3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
CHAPTER 5: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
5.6 Data validity and reliability
B5 Training of staff is frequently conducted in order to provide capacity in the business.
0,629
B6 The post-training of owner/manager and staff improves productivity in the business.
0,696
B7 The availability of time and money hinder the ability to offer proper training needs for effective productive in this business.
0,584
B8 The age of the enterprise influences the productivity and sustainability.
0,606
B9 The enterprise strategy influences the
productivity and sustainability.
0,562
B10 The firm size has an impact on the productivity and sustainability.
0,676
B11 The change in firm size had an impact on the productivity and sustainability.
0,599
B12 The enterprise structure has an influence in productivity of the enterprise.
0,494 0,334
B13 Production
management tools are useful and enhance
0,624
the smooth running of the business by managers/owners.
The KMO test’s result was above the recommended threshold of 0,6, and the Bartlett’s test’s result was statistically significant (P < 0,001) for the 13 items in section B (Field 2013), indicating that exploratory factor analysis was appropriate to conduct on the data.
The analysis identified two factors based on the eigenvalue criterion (eigenvalue greater than 1) (Field, 2013) that explained 50,9% of the total variance. One item (B12) double-loaded onto both factors. After consideration of the factor-loading values and the context of item 12 about factors 1 and 2, item 12 was retained with factor 1.
The internal coherence (reliability) of each of the discovered components was then assessed using the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, with a level of confidence specified in the existing literature as 0,5 (acceptable), 0,6 (sufficient for exploratory research) and 0,7 for previously applied apparatus. The Cronbach’s alpha values for the two identified factors were 0,865 and 0,670, which were considered acceptable.
Subsequently, two factor-based variables, labelled “Innovative business focus” and
“Challenges of introducing production management tools”, were calculated using the mean value across the items included in each factor. For sections C1 to C12, the results of the exploratory factor analysis are shown in Table 5.2.
Table 5.2: Summary of exploratory factor analysis for sections C1–C12
Section Factor KMO and Bartlett’s test (Sig.
value)
% Variance explained
Factor loadings Cronbach’s alpha
C1 Section C 0,847
P < 0,001
61,60% Factor 1
Factor 2
Factor 3 C2 The education
level of the SMMEs
owner/manager
0,769 0,770
is relevant for production management.
C3 My skills as an owner/manager allow me to be productive in the operations of the business.
0,702 0,796 0,613
C4 Resources such as funds and time are
available to allow training of staff in order to
successfully be productive in the business.
0,846 0,756 0,713
C5 Training of staff is frequently conducted in order to provide capacity in the business.
0, 738
C6 The post-training of
owner/manager and staff improves productivity in the business.
0,499
C7 The availability of time and money hinder the ability to offer proper training needs in order to effective
productive in this business.
0,413 0,820
C8 The age of the enterprise influences the productivity and sustainability.
0,698
C9 The enterprise strategy influences the productivity and sustainability.
0,440 0,357
C10 The firm size has an impact on the productivity and sustainability.
0,758
C11 The change in firm size had an impact on the productivity and sustainability.
0,669
C12 The enterprise structure has an influence in productivity of the enterprise.
0,781
The KMO test’s result was above the recommended threshold of 0,6, and the Bartlett’s test’s result was statistically significant (P< 0,001) for the 12 items in section C (Field 2013), indicating that exploratory factor analysis was appropriate to conduct on the data.
The analysis identified three factors based on the eigenvalue criterion (eigenvalue greater than 1) (Field, 2013) that explained 61,6 % of the total variance. One item (C9) double-loaded onto both factors. After consideration of the factor-loading values and the context of item 9 about factors 1 and 2, item 9 was retained with factor 1.
Subsequently, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to establish the internal consistency (reliability) of each of the identified aspects with thresholds stated in the literature as 0,5 (acceptable), 0,6 (sufficient for exploratory research) and 0,7 for
previously applied apparatus. The Cronbach’s alpha values for the three identified factors were 0,820, 0,770 and 0,713, which were considered satisfactory.
Subsequently, three factor-based variables were calculated, namely: (1) “The impact of age, size and strategy of business on productivity and sustainability”; (2) “The impact of education, skills and experience of owner/manager on the business”; and (3) “Resource availability for training”. For sections C13 to C24, the exploratory factor analysis results are shown in Table 5.3.
Table 5.3: Summary of exploratory factor analysis for sections C13–C24
Section Factor KMO and
Bartlett’s test (Sig. value)
% Variance explained
Factor loadings
Cronbach’s alpha
C1 to C24
Section C 0,938
P < 0,001
67,30% Factor 1
Factor 2 C13 The uncertain
environment under which the enterprise operated during the lockdown influences productivity.
0,798 0,931
C14 The impact of
environmental changes influences the
productivity and sustainability of the enterprise.
0,722
15 The inflation of the economy influenced the productivity and sustainability of the enterprise.
0,846
16 Government subsidies (funds) assist in improving capacity for the production and sustainability of the business.
0,699 0,825
17 Supporting agencies have an impact on the productivity of the enterprise.
0,858
18 Political and social changes have an effect on the productivity and sustainability of the business.
0,781
19 Networking with other enterprises has an effect on the productivity and sustainability of the business.
0.623
20 The use of technology plays a huge role in the productivity of the enterprise.
0.541
21 The use of technology improves the
productivity of the business.
0.511
22 The competition has an impact on the
production and sustainability of the enterprise.
0.498
23 The productivity of the enterprise has an influence on the success of the
business in the market.
0.456
24 Market innovations have an impact on the enterprise.
0.422
For the 12 items in section C (Field, 2013), the results of the Bartlett's test were statistically significant (P 0,001) and the KMO test was over the suggested threshold
of 0.6, suggesting that an exploratory factor analysis should be performed on the data.
Based on the eigenvalue criterion (eigenvalue larger than 1), two components were discovered in the analysis (Field 2013), accounting for 67.3 % of the total variance.
Nothing was loaded twice onto either component. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was then used to evaluate the internal consistency (reliability) of each of the found components, with a threshold defined in the literature as 0,5 (acceptable), 0,6 (adequate for exploratory study), and 0,7 for previously deployed apparatus. The two factors that were found had Cronbach's alpha values of 0,931 and 0,825, respectively, which were deemed satisfactory.
Subsequently, two factor-based variables, labelled as “General economic and business impacts” and “Governmental and political impacts”, were calculated using the mean value across the items included in each factor.