4.1.4. Travel management companiesT

4.1.4. Travel management companiesThe fourth and final sub population was the selectedtravel management companies within South Africa. TheASATA travel management database was used to identifyappropriate respondents. The database used was relativelysmall (approximately 200) and questionnaires were sent toall those listed, thus conforming to the definition of acensus rather than a sampling technique. Those listed onthe database were all managers of their respectiveorganisations tasked to deal with the corporate travelclients, thus presumed to be knowledgeable on the topic.While certain disadvantages such as survey error appear tobe greater from non-sampling rather than random sampling sources (Cooper & Schindler, 2001), this method hadthe advantage of being unrestricted in terms of thevariability of the characteristics of the organisations understudy. The sample size would have decreased the number ofpotential respondents substantially, since stratified sampling based on characteristics such as size of the organisation and travel spend would have had to be done. In usingthe census technique all subjects had the opportunity ofcompleting the questionnaire, thus allowing for a higherresponse rate. Incentives were put in place to increase theresponse rate so that survey error could be decreased. Aswith the travel suppliers the researchers were not aware ofprevious studies, therefore no established instruments ormeasurement scales were found to be available to supportthe current study into travel management companies. Thequestionnaire was distributed and 26 responses werereceived. In response to the travel management companyquestionnaire, the majority (73%) of respondents provedto be in senior management positions.