown of the results by a number of variables, including by size of enterprise (micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, plus bigger crafts) and by region (Croatia was divided into six regions: Zagreb, Northern Croatia, Slavonia, Lika and Banovina, Primorje and Istria, Dalmatia).
The sample was also structured to reflect different economic sectors (agriculture and related activities, industry and manufacturing, trade, services).
The results of the “Before” BINS research were presented to the BIZimpact Project’s partners, stakeholders, the media and other interested parties at a series of conferences throughout Croatia – one for each of the regions covered by the survey. The programme of conferences was as follows:
7 May 2008, Zagreb (Mimara Museum)
- Conference for national partners / stakeholders and Zagreb Region
14 May 2008, Osijek (HGK County Chamber)
- Conference for Slavonia Region
19 May 2008, Split (HGK County Chamber)
- Conference for Dalmatia Region
27 May 2008, Varaždin (HGK County Chamber)
- Conference for Northern Croatia Region
3 June 2008, Karlovac (HGK County Chamber)
- Conference for Lika and Banovina Region
4 June 2008, Opatija (Hotel Bristol)
- Conference for Primorje and Istria Region
Follow-up Research (“After” BINS)
The “After” BINS research was carried out during the period April-May 2009. As with the “Before” BINS, this comprised both quantitative research – a telephone survey of 2,000 SMEs and crafts – and qualitative research – further focus groups and in-depth interviews.
The “After” BINS survey repeated certain questions from the initial research concerning some of the key indicators of entrepreneurs’ knowledge of and attitudes to the EU and legislative changes, plus the effectiveness of information channels. This enabled us to measure the effectiveness of the awareness-raising campaign and identify future requirements for ongoing communication activities.
The “After” BINS also included some new questions concerning the formulation of policy affecting SMEs and crafts, and communication with small businesses, to assist MINGORP and the other Project partners to develop these fields in the future.
