A. 6. Appendices
1. Outlines of the questionnaires used in the case studies
1.1. Outline of company questionnaire used for SME labour subsidy evaluation (Case Study
1.1.1. Introductory text
„Good morning, I am here on behalf of the SEED Small Enterprise Development Foundation and also on behalf of the OFA National Labour Public Foundation. Your enterprise has applied at OFA for financial support which you have recently received. In our survey we examine the process of the subsidy as well as its impacts. Please, help our work by answering our questions. Naturally, we will handle your answers confidentially, and we are going to keep your anonymity.
1.1.2. Questions
Has your company won any subsidies in one of the tenders announced by the OFA between 1999 and 2003?
What is the legal form of your enterprise? (1 – Ltd.; 2 - Shareholding company; 3 – Cooperative; 4 – 5 – 6:
various forms of partnership; 7 – sole proprietorship – other, namely)
What kind of activity does your company pursue? (more than one answer is possible) (1 – farmer; 2 – craftsman , 3 – tradesman; 4 – service provider; 5 - intellectual freelancer, 6 – other, namely)
Which sector does your enterprise belong to? (1 – Industry, mining, energy; 2 – agriculture, forestry, management of water supplies, fishing; 3 – transport, communication; 4 – commerce; 5 – catering; 6 – financial services, insurance; 7 – other services; 8 – public administration; 9 – health service; 10 – culture, education, sciences, church; 11 – other, namely)
The year of the establishment of your business.
What is the most important activity of your business which constitutes most part of your revenue? (in words)
What is the second most important activity of your business, which accounts for the second largest part of you revenue? (in words)
What is the structure of ownership of your enterprise? Please, give data in the order of the proportion of the functioning capital. (1 – Hungarian private persons 2 – the state 3 – local government 4 - foreign citizen or company registered abroad – other enterprise 6 – other owners:)
How many owners does the enterprise have? (…people)
Who are the owners of the enterprise? (1 - the person interviewed; 2 – spouse of the interviewed; 3 – the parent(s) of the interviewed; 4 – the children of the interviewed; 5 – other entrepreneurs; 6 – cooperative members; 7 - other people not enlisted above; 8 – other company, the local government or other institutional owners)
The labour status of the enterprise population at present (at the time of the survey): (a) Number of full time employees; (b) Number of part-time employees; (c) Number of helping family members; (d) Other, namely: …)
The profitability of the enterprise in the year of the application (1 – very profitable; 2 – profitable; 3 – scarcely profitable; 4 – not profitable or; 5 – loss making company)
The profitability of the enterprise last year (1 – very profitable; 2 – profitable; 3 – scarcely profitable; 4 – not profitable or; 5 – loss making company)
What do you think, how profitable will be your enterprise in three year’s time? (1 – very profitable; 2 – profitable; 3 – scarcely profitable; 4 – not profitable or; 5 – loss making company)
The reach of the activity of the enterprise ( 1 – national, 2 – regional; 3 – restricted to the county, 4 – restricted to the smaller region, or; 5 – restricted to the settlement only)
Has the enterprise worked as a supplier? ( 1 – it has, 2—it has not). If it has: What kind of work did you perform (do you perform) as suppliers? (in words) In what way has the support helped you to become a supplier or in your work as supplier? (in words)
The number of premises belonging to your enterprise ( … pieces)
In your opinion why do entrepreneurs employ new people? (1 – They need manpower for a certain order (project), 2 - manpower is needed for the short run, 3- manpower is needed for the long run; 4 – Increasingly complex tasks cannot be carried out with the present staff; 5 – The expansion of the firm brings along new tasks, 6 – other, namely:)
How can you explain the phenomenon that entrepreneurs are unwilling to employ new people? (1 – the enterprise intends to remain small, 2 – The entrepreneur wants to keep everything under his own control, 3 – the entrepreneur wants to avoid the problems which employment might cause; 4 – there are not enough well qualified candidates for the jobs; 5 – wages are too high ; 6 - taxes are too high; 7 – the administrative procedures of employment are too complicated and time demanding; 8 – the employer is afraid that later, if necessary, it will be difficult to dismiss the new employee; 9 – entrepreneurs are distrustful; 10 – other, namely:
…)
Who are your competitors? (in words)
What are the major factors on the market influencing the position of your firm? (more than one answer is possible) ( 1 – decrease of selling prices; 2 – increase of purchasing prices, changes of the costs; 3 – the appearance of new products; 4 –the appearance of new technologies/processes; 5 – the appearance of new competitors; 6 – import competition; 7 – lacking export abilities, 8 – the appearance of new laws regulating operation; 9 - the appearance of new laws concerning taxation; 10 - accession to the EU, 11- other, namely:…) What is the impact of the accession to the EU on your enterprise? (in words).
