Factor Analysis of Agricultural Corporation Managers’ Consciousness of ICT Cost-Effectiveness

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  • 農業法人におけるICT費用対効果の評価に関する因子分析

Abstract

<p>The used of information and communication technology (ICT) in farm management is rapidly spreading in Japan. Farm managers’ consciousness of ICT plays an important role when evaluating effects of ICT. 545 managers were asked our nationwide questionnaire to describe the rate of ICT use and managers’ consciousness of ICT’s cost-effectiveness about 10 ICT application purposes. In addition, we extracted latent factors behind the consciousness (i.e., managers’ viewpoints toward ICT cost-effectiveness) by using a factor analysis. We established two possible hypotheses what the factors will be extracted as: processes of the management (e.g., setting objects, planning, decision-making and controlling) and sectors of the business (e.g., production, marketing, financing and staffing). Firstly from the result, almost 70% of surveyed managers used ICT and 70% to 80% of them thought that ICT added value relative to its cost. But rates of ICT use were appeared to be unrelated to the cost-effectiveness for each purpose. Rates of ICT use were relatively high for financing and cost reduction, and ICT’s cost-effectiveness were relatively high for increasing client confidence and visualizing the business. Secondly, from factor analysis, three primary factors affecting managers’ consciousness of ICT applications were identified: production visualization, accounting visualization, and enhancing profitability. The results indicate that managers evaluate ICT cost-effectiveness by sectors of the business. In particular, the first two factors appear to be related to human resource development. Finally, factor score comparisons by farm characteristics revealed three points: livestock farms evaluate ICT cost-effectiveness to be higher than farms producing other goods in terms of enhancing profitability factor; farms with higher sales place a greater value on the production and accounting visualization factors than those with lower sales; and larger farms (i.e., those with more employees) place a higher value on the production visualization factor than smaller farms do. From these results, this study clarified evaluation and structure of nationwide farm managers’ consciousness of ICT cost-effectiveness in Japan.</p>

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