Table 1. Overview of method applied based on the different parts of the purpose.
Purpose Data collection method Validation method Analysis method
Purpose part 1; identifying work order information components in harvesting Semi-structured interviews with logging contractors Focus group with national trade association Qualitative data analysis;
open coding
Purpose part 2; identifying order information quality dimensions in harvesting Literature study, structured interviews with experts
(academic and professional) 		Structured interviews with logging industry experts Qualitative data analysis;
selective coding
Purpose part 3; assessing work order information quality in harvesting Survey with logging
contractors 		Structured interviews with logging industry representative Quantitative data analysis;
frequencies, mean, st. dev., ANOVA and factor analysis using SPSS
1

Fig. 1. Forest harvesting work order components and their origins (general work order components).

Table 2. Information regarding respondents.
Total number of certified logging contractors 958
Sample size 100
Shouldn’t have been on the list (for instance, gone out of business or changed focus area) 3
Respondents not willing to participate 5
Respondents not answering despite three calls 10
Number of answers 82
Response rate 82% from the sample,
8.5% from the complete list
Table 3. Frequencies observed for each individual work order information component in harvesting.
Work order information coponent Frequencies observed
Archaeological remains or similar* 6
Cleaning understory trees – not conducted 6
Cleaning understory trees – of low standard 6
Landing – placement 6
Landing – size 6
Paper-strip – main haul road 6
Paper-strip – region boundary asproprietor boundary 2
Paper-strip – environment protection 4
Paper-strip – logging area 5
Placement of main haul road* 6
Possible clear the road from snow* 6
Power lines and telecom cables* 6
Road barrier* 6
* = General work order information components identified in the harvesting work order.
Table 4. Overview of empirical studies including applied information quality dimensions.
Table 5. Descriptive statistics for the time information quality dimension.
No of
days 		No of respondents
– Ordinary circumstances 		No of respondents
– In the best of cases 		No of respondents
– In the worst of cases
0     25
1     23
2 3 3 11
3     1
4 1    
5 5 3 5
6 1    
7 2 3 16
8 3    
9      
10 10 3  
11      
12      
13      
14 35 8 1
15 2 7  
16      
17      
18 2    
19      
20 2 3  
21 11 27  
22      
23      
24      
25   2  
26      
27      
28 5 19  
29      
30   4  
Total 82 82 82
Min 2 2 0
Max 28 30 14
Average 14 20 2
SD 6.1 7.5 3.1
SD = standard deviation
Table 6. Descriptive statistics for the accuracy information quality dimension with regard to each specific work order information component.
Work order information component Mean SD
Paper-strip – environment protection 6.50 .878
Paper-strip – region boundary as proprietor boundary 6.40 1.132
Road barrier 6.37 1.319
Paper-strip – logging area 6.18 1.353
Possible snow-clearing of road 6.10 1.682
Power lines and telecom cables 5.93 1.858
Archaeological remains or similar 5.88 1.927
Placement of main haul road 5.63 1.836
Paper-strip – main haul road 5.67 1.925
Landing – placement 5.05 1.930
Cleaning understory trees – not conducted 4.93 2.193
Cleaning understory trees – of low standard 3.77 2.145
Landing – size 2.78 1.693
SD = standard deviation.
Table 7. Identification of significant different means using ANOVA (Bonferroni’s pair wise comparison), in alphabetical order.
Work order information component Significant different with variable
Archaeological remains or similar Cleaning understory trees - not conducted
Cleaning understory trees - of low standard
Landing – placement
Landing – size
Cleaning understory trees - not conducted Archaeological remains or similar
Landing – size
Paper-strip – environment protection
Paper-strip – logging area
Paper-strip – region boundary as proprietor boundary
Placement of main haul road
Possible snow-clearing of road
Power lines and telecom cables
Road barrier
Cleaning understory trees - of low standard Archaeological remains or similar
Landing – size
Paper-strip – environment protection
Paper-strip – logging area
Paper-strip – region boundary as proprietor boundary
Placement of main haul road
Possible snow-clearing of road
Power lines and telecom cables
Road barrier
Landing – placement Landing – size
Paper-strip – environment protection
Paper-strip – logging area
Paper-strip – region boundary as proprietor boundary
Placement of main haul road
Possible snow-clearing of road
Power lines and telecom cables
Road barrier
Landing – size Archaeological remains or similar
Cleaning understory trees - not conducted
Cleaning understory trees - of low standard
Landing – placement
Paper-strip – environment protection
Paper-strip – logging area
Paper-strip – main haul road
Paper-strip – region boundary as proprietor boundary
Placement of main haul road
Possible snow-clearing of road