The next few questions will be related to the tender and your application submitted.
Which year did you apply?
In how many different years did you win enterprise-development support from OFA between the years of 1999 and 2003?
Please choose the tender which was most important for you and answer, in the following, with reference to that support. Which year have you chosen?...(year)
How did you learn about the tender? (More than one answer is possible) (1 – from a national daily paper; 2 – from a local paper; 3 – from a tender watching service; 4 – from acquaintances; 5 –from the Internet; 6 – from an interest representation, from the chamber; 7 - from an enterprise development foundation, or bureau, 8 – from radio, television; 9 – from another place, namely:)
Since then, from which sources do you gather information about current tenders? (More than one answer is possible) ( 1 – from a national daily paper; 2 – from a local paper; 3 – from a tender watching service; 4 – from acquaintances; 5 – from the Internet; 6 – from an interest representation, from the chamber; 7 – from an enterprise development foundation, or bureau; 8 – from radio, television; 9 - from another place, namely:)
What was the amount of subsidy you applied for? What did you want to spend the support on, from among those listed below? (More than one answer is possible) (1 – purchase of devices; 2 – construction; 3 – purchase of services; 4 – obtaining ISO quality assurance qualification or some other qualification; 5 – training of employees; 6 – counselling or market research; 7 – introduction of new product or technology; 8 – employment of new workforce; 9 – other, namely: )
What was the name of the programme that you have applied for? (More than one answer can be given) (1 – A programme to improve labour safety; 2 – A programme related to obtain professional knowledge, training, education; 3 – A programme to alleviate liquidity problems; 4 - A programme to hire the first employee; 5 – A programme to support marketing; 6 – Professional advisory programme, 7 – A programme to improve work conditions ; 8 A programme to modernise production; 9 – A programme to develop business environment; 10 A programme to promote the development of technology; 11 – A programme for protecting the environment; 12 – A programme to alleviate the damages caused by flood)
What did you concretely ask support for? (in words)
Did you have to pay back the amount of the support? (1 – subsidy to be repaid or; 2 – non-returnable subsidy) Was the project related to keeping the employees?(1 yes, 2 – no)
Was the project related to an increase in the number of employees? (If it did: How many new people did you employ as a consequence of the tender? (…people). What was the composition of the group of people whom you employed in consequence of the tender? Were there, among the new employees (More than one can be marked: (a) - registered unemployed (b) - career starter (c) - retrained by labour centres; (d) – unemployed, under the age of 25; (e) unemployed, over the age of 50; (f) – unemployed graduate ; (g) – other, namely: )
If the realisation of the project was related to an increase of the number of employees: What, did you think, the new employees’ job would be, at the time of the application? (in words)
If the realisation of the project was related to an increase in the number of employees: How did you want to choose your co-workers at the time of submitting your application? (1 – by advertisement; 2 - based on family, friends, acquaintance; 3 – on the basis of recommendation of colleagues; 4 – on the basis of recommendation of labour centres; 5 – other, namely)
Did you ask for special advice in the framework of the tender? If you did: what kind of an advice did you want to ask for when you handed in your application? (1 – continuous tracing of the activity; 2 – establishing connections with other enterprises; 3 – management advice; 4 – sales, marketing, advice of market analysis, 4 - the introduction of an environment friendly operation, 6 - quality assurance; 7 - other, namely)
Please rate, according to school grades, at the time of the handing in of your application (a) your experience of writing an application for a tender; (b) your experience of managing a project; (c) your management capacities to implement a project, (d) your financial resources needed to implement a project.
