Business Performance Newsletter – September 2012

About Business Performance Newsletter

This newsletter provides an update of upcoming releases and new developments in statistics that measure business performance. It is released two or three times a year.

1. Business Performance group update

Longer and warmer days signal spring is on its way. Our 2012 surveys have also sprung into life with the remaining collections hitting the streets in late August. We would like to thank everyone who has completed one of our surveys - as always, your information underpins everything we do and forms the core of a growing knowledge base. Read on to find out about updates and improvements we’re making on our 2012 and 2013 surveys.

Innovation in New Zealand: 2011

See our report on business innovation, which continues to be a topic of interest. We have also been busy with a series of requests for information to feed into studies on activities in key sectors of the New Zealand economy. High-tech and knowledge-intensive sectors are areas where our work is gathering momentum.

We continue to add to our Longitudinal Business Database (LBD), which now contains a full suite of balance of payments data. More and more micro researchers are using the LBD; the recently included agricultural production data is the latest area of research interest.

In October we will be releasing our latest information from our annual Internet Service Providers survey. We will also be releasing our Energy Use in the Primary sector surveys – this information was last collected three years ago. In addition to these releases, we will be busy processing the information received from our current surveys, which will see the team as busy as ever. Members of the team will be out and about at a number of industry conferences in the upcoming months. We welcome your interest in our information and encourage you to make contact with us at info@stats.govt.nz.

2. Information and communication technology programme

Internet service providers

The Internet Service Providers (ISP) Survey is an annual survey that collects information on Internet subscription numbers, speed, and types of connection.

The survey was posted out on 29 June and the majority of responses have been received and processed. We will start analysing the results in September.

The information release for ISP will be published on 12 October 2012.

For more information contact Uthpala Vattala: info@stats.govt.nz.

Household information and communication technology

The Household Use of Information and Communication Technology Survey is run every three years. It collects data from households about access to and use of computers, the Internet, and mobile phones.

The 2012 survey is about half way through the collection phase of the survey cycle after entering the field on 8 July 2012.

The Household Use of Information and Communication Technology Survey is a supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey and is running on the September 2012 quarter. The survey is an electronic questionnaire and is delivered via a combination of telephone and face-to-face interviews.

Preparations are now underway for the processing and analysis of the data as it comes through.

Collection closes at the end of September and results will be released in May 2013.

For further information, contact Keely Betham: info@stats.govt.nz.

Information and communication technology supply

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Survey provides the latest statistics on sales of ICT goods and services, a breakdown of the ICT business population, and barriers to business growth.

The 2012 ICT Supply Survey was posted out 20 August 2012. The updated questionnaire is very similar to the 2010 version. However, more modern examples of devices were given (such as Blu-ray players compared to DVD players). One commodity group was split into two; 'Internet access and Internet telecommunication services' is now 'Internet access services' and 'Internet telecommunication services'.

For further information, contact Ben Nimmo: info@stats.govt.nz.

Business use of information and communication technology

Data about information and communication technology (ICT) use in New Zealand businesses is collected every two years, as one of three modules within the annual Business Operations Survey.

See Business Operations Survey: 2010 – Detailed tables for the latest information about New Zealand businesses’ use of ICT. The next ICT module will run this year. We’ve modified it to ensure it still meets user needs. Results from this module will be available on 15 April 2013.

For further information or to talk to us about future content, contact Kathy Jackson: info@stats.govt.nz.

3. Business operations

The Business Operations Survey (BOS) collects information on the 'why' of business activities. BOS looks at the sorts of activities businesses are performing and specific characteristics of each activity (eg barriers, motivations, causes, reasons, and outcomes). BOS is an annual survey that collects a wide range of information, some of which differs each year.

Business Operations Survey: 2011 results were released on 13 April 2012. We published detailed tables containing information on business operations, innovation, and international engagement.

Innovation in New Zealand: 2011 was published on 29 June 2012. The report includes comparisons of innovators and non-innovators across a selection of statistics, and further analysis of data already released.

The 2012 Business Operations Survey questionnaire has been finalised and was posted out on 20 August. It includes modules on business operations, information and communication technology, and how regulation affects businesses. Results from the 2012 survey will be released on 15 April 2013.

The Business Operations Survey also includes a module that changes from survey to survey. This is known as the contestable component. Interested parties can put forward ideas of what they’d like to see measured. We recently sent out expressions of interest for this module.

The Business Operations Survey collects a wide range of information. We are more than happy to help customers source the best information for their needs. If you have any enquires or data requests, please contact us.

For further information, contact Kathy Jackson: info@stats.govt.nz.

