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.

THANK YOU