When compiling the application: 1 – did you compile the document yourself, without external help or 2 – did you ask for free external help for the compilation of the documentation 3 – did you ask for the help of a firm specialised in writing applications or 4 – other solution, namely:
If you asked for external help: Why did you do that? (in words) How much did it cost to have the application written? ( …Hungarian Forints)
Have you ever applied to another enterprise-supporting organisation other than the OFA? (1 - yes 2 – no)
If you applied somewhere else, where to? (in words). Have you found any considerable difference between an OFA competition and other competitions? (1 – yes 2 – no) If you have: In what do you see the differences between an OFA competition and the other? (in words)
When did you sign the contract of support: (year, month) When was the programme completed? (when you received the last instalment). (Year, month)
Was there any difference between the support you asked for and which you received? How big was this difference? ( … Hungarian Forints)
If you received less than requested: was the reduction justified? (1 - yes; 2 – no) Which elements of your original programme did you have to drop due to the smaller amount of the support? (in words) Which were the further influences of the fact that you received less than you had expected? (in words)
Did you add to the subsidy from your own sources in order to have the project implemented? (1 – yes, 2 – no) If you did, how much? ( … Hungarian Forints)
Was there a co-financer other than you in the project? (1- yes, 2 – no).
If you did, who was the co-financer? (1 – bank; 2 – business partner; 3 – other supporting organisation; 4 – the local government; 5 – other, namely) How much did you get from this co-financer? ( … Hungarian Forints)
Apart from securing the financial resources, which were the problems you had to solve in the course of implementing the project? (in words)
If there were other problems: How did you solve them? (in words)
The following questions will be asked to learn about your opinion concerning the subsidy programme and the work of the OFA.
Why was this supported programme necessary for you? (in words)
Has the supported programme solved the problems mentioned? (1 – yes, it has, 2 – no, it has not) What has changed in your enterprise in consequence of the support? (in words)
Have you succeeded in completing the programme in time? (1 – yes, we have succeeded, 2 – no, we have not succeeded)
If you have not succeeded in completing the programme in time: What was the delay due to? (in words)
Have you succeeded in completing all the activities planned in the program? (1 yes, we have succeeded, 2 – no, we have not succeeded) Why have not you succeeded in completing all the activities in accordance with the plans? (in words)
Have you succeeded in financing the programme according the original plans? (1 yes, we have succeeded, 2 – no, we have not succeeded) Why have not you succeeded in financing the programme in accordance with the plans? (in words)
Did you have, during the implementation of the program, suppliers, subcontractors? (1 – yes there were, 2 there were none) If there were: How satisfied were you with their work? ( 1 – I was not satisfied at all, 2 – I was not satisfied, 3 – I was partly satisfied, partly not, 4 – I was satisfied, 5 – I was fully satisfied) How many percent of the received support did you spend on paying the subcontractors? ( … %)
Please, rate the work of the donor organisation (OFA) between 1-5, according to the following criteria: (a) – The intelligibility of the invitation of the tender; (b) – Providing the applicants with understandable and useful information, advice; (c) - Expertise of the OFA clerks; (d) – The helpfulness of the OFA clerks; (e) – The expertise of the OFA inspectors; (f) – The helpfulness of the OFA inspectors)
What problems have arisen between you and the OFA during your relationship? (in words)
Has the OFA, in your opinion, published the invitation for the tender at the right place? (1- yes 2 - no)
In your opinion where should a tender be made public? (in words) In your opinion has the OFA (a) provided enough opportunities for asking questions in connection with the tender? (b) Was the judgement of the applications and the selection of the winners quick enough? (c) Were the requirements concerning documentation possible to fulfil? (d) Was there enough time to realise the projects? (1 – yes, 2 – no)
In your opinion what programs do Hungarian entrepreneurs need? In what other ways, in your opinion, could the employment ability of Hungarian businesses be improved? (in words) And their competitiveness? (in words)
Did you experience injustice during your application? (1 – yes 2 - no) Please tell us what it was about. (in words)
What are you applying for now? (in words)
Do you see any difference between OFA and other donor organisations? (1 – Yes, 2 - No) If you see any difference, what is it? (in words)
What would you do differently if you were OFA, in tenders of the future? (in words)
Now I am going to ask you about employment again.
Has the supported project improved your employment possibilities? ( 1 – it has, 2 – it has not) If it has, how? (in words)
Has the support improved, at your company (a) working conditions; (b) labour safety; (c) the qualification of the employees; (d) the qualification of the managers (1 – yes, 2 – no)
Has the support facilitated the work of the employees? (1 – yes, 2 – no) Please tell me in a detailed way, in which areas has there been any improvement. (in words)
Has the support improved the competitiveness of the company? ( 1 – it has, 2 – it has not) Please tell me in a detailed way in which areas has there been any improvement? (in words)
Now I would like to inquire about changes which have occurred since the supported program.
