Preliminary overview of the market potential of five market areas for the Oklahoma State University Office of Business Extension

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: The focus of this research study is that of determining in which direction(s) OSU Business Extension should concentrate its marketing efforts during the early 1980's. In doing so, a model or procedure will be established which can be used periodically in the future. Sixty-six Oklahoma business firms have been interviewed to discern their current training and development programs and needs, as well as to observe similarities and differences among five major industry types and four employee size categories. A frequency procedure (SAS) was used to categorize the data and to determine the corresponding percentages for analytical purposes. In addition, the stepwise procedure (SAS) was utilized to isolate company characteristics which add significantly to an explanation of variance in training and development expenditures.

Findings and Conclusions: It was found that the needs of the five industry types--manufacturing, service, wholesale, bank/savings, and oil and gas--do differ enough to necessitate a distinct marketing strategy for each. Company size was also significant, with the larger businesses (500 or more employees) holding more potential during the next few years than the smaller ones. The total number of employees, total number of supervisors, and industry type were the only company characteristics explaining variance in training and development expenditures of the businesses surveyed to a significant degree.