Business support to third sector organisations contract review: research summary

Appendix A: Research Method

This appendix sets out the review methodology used by the study team.

Study Method

Desk review of policy context and programme documentation

The review began with a comprehensive literature review to broaden the study team’s understanding of the policy context surrounding and driving Just Enterprise. In particular this involved the sourcing and reviewing of Scottish Government policy documents (including social enterprise strategies and action plans and broader reviews of business support), the Social Enterprise in Scotland Census and literature around business support for social enterprises and enterprising Third Sector organisations internationally.

As well as reviewing literature covering broad themes around the social enterprise sector and business support, the study team undertook an extensive review of Just Enterprise specific programme documentation. This included quarterly and annual reports, case studies, impact reports, budgets and contractual documents.

In addition to programme documentation, the study team were provided with monitoring information relating to support recipients from years one to six of the contract. This information was used to analyse the number of recipients and instances of support over the whole contract, over the first and second contract and according to the type of support accessed. It was also used to build a profile of recipients based on their location, sector and size of organisation. This analysis offered understanding of which areas and sectors Just Enterprise is best reaching and was used to compare the types of organisations receiving Just Enterprise support against the broader population of social enterprises and enterprising Third Sector organisations across Scotland.

Stakeholder consultations

In order to gain an in-depth view of the strategic fit of Just Enterprise with both Government policy and the broader development of the sector, consultations were carried out with 17 key stakeholders from organisations with expertise in business support, enterprise and social entrepreneurship. Organisations represented are given at Appendix B, and included Business Gateway, Highland and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise, Social Enterprise Scotland and the Scottish Government.

As well as consultations with wider stakeholders, a further 20 consultations were carried out with consortium delivery partners. Consultees included advisors and delivery staff and this strand of the research provided important information around support delivery and the effectiveness of the consortium approach. Again, a list of consortium partner organisations consulted is given at Appendix B.

Research with service beneficiaries / recipients

Fieldwork with service beneficiaries was a key strand of the research as it provided vital information around the impacts, benefits and effectiveness of Just Enterprise support. The core themes of this research included further building a profile of beneficiaries, recipients’ experiences of support throughout the process (from application to aftercare), the benefits and impacts of support on recipients and their organisations (including economic impacts) and recipients’ future support needs.

Research with service users took several forms. Some 456 recipients ^[68] took part in the research: 231 completed an online survey which was distributed to all those for whom contact details were held in the first instance, 200 were surveyed via telephone (prioritising the early contract period and geographic areas, sector and type of support under-represented in the online survey responses) and 25 took part in either a telephone or face to face consultation. Seven Start-up recipients and seven Business Support recipients who had already taken part in the online survey also participated in online discussion forums.

The discussion forum was carried out through participants commenting on questions with further discussion prompted by participants responding to each other’s comments. A consultant also took part in the forum, adding in comments to stimulate further discussion. This allowed for further probing into the strengths, weaknesses and impacts of the support.

The online and telephone surveys provided the necessary quantitative and qualitative data to allow for robust analysis, whilst the telephone consultations added more depth to the qualitative data and helped to build the study team’s understanding of the impacts and benefits of support from the perspectives of those that participated in the research. Although the survey data (both online and telephone) is not a random sample / representative of all recipients / beneficiaries of Just Enterprise support over the full contract periods, the findings provide depth to the findings of the other aspects of the research (review of policy and Just Enterprise programme documentation and key stakeholder consultations).

Research with non-service beneficiaries

Research was also carried out with individuals who had applied for support but had not participated. This was done through 50 telephone interviews. Research with non-service beneficiaries was undertaken in order to understand any barriers there might be to participation in Just Enterprise support. The research also helped to capture the wider population of social enterprises and enterprising Third Sector organisations through engaging with organisations other than those that had participated in Just Enterprise support.