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Business research often requires use of survey‐based techniques for data acquisition. In the past, researchers had to rely on manual methodologies for survey distribution, data entry, and analysis. These approaches were generally characterized by uncertain (often low) response rates; batch processing of collected data; protracted time periods spanning survey distribution to processed statistical results; and inability to make “mid‐course corrections”. These deficiencies are exacerbated for research on global competitiveness issues which requires international data gathering activities; however, they can be mitigated, if not completely eliminated, by the use of dynamic web‐based survey methods. This paper discusses the advantages of web‐based survey technologies with direct back‐end database interfaces and analytical frameworks, and presents illustrative results from development and use of such a tool.

Many facilities management professionals originally graduated from a building surveying course. The high referral rate of the professional body pre‐qualification assessment process for building surveyors and other criticisms of graduates have led many to question whether building surveying education is fit for purpose. This paper seeks to address these issues.

Previous research on this subject has concentrated on obtaining the views of course providers and employers. The approach adopted for this study has been an on‐line survey of recent UK building surveying graduates. A 30 per cent response rate resulted in 806 graduates undertaking the survey.

Most graduates had studied a full‐time undergraduate course, three‐quarters had gained some form of placement or work‐experience during their studies, the mode of the year of graduation was 2004 and 65 per cent of the sample work in private practice. The survey reveals concerns over non‐coverage of some of the professional body's pre‐qualification competencies. The most useful subjects studied by graduates were construction technology and building pathology and the least useful was economics. The top two omitted subjects from courses were contract administration and dilapidations – both core areas of work. Skills development was weaker on postgraduate than undergraduate courses.

Those designing HE building surveying courses can refer to the results of this study to ensure that their curricula remain relevant and current to the needs of industry.

This study into building surveying education has been undertaken at a time when many UK universities are reviewing their course provision to ensure that they are well placed to survive the massive upheaval imposed by government funding cuts and changes in student finance. This study with its large sample size will be of assistance to those reviewing building surveying courses.

Ordnance Survey was established in 1791 as a paper map maker for Britain's Armed Forces. Two hundred and nineteen years on, it has evolved to a high‐tech geographic data specialist, and the impact of this on its culture, identity and vision has been massive. In 2008 Ordnance Survey found itself struggling to recruit and retain in technology and commercial fields. It also saw great challenges in motivating staff and bringing together a number of subcultures that had developed over time. This paper aims to investigate this issue.

It was critical to understand the current employer brand strengths and weaknesses, how Ordnance Survey is perceived externally, what it is like in reality, and its vision. This was achieved through solid research conducted internally and externally, including focus groups with existing staff, depth interviews with senior management and consultation with recruitment consultants, short‐service leavers and recent joiners.

The research highlighted some widely known strengths of Ordnance Survey, including its strong proud history, its flexibility and adaptability as an employer and the supportive working environment it offers. Some less well‐known attributes were also drawn out, including the innovative nature of the organization, its dynamic technology and the opportunity for staff to really make a difference.

This research led to the development of a compelling set of values which will inform how Ordnance Survey markets itself externally and interacts with employees, leading to better retention of skills, greater alignment with the vision and a strong reputation as a great employer.

Explains the advantages of using a culture survey as part of an organization′s change effort and examines the use of culture surveys in information gathering and communication. Culture surveys, used properly, become invaluable in guiding change. Used improperly, however, they can be counterproductive. Describes the principles for designing, implementing and analysing the data resulting from a culture survey, along with a case study describing the successful application of these principles in one organization.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the adequacy of impact surveys for identifying library influence on highly diverse populations.

Projects calculating an economic value of library services have become nearly familiar in the last decades, while attempts to identify an influence of library use on people's lives and on society are still somewhat rare. Probably the most suitable and manageable instrument for impact assessment is the survey, whether print or online, used separately or combined with interview techniques. The paper describes recent projects using impact surveys for diverse populations and compares their goals, target groups, and results. The focus is on impact in the sense of changes in people resulting from the contact with library services, not on economic value of libraries.

