Evaluating Indigenous Knowledge System and Artificial Intelligence in Reputational Repair Approach among Nigerian Telecom Companies

Abstract

Organisational performance and sustained existence in the market depends on her good name in the public sphere. Companies, customers, regulators and other stakeholders have key indexes they often used to determine profitable outcome of their interactions with other organisations. Hence, a research inquiry into the role of Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in reputational repair among Nigerian telecom companies becomes very pertinent in today’s complex workspaces. The study adopted Survey research method using a structured questionnaire as primary instrument to gather data from 400 respondents in the study area. Findings drawn from analysis of data indicated that telecom companies in Nigeria did not give prominence to IKS even 42% of respondents believes IKS initiative can actually enhance reputational repair approach of Telecom companies. This is so because only 7% of the respondents strongly agreed to the use of IKS, while an overwhelming number of 93% respondents agreed that AI was leveraged upon in the telecom companies’ reputational repair efforts, signalling a high level usage of AI by telecom companies in Nigeria. On the basis of these findings, the study concluded that inadequate recognition of the role of IKS by the telecom companies as against AI was responsible for this level of neglect. This resulted to the negative effect in the applications of IKS in reputation repair approach of telecom companies in Nigeria. The study recommended among others, that telecom companies should embrace and harmonize the benefits of IKS and AI in their reputational repair approach to boost productivity and service excellence in Telecom companies.