Perceptions of cocoa growers in Malaysia on relationship between transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and extension agents’ work performance

This study was designed to determine extension agents’ transfer of technology skills and human resource development skills that explain work performance based on cocoa growers perceptions in Malaysia. Specifically, the study were conducted to; (i) determined extension agents’ level of technology...

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Main Author:	Oluwatoyin, Olagunju
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English
Published:	2019
Subjects:	Cacao growers - Malaysia - Case studies Employees - Training of
Online Access:	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/84064/1/FP%202019%2058%20-%20ir.pdf
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id	my-upm-ir.84064
record_format	uketd_dc
institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
collection	PSAS Institutional Repository
language	English
advisor	Hassan, Salim
topic	Cacao growers - Malaysia - Case studies Employees - Training of
spellingShingle	Cacao growers - Malaysia - Case studies Employees - Training of Oluwatoyin, Olagunju Perceptions of cocoa growers in Malaysia on relationship between transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and extension agents’ work performance
description	This study was designed to determine extension agents’ transfer of technology skills and human resource development skills that explain work performance based on cocoa growers perceptions in Malaysia. Specifically, the study were conducted to; (i) determined extension agents’ level of technology transfer skills, human resource development skills and work performance as perceived by cocoa growers, (ii) determine the relationship between transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and extension agents’ work performance, (iii) identify the most important factors contributing to work performance of the extension agents. Data for the study were solicited from 1122 productive cocoa growers through self administered questionnaire by using Krejcie and Morgan formula. They were selected through stratified sampling method from a total population of 1902 in the three (3) regions of cocoa smallholders in Malaysia: Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results indicated that nearly all cocoa growers rated their level of work performance as high. A majority of respondents also rated their transfer of technology skills on technical skill, technology delivery skill and technology evaluation skill as high. Furthermore, majority of the respondents also indicated high ratings for human resource development skills on leadership skill, decision making support skill and social skill. The finding supported the positive and moderate relationship between all transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and work performance. However, five skills were significant in explaining work performance of extension agents’. These are technical skill, technology delivery skill, leadership skill, decision making support skill and social skill. In addition, transfer of technology skills and human resource development skills predicts work performance of extension agents’ as perceived by cocoa growers, but the contribution is higher in human resource development skills component. The study is important as it contributes to Resource Based Theory and Human Capital Theory by strengthening intangible resources (skills) regarding high performance and emphasizing the role of workers’ experience which was ignore by initial research which focuses on education and training for productivity and improved performance. Also, it confirmed core and specialized skills that extension agents need to have in both technical and human development for effective extension service delivery. The findings would also assist policy makers and MCB management in increasing the performance of extension agents through training and development on technology transfer skills and human resource development skills with support from top management and middle level staff. The skills that have been identified in this study can be integrated into both the preservice and in-service training and development of extension agents. The combination of transfer of technology skills and human resource development skills is very important to be considered by the relevant agencies in order to improve extension agents’ capabilities and performance. The study recommends that further studies should be conducted on other variables that help determine extension agents’ work performance. Also, MCB and other agricultural extension service agencies should focus more attention on delivering consistent technology and human resource development initiatives relevant to the need of extension agents and focused on addressing identified skills, knowledge and abilities gaps for a continuous performance improvement in their work.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Doctorate
author	Oluwatoyin, Olagunju
author_facet	Oluwatoyin, Olagunju
author_sort	Oluwatoyin, Olagunju
title	Perceptions of cocoa growers in Malaysia on relationship between transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and extension agents’ work performance
title_short	Perceptions of cocoa growers in Malaysia on relationship between transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and extension agents’ work performance
title_full	Perceptions of cocoa growers in Malaysia on relationship between transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and extension agents’ work performance
title_fullStr	Perceptions of cocoa growers in Malaysia on relationship between transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and extension agents’ work performance
title_full_unstemmed	Perceptions of cocoa growers in Malaysia on relationship between transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and extension agents’ work performance
title_sort	perceptions of cocoa growers in malaysia on relationship between transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and extension agents’ work performance
granting_institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
publishDate	2019
url	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/84064/1/FP%202019%2058%20-%20ir.pdf
_version_	1747813433282134016
spelling	my-upm-ir.840642022-01-04T04:35:09Z Perceptions of cocoa growers in Malaysia on relationship between transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and extension agents’ work performance 2019-04 Oluwatoyin, Olagunju This study was designed to determine extension agents’ transfer of technology skills and human resource development skills that explain work performance based on cocoa growers perceptions in Malaysia. Specifically, the study were conducted to; (i) determined extension agents’ level of technology transfer skills, human resource development skills and work performance as perceived by cocoa growers, (ii) determine the relationship between transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and extension agents’ work performance, (iii) identify the most important factors contributing to work performance of the extension agents. Data for the study were solicited from 1122 productive cocoa growers through self administered questionnaire by using Krejcie and Morgan formula. They were selected through stratified sampling method from a total population of 1902 in the three (3) regions of cocoa smallholders in Malaysia: Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results indicated that nearly all cocoa growers rated their level of work performance as high. A majority of respondents also rated their transfer of technology skills on technical skill, technology delivery skill and technology evaluation skill as high. Furthermore, majority of the respondents also indicated high ratings for human resource development skills on leadership skill, decision making support skill and social skill. The finding supported the positive and moderate relationship between all transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and work performance. However, five skills were significant in explaining work performance of extension agents’. These are technical skill, technology delivery skill, leadership skill, decision making support skill and social skill. In addition, transfer of technology skills and human resource development skills predicts work performance of extension agents’ as perceived by cocoa growers, but the contribution is higher in human resource development skills component. The study is important as it contributes to Resource Based Theory and Human Capital Theory by strengthening intangible resources (skills) regarding high performance and emphasizing the role of workers’ experience which was ignore by initial research which focuses on education and training for productivity and improved performance. Also, it confirmed core and specialized skills that extension agents need to have in both technical and human development for effective extension service delivery. The findings would also assist policy makers and MCB management in increasing the performance of extension agents through training and development on technology transfer skills and human resource development skills with support from top management and middle level staff. The skills that have been identified in this study can be integrated into both the preservice and in-service training and development of extension agents. The combination of transfer of technology skills and human resource development skills is very important to be considered by the relevant agencies in order to improve extension agents’ capabilities and performance. The study recommends that further studies should be conducted on other variables that help determine extension agents’ work performance. Also, MCB and other agricultural extension service agencies should focus more attention on delivering consistent technology and human resource development initiatives relevant to the need of extension agents and focused on addressing identified skills, knowledge and abilities gaps for a continuous performance improvement in their work. Cacao growers - Malaysia - Case studies Employees - Training of 2019-04 Thesis http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/84064/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/84064/1/FP%202019%2058%20-%20ir.pdf text en public doctoral Universiti Putra Malaysia Cacao growers - Malaysia - Case studies Employees - Training of Hassan, Salim

Perceptions of cocoa growers in Malaysia on relationship between transfer of technology skills, human resource development skills and extension agents’ work performance

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