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The purpose of this paper is to observe different aspects of working relationships between supervisees/mentees with their academic supervisors/mentors from the mentees’ perspective. Respondents were asked about networking, instrumental, psychological help received from their mentors and their working relationships with their mentors.

A descriptive study was carried out in the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, a public university of Pakistan. Data were collected from its main campus of Islamabad only, the capital of Pakistan. Respondents were Master of Science (MS) and PhD level students actively engaged in research projects/theses with their mentors. A final sample of 104 respondents was used for data analysis, comprising of 65 MS and 39 PhD students, from six departments offering graduate programs. Descriptive analysis was mainly used here to observe mean differences (ANOVA) based on control variables of supervisees gender, academic program, supervisor designation, gender and selection.

Major significant mean scores differences were observed between supervisees who selected supervisors themselves and those who were assigned supervisors by the concerned department. In academic programs (MS vs PhD), some significant differences in instrumental and psychological help were observed, whereas no significant differences were found on gender basis (both supervisees and supervisors), supervisor designation and supervisees’ category (full-time, part-time and faculty on leave).

This study endeavored to observe relationships between supervisees and their supervisors in an academic environment using descriptive analysis. No such particular research in literature has been made earlier on national level and thus this study tries to fill that gap. This research’s outcomes can be useful to all the concerned parties i.e. the mentor, supervisees and the graduate school. Mentors can assess how supervisees rate the supervision style and contribution. Supervisees can benefit from the experiences of their fellows and the graduate schools can assess which aspects of relationship matter most to the supervisees at different levels.

Studies highlight that poor labour supervision and inadequate labour training facilities are the primary factors that result in labour skill shortages and productivity-related challenges among construction firms. This study aims to assess the construction supervisors’ abilities in providing work-based training elements and evaluating labour skills in construction.

A construction supervisory training programme was newly designed with a set of labour training exercises using comprehensive approaches. A total of 64 construction supervisors were trained to deliver the labour training components for more than 250 labourers working on 23 construction projects in Sri Lanka. The supervisors’ competencies were assessed using a detailed marking guide developed through expert discussions and literature reviews.

The results show the detailed cross-section of a wide range of competencies of the construction supervisors in providing labour training elements with the levels of standards/descriptions. The generalisability of the study applications and the reliability of the results were ensured using statistical tests and expert reviews. The findings further describe the impacts of the well-improved competencies of construction supervisors on labour working patterns and work outputs.

Though the study findings were limited to the Sri Lankan construction sector, the study applications can have a considerable impact on the current/future practices of the construction sector in developing countries as well as other developing industries.

The study outcomes may contribute to a rapid increase in the number of construction supervisors becoming certified assessors of National Vocational Qualifications up to certain levels. This paper describes the further extensive implications and future scopes of the study elaborately.

The study adds new characteristics and values to construction supervision practices that can be remarkable in achieving higher levels of performance and productivity in labour operations. Importantly, the study contributes to adorning the job role of construction supervisors with the title of “labour training expert”.

This study aims to explore the effect of expatriate supervisors’ managerial coaching behavior on local subordinates’ learning effects through the mediating role of subordinates’ thriving at work under the boundary condition of expatriate supervisors’ cultural intelligence.

This study collected the data form 230 Zambian subordinates and their immediate expatriate supervisors working in the Chinese company in Zambia. Regression analyses and bootstrapping analyses were used to test the authors’ hypothesis.

The results indicated that expatriate supervisors’ managerial coaching behavior was positively related to local subordinates’ learning effects. In addition, the study also found that local subordinates’ thriving at work mediated the linkage between managerial coaching behavior and learning effects. And expatriate supervisors’ cultural intelligence moderated the indirect relationship between managerial coaching behavior and learning effects via thriving at work, such that the indirect effect was stronger for expatriate supervisors with high rather than low cultural intelligence.

This study contributes to a better understanding of how expatriate supervisors’ managerial coaching behavior influences local subordinates’ learning effects by investigating the mediating effect of thriving at work on the managerial coaching behavior–learning effects link. In addition, the study deepens the understanding of the boundary condition of the associations between managerial coaching behavior and subordinates’ learning effects in a cross-cultural context by investigating the moderating effect of expatriate supervisors’ cultural intelligence.

This paper aims to explore how police officer rank affects the relation between the extent of the code of silence and views of discipline fairness.

In 2005, 150 police supervisors and 450 line officers from East Bohemia, the Czech Republic were surveyed, regarding crucial components of police integrity.

Supervisor and line officer codes of silence are similar; whenever the codes differ, the supervisor code seems to be narrower. The majority of line officers and supervisors provided similar assessments of the expected discipline; they disagreed only regarding a small number of scenarios. The results clearly show a direct relation between how strongly police officers adhere to the code of silence and the way they view disciplinary fairness, regardless of their supervisory status.

The survey included only police officers from East Bohemia in the Czech Republic.

The methodology can be utilized by police administrators to explore the contours of the code of silence in their agencies, police officers' views about appropriate and expected discipline, as well as the relation between the police officers' willingness to tolerate misconduct in silence, and their perceptions of the fairness of the expected discipline.

Studies exploring the relation between the code of silence and discipline fairness are rare. This study contributes to this scarce literature along two dimensions: first, it provides an in‐depth analysis of the relation between the extent of the code of silence and views of discipline fairness in an emerging democracy; and second, it explores the effect of police officer rank on this relation.

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel online video-based approach to supervision for statutory caseworkers. Caseworkers recorded a video of their meetings with their clients and sent the video to their supervisor. The supervisor selected clips in the video. They held an online meeting where they reviewed the clips, and the supervisor gave feedback and they reflected together. The caseworker then used what they had learnt in their future practice. The caseworker then recorded a new meeting, and the supervision cycle restarted.

