John William Sanders

Rural small firms' website quality in transition and market economies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate website quality in rural firms in four countries, by using Gonzalez and Palacioss Web Assessment Index (WAI). There is an assertion in the literature that quality is lower amongst rural firms than urban firms, and lower amongst small firms than large firms. The disadvantages of lack of access to skills and economic peripherality in rural areas are attributed to this. Concurrently, there is reason to surmise that the websites of firms in transition economies may be higher quality than those in market economies. The paper aims to explore websites in distinct rural regions to investigate if variation occurs. Design/methodology/approach – To evaluate website quality the WAI was applied to a sample of 60 rural firms representing 15 each in Scotland, New Zealand, Southern Russia and Hunan Province in China. Analysis of the categorical data was performed using a variety of established methods. Findings – The WAI is of use in terms of website quality manageme...

Does the quality of websites vary by location? A study of urban and rural small firms in Scotland:

Documents a study of the usefulness and quality of websites of small firms in urban and rural areas in Scotland using an adapted Web Assessment Index, originally developed by Gonzalez and Palacios. Contrary to the theoretical gap between practice quality in urban and rural small firms, website quality is comparable in urban and rural small businesses. Well-designed sites are rich in content, easily accessible and have fast download speeds. Findings suggest that the WAI would be a useful tool for small firms in terms of encouraging business owners/managers to focus on the various factors that impact on the quality and effectiveness of their websites.

Investigating the Relationship Between Scottish Rural Small Firms’ Social Networks, Extra-local Market Diversification and Internet Usage

Abstract Purpose This chapter reports a study that investigates the link between rural small firms’ social networks and their market diversification strategies in the context of the Internet. Methodology/approach Telephone interviews were conducted with a random sample of 142 Scottish small rural and urban firm owners in May 2012. The purpose of the telephone interviews was to understand how Internet usage impacted on the social networks and market diversification experiences of small rural firms. Analysis of the categorical data was performed using a variety of established methods. Findings Internet usage for many small Scottish rural firms was facilitating both their market reach and social networks. In addition, small rural firms’ most important social network contacts are highly correlated to their origin of sales, and this can be either locally or extra-locally based. Practical implications A positive relationship between Internet usage, social networks and market reach expansion offers support for further developing and improving the Internet infrastructure of rural communities. Originality/value Internet usage emerges as a critical tool for augmenting the social networks of Scottish rural small firms, which in turn helps to extend their market reach activities.

Chapter 12 Writing Up: A Tool Kit for Constructing your Written Project

For many people, their dissertation represents the largest piece of written work they will have had to produce to date. Writing tens of thousands of words is a qualitatively different problem than writing shorter essay or assignment style pieces. With scale comes the challenge of making sure that the document as a whole flows, is clearly structured and reads like a single integrated piece. In reality, you will find yourself writing different sections at different times sometimes months apart. It is not uncommon for these different sections to vary slightly in focus, structure or tone and this can mean that the final project reads as somewhat disjointed. The problem is that both projects and writing styles differ, so there is no single recipe for success. The research topic, methods, supervisors and your own way of working are all key aspects of developing a high quality document that will be assessed against the kinds of criteria set out in Appendix 2.