Questionnaire on the Management and Future Vision of Small Companies, 2006

Abstract

Survey Number 0563

Survey Title Questionnaire on the Management and Future Vision of Small Companies, 2006

Depositor Research Group for Small-Business, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo

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Educational Purpose Only available for research.

Period of Data Use Permission One year

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Summary Small companies in Japan and other developed countries make up a large number of companies and employees. The state of small companies can be said to greatly influence the economic vitality of an entire country and the scope of employment/work opportunities. On the other hand, small companies often face problems in the form of a lack of operating resources.

The “Research Group for Small-Business” was established at the Institute of Social Science at The University of Tokyo in 2006, focusing on the major role played by small companies in the economy, and examines the issues facing revitalization of small companies and the state of support as a research topic.

To investigate the research topic, the Research Group conducted (1) an analysis of the current state of public support measures for small corporations and the issues facing them, (2) an interview survey of the current state of business by Telewave and member corporations, and (3) a questionnaire survey of the current state of operation of small companies and the issues facing them.

The above questionnaire survey is recorded here, the contents of which, in addition to getting the picture of the current state of operation of small companies, find out not only manager careers, human networks, and public services but also the use of non-profit and for-profit outside services.

Data Type quantitative research: micro data

Universe Companies belonging to “wholesale/retail,” “restaurants,” “beauty,” “construction/remodeling,” and “manufacturing” among member companies and non-member companies of Telewave, Inc.

Unit of Observation Organization

Sample Size

Number of questionnaires distributed
Wholesale/retail	500	1,000	1,500
Restaurants	500	1,000	1,500
Beauty	415	1,000	1,415
Construction/remodeling	500	1,000	1,500
Manufacturing	500	1,000	1,500
Total	2,415	5,000	7,415

Number of responses	271	371	642
Response rate	11.2%	7.4%	8.7%

Date of Collection 2006-11-20 ~ 2006-11-30
2006/11/20 – 11/30

Time Period 2006 ~ 2006

Spatial Unit

Sampling Procedure Probability: Stratified
Telewave, Inc. member companies and non-member companies belonging to “wholesale/retail,” “restaurants,” “beauty,” “construction/remodeling,” and “manufacturing” were sampled, using the following method.
- Member companies
Randomly sampled mainly around Tokyo/Nagoya/Osaka by type of industry from the Telewave, Inc. customer management system
- Non-member companies
Randomly sampled mainly around Tokyo/Nagoya/Osaka by type of industry from the Internet Town Page

Mode of Data Collection Self-administered questionnaire: Paper
Mail survey
(Questionnaires sent to each company. Request that returns be addressed to “Research Group for Small Business,” Hiroki Sato Research Office, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo)

Investigator Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo. Research Group for Small Business (principal investigator: Hiroki Sato)

DOI 10.34500/SSJDA.0563

Sponsors (Funds)

Related Publications (by the Investigator) Please refer to the abstract in Japanese.

Related Publications (based on Secondary Analysis) List of related publications (based on Secondary Analysis)

Documentation [Questionnaire]

Major Survey Items (1) Corporate summary
Industry，form of management，time when business started，number of employees per employment status，changes in number of employees compared to three years ago，current situation of excess and shortage, whether or not company hired regular employees in the past three years/most effective hiring route of regular employees, performance evaluation compared to other companies of the same size in the same industry, changes in sales compared to three years ago, annual sales last year, target annual sales for this year, future business development, future store (business facility) development

(2) Managers
Manager’s gender/age/schools graduated from, marital status, involvement in spouse’s business, whether or not the manager who started the business, job immediately before starting business, most important reason for starting business, age when engaged in current business as manager, working hours per week, thoughts on work (10 items, level of importance), if respondent could obtain enough money to live without working, intention to pass on the business after retirement, presence of a successor

(3) State of the business
Evaluation compared to other companies of same scale in same industry, degree of difficulty (12 items), strength and weaknesses in continuing business, use of public institutions/private non-profit/private for-profit organizations when carrying out business (8 items)/most useful organization, state of starting a homepage/update frequency/purpose of starting/management method/homepage future policy

(4) Interaction with other corporate managers
Whether or not there are familiar managers in each field

(5) Services of Telewave, Inc.
Whether or not respondent has used Telewave, Inc. (group), starting period of contract with Telewave, use of each service/degree of usefulness, services respondent intends to use in the future

Date of Release 2008/10/01

Topics in CESSDA Click here for details

Working conditions
Business/industrial management and organisation

Topics in SSJDA Economy/Industry/Management

Version 1 ： 2008-10-01

Notes for Users Variable and value labels are written in Japanese.