(a) Has the revenue increased since the supported project? (b) Has profitability improved? (c) Was the activity of the company extended? (d) Were new business lines introduced? (e) Have any innovations been realised? ( 1 – yes, in consequence of the tender, 2 – yes, but not in consequence of the tender, 3 – there have not been changes of this kind)
If the activity of the company has been extended as a consequence of the tender, please tell me in details about this new activity (in words)
If there has been innovation as a consequence of the tender, please describe, what kind of innovation do you mean more precisely. (in words)
Has the project had such an impact we have not talked about so far? If it has, what was that? ( 1 – Yes, namely:
(in words), 2 – No
Has the tender had a positive influence on the (a) skill of your company to apply for support (b) on the skill of your company concerning planning? ( 1- yes, it has, 2 – no, it has not) Please, justify your answer. (in words)
Has the supported programme had a positive influence on the following phenomena? (a) on the labour situation in the settlement (b) on consumers' supply; (c) on the development of the settlement, on its enterprise friendliness, on its ability to attract capital; (d) on the cultural development of the settlement, (e) on the protection of the environment of the settlement, (f) on cooperation among the enterprises (1 – yes it has, 2 – it has not). Please, tell me what has happened in the above respects. (in words)
What has been sustained up to the present date from the results of the project? (in words) What do you use, at the moment, the results of the supported project for? (in words)
If the professional content of the project was construction or purchase: Is the building or the purchased device used for the purpose it had been intended for in the program? ( 1 – yes; 2 – no)
If the professional purpose of the project was to obtain ISO or another certification: has the company been certified since the project? ( 1 – yes; 2 – no)
If the professional content of the project was training and education: are those who were trained in the programme still working for the firm? ( 1 – yes; 2 – no)
If the professional content of the project was getting advice or market research, do you still make use of the experience from the required advice / market research? ( 1 – yes, 2 – no)
If the professional content of the project was aimed at the introduction of a new product /or proceedings), has the introduction of the new product / proceeding been realised? ( 1 – yes, 2 – no) Do you still produce it (use those way of proceedings)? (1 – yes; 2 – no)
How long, do you think, these results can be maintained? (1 – they are not maintainable at all; 2 – for a year; 3 – for two years; 4 – for 3-5 years; 5 - for more than five years) Please, give reasons for your answer. (in words)
If the realisation of the programme was related to an increase in the number of employees: What will happen to this increase connected to the programme applied for in the tender? ( 1 – it is not maintainable at all; 2 – maintainable for one year; 3 – for two years; 4 – for 3-5 years 5 – for more than 5 years.)
Do you plan to establish new working places? (1 – yes; 2 – no)
Is this plan connected to the results of the project? ( 1 – yes, 2 – no). If yes, how? (in words)
What would you do differently today as far as the planning of the project and the compilation of the application documentation are concerned, on the basis of the obtained experience? (in words)
And what would you do differently today concerning the implementation of the project? (in words) What would have happened if you had not received support? (in words)
Please characterise your enterprise by giving some data of the real estates, car fleet, and producing machinery being in the possession of your firm. Has the enterprise its own office, workshop, shop, company car, truck or
Name, address, telephone, e-mail, website of the applying enterprise.
The responding person’s gender (1 – male; 2 - female) and age (1 - under 20; 2 - between 20 and 29; 3 - between 30 and 39; 4 - 40 and 49; 5 - 50 and 59; 6 - 60 or older)
Highest school qualification of the responding person ( 1- has not gone to school; 2 – less than 8 elementary classes; 3 – elementary school ; 4 – vocational school, 5 – secondary grammar school and school leaving exam, 6 – college degree or higher technical school, 7 – university degree.
The qualification of the responding person (more than one answer can be given) 1 - Education (e.g.: teachers training, educational science); 2 – Humanities and art (e.g.: history, foreign languages); 3 – Social sciences, economy, law (e.g.: psychology, sociology, economics, business and finance, management); 4 Mathematics, informatics, and other natural sciences (biological sciences, physics, chemistry); 5 - Engineering, technical and civil engineering qualification (e.g.: engineer, engineering technician); 6 - Agriculture and veterinary sciences; 7 - Health service and other social services (e.g.: medical sciences, social attendance); 8 – Services (e.g.: personal services, catering services, accommodation, transport, communal and public health services, security service, health control for the employees))
Name and position of the responding person
The opinion and evaluation of the questioner: What was his impression of the visual appearance of the enterprise? (Premises, the size of the machinery equipment, how up-to-date it is. The number and activity of the employees who were present on the premises. (in words) To what extent were the answers of the interviewed person relevant? Which responses were not credible? (in words)