The Need of Business Information Used by Entrepreneurs in Small and Medium Enterprises in Khon Kaen Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research were : 1) to study the need of business information used by entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Khon Kaen province about content, nature of content, data range, format and sources as well as problems on entrepreneurs' use of business information and 2) to investigate the relationship between education level, period of implementation, size and types of enterprises and SMEs location in Khon Kaen province and the needs of business information.

It was found that the entrepreneurs were in high need of business information related to marketing, administration and management. Business information was the most needed information. In terms of contents, the entrepreneurs needed analytical information, statistical data, figures and charts with explanations. In terms of timeliness, they were also highly in need of current business information that could project 1-3 years the most forward and backward. About the format, they moderately needed the use of printed and nonprinted materials. Among the printed materials, business and industry periodicals were highly useful, while the nonprinted materials were state agencies' website, institutes, business and private associations. Regarding sources of information, it was found the workplaces and from the mass media were the most important sources of information.

A certain problems of information use were noted in this study. The most notable one was the available information was not timely and was not responsive to the need of the users. The entrepreneurs, well, therefore, reluctant to use the information, while certainly affected their ability and allocated time to search for information.

The results from a hypotheses testing showed that types of entrepreneurs were related to the need of business information use at a 0.05 level of significance, which supported the hypothesis in this research. This study also revealed that education level, period of implementation, size and SMEs location were not correlated with the need for information use.