In total, 11 statutory caseworkers from three municipalities in the Copenhagen area participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. The interviews focused on the professional learning and challenges caseworkers faced in relation to participating in the supervision process.

The caseworkers reported that they used the method to assess their own practice in a more realistic way as the use of video gave a more accurate image than merely recalling what had occurred. They reflected about and developed their relationship with clients, their conversational style and use of communication techniques, skills in relation to running meetings, and skills in relation to eliciting the young person’s perspective. The caseworkers were anxious when they received their first feedback from supervisors, but this diminished. The focus on supporting clients in their personal development challenged caseworkers who identified as having an administrative rather than interventional role. Some found the online meeting technology difficult to master.

This study presents and explores the use of a novel approach to statutory casework supervision.

The skills and knowledge of site supervisors play an important role in the outcome of construction projects. Evidence gleaned from the literature indicates that poor performance of construction projects remains a central concern for stakeholders in the construction sector. This suggests that the site supervisor’s training is important in the construction project outcomes. Various training programmes are available for site supervisors, yet construction firms are not satisfied with them. The purpose of this study is to determine the key training practice indicators for optimal site supervisor’s usage in construction firms.

This study adopts a cross-sectional survey research design. In the approach, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to determine the key training practice indicators for site supervisors. Data were collected from 218 construction site supervisors using a questionnaire.

Findings show that training practices are a multidimensional concept consisting of training needs assessment, training delivery, training evaluation and transfer. From the 50 training practice variables, this study establishes 12 key training practice indicators for training site supervisors in construction firms.

Future research should adopt a longitudinal survey for examining training practices in construction firms.

The identified key training indicators can inform the policies and practices used in the training of site supervisors.

This study contributes to knowledge by establishing 12 significant training practice indicators for optimal site supervisors’ usage in construction firms.

Increasingly, on‐the‐job experiences are being recognised as the most significant source for learning how to perform complex jobs. To accelerate the development of engineers worldwide and to counter the lengthier and less predictable results of “business as usual,” Mobile Oil has taken a systematic, focused approach to on‐the‐job development. Particular attention is given to foreign locations where there is strong emphasis on indigenisation and transfer of technology. A unique competency approach has been used to benchmark outstanding performance in engineering jobs and provide a common language for development discussions. The development process emphasises challenging assignments and supervisory coaching. The programme consists of a recurring cycle of systematic assessments of engineers; feedback and development discussions between engineers and their supervisors; development plans integrated with work unit objectives; and a resource guide that provides development options. Key organisational issues of implementation are described. Features which characterise successful programmes are identified and analysed.

Site supervision features largely influence the productivity status of construction operational processes. This study aims to use a case study containing mixed methods to test the site supervisory traits in applying mathematical theories to construction operations for directing supervisory capabilities under various operational characteristics.

A total of 62 construction site supervisors were trained as part of a new apprenticeship programme. Through literature reviews and expert consultations, grading criteria were designed with various degrees of descriptions and score ratings. The supervisory attributes were evaluated under seven competency element characteristics mapped with the relevant learning domains.

The results demonstrate a detailed sectional view of performance ratings of supervisors under different characteristics of competency factors with the validity, reliability, applicability and generalisability assurance of the research findings using relevant statistical tests and expert evaluations.

Though the research applications were engaged directly with the construction industry in the Sri Lankan setting, other developing countries and emerging industries can also employ equivalent tactics to attain similar outcomes in their industry-based operations.

The research findings have led to producing a new guide that makes significant impacts on deciding the capability levels in construction supervisory attributes while executing problem-solving applications in construction planning and operational processes. Accordingly, the findings push to open a gate to intake advanced cognitive attributes towards addressing the industry's knowledge gap on how the problem-solving-based apprenticeship protocols need to be linked with the supervision features.

The present paper seeks to identify what individual differences exist among employees in compliance with a management change; to examine the case of total quality management (TQM), and more precisely, to examine personality factors like extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, and locus of control as variables of individual differences in the study.

Primary source of data collection is employed, as employees in some service organizations implementing TQM served as participants for data collection. The research design adopted is correlation. A regression analysis of employee compliance with TQM on the personality variables of the study was run. Self‐report measures of participants were obtained for the personality attributes, while their respective bosses rated them on TQM compliance.

It is established that individual differences exist in employee compliance with a management change program. Specifically for TQM compliance, high extraversion and low neuroticism are desirable individual difference factors for enhanced compliance with TQM philosophy.

The research was conducted among employees in service organizations only; this limits the generalizability of the present findings. Also, the employees were mainly Nigerians; cultural differences might limit the research findings. The present study does not exhaust all possible factors of individual differences.

The present research has implications for personnel selection and development in times of organization change. To ensure compliance with a novel management design, some personality factors could serve as favorable dispositions of employees. Management of organizations therefore needs to consider such factors in selection and placement of employees in such organizations.

What is original about the paper is the identification of personality factors that could enhance the implementation of a TQM program.

Clearly, the role of front‐line leader (often known as supervisor, team leader, foreman and so on) is a critical, challenging and often unappreciated role. However, the role must be performed effectively if work teams are to optimise their effectiveness. This paper argues that four practices, easily stated but difficult to fully implement, are required in order to fully develop the front‐line leadership function. The practices are: implement a well‐focused system of goals and feedback; employ rigorous leadership selection processes (including the removal of ineffective leaders); maintain well‐developed and evolving human resource management systems; and implement training and development as an ongoing process. The rationale for each practice is provided as well as examples from experience.