Perceived Influence of Communication Process on Expected level of Performance of Field Workers in a Commodity Production System at Finlay Flowers Farm, Kericho County, Kenya

Abstract

To maintain competitiveness on export of cut flowers, growers must consistently produce flowers of the highest quality and respond rapidly to changing market demands. In flower production, there exist frequent changes in consumers’ needs that may create inconsistent shift in the demand for product quality. Therefore, if not communicated well, it results in poor product quality and loss of market. Good communication between producer and customer is therefore required to achieve co-ordinated results. Finlay Flowers organization has put in place a communication system that is used to assure quality through timely and accurate access to market information and supply chain from consumer to producer as a way of improving information flow. The main objective of this study was to determine the perceived influence of communication process on expected level of performance of field workers in commodity production in Finlay Flowers as perceived by management and field workers. Descriptive survey research design was used for this study and purposive stratified random sampling procedure was used to select a sample of 145 respondents from a target population of 1,175 interacting groups comprising of middle management and field workers. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaire and an interview schedule to obtain information from management and field workers respectively. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20 was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, frequencies and means was used to explain stated objectives while Chi square was used to verify stated hypotheses. All tests were performed at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study reveal that there is statistical significant influence of source of information on flowers quality and performance, as perceived by both field workers and management. Regarding the forms of communication, all forms of communications were found to influence performance of the field workers. Further, the influence of channels of communication indicates that there was statistical significant influence of channels of communication on performance. Test of significance on the influence of feedback on performance showed that there was statistical significant influence on performance. Based on the findings, the study concludes that meaningful communication process was one of the main drivers for performance in a commodity production system. The study recommends more interactive sessions such as face to face communication process and demonstration down on the chain which was more regarded by the field workers, should be encouraged for improved productivity. The study also recommends for further study to be done in other commodity production processes other than floriculture, as well as considering new methods of communication and technology such a social media.