Philip Shapira, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0345 USA, email: philip.shapira@pubpolicy.gatech.edu ; Jan Youtie, Economic Development Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0640 USA, email: jan.youtie@edi.gatech.edu
April 1996
ABSTRACT: This report summarizes results of the evaluation of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance. The report shows that most customers are satisfied with the services they receive, and that projects leverage private commitments and positive net returns. The report also highlights an analysis of how impacts vary by program types.
The Georgia Manufacturing Extension Alliance (GMEA)--a consortium of technology and business service providers led by Georgia Tech's Economic Development Institute--has invested in the systematic evaluation of its efforts to modernization small and medium-sized manufacturers in the state. As part of this evaluation, assessments of customer satisfaction with program services, customer actions taken as a result of the services provided, and the economic impacts of those actions have been made. Between February 1994 and December 1995, end-of-project evaluations were completed using a mail survey with nearly 350 customers. A one-year telephone follow-up study has been conducted with 75 of these firms. The results of these studies show:
Customer Satisfaction is High. Customers gave GMEA an overall average rating of 4.44 on a five-point scale (with one being poor and five being excellent). Timeliness and staff knowledge and experience received particularly high ratings. Referrals to other organizations received lower ratings. (Program staff are now being encouraged to better qualify and track referrals.)
Most Customers Take Action. More than 80 percent of GMEA customers reported in their post-service surveys that they have or will take action as a result of the assistance and services received. Companies which have or are likely to take action have higher satisfaction ratings than those not likely to take action. They also received more hours of service from GMEA staff. One year later, the percentage of customers that actually took action was 68 percent (another 17 percent had projects on-hold). Customers were more likely to take action in the following instances:
Projects Leverage Private Commitments and Positive Net Returns. GMEA surveys showed that the average customer allocated some 95 days to GMEA projects--a very significant leveraging of the program staff time allocated to projects. A cost-benefit analysis (which includes a full set of costs as well as benefits) indicates a private return of up to $3.10 for each private dollar invested and a public return of up to $1.90 for each public dollar invested.
Impacts Vary by Project Type. GMEA's customer evaluations are analyzed to provide information on the impacts of different project types. On average, marketing, plant layout/expansion, and product development projects are 25 percent or more likely to increase sales and create new jobs. Human resource and computer/business systems/communications projects are 50 percent or more likely to save jobs and produce inventory savings. (See Table 1.)
High-Performing Cases. While most projects generate positive results, some have very large impacts. GMEA has undertaken in-depth case studies of high-impact projects to better understand how and why these results occurred.. The case studies include a product development project yielding $2 million in bookings over two years and 10 new jobs, and a plant layout project which led to $8 million in sales (in which the CAD layout was used as a sales tool), as well as $100,000 in operating savings, $750,000 in inventory savings, a 40 percent increase in direct labor productivity, and 16 new jobs. In both of these cases, the high-performing projects addressed problems which were critical to the companies and needed to be resolved within a specified time frame; the field agents were very experienced; and specialized outside technical resources were drawn in. Neither case involved the use of standardized assessment tools. Each company operated in mature markets and had not received previous program assistance. In addition to the direct economic results, both companies also indicated that they learned much about the value of seeking outside help.
For more information about GMEA's evaluation plan, please contact Philip Shapira at 404/894-7735 (email:philip.shapira@pubpolicy.gatech.edu) or Jan Youtie at 404/894-6111 (email:jan.youtie@edi.gatech.edu).
The Georgia Tech Project on Industrial Modernization - www.prism.gatech.edu/~ps25/mod.htm
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