Research Questions 5: What advice do stakeholders provide to policy-makers who are involved in community development initiatives?
Questionnaire Data
The following main statement analyses were conducted on the data generated by the questionnaire:
• The university seeks advice from other stakeholders in relation to the BSC (Item 28);
• The university demonstrates a strong commitment to community consultation (Item 30).
The questionnaire sought information regarding the opinion of all the groups surveyed. It showed that bureaucrats need feedback from the community and that they are, in fact, keen to obtain feedback and consultation from the public, as shown in Table 4-5.
Table 4-5: Items Related to Providing Advice to Policy-makers in the Community
Mean Score Items
Students Staff NUS ¹
28.* The university should seek feedback from outside participants
regarding the Business Simulation Course. 3.90 4.31 4.27
30.* The university demonstrates commitment to public
consultation regarding links with the community. 4.03 4.12 4.73
Key: * these items are discussed in the following section
¹ NUS refers to non-university stakeholders
All respondents agreed that the university should seek feedback from outside participants regarding the BSC (Mean Scores between 3.90 and 4.31 for item 28), with the students having a lesser level of agreement about the importance of seeking
feedback from outside participants (Mean Score 3.90). Nevertheless, any differences here were not statistically significant. The Mean Scores from staff and non- university stakeholders were 4.31 and 4.27 respectively (Item 28). The findings for item 30, with the high Mean Scores (4.73 for non-university stakeholders), showed strong agreement that the university has a commitment to community consultation.
Interview Data
The interview questions for RQ 5 sought respondents' views on the advice that stakeholders provide to policy makers concerning the BSC. The interview data presented in this section were provided by students, staff and non-university participants.
4.1.5.1 Advice to Policy Makers to Support the BSC
Interview Question 10:
How do policy makers (i.e., government) support the Business Simulation Course?
The stakeholders provided advice to policy makers who were involved in the community and the university in relation to the BSC. In answering this question, the responses from the interviewees are reported in five sub-categorises as follows:
• Policy guidelines for government support of practical courses • How the government can facilitate the aims of the BSC • Financial support to the BSC
• Standardisation of community products (OTOP) • Support with distributing community products Policy guidelines for government support of practical courses
Student and non-university respondents thought that the university should include practical courses specifically designed for business students in the curriculum, which is in agreement with government policy. Students and non-university respondents commented as follows:
Every university should have a course like BSC in the Business Administration Faculty…policy makers should encourage students to have a sense of entrepreneurship. This can start at university (STU # 1).
…the policy makers should list all problems that occurred when students were enrolled in the practical courses; then they can design a more appropriate business curriculum. The government should promote practical courses (NUS # 1).
Education Ministers should put practical courses into all curricula; they should not be exclusively for business students. The courses should be designed to suit each institution. The university should support these courses (NUS # 6).
How the government can facilitate the aims of the BSC
All interviewees agreed that the government sector should offer practical courses to prepare students for careers in both the business and public sectors. In addition, students who have experience in practical courses should have priority in the employee selection process. As one student respondent commented:
I think it would be good if the government would let students have a chance to practise working in government offices or in private companies…The government should be able to recruit workers from the 'Dummy Company' according to the results of the students' work…Students who received training should have a better chance of employment. This might be beneficial to the government —providing better qualified officers and making the selection of personnel easier (STU # 4).
A staff respondent pointed out that local government should encourage students to work with the community in line with government policy:
Government should support students by allowing them to work in their corporations [such as OTOP]. This would challenge students in the BSC to work with the community and be in line with government policy as well (STA # 5).
The government should disseminate information to promote the BSC, according to a non-university respondent:
The government should organise meetings with representatives of faculties and student organisations to clarify government policies that involve community products [OTOP] or SMEs, in order to disseminate their policy and receive feedback from the university about how government policies are to be implemented (NUS# 4). Financial support to the BSC
Advice on financial support was given by respondents. This involved pointing out how they thought the government should organise the technical details of funding the business component of the course and the BSC itself. As a staff member pointed out,
continuity of production is an important aspect of marketing products in a 'bona fide' company. Capital for production would need to be supplied by the government.