Power lines and telecom cables
Road barrier
Paper-strip – environment protection Cleaning understory trees - not conducted
Cleaning understory trees - of low standard
Landing – placement
Landing – size
Paper-strip – logging area Cleaning understory trees - not conducted
Cleaning understory trees - of low standard
Landing – placement
Landing – size
Paper-strip – main haul road Landing – size
Paper-strip – region boundary as proprietor boundary Cleaning understory trees - not conducted
Cleaning understory trees - of low standard
Landing – placement
Landing – size
Placement main haul road Cleaning understory trees - not conducted
Cleaning understory trees - of low standard
Landing – placement
Landing – size
Possible snow-clearing of road Cleaning understory trees - not conducted
Cleaning understory trees - of low standard
Landing – placement
Landing – size
Power lines and telecom cables Cleaning understory trees - not conducted
Cleaning understory trees - of low standard
Landing – placement
Landing – size
Road barrier Cleaning understory trees - not conducted
Cleaning understory trees - of low standard
Landing – placement
Landing – size
Table 8. Rotated factor matrix.
Component
1 2 3 4 5
Paper-strip – region boundary as proprietor boundary .873
Paper-strip – logging area .831
Paper-strip – main haul road .656
Power lines and telecom cables .873
Archaeological remains or similar .834
Cleaning under story trees (not conducted) .649
Cleaning under story trees (of low standard) .854
Landing – size .729
Landing – placement .400
Paper-strip – environment protection .794
Placement of main haul road .706
Road barrier .791
Possible snow-clearing of road .753
Extraction method: Principal Component Analysis; Rotation method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
Table 9. Mean of work order information components for each factor and internal ranking of the of the respective factor (starting with highest mean value).
Original factor name Mean Internal ranking
Factor 1 6.083 2
Factor 2 5.905 4
Factor 3 4.132 5
Factor 4 6.065 3
Factor 5 6.250 1
Table 10. Application in the harvesting industry of five identified information quality dimensions, based on interviews with experts.
IQ dimension Definition Source Related to harvesting industry
Accurate Free from obvious mistakes Forslund and Jonsson (2007) The information should be accordance with reality. Even if the work order is downloaded from the web portal, it needs to reflect the current situation.
Complete The extent to which the information is comprehensive Gustavsson and Jonsson (2008) The work order and instructions should be understandable for the person conducting the harvesting. The work order contains predefined fields and these are to be comprehensible for the logging contractor. The information quality regarding the completeness of the separate work orders is considered to be rather high; therefore, completeness with regard to information quality will not be assessed further in this study.
Relevant The extent to which the information is appropriate for the task and application Gustavsson and Jonsson (2008) The work order and attached information should be designed so all needed information is included. It is not possible for the sender to load the work order on the web portal if all fields are not filled in. The information quality regarding the relevance of the separate work orders is considered to be rather high; therefore, relevance with regard to information will not be assessed further in this study.
Reliable The probability that the forecast remains unchanged Gustavsson and Jonsson (2008) When logging contractors and timber buyers close annual agreements, they do not have discussions regarding the specific work orders. The information quality regarding the reliability of the separate work orders is considered to be rather high; therefore, reliability with regard to information will not be assessed further in this study.
Timely Arrives in agreed time Gustavsson and Jonsson (2008) The logging contractor and the timber buyer close an agreement on when the work order should be sent to the contractor, normally 2 weeks in advance. Information regarding each work order information component is received together. If the logging contractor has not received the work order, it is impossible to conduct the logging work. The relevance of timeliness is with regard to the work order and not the individual work order components.
Table 11. Tentative factor characteristics.
Original factor name Nature Type of work preparatory*/ necessity** Value when conducting work for the logging contractor
Factor 1 Administrative Preparatory Prerequisite
Factor 2 Administrative Preparatory N.A.
Factor 3 Administrative Preparatory Prerequisite
Factor 4 Administrative Preparatory Facilitation Prerequisite
Factor 5 Practical Necessity N.A.
* = preparations the timber buyer is expected to have done before harvesting.
** = necessity in order for the logging contractor to access the area to be harvested.
2

Fig. 2. Overview of result of the study.