The impact projects that are analysed, though differing strongly in outer conditions, populations and goals, show the applicability of the survey method for impact assessment, but also the need for adapting the method to the specific conditions.

Studies on library impact are ongoing, and methods are still developing. The paper shows a snapshot of the present situation.

The paper concentrates on the most-used instrument of impact assessment; surveys. Based on practical examples it shows advantages and challenges of the method and gives recommendations for format and content of surveys in different settings.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the role of the employee in the high performance organization. One of the management techniques which has gained much popularity the past 15 years is the employee satisfaction survey. Many organizations, both profit and non-profit, use a yearly questionnaire, which measures the satisfaction of employees with all sorts of things in the organization. Yet recently, dissenting opinions can be heard that are critical of what they call “the yearly employee survey ritual”. The criticism focuses on the results of the survey which are not dealt with adequately so that the employee survey gradually has become a dissatisfier for employees. Another phenomenon is that organizations that are considering to conduct a high performance organization (HPO) diagnosis renounce this using the justification that “we are already doing an employee survey.”

In this article the purpose of the employee survey, its advantages, its problems in practice and its relation with the HPO Framework are discussed.

It is shown how the employee survey can be improved. In addition, its is shown that the employee survey and the HPO Framework are two different but complementary techniques that can and should be used in conjunction with each other.

This article is one of the first to discuss the relation between two important management improvement techniques: the employee survey and the HPO framework.

This paper presents the UE‐Eurostat methodology to design and implement a system of surveys of inbound tourism. It has been thought for the homogeneisation of the information systems of the EU countries and for the development of the cooperation in the field of tourism statistics between the European Union and other relevant extra‐Europe regions. Furthermore, the methodology wants to give a common framework of analysis for the collection and processing of comparable statistics at each territorial level. The general research process has been split up into nine fundamental steps which represent the stages a researcher has to follow in order to obtain reliable data on visitor flows, visitors' and trip characteristics, consumption behaviour and opinions and impressions on the trip and the visit. It has been implemented for closed areas (areas with political borders, e.g. a country, geographical borders, e.g. a island, artificial borders, e.g. a museum, a theme park, an archaeological area) and open areas (a macro‐region, a region, a single tourist destination, e.g. a city, or tourist site, e.g. a square).

Using a large‐scale database of a major business services company, self‐reported usage volume data were compared with actual usage volume. Several business‐related factors were then examined in relation to the survey response bias. Survey response bias was found to be lower for clients that use the services more extensively, had been in business for a longer period of time, and have smaller number of employees. Survey response bias was also found to be lower when the level of involvement with the service (lower level of management in this study) was greater. Such response bias information would be useful for managers when making sales forecasts or market share estimations using survey responses.

Surveying is one of the world's oldest professions. The Egyptians used a system of ropes and knots to relocate boundaries along the Nile after periodic flooding; they also used the plumb bob. The Babylonians are credited with dividing the circle into 360 degrees, and as early as 1600 BCE the Chinese were using a form of magnetic compass. In the second century BCE Greeks were using the astrolabe. There are numerous references in the Bible to surveying, such as, “Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark” (Deuteronomy 27:17). Plane tables were used in Europe as early as the sixteenth century. Modern surveying is said to have begun in the late eighteenth century.

Respondents’ comments to the LibQUAL+™ spring 2001 survey were examined to refine the instrument and reduce non‐sampling error. Using qualitative data analysis software, Atlas.ti, respondents’ unsolicited e‐mail messages were analyzed. Results showed that the major problem with the survey was its length, which was due to a combination of factors. This information helped the survey designers in reducing the number of library service quality items from 56 to 25 and in addressing technical problems from the Web‐based survey. An in‐depth discussion of the steps followed in conducting the Atlas.ti analysis will also be discussed.