The Government should give loans to students in the BSC, likewise to villagers. This would allow students to run their business as a 'bona fide' company with a certain amount of capital; it would also mean that students could pay tax to the government (STA # 3).
A staff and a non-university respondent pointed out that the government already had a loan scheme in operation at the village level. They considered that this scheme should be extended to students:
Actually, the government created a 'village's fund' for villagers, and small and medium business owners included in the OTOP project. These funds were given to them to develop their careers and allow them to have their own job. The investment of this small amount of money also gave them a sense of local entrepreneurship. Thus, government should start with these students (STA # 6).
The government should give loans to the university via the BSC, likewise to the villages. They should evaluate the student projects every year, as is currently done with the villages fund (NUS # 7).
As one staff member explained, capital for business ventures could not be provided by the local community, as funds were not available.
If the local community could give us credit, the goods distribution would go well, including the production system, and the products should last longer too. If the products last only one year, that would ruin the project. … After production, they should have reserves for the next production run. When we contact a small village or a small family, the people cannot give us credit, they need cash and they have to use it as revolving capital (STA # 4).
The benefit of the BSC to the community was seen as an additional reason for the government to support the BSC. As a staff member explained:
The BSC not only benefits students but also the community. Is it possible for the government to provide more money, advice and training to students and university staff (STA # 2).
Standardisation of community products (OTOP)
Product quality and presentation were identified by most respondents as an important area of marketing requiring advice and support by the government and the university. Several respondents explained that community products need to be standardised for marketing:
For community products [OTOP], government officers should set product quality standards and prices. Sometimes product quality is below standard, which then affects marketing and in turn affects the success of the BSC (STU # 2)?
…about community products [OTOP]…I wonder how some products get the FDA from government officials! I think these products don't have the same quality and are not standardised. For example the packaging is often substandard... In fact, the government should provide theoretical knowledge needed by the villagers to present and market their products well. If this is not possible, then it should be provided by the university. When small or medium business owners produce community products, services should also be provided to assist them (STA # 5).
The product image and pricing structure also was seen as an area of marketing which could by improved. As a non-university respondent pointed out:
When the community has a chance to perform its role, it does so without knowing how valuable the product is… how much the price should be; therefore, there is no product vision. Good quality and image should be presented, but this is often seen as 'rustic', 'country style' or 'local'! Local people at the village level have a limited understanding of pricing structure. They don't understand why when other people take the product they can make a lot more money out of it; much more than the producers can (NUS # 2).
Support with distributing community products
All respondents concurred that the government should encourage the BSC to be a marketing channel for community products, to generate income for local communities all over the country. A typical comment was:
The government should encourage the BSC to develop marketing channels for the villagers' products. This can be a part of promoting the students' work with the community (STU # 5).
Staff and non-university stakeholders pointed out that through OTOP the government was already supporting marketing village products. These respondents felt that more products should be marketed through the BSC as part of OTOP's distribution strategy.
The villagers' products, such as OTOP and those of small to medium entrepreneurs are the BSC suppliers…for now, the government supports OTOP and advertises the scheme to every village in the country-side (STA # 1).
OTOP is a government project, in which many organisations are involved. Thus, the government should promote the BSC as one
channel of distribution in OTOP… Moreover, the government should support students' activities with financial help so that they can help villagers to market their products (NUS # 3).
Summary of the Findings Related to Research Question 5
The major interview findings in relation to RQ 5: What advice do stakeholders provide to policy-makers, who are involved in community development initiatives, can be summarised as follows:
The data show that all stakeholders strongly agreed that the university should show more commitment to the community. Additionally, responses from interviewees agreed that the government should increase support to the university and community members via the BSC. Policy-makers should recognise the many benefits of practical courses such as the BSC and include them in the curriculum of every business school. Stakeholders suggested that additional financial support should be given to students of the BSC, by employing graduates in government-run companies. In addition, the government should provide increased funding for the development and marketing of community products (OTOP).