Discerning the Understanding of SME Training Needs by Agencies: A CaRBS Analysis.

AbstractThis study aims to provide insights into the perceptions that micro and medium enterprises (SMEs) have of training providers. It will also aim to comment on the reported notion that SME attitudes towards training and development providers change with business size. The data was collected as part of a European Social Fund project to engage SMEs with a further education (FE) provider of education and training. One incumbent issue with investigating SMEs is the difficulty in obtaining information from them. In survey based analyses this often means there are noticeable levels of incompleteness in the desired questionnaire returns. This study utilises the nascent CaRBS technique to investigate the perceived understanding that external agencies have towards the training needs of SME businesses of different sizes. A further motivation for this study, and the employment of the CaRBS technique, is the exposition of the ability to analyse incomplete survey data, where a large number of missing values are present, able with the CaRBS technique without the need for their external management in anyway