James A. Wilson

Organizational benefits of mentoring

Executive Overview When an older, more experienced member of an organization takes a junior colleague “under his or her wing,” aiding in the organizational socialization of the less experienced person and passing along knowledge gained through years of living within the organization, a mentoring relationship is said to exist. Both principals in this type of relationship benefit in ways which have often been discussed and, accordingly, many companies have instituted formal mentoring programs. In this article, the authors examine the benefits which flow, not strictly to the individuals involved, but to the organization that fosters mentoring relationships. Principal benefits are the transmission of corporate culture and the provision of a “deep sensing” apparatus for top management. The design of mentoring programs, choice of mentors, and potential pitfalls of mentoring are discussed.

Dealing With Emotions in the Classroom

an unpleasant intrusion into the orderly processes of teaching? Are emotions in the classroom constructive factors, perhaps to be stimulated by the instructor, or destructive forces to be avoided and discouraged? Are there situations or topics that are more likely than others to elicit strong feelings from students? What is the appropriate response by the teacher to emotional outbursts? Do the more common (but less spectacular) feelings of apathy, boredom, dependency, etc. also require our attention? What ethical clinical, pedagogical, and professional issues are involved in dealing with student emotions? As Craig Lundberg pointed out at the 1985 Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference, emotion is a persvasive aspect of human experience, yet, ironically, the topic of emotion is almost universally absent from the subject indices of organizational behavior textbooks. Nevertheless we recognize the part that emotion plays in understanding the behavior of organizational participants, and our theories would be incomplete without such critical variables as job satisfaction, anger and distrust in organizational conflict, fear and insecurity of the powerless, and triumph following conflict or achievements. Our thesis is that similar emotions pervade the classroom as well. There is little point in debating whether emotions have a place in the classroom, because they exist there as they must in any human endeavor. Students may be artful in hiding feelings of fear, dependency, resentment, or boredom from the instructor (and often from themselves), but they sometimes ex-

Emigrating British physicians.

Abstract The volume and reasons for medical emigration from Britain are reviewed. The effect of emigration upon the availability of medical manpower in the country is discussed. And the relationship of medical immigration to medical emigration is developed.

Naming the Auditor: Symbolism and Social Control

Auditors are, with some frequency, called names. Some of these names are universally disliked by auditors; others are seen as desirable; and on some names, auditors are ambivalent. Because naming is also deeply symbolic and meaningful behaviour, this study was carried out and included a national random sample of internal audit directors, audit managers and internal auditors based in the US and Canada. The article reports the results of this study.