{"id":1641,"date":"2016-12-15T15:13:49","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T15:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projects.upei.ca\/iis\/?page_id=1641"},"modified":"2016-12-15T15:13:49","modified_gmt":"2016-12-15T15:13:49","slug":"research-methodology","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/projects.upei.ca\/testforneal\/research\/islands-and-small-businesses\/research-methodology\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Business from Small Islands: Research Methodology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Research Methodology<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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For\u00a0the next phase of research, the NISSOS Project Partners developed a questionnaire consisting of 65 questions during spring 2003. It includes quantitative, descriptive data about the firm; an account of the stakeholders\u2019 position with respect to the firm; the enterprise\u2019s specific competences (production considerations, marketing orientation, operational effectiveness); the enterprise\u2019s \u2018internal\u2019 architecture and technology dependence; its human resource policies, if any; firm reputation and product branding; the firm\u2019s institutional relationships (with banks, state departments, development corporations) and its \u2018goodness of fit\u2019 with its environment.<\/p>\n

The questionnaire template was administered to two sets of five small firms each, all of which qualify as successful (as defined above). Two different firms were selected carefully from each of the five island territories. The first firm was selected by virtue of its association with craft based production, mainly resorting to locally available raw materials (wood, glass, fish or wool). The second firm was chosen because it had an IT-driven and knowledge intensive product. Data for all 10 firms was mainly derived by semi-structured interviews during site visits to the firms, discussions with the founder or chief executive officer, and often supported by exchanges with individual employees. The names of the 10 selected firms are displayed below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Island Territory<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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Firm enjoying raw material input<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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‘Hi-Tech’ Firm<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Aland<\/td>\nSnickarboden<\/td>\nConsilia Solutions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iceland<\/td>\nLysi<\/td>\nFrisk Software<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Malta<\/td>\nMdina Glass<\/td>\nShireburn Software<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Saaremaa<\/td>\nSaare Paat<\/td>\nBaltic Workboats<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Scottish Isles<\/td>\nShetland Designer<\/td>\nGaeltec<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Small Business from Small Islands \u2013 NISSOS Project <\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Overview<\/a> | Acknowledgements<\/a> | Introduction<\/a> | The NISSOS Project and its Partners<\/a> | Showcasing Successful Manufacturing Firms<\/a> | Research Methodology<\/a> | Discussion: Raw materials<\/a> | Discussion: High-tech<\/a> | General Conclusions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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