هیچ کس یک جزیره نیست؛سرمایه اجتماعی و انسانی در ظرفیت سازی فناوری اطلاعات در مالدیو

In many developing countries, lack of IT skills and human capital impede the potential of IT investments in organizations in developing countries [Lee, J. (2001). Education for technology readiness: Prospects for developing countries. Journal of Human Development, 2(1), 115–151]. This paper draws upon theories of human and social capital, and knowledge, to explain enablers/obstacles for knowledge creation and transfer for IT capacity building in a tourism organization in a developing country – the Maldives. IT capacity building is intimately linked to knowledge and skills at the level of human resource development. Using the Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) [Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23, 242–267] framework for the role of social capital in knowledge creation and transfer, we examine the major issues of IT capacity building for the case organization. We conclude that the role of cognitive capital is the most important for the tourism sector of the Maldives, and may play a vital role in accumulating structural and relational capital, together with appropriate government policies on ICT.

While the literature shows some success stories of IT in developing countries, we often hear about IT initiatives that aim to bring positive outcomes but fail in some way (Avgerou and Walsham, 2000, Bhatnagar and Bjorn-Andersen, 1990, Bhatnagar and Odedra, 1992, Odedra-Straub, 1996, Odedra-Straub et al., 1995 and Silva and Figueroa, 2002). One overriding factor that contributes to the unsuccessful adoption and implementation of IT in developing countries is a lack of IT awareness, skills and knowledge (Waema, 2002), and human capital (Lee, 2001). This lack of capacity to adopt new technologies restricts the technology absorption capability of a country (Lee, 2001). Lee argues that even when all countries have equal access to technology, the mismatch between skills, knowledge and technology would lead to a disparity in productivity. This is a human capital issue; human capital is strongly related to social capital, in that it is social capital within the family and community which enables human capital development (Coleman, 1988). It also follows then that IT capacity building – creating and enhancing the ability to use IT – is strongly related to issues of human and social capital in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights from a single case study of the Maldivian tourism sector, into the major issues of knowledge creation and transfer processes in that sector, and the role that social capital plays in facilitating those processes for IT capacity building. More specifically, the two research questions addressed in this paper are • What are the major issues of knowledge creation and transfer in the tourism sector in the Maldives? • What role does social capital play in facilitating the creation and transfer of knowledge in the Maldivian tourism sector? The primary contribution of this paper is to analyze IT capacity building in private sector organizations in developing countries using the theoretical perspectives of social capital and knowledge. A secondary contribution is to provide one example of the role that social capital plays in facilitating knowledge creation and transfer for IT capacity building in a specific tourism organization in the Maldives, a nation facing major skills shortages in all sectors of the economy. This analysis can provide insights into a range of organizations in developing countries. The paper is structured as follows. The next section discusses the role of human and social capital in knowledge creation and transfer for IT capacity building. Sections 3 and 4 provide details of the research setting and the methodology, followed by the details of the case study in Section 5. The case findings and discussion of knowledge issues and the role of social capital in facilitating those issues for IT capacity building are laid out in Sections 6 and 7. Finally, some conclusions are presented in Section 8.

In this paper we have identified major issues of knowledge creation and transfer in a tourism resort in the Maldives, and considered the role that social capital might play in facilitating the creation and transfer of knowledge in that sector. This case study is typical of others in our larger study, and our preliminary results from those other cases indicate that the situation in Organization X is representative of the sector. We discussed how three forms of social capital – structural, relational and cognitive – play a role in influencing knowledge creation and transfer in the resort for IT capacity building. The issue of the lack of cognitive capital in the case study underlines the importance of IT education and training for both the successful use of IT, and effective creation and transfer of IT knowledge. This confirms the need for human resource development in ICT capacity building for the sector. We further suggest that this capital may be vital for accumulating the other two types of social capital. Quan-Haase and Wellman (2004) identify three different approaches in which the effects of the Internet on social capital can be conceptualized: the Internet transforms, diminishes or supplements social capital. Firstly, the geographic dispersion of the resort islands currently impedes structural capital building in the tourism sector. Therefore, through the Internet’s low costs and ability to cross the time and space barriers, an Internet-based network could facilitate social contacts, civic involvement (Quan-Haase & Wellman, 2004) and knowledge sharing among individuals within and between organizations. Secondly, the Internet diminishes social capital in that its entertainment and information capabilities draw people away from family and friends (Quan-Haase & Wellman, 2004). Hence, while social contact in such Internet-based network can be immersive (Quan-Haase & Wellman, 2004), it may further break family ties and local interactions of resort employees, who already are living in solitary confinements of resort islands, away from family and friends. Thirdly, the Internet supplements social capital in that it is another means of communication that builds the existing social connections (Quan-Haase & Wellman, 2004). There is the possibility that education and training could be delivered to a national standard through an Internet-based network, supported by training institutes. This could strengthen the existing social relations the tourism industry has with the training institutes. Currently, many tourism organizations that lack in-house training have to travel to Male’, where almost all the training institutes are located, to participate in training for skills development. The centralized organization of this resort and others were seen to impede knowledge flow. Electronic mails, organization-wide intranets and interlinking of integrated information systems are all means for enhancing a flatter management structure which would increase knowledge flow across the organization. Also, the structural dimension of social capital suggests that it is imperative for organizations to realize that instead of a mere personal relationship, formal collaborative arrangements with the actors in a network are necessary for knowledge creation and sharing to occur. The current negative social capital in the network, based purely on personal relationships and influence, impede the enablement of ICT capacity building in the sector. The case also suggests the importance of government policies and long-term plans to national and workplace training and skills development, increasing IT awareness, and changing the negative societal perceptions about the tourism industry – government has a role to play in enabling the sector. We believe our findings may be relevant to the study of IT capacity building in organizations of the same or different industries in other developing countries, but obviously national context needs to be taken into account. We see a need for more research in the area of IT capacity building in industrial organizations in other developing countries, looking at how knowledge creation and transfer issues influence IT capacity building in those organizations.