Mary K. Feeney

Toward a Useful Theory of Mentoring A Conceptual Analysis and Critique

In this review and critique of mentoring theory and research, the authors identify persistent problems in the development of mentoring theory. Their conceptual analysis highlights these problems with a “thought experiment” illustrating the inability of mentoring theory and research to resolve certain fundamental issues, the resolution of which is a prerequisite for the advancement of explanatory theory. They conclude with ideas about demarcating “mentoring” from the sometimes confounding concepts “training” or “socialization.” Absent an ability to distinguish mentoring from related activities, progress in explanatory theory will remain impeded.

Mentor Matching: A "Goodness of Fit" Model

One of the few mentoring topics that has received little attention in the abundant mentoring literature is the determinants of organically formed (as opposed for formal program-based) mentoring relationships. The authors propose a Goodness of Fit model, which outlines the basic elements of the mentor—protégé match, viewing the relationship as a social exchange based on the fit among mentor and protégé preferences, endowments, and the content of knowledge transmitted. After presenting the model, the authors provide a few illustrative research questions that flow from the basic logic and terms of the model. They conclude with suggestions for future research, including possibilities of the use of the model in experimental and quasiexperimental research.

Adoption of Electronic Technologies in Local U.S. Governments Distinguishing Between E-Services and Communication Technologies

Local governments in the United States have adopted and implemented e-government as a means of delivering services to the public and encouraging citizen participation. We use data from a national random survey of 902 government managers from 500 local governments in the United States to examine factors that explain the adoption of two types of e-government technologies: e-services, which enable electronic delivery of services, and communication technologies, which enable one- and two-way communication with citizens. We find that managerial perceptions of the organization, such as personnel constraints and organizational centralization, are negatively related to the adoption of e-services while citizen demands are positively associated with the adoption of e-services. In comparison, we find that public managers perceiving higher levels of external influences and citizen demands report increased adoption of communication technologies. The results contribute to the e-government literature by indicating the importance of distinguishing between communication technologies and e-services and the factors that explain the adoption of these technologies.

Mentoring and network ties

Using questionnaire data obtained from a sample of state government managers, our study examines social capital foci (network ties) of mentoring relations. Others have shown that network ties are relevant to career development and advance. We begin with the assumption that enhanced network ties are generally beneficial. We investigate variation in mentorships, which enhance network ties within the focal organization and within organizations external to the focal organization. We examine a number of factors hypothesized as shaping the relationship between mentoring and the development of network ties, including attributes of the protégé and of the mentoring relationship. Our results show that the sex of the protégé and of the mentor does not affect the quantity of network ties conveyed. However, relationships in which protégé and mentor sex is matched provide more network ties. Counter to our expectations, there is no significant difference in the amount and focus of network ties accruing from formal, organizationally sanctioned mentoring and informal mentoring.

Public Values and Public Failure: Implications of the 2004-2005 Flu Vaccine Case

The public interest should be the center of policy analytical frameworks. This study applies a public values framework to the 2004-2005 influenza vaccine shortage. It illustrates the potential for infusing public values in analysis of policy controversies, something that has been marginalized in recent years. The public values approach leads to a quite different, and preferable, focus on policy analysis and forecasting compared to predominant economic thinking, especially market failure criteria. The vaccine shortage case is especially apt inasmuch as relatively few of the determinants pertained to economic forces or market factors. Public health is a classic instance of public goods, perhaps even more so than defense and national security because the level of threat to one is in large measure a function of the threat to others.

Public Management Mentoring A Three-Tier Model

Despite the abundance of literature discussing the individual and organizational outcomes of mentoring, this general literature remains virtually silent on the role of mentoring in the public sector. The authors review and critique the mentoring literature, indicating its limitations for understanding mentoring in a public management context. In particular, the authors highlight the interdependence of organizations, the opportunity structures of the public sector, and public service motivation that mediate the outcomes of mentoring in the public sector. The authors then present a three-tier model that focuses on public management mentoring outcomes. The three-tier model marries the unique context of public sector work to the extensive mentoring literature and lays the groundwork for a theory of public management mentoring. The authors employ the model to generate propositions about public management mentoring outcomes. These propositions should prove useful for theory development but also for application in public sector mentoring relationships and programs.

Objective Formalization, Perceived Formalization and Perceived Red Tape: Sorting out concepts

Abstract This research uses survey data and count data of formal rules in a Dutch organization to investigate the relationships between an objective measure of formalization and subjective measures of formalization and red tape. We find that red tape perceptions are related to perceptions of formalization. Second, we find that perceived formalization is weakly, significantly related to objective measures of formalization but that objective formalization measures do not correspond to higher levels of red tape perceptions. We conclude that red tape and formalization are distinct concepts, but question the claim that formalization is a necessary condition for red tape.

Organizational and individual determinants of patent production of academic scientists and engineers in the United States

This article contributes to an important literature on the determinants of academic patenting. We develop and test a model that predicts how individual characteristics and organizational factors affect individual patenting production. The analysis uses zero-inflated negative binomial regression on data from a 2010 national survey of 1,379 US-based university scientists and engineers, 624 of which hold no patents assigned to their current university. Findings from this research generally support our hypotheses that individual and organizational factors are associated with individual patent production. We find that while university patent policy and university technology transfer offices may be important for encouraging or discouraging scientists to patent the first time, department incentives and individual preferences and characteristics predict the number of patents that faculty produce. This research supports prior literature and develops new perspectives on how universities and policy-makers can understand and shape how individual and organizational constraints and incentives affect patent productivity. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Women in STEM networks: who seeks advice and support from women scientists?

Supporting and advancing women’s science careers continues to be of interest to researchers, scientists, science funders, and universities. Similarly, professional advice and support networks are important to understanding the advancement of scientific careers. This research aims to marry these two lines of research to investigate and compare the ways in which men and women scientists seek advice and support from women in their networks. Using a sample of academic scientists in nonmedical biology, chemistry, computer science, earth and atmospheric sciences, electrical engineering, and physics we assess the extent to which women and men scientists seek advice and support from women in their networks. We find that field of science is the primary predictor for the presence of women in scientists’ advice and support networks. We also find that citizenship, rank, age, and friendship are significantly related to the proportion of women in women’s networks, but are not consistently significantly related to the proportion of women in men’s networks. We conclude with a discussion of the findings and the distinctions between men and women scientists’ advice and support networks.

Determinants of Information and Communication Technology Adoption in Municipalities

Local governments use various technologies to enhance responsiveness to citizens’ demands and to improve efficiency. However, the determinants for technology adoption may vary by the type of technology used. We separately examine the adoption of two different types of information and communication technologies (ICTs): intranet, which increases efficiencies within an organization, and e-services, which aim to increase efficiencies for the public and government agencies. Using 2012 data collected from a national random survey of the managers in 500 municipal governments with populations ranging from 25,000 to 250,000, we find that organizational centralization, work routineness, and personnel constraints are related to the adoption of both intranet and e-services, but that these relationships are mediated by an organization’s risk-taking culture. We also find that external stakeholder influence is positively related to ICT use. Governmental stakeholder influence is related to intranet adoption, and non-governmental stakeholder influence is related to the adoption of e-services. Our study highlights the importance of understanding the dynamics by which different ICTs are adopted. A main contribution lies in the finding that risk-taking culture mediates the relationship between structural constraints and ICT adoption in municipal governments.