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This chapter dwells upon reverse mentoring as a specific kind of mentoring practice. This chapter draws upon a consulting assignment on reverse mentoring at a global metal company in India. Presented in the form of a case study, this chapter highlights the possible conditions under which reverse mentoring becomes a strategic HR initiative in an organization. It does this by drawing attention to various contextual dimensions such as organizational culture of the firm, the socio-cultural and economic context of the firm. After describing the process of setting up a reverse mentoring program, it also suggests the manner in which reverse mentoring addresses some of concerns arising from such a context, as well as the manner in which efficacy of the practice is likely to be impacted by those conditions such as high power distance.

This chapter critically examines a Pakistani initiative on youth mentoring at workplace, namely the National Internship Program (NIP), which aims to increase fresh graduates' capability and employability. Through a situational analysis of prevalent education systems, occupational choices and job-related tendencies of Pakistani youth in the backdrop of mega economic activities like the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), this chapter brings forth virtues and limitations of NIP. Further, an elaborative appraisal of the key features, design and process of NIP through an illustrative cycle, a conceptual model has been designed which may fulfil the mentoring needs of developing countries. This conceptual model of youth mentoring at workplace proposes a cycle of six activities: planning, engaging, performing, appraising, ensuing and reflecting.

Drawing on social exchange theory, we consider mentoring in Indonesia in terms of practices and challenges. Characterized by high power distance, mentoring in Indonesia is formal, with certain performance criteria set by the organization for the selection of mentors. While the extent of formality differs depending on the organizational culture, mentoring is perceived to consist of relationship building that goes beyond a superior–subordinate relationship. Preliminary findings of this study also indicate several challenges in the mentoring relationship, one being the expectation to conform and the consequent punishment if one were to disobey orders. Another challenge is the lack of training for the mentors. Participants further noted the challenge associated with gift-giving practices whereby mentees are often obliged to give gifts to the mentors, given the high power distance context. Furthermore, obtaining continuous commitment from top leaders poses another challenge. We also discuss theoretical and practical implications of this study for mentoring, leadership and employee development, thus adding to the literature on workplace mentoring in an emerging economy.

This exploratory study investigates how mentoring is perceived and undertaken by the concerned parties, namely, mentor and protégé, and organizations in the context of Thailand.

A qualitative approach using dyadic case studies (of manager and subordinates) was taken to reflect whether mentoring is formally established in Thai business organizations, what benefits are experienced by mentors and mentees (protégés) and how the Thai business organizations can fully benefit from mentoring system. Based on the sample case studies, it is found that mentoring is perceived as teaching and advising how to perform a job well and mainly by one's supervisor. Factors that influence the effectiveness of mentoring system include clear organizational policies, HRM practices (i.e. orientation, training and development, performance appraisal, rewards, etc.), mentoring evaluation, trust and integrity and perceived risk.

In Ontario Canada, being a vice principal is not considered a career goal. Rather, school principals are drawn from the ranks of practising vice principals. Potential administrators must first pass the principal qualification program and spend several successful years in the interim position of vice principal (known as assistant principal, deputy principal, and assistant headmaster in other countries) before applying for the principalship itself. The current system appears to be replete with inherent challenges both for vice principals and the educational stakeholders they serve. Administrator training is based on a quantitative paradigm, but the vice principal role is highly qualitative in nature, requiring strong interpersonal skills to address conflict for which no training is provided. The current system addresses the dual role of management and leadership but from the perspective of the principal, not the vice principal. Training also favors management over leadership, yet hiring processes for vice principals place a high value on demonstrated leadership. Facility with ethical decision-making is central to the vice principal role yet absent from qualification programs. Qualification programs use classroom-based learning with no “in-role” field experience. Mentoring systems designed to provide new vice principals with help are inadequate for supporting daily tasks. As a consequence, newly appointed vice principals find themselves in a role for which they have not been trained.

