Amanda Gudmundsson

The relationship between mentee‐mentor gender combination and the provision of distinct mentoring functions

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between specific gender combinations of mentor-mentee and distinct mentoring functions. Design/methodology/approach – Of the 500 participants, 272 were mentees and 228 were mentors from public- and private-sector organisations, representing all four gender combinations of mentor-mentee. Participants completed a 36-item measure of mentoring functions. Findings – Hierarchical regression analyses revealed few significant relationships between gender and mentoring functions. As far as mentees were concerned, female mentors provided personal and emotional guidance to a greater extent than male mentors; female mentors provided career development facilitation to a greater extent than male mentors and female mentees were provided with career development facilitation to a greater extent than male mentees; also female mentees were provided with role modelling to a greater extent than male mentees. As far as mentors were concerned, there were no significant differences in the functions provided to female and male mentees. Research limitations/implications – The study emphasized the need to use measurement tools that examine distinct, rather than categories of, mentoring functions. The findings also suggest that gender may not be as influential, with regard to mentoring functions, as has previously been proffered. Knowledge about the relationships between gender and particular mentoring functions may be beneficial for potential and actual mentees and mentors as they make decisions about becoming involved in mentoring relationships, engage in contracting processes, and monitor and review their relationships. Originality/value – The study was the first to explore the perceptions of both mentees and mentors on gender differences in mentoring functions provided, using an adequate sample and a mentoring instrument designed on a gender representative sample.

The role of life friendly policies on employees' work-life balance

An employees inability to balance work and non-work related responsibilities has resulted in an increase in stress related illnesses. Historically, research into the relationship between work and non-work has primarily focused on work/family conflict, predominately investigating the impact of this conflict on parents, usually mothers. To date research has not sufficiently examined the management practices that enable all ‘individuals’ to achieve a ‘balance’ between work and life. This study explores the relationship between contemporary life friendly, HR management policies and work/life balance for individuals as well as the effect of managerial support to the policies. Self-report questionnaire data from 1241 men and women is analysed and discussed to enable organizations to consider the use of life friendly policies and thus create a convergence between the well-being of employees and the effectiveness of the organization.

To What Extent is the Mayer and Salovey (1997) Model of Emotional Intelligence a Useful Predictor of Leadership Style and Perceived Leadership Outcomes in Australian Educational Institutions

Researchers have found that transformational leadership is related to positive outcomes in educational institutions. Hence, it is important to explore constructs that may predict leadership style in order to identify potential transformational leaders in assessment and selection procedures. Several studies in non-educational settings have found that emotional intelligence is a useful predictor of transformational leadership, but these studies have generally lacked methodological rigor and contextual relevance. This project, set in Australian educational institutions, employed a more rigorous methodology to answer the question: to what extent is the Mayer and Salovey (1997) model of emotional intelligence a useful predictor of leadership style and perceived leadership outcomes? The project was designed to move research in the field forward by using valid and reliable instruments, controlling for other predictors, obtaining an adequately sized sample of current leaders and collecting multiple ratings of their leadership behaviours. The study (N = 144 leaders and 432 raters) results indicated that emotional intelligence was not a useful predictor of leadership style and perceived leadership outcomes. In contrast, several of the other predictors in the study were found to predict leadership style.

Engineering asset procurement: Operationalising complex adaptive system theory

Procuring the management and maintenance of engineering assets are key activities of government, particularly given the importance of these assets for business and society. Despite their importance, the most effective methods for procuring engineering assets are still to be determined due to the complexity inherent in such arrangements. While Complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory has been advocated as a coherent theoretical framework for examining both procurement and engineering assets, considerable challenges remain in operationalizing this framework for government systems. There are thus two challenges: developing an understanding of the complexity and dynamics of procurement systems, together with a practical problem of how to model such systems. This paper outlines CAS theory and suggests ways that it might be operationalized to examine engineering asset procurement.

Motivating Blue-Collar Employees: A Case Study of the Chinese Workforce

The Katz and Kahn (1978) motivational framework is an open system management theory that underscores the importance of self-regulation while stressing the significance of using continuous feedback to adapt in a rapidly changing environment. This study aims to examine Katz and Kahns prepositions that the implementation of a system of rule compliance, external rewards, and internalized motivation can decrease employee turnover, increase quantitative and qualitative standards of performance, and enhance cooperation and creativeness. The results among 233 Chinese employees (96.6% response rate) indicated partial support for Katz and Kahns motivational framework. The implication for improving the Chinese workforce, in particular blue-collar occupations, is discussed.

Performance of public private partnerships: An evolutionary perspective

PPPs are held to be a powerful way of mobilising private finance and resources to deliver public infrastructure. Theoretically, research into procurement has begun to acknowledge difficulties with the classification and assessment of different types of procurement, particularly those which do not sufficiently acknowledge variety within specific types of procurement methods. This paper advances a theoretical framework based on an evolutionary economic conceptualisation of a routine, which can accommodate the variety evident in procurement projects, in particular PPPs. The paper tests how the various elements of a PPP, as advanced in the theoretical framework, affect performance across 10 case studies. It concludes, that a limited number of elements of a PPP affect their performance, and provides strong evidence for the theoretical model advanced in this paper.

Contracting-out asset maintenance: How arrangements adapt over time

Contracting-out and privatisation are key drivers of organisational and market change, which, along with technological and societal change, are “creating a new generation of infrastructures” [1]. While new institutional arrangements have the potential to improve maintenance efficiency through consistent and repeatable patterns of action - unanticipated difficulties in implementation can reduce the performance of these arrangements. Faced with unsatisfactory performance of contracting-out arrangements, government organisations may adapt and change these arrangements over time, with the aim of improving performance. This paper enhances our understanding of ‘next generation infrastructures’ by examining adaptation of the organisational arrangements for the maintenance of these assets, in a case study spanning 20 years.