The case of the Ghana Cocoa Industry By Albert Gyamfi (PhD Fellow-AAU-CPH)
THE MEDIA RICHNESS PERSPECTIVE
OF SOCIAL WEB USAGE FOR KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
OVERVIEW
Introduction Motivation Research question Theoretical background Conceptual model Conclusion
INTRODUCTION (1):PRODUCTS
INTRODUCTION (2): PRODUCTS
INTRODUCTION (3): WORLD COCOA PRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION(4)
Ghana was #1 global cocoa producer by 1911 #1 producer of premium quality beans Ghana achieved a production target of I million
metric tons/annum in 2011 The industry is valued at $1.5 billion and
employing 1.5 million people including 400,000 famers
Cocoa together with other crops contributed 15.6% to GDP as the largest economic activity in 2013 (Minister of Food and Agiculture)
INTRODUCTION (5): COCOA REGIONS IN GHANA
INTRODUCTION(6): COCOBOD
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is the main regulating body of the cocoa industry in Ghana
It has five divisions divided into pre-harvest and post harvest sectors
Post-harvest: Quality Control Unit (QCU) Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC)
Pre-harvest: Seed Production Unit, Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease Control Unit (CSSVDCU)
MOTIVATION (1): KNOWLEDGE NEEDS
THE GHANAIAN COCOA FARMER NEEDS KNOWLEDGE ABOUT:
MOTIVATION (2): KNOWLEDGE NEEDS
New agricultural technologies; Diagnostic information about plant and
animal disease and soil related problems; Weather and climatic conditions, Market information on inputs and sales
(prices, seller, buyers, retailers); Market demand and quality of products
required for these markets; Access to funds, and government policies
MOTIVATION (3): KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PEST AND DISEASES
MOTIVATION (4): KNOWLEGDE FLOW
MOTIVATION (5): KNOWLEDGE ON HYBRID
Amelonado(Tetteh Quashie,
1879)
Amazonia(Trinidad,
1945)HYBRID
MOTIVATION (6)
The lack of creation and transfer of knowledge is more critical in agriculture than in other areas of human endeavor (Baah, 2009; ISNAR, 1991).
Cocoa farmers need knowledge that is timely and cost effective
Are existing mechanisms cost effective?
MOTIVATION (7):
COCOALINK
COCOALINK
MOTIVATION (10)
• Existing mechanisms need to be supplemented with interactive technological platforms
• Most organizations are adopting social media tools for effective knowledge sharing
Would The cocoa industry be well-served by introducing social media technologies?
Factors that can influence social media usage need to be investigated
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
To What extent can social media usage influence knowledge transfer in the cocoa industry in Ghaha?
What impact can media richness have on social web usage for knowledge transfer?
What is the effect of task characteristics and media richness on knowledge transfer success?
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND(1)
The research model is grounded in :
Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation
Media Richness theory Agricultural Knowledge and information systems (AKIS)
Communication Model
THEOREICAL BACKGROUND (2): AKIS FRAMEWORK (ROLING 1990)
AGRICULTUAL KNOWLEDGE AND INFOMATION SYSTEMS
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND(3): AKIS AS A COMMUNICATION MODEL
AKIS should reflect some sort infomation flow and influence of technology users
Knowledge flows from resource community to user community via a meta-communication
The process of knowledge transfer is a communication process involving the transmission of messages from a source to a recipient (Dima & Stancove, 2008)
Transferring knowledge from a source to recipient involves stages, processes and categories of factors (Szulanski, 1993; 1996; Dinur, 2009)
Factors include the knowledge itself, the source and recipient of knowledge and the context of transfer (Dinur, 2009)
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND(3):SECI MODEL
New knowledge begins with the individual and transcends to groups, and embed in the organization
This happens through four processes each of which represents a type of transfer
Each type of transfer requires specific mechanisms which has to be supported by a form of media
Media type can be face-to-face or virtual
tacit
tacit
explicit
explicit
tacit
explicit
explicit
tacit
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND(4):MEDIA RICHNESS THEORY FOR MEDIA USAGE
Richness of media depends on: Ability to receive feedback number of cues related to face-to-face
communication, e.g. tone of voice and body language
availability of different language types and level of conveyance of feelings and emotions
Selection of media depends largely on: its richness and characteristics of the task to be performed
CONCEPTUAL MODEL(1)
CONCEPTUAL MODEL(2)
CONCEPTUAL MODEL (3)
Independent variables Socialization: tacit-to-tacit Externalization: tacit-to-explicit Internalization: explicit-to-tacit Combination:explicit-to-explicit
Dependent variables Knowledge transfer:tacit and explicit Knowledge transfer success: time, cost and satisfaction
Moderating variables Media Richness Media Usage ( task characteristics + media richness)
CONCEPTUAL MODEL (4)
Media richness:• Exchangers (Skype)• Aggregators (Facebook and YouTube)• Collaborators (wikis)
Task characteristics• Craft (unanalyzable + low variety)• Non-routine (unanalyzable + high variety)• Routine (analyzable + low variety)• Engineering (analyzable + high variety)
CONCLUSIONS
The model will assist In gain a better understanding of the impact of media
richness on knowledge transfer in the social media space (KT in SMS)
To ascertain social media applications that can best support the existing transfer mechanisms for successful knowledge transfer
In gaining understanding in the relationships among the characteristics of knowledge transfer, media usage and transfer success.
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