This chapter offers an original conceptualization of co-mentoring – situated in the wider literature – together with evidence of its impact and factors facilitating impact across applications of co-mentoring in transnational schooling contexts. Co-mentoring is an alternative to more traditional, hierarchical, and unidirectional approaches to mentoring in education. Extending the extant literature on collaborative mentoring (or “comentoring”), co-mentoring is a collaborative, compassionate, and developmental relationship – informed by specific approaches to mentoring and coaching – that is intended to support participants' professional learning, development, effectiveness, and well-being, and potentially improve their workplace cultures. Detailing three different applications of co-mentoring across the United Kingdom and United States, the chapter evidences the realization of these intended outcomes (professional learning, etc.), and highlights factors found to be instrumental in facilitating the positive impacts of co-mentoring. We end with recommendations for undertaking research and practice that build human and organizational capacity through co-mentoring. A takeaway is that intentional approaches to co-mentoring can have value for participating parties and broader impact, as well as wide applicability.

Igba-Boi model of entrepreneurship incubation among the Igbos in south-eastern Nigeria records outstanding and robust successes in producing entrepreneurs with global impact. Therefore, the need to understand its nature, process, driving force, challenges and make suggestions to reinvigorate it has become urgent and valid. Also, with the persisting overbearing influence of Western and lately Asian philosophies in the development of business theories and practice, it is long overdue to mainstream Africa's entrepreneurial philosophy into extant discourse; this chapter contributes to this effort. Such an attempt follows the belief that Africans with their indigenous systems hold higher hope for the development of the continent. Since the rest of the world had at some point in history leveraged on Africa's civilisation to forge ahead, this chapter argues that Africa stands to contribute to the global search for efficient incubation of entrepreneurs using the Igba-Boi model. The chapter is guided by and framed with reviewed publications, philosophies and theories that explain Igbos' construction of social realities and worldview. Structural functionalism and conflict theories offer in-depth insight in explaining the success story of the Igba-Boi institution. The chapter, in particular, adopts the Igbos' interpretation of their cosmos, its eschatological implications in explaining their tenacity and doggedness in successfully meeting all the requirements for graduating from Igba-Boi incubation system. By discussing Igba-Boi as a socioeconomic institution, this chapter draws attention to areas of neglect for improvement in order to harness its high potentials for enhancing its contribution to business practice in Africa and development of the continent.

When examining the need to increase student retention and persistence at universities, one must consider how leveraging community partnerships can assist institutions of higher education realize success that they may have not thought otherwise possible.

Additionally, individuals must look at the number of high school students who have not seen college as a viable option for them given the absence of tangible models in their homes. Creating a strong mentoring program that incorporates the expertise of community stakeholders with personal experiences of current successful college students offers a viable solution. This chapter will cover the success of the “Placing Opportunities Within Everyone’s Reach” (POWER) mentoring program developed at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the South and its long-term impact on students.

The alta mentoring platform, launched within the aviation and aerospace industry in 2019, is the outcome of a joint knowledge exchange project between academics and industry. It was designed and launched to meet the mentoring needs of women in this male dominated industry, who otherwise had no, or very little, mentoring support. The aim of alta was to create an on-line mentoring platform that was based upon the mentoring support that women identified as being important and that would address their under-representation and the lack of support for career progression. The chapter draws upon a body of literature focussing upon mentoring, specifically its meanings (see Dashper, 2018), benefits (see Phillips et al., 2016) and barriers (see Eby et al., 2010); as well as gender specific mentoring (see Johns & McNamara, 2014). The authors adopt a feminist relational mentoring framework (Ragins, 2016), that views mentoring as a two-way process where mentors and mentees learn from each other. The project was under-pinned by six months of research across the industry (a survey, interviews and focus groups with professional women and employers) to ascertain the need for the mentoring platform. This chapter is based upon four focus groups held with women across the industry, in both technical and middle/senior managerial roles, to ascertain their experiences of mentoring and their perceived and experienced benefits and barriers to mentoring. The focus groups were also utilised to find out specifically what women wanted from the alta mentoring platform and their views on its women-only focus.