Technical Yearbook 2023

SEPTEMBER

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This blog is the first in a series of four blogs that delve into the factors determining whether practitioners (e.g., producers, viticulturists and winemakers) will engage with new information presented to them. ‘New information’ in this context refers to anything new to you. It is your first-time hearing or reading about it. It can be ‘old information’ for other people. It does not necessarily only refer to the latest academic research results, which, by default, is new information. Factors influencing knowledge uptake by practitioners – individual characteristics By Karien O’Kennedy

So, what are these individual characteristics? Learning intent refers to whether a person wants to and is open to learning something new. Learning intent differs from person to person and can also vary from time to time in the same individual. Sometimes life is just too hectic with day-to-day tasks to make time for learning something new, even though the intent is there. Several winemakers mentioned this as a constraint to knowledge uptake in a recent South African wine industry study. Absorptive capacity refers to practitioners’ ability to understand new information. For example, it is easier and quicker for a winemaker making Pinot noir to absorb information about Pinot noir winemaking (because of foundational knowledge) than for a winemaker who has never made Pinot noir. It is also easier for viticulturists and winemakers with formal qualifications in oenology and viticulture to understand technical winemaking articles in WineLand magazine than, say, the general public who lacks the foundational knowledge. Values and beliefs refer to practitioners’ unique ideas about how for example, wine should be made. Some

Introduction Researchers in the social sciences have been researching factors influencing knowledge uptake by practitioners from various industries for many years. Knowing these factors and their role in knowledge uptake can assist organisations and individuals, such as research institutions, industry bodies, service providers and practitioner groups, in tailoring knowledge transfer opportunities to promote maximum uptake. Knowledge uptake is vital for industries to evolve, innovate, become, and remain profitable and sustainable. Knowledge uptake is integrally linked to the economic welfare of industries and countries. Figure 1 lists the most important factors influencing knowledge uptake by practitioners as reported in the scientific literature. They are the individual characteristics of the practitioner, the characteristics of the knowledge source, the characteristics of the knowledge itself and the knowledge transfer channel. The weight of influence of these main factors, as indicated in percentage examples, will differ from individual to individual, but most of the time, individual characteristics will carry the most weight.

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TECHNICAL YEARBOOK 2023