Procedure for Improving the Evaluation of SBDC Consulting Activities
基于路易斯安那州样本，探讨如何改进小企业发展中心咨询活动的定量与定性评估，提出标准化年度评估程序以支持资金筹集和绩效管理。
PROCEDURE FOR IMPROVING THE EVALUATION OF SBDC CONSULTING ACTIVITIES In an attempt to replicate, with a Louisiana sample, the research on SBDC consulting activities conducted by Chrisman et al., problems were encountered which stimulated ideas regarding possible improvements on the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of SBDC consulting activities. Excerpts from the Louisiana data will be presented as background and support for the suggestions for an improved evaluation process. Only a few of the forty states with SBDCs have attempted to evaluate their statewide programs in a consistent manner, if at all. However, a number of evaluations of the overall national program have been undertaken as required by the Small Business Development Center Act of 1979 (Title II of P.L. 96-302). A variety of methodologies were used, which usually yielded evidence supporting the success of the program, but there was a notable lack of empirical evidence analyzing the SBDC's economic impact. MetaMetrics of Washington, D.C. is currently under contract to provide a national study that should provide a better economic impact analysis. It is the contention of this article that it is advisable to standardize a method for evaluating statewide SBDC programs. The evaluations should be conducted annually by state SBDC directors. Evaluations evidencing an effective program would be a useful fund-raising tool at both state and federal levels. These evaluations could also be valuable management tools for state SBDC directors in judging the performance of individual centers, if the data were segregated by center as in this study. By aggregating the individual, standardized statewide studies annually, the need for a national evaluation process would be fulfilled on a regular, cost-effective schedule. Moreover, this method would allow for consistent and accurate performance comparisons across years and between states, which would prove very useful for national evaluation and funding purposes. Past qualitative evaluations of the SBDC program have, on the whole, been favorable. However, as it is a program funded by the public sector, there exists an understandable demand for a quantifiable, economically based, impact study. The best approach would be one that combines both qualitative and quantitative programs. The following section demonstrates the usefulness of a qualitative survey, particularly as a management tool for a statewide SBDC director. QUALITATIVE RESPONSES A survey was mailed in May, 1985 to the 172 Louisiana clients receiving in-depth (12 or more hours) counseling during the period from the Louisiana SBDC startup in July, 1983 until December, 1984. A total of 61 usable responses (35.5 percent) to the six qualitative questions were received. A Chi-square test found goodness of fit between the sample and the population for the characteristics of ethnicity, sex, and SIC classification. The client-based, qualitative evaluation of the Louisiana SBDC program was necessarily short and simple. Much time had passed since the counseling had been received. Moreover, other SBDC evaluators warned of low response rates to questionnaires of even slight length and complexity attempted in the past. Suggestions for improving the quality and response rate of the qualitative evaluation process are discussed later. The respondents' assessment of the quality of service received was consistently favorable. The service was prompt in the opinion of 79 percent of the respondents; 75 percent judged the assistance to be effective; 84 percent found SBDC support easy to obtain; 72 percent found the service met their expectations. In comparing the business assistance received from the SBDC to other sources such as banks, CPAs, and others, the respondents rated the SBDCs superior 38 percent of the time, equal 26 percent of the time, and inferior only 10 percent of the time. (They were unable to draw a comparison 26 percent of the time, probably because for many of the startups the visit to the SBDC was their first exposure to managerial assistance. …