BOS Data Collection 2017

Reference period The survey was posted out in August 2017. We collected information for the latest financial year for which the business had data available when they completed the questionnaire. Consistency with other periods The Business Operations Survey is a modular survey that contains a repeating business operations module, an alternating information and communications technology (ICT) or innovation module, and a contracted module. The modular structure means the published content changes each year. Stats NZ works with other organisations to develop the content for this survey. Table 1 - Business Operations Survey: Module Contents -------- ------------ ---- ----- ----- 2005 Business operations Innovation Business practices N/A 2006 Business operations ICT Employment practices N/A 2007 Business operations Innovation International engagement N/A 2008 Business operations ICT Business strategy and skills N/A 2009 Business operations Innovation Business practices N/A 2010 Business operations ICT Price and wage setting Financing 2011 Business operations Innovation International engagement N/A 2012 Business operations ICT Impact of regulation N/A 2013 Business operations Innovation Business practices Skill needs and recruitment 2014 Business operations ICT Skills acquisition Finance 2015 Business operations Innovation International engagement N/A 2016 Business operations ICT Regulation Skills Acquisition 2017 Business operations Innovation Business Practices Health and Safety Practices In addition, each module in the survey has its own specific objectives. The modules included in the Business Operations Survey 2017 and their objectives are listed below. Module A: Business operations Provides a longitudinal series of information about business performance. This data helps develop models that investigate causal relationships. As well as traditional measures of performance such as turnover and profitability, there is also a need to collect information on such areas as export intensity. The purpose of collecting information is to analyse relationships between the environment in which a business operates and the results it achieves. Module B: Innovation The objective of the innovation module is to provide information on the characteristics of innovation in New Zealand's private-sector businesses. This information will allow policies to be developed to facilitate innovation, and understand the dynamics of innovative businesses. The innovation module runs every two years, and replaced Stats NZ's former Innovation Survey, last run in 2003. The module was designed in accordance with OECD guidelines to develop an understanding of the contribution of all aspects of innovation to the New Zealand economy by measuring: • levels of business innovation • how and why businesses collaborate with other businesses and institutions to innovate • factors affecting the ability of businesses to innovate • outcomes of innovation for businesses, including its effect on exports. Module C: Business Practices This module collects data on a range of practices (including management practices and behaviours) and was also collected in 2005, 2009, and 2013. The module continually collected information on: • strategy, goals, and planning • customers • suppliers • information and benchmarking • employee practices • quality and process. In 2017, we also collected the information on supply chains. Module D: Health and Safety Practices This module collects data on business activities related to health and safety practices. This includes: • Resources spent on health and safety • Health and safety practices being performed • Impact of health and safety on business performance This module was introduced to measure the impact of health and safety legislation introduced in 2016. Data presentation Find more data for Business Operations and Innovation modules on Infoshare. A machine-readable zipped csv file is available for Business Practices and Health and Safety Practices for 2017. For previous data for Business Practices use NZ.Stat. Sampling Procedure Sample selection The sample includes an oversample of Māori authorities. Responses from Māori authorities are used to help Stats NZ and other agencies learn what makes a business a Māori business. As the sample for the Business Operations Survey is a random sample survey, the information gathered from these Māori authorities is only included if the same businesses are selected through the random selection process. Table 2 - Business Operations Survey: 2017 sampling error by size or industry Business size or industry Sampling error (%) Business size 6–19 employees 0.7 20–49 employees 2.1 50–99 employees 7.9 100+ employees 8.1 Industry Agriculture, forestry & fishing 2.1 Mining 2.8 Manufacturing 1.3 Electricity, gas, water & waste services 2.3 Construction 2.5 Wholesale trade 2.2 Retail trade 3.0 Accommodation & food services 3.7 Transport, postal & warehousing 2.8 Information media & telecommunications 2.6 Financial & insurance services 2.2 Rental, hiring & real estate services 4.1 Professional, scientific & technical services 2.0 Administrative & support services 2.4 Education & training 3.3 Health care & social assistance 2.4 Arts & recreation services 4.2 Other services 4.1 Overall 0.8 How to use the sampling error Sampling errors can be measured. They quantify the variability that occurs by chance because a sample rather than an entire population is surveyed. For example, if the estimated number of businesses in the construction industry is 5,070 with a sampling error of 2.5 percent, this means there would be a 95 percent chance the true number of businesses in the construction industry lies between 4,943 and 5,197 businesses. The sampling error detailed in table 2 represents the variability for estimates published at ANZSIC06 level 1 or business size. We can provide sampling error for the ANZSIC06 level 2 on request. Response Rate The Business Operations Survey is a sample survey. For the 2017 survey, we selected a sample of 8,103 from a total population of 41,889 businesses. The response rate reached 81%, the target response rate of 80% was achieved. en-NZ