Ellen A. Ensher

Effects of perceived discrimination on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and grievances

This study of 366 ethnically diverse operating-level employees examined how their perceptions of discrimination from a variety of sources—including supervisors, coworkers, and the organization itself—affect their work-related attitudes and behaviors. The results suggest that all three types of perceived discrimination have an effect on organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behavior. Contrary to predictions, however, there was no relationship with grievances.

Online mentoring and computer-mediated communication: New directions in research

While there has been a veritable explosion of online mentoring websites and opportunities within a wide variety of professions, very few academic articles to date have addressed this phenomenon. The purpose of this article is to remedy this gap in our knowledge by: (a) suggesting that the Internet can provide a viable context for mentoring within defined roles, (b) presenting a new typology of mentoring based on the computer-mediated-communication (CMC) literature, and in doing so suggest new opportunities and challenges, and (c) providing recommendations for researchers and practitioners to explore online mentoring. Past research has found that within the three functions of mentoring (psychosocial, vocational, and role modeling), a mentor can play a number of roles such as business coach, friend, counselor, and/or teacher to a prot e e We extend past research by assessing the major issues applicable to these mentor roles through an examination of CMC literature. We provide specific research propositions to inspire future research into online mentoring and its related contexts, roles, opportunities, and challenges. 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

Longitudinal Examination of Mentoring Relationships on Organizational Commitment and Citizenship Behavior

In most occupations, younger less experienced individuals learn from older, more experienced mentors. Mentorship relationships are often the primary means through which employees become socialized into an organization and career. Much research has shown that mentors advance a proteges career by providing emotional support and confidence, suggesting useful strategies for achieving work objectives, providing opportunities for the protege to demonstrate competence, bringing the protege to the attention of top management, protecting the protege from the repercussions of errors, helping them avoid risky situations for their careers, and advancing the proteges career by nominating him or her for promotions (cf. Kram & Hall, 1996; Ragins, 1995; 1997a; 1997b; Russell & Adams, 1997). One theoretical framework that provides insight into the mentoring process is social learning theory (Bandura, 1986). Social learning the-

An examination of work and personal life conflict, organizational support, and employee health among international expatriates

Abstract This study analyzes the effect of two types of work and personal life conflict and organizational support on expatriate employees’ mental well-being. Survey data were obtained from a culturally diverse sample of 118 employees working in Europe. Overall, employees reported higher levels of work interfering with their personal life, than personal life interfering with their work. Results demonstrated that work–personal life conflict was related to employees’ depression and anxiety and personal–work life conflict was related to employees’ concern for their health. Organizational support had significant main effects on well-being and conflict; however, organizational support did not buffer the effects of conflict on expatriates’ well-being. Although organizations are often concerned with the reduction of personal life interfering with work for expatriates (e.g., spouse employment, schooling for children), this study suggests that organizations should also concerned with how work is interfering with expatriates personal lives (e.g., reevaluate extensive travel, long hours.) Thus, programs that address both types of conflict are imperative to retain high quality employees. Finally, this study suggests that informal types of organizational support (e.g., a perception that the organization is concerned with ones personal life) are important for expatriate success, and should be incorporated into expatriate programs.

The Role of Mentoring Support and Self-Management Strategies on Reported Career Outcomes:

This study examined the contribution of self-management strategies to job outcomes for employees involved in mentoring relationships. Participants (n = 158) reported their use of three types of self-management strategies, the level of support functions provided by their mentors, and their job satisfaction and perceived career success. Results showed that individuals who used self-set career goals reported greater job satisfaction and perceived career success; those who engaged in positive cognitions also had higher job satisfaction; and those who used behavioral self-management strategies reported greater perceived career success. Mentoring and self-management strategies each contributed uniquely to satisfaction and perceived career satisfaction. After controlling for amount of instrumental support provided by the mentors, positive cognitions remained predictive of perceived career success, and participation in self-set career goals were related to higher levels of job satisfaction. Moderator analysis showed that the self-management strategies appeared to be useful in the absence of certain types of mentor support.

Opting in Between: Strategies Used by Professional Women with Children to Balance Work and Family.

Professional women with children are inundated with conflicting messages about how to manage their careers and personal lives and whether they should “opt in” or “opt out” of the workforce. Using in-depth interviews with 23 professional women, this study focused on the career choices that women make after having children. The authors found that many mothers neither opt in or opt out but successfully function in between these two choices, or opt “in between,” by working flexible hours, by working part-time, and/or by being involved with home-based entrepreneurial endeavors. Using the boundaryless career typology of knowing why, knowing how, and knowing whom, the authors summarize the key strategies that mothers use to opt in between. The interviewees were clear about why they were working, managed their careers by finding the right organizational fit, did not focus on guilt or perfectionism, and maintained excellent networks of friends, bosses, colleagues, and day care providers.

Virtual Relationships and Real Benefits: Using E-Mentoring to Connect Business Students with Practicing Managers

This article reports the results of our study of electronic mentoring (e‐mentoring) in a population of business students. As career paths have become more fluid and less predictable, a growing number of educational and business organizations have implemented traditional and, more recently, e‐mentoring programs. But practice is ahead of evaluation when it comes to e‐mentoring. We attempted to fill this gap by looking more closely at strengths and weaknesses associated with this type of mentoring. Building on research in traditional mentoring and integrating literature in computer‐mediated communication, education and management, we developed a model of e‐mentoring’s antecedents and outcomes. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of business students (protégés) who were mentored by practicing managers. It was found that perceived similarity in terms of attitudes and values is positively related to effective e‐mentoring, while demographic similarity (gender, race) is not. Moreover, effective e‐mentoring may lead to protégés’ enhanced academic performance, professional network and job opportunities. We conclude with implications of our findings and a discussion of opportunities for future research.

Organization Development and Change Interventions A Seven-Nation Comparison

The present study compares differences in organization development (OD) interventions using Hofstede’s (1980) four dimensions of culture as a framework for studying seven countries’ practices. The seven countries examined were Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In general, Hofstede’s theoretical approach proved to be a useful framework for comparing OD practices as the majority of the authors’ hypotheses were, at a minimum, partially supported. However, when those hypotheses were not supported, some interesting patterns emerged that provide intriguing directions for future research.

Individual Differences in Sensitivity to Disempowering Acts: A Comparison of Gender and Identity-Based Explanations for Perceived Offensiveness

Policy-makers, courts, employers, and individuals must understand perceptual differences among individuals when managing workplace behaviors. Offensive acts that lead to employee disempowerment require particular attention as these behaviors are related to several negative organizational consequences. Women tend to be more sensitive to offensive behavior, but it is unknown whether gender or other factors explain this higher sensitivity. In this study, sensitivity to disempowering acts was assessed by measuring perceived offensiveness reported by male and female observers of videotaped segments of highly confrontive verbal exchanges. Competing hypotheses tested gender and identification with the target of disempowering acts as the underlying reason for womens higher sensitivity. Findings indicated that women reported higher perceived offensiveness regardless of the gender of the target of disempowerment.

Mentoring and Self-Management Career Strategies for Entrepreneurs

The purpose of this article is to examine the literature on self-management and mentoring to develop practical methods of enhancing the career success of entrepreneurs. The authors believe that both behavioural and cognitive self-management strategies can be useful to entrepreneurs. These techniques include goal-setting, self-observation, self-rewards, cueing, self-talk, visualization and the active reframing of obstacles into opportunities. In addition, the varying roles and functions of mentors, including emotional, vocational and role modelling support, will have many positive benefits for both entrepreneurial protégés and mentors. Recommendations for future research and an entrepreneurial model of career development are provided.