4. Screen industry

The Screen Industry Survey is an annual census of screen industry businesses, covering all those involved in production and post-production, distribution, exhibition, and broadcasting activities.

The 2011/12 collection is about to be mailed out, to be completed over the coming months. There are very few changes to the questionnaire this year. The main changes are the reintroduction of post-production activity breakdown, and the separation of a question on the number of completed television programmes into series and stand-alone productions.

We have been exploring several ideas for areas of potential development in 2013:

• producing a value-added measure of the industry
• improving means of measuring employment in the screen industry
• whether to add questions to the survey or use data from an existing source for measuring the digital gaming industry

We have been working with the support of other units within Statistics NZ, our stakeholder group, and industry groups to explore these areas. We expect to conclude our work on this by the end of November, with the intention of testing and approving changes for the 2013 survey.

We are starting to see some of the results of the Screen Industry Work Programme being carried out by the Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment (Economic Development Group) and the Ministry for Culture & Heritage.

The Evaluation of Government Programmes was published in June and more results are expected over the coming months.

We will be attending a number of industry conferences coming up over the next few months. These include the Big Screen Symposium, which will be held on 1–2 September in Auckland, the AnimFX Conference on 15–16 November, and the Screen Production and Development Association Conference on 22–23 November, both in Wellington.

For further information, contact Jason Mackiewicz: info@stats.govt.nz.

5. Research and development

The Research and Development (R&D) Survey is conducted every two years. It measures the level of research and development activity, as well as employment and expenditure by private sector enterprises, government departments, and universities.

The R&D survey has undergone changes to the population selection. It now excludes businesses that are not involved in research and development activity. This means there will be a higher sampling rate of businesses performing research and development included in the survey.

New questions have been added to the Business and Government questionnaires for 2012.These questions are focused on strategic intent and priorities. A budget appropriation question has also been added to the government questionnaire.

Post-out of the questionnaires is now underway. Around 3,500 enterprises were included in this year’s survey. Respondents are split into business, government, Crown research institutes, and university categories. Crown research institutes and universities are full coverage categories, meaning all enterprises in these sectors are included in the survey.

Andrew Black, from the Statistical Methods unit, visited the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in July. He discussed the Research and Development survey with fellow statisticians. This highlighted the potential for further collaboration as knowledge and experience across different methodologies could be shared and incorporated into common practices.

For more information contact Jason Thomas: info@stats.govt.nz.

6. Bioscience

The Bioscience Survey is undertaken every two years and contains information on the use, spread, and application of bioscience in New Zealand.

Results from the 2011 Bioscience Survey were released on 17 February 2012. Over the last month we have been consulting with stakeholders and users of the 2011 survey. This is to make sure that the survey in its current form is still meeting the needs of users. The feedback is currently being collated and will be sent out to stakeholders over the coming weeks.

For further information, contact Michael Challands: info@stats.govt.nz.

7. New Zealand Energy Use Survey

The New Zealand Energy Use Survey (NZEUS) collects information on energy use from different sectors of the New Zealand economy. This fills important information gaps and is required for effective policy planning.

The 2012 NZEUS is progressing well. We have closed off the data collection having achieved the required number of responses (over 3,000 responses).

We have started the processing and analysis. This is the first year we are able to compare with previous data collected from the same industry sector. Comparing the total estimates from both years allows us to gauge major areas to investigate. Comparing individual businesses that were in both years’ samples allows us to do much closer checks on those businesses.

The results for the 2011/12 year, including some comparisons to 2008/09, will be released on 18 October 2012.

For further information, contact Andrew Neal: info@stats.govt.nz.

8. Longitudinal Business Database

The prototype Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) contains integrated data from survey and administrative sources, and is used for microdata research. The database allows us to analyse a wide range of annual, enterprise-based data about New Zealand businesses over time.

The LBD is updated each year. This year’s annual update is in progress and the following datasets are currently available:

The database has recently been updated with 2011 Business Operations data and the Agriculture Production Survey is now available to users for the first time.

The Quarterly International Investment Survey (QIIS) is currently being incorporated and should be available by the end of August 2012.

See the Data Laboratory application form to access the database and microdata.

For further information, contact Yolandi De Beer: info@stats.govt.nz.

9. Who’s who in Business Performance

10. International Council for Small Business

In June, Jason Thomas, project leader for the R&D Survey, attended the 57th World Conference of the International Council for Small Business held in Wellington. The theme for the conference was ‘leading from the edge’ with attendees travelling from far and wide including academics, policy makers, and business owners. It was a good opportunity to find out about current issues facing small businesses, the role of government in helping to develop and support these businesses, and academic research undertaken to help understand the nature of entrepreneurship.

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