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Although common throughout the world, little is known about the mechanism by which nepotism is associated with employee outcomes. Drawing from social exchange theory, this study examines whether fear-based silence mediates the relationship between nepotism with employee workplace withdrawal and career satisfaction. In addition, whether gender moderates the relationship between nepotism and fear-based silence is also examined.

Two time-lagged surveys of 330 employees in the Indian banking sector were completed.

As hypothesized, nepotism was positively related to fear-based silence and employee workplace withdrawal; it was negatively related to career satisfaction. Fear-based silence partially mediated the relationships of nepotism with workplace withdraw and career satisfaction. Gender moderated the relationship between nepotism and fear-based silence.

This study shows the negative impact of nepotism on employee outcomes and suggests means for reducing its prevalence in organizations.

This is the first study to examine fear-based silence as a mediator of nepotism’s relationship with employee workplace withdrawal and career satisfaction. It also answers repeated calls for more research on fear-based silence and its antecedents.

The purpose of this study is to examine the under‐researched subject of the role of mentoring relationships within and outside of organizational boundaries as individuals make the career transition from being a corporate employee to becoming an entrepreneur.

Using structured interviews, the authors collected data from 24 men and women in the financial services industry in the UK about their experiences in making the transition from a corporate organization to a new venture work context. All interviews were transcribed and systematic Nvivo coding was used.

Developmental relationships with structural, relational, and cognitive embeddedness were most likely to transfer from the individual's corporate workplace to their new venture. Support for both the recent literature on multiple mentors and for gender differences in the patterns of these mentoring relationships was also found.

This is the first published study to examine whether mentor relationships from previous corporate employment transfer to the protégé's new entrepreneurial venture and whether other types of relationships (e.g. coworkers, clients) are transformed into mentor‐protégé relationships after the career transition to entrepreneurship. It is also among the few studies to examine mentoring of entrepreneurs and gender differences in mentoring within the entrepreneurial work context.

The major purpose of this paper is to examine how gender differences impact the enactment of careers. An additional goal is to examine whether, as suggested by recent conceptualizations, careers are indeed becoming more boundaryless.

This paper is based on the results of two in‐depth qualitative studies (n=52; n=27).

Two major patterns were found that describe the careers of professionals in the contemporary workplace. One pattern is called the alpha career pattern: over the life span, people with this pattern first focus on challenge, then authenticity, and then balance. The second pattern is called the beta career pattern: over the life span, people with this pattern first focus on challenge, then balance, and then authenticity.

This paper offers a framework that HR managers and other organizational leaders can use to increase the authenticity, balance and challenge experienced by their employees in order to enhance organizational effectiveness.

This paper addresses the numerous calls for the development of a model to explain the complexities of women's careers as well as to recognize gender differences in career enactment. It was found that, in general, men followed the alpha career pattern while women followed the beta career pattern. However, a limited number of women had career experiences that were more consistent with the alpha career pattern more closely aligned with men while some younger men consciously developed more family‐driven beta patterns.

The use of women's networks is emerging as one method of advancing women's careers within organizations. However, the value of these networks has been questioned. The purpose of this study is to examine how potential differences in the perceptions of network members and the firm's executive leadership about the purposes and anticipated outcomes of a women's network may impact women's career advancement.

The authors interviewed 21 members of an intra‐firm women's network and six members of the executive leadership team of a global organization. To examine the qualitative data, they used a process of thematic analysis to discover prevalent themes in the transcribed interviews.

Both members of the women's network and the executive leadership team placed responsibility for women's career advancement upon the individual; the firm's male‐dominated culture and organizational constraints were not emphasized. While members of the women's network recognized how the network could be used to contribute to the firm's strategic goals, the executive leadership team did not recognize the network's possible effect on the firm's bottom line.

Examines how potential differences in the perceptions of network members and the firm's executive leadership about the purposes and anticipated outcomes of a women's network may impact women's career advancement.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the under‐examined topic of career regrets. Although much of the careers literature has examined factors that contribute to success, little research has been completed on the regrets individuals may experience as they enact their careers.

A large internet sample of 1,480 professionals was used to examine whether individuals who had been laid off in their careers experienced greater career regrets.

Individuals who had been laid off experienced greater regrets with regard to their political behavior (e.g. lack of networking, not being more politically savvy) and their career choices (e.g. not spending more time with their family, failing to pursue more meaningful work) than individuals who had not been laid off.

The findings may have limited generalizability because of the use of a cross‐sectional, internet‐based survey design.

The regrets individuals have may influence their future career behaviors and choices, resulting in different approaches to their work and their lives. These findings may offer some insights to help individuals navigate their careers and make choices that they will be less likely to regret.

Although a great deal of research has focused on strategies for career success, relatively little research has examined career missteps or career regrets. It is hoped this exploratory research encourages further study as well as the development of a theory‐based model of career regrets.

This study sets out to examine whether protégés have more favorable perceptions of an organization's culture for balancing work and family than non‐protégés.

Data were obtained from 418 employees of a major public accounting firm who completed a survey on mentoring and work‐family issues. Correlation analyses, t‐tests, and regressions were performed to test the hypotheses.

The results strongly support the view that protégés had more favorable perceptions than non‐protégés of the organization's work‐family culture – the degree to which integration of employees' work and family lives is supported. Having a mentor was significantly related to each component of work‐family culture (managerial support, time demands, and career consequences) in the predicted direction.

By focusing on respondents in a single firm, it is impossible to determine whether the findings generalize to individuals in other industries or companies.

To attract and retain employees, organizations have become increasingly concerned about their cultures for balancing work and family. By encouraging mentoring, organizations can transmit the message to their employees of resources and support available to help achieve balance.

Despite strong interest in the fields of mentoring and work‐family balance, few research studies have attempted to link these two domains. This research integrates these areas and demonstrates the important role mentors play in developing perceptions of an organization's culture for work‐family balance.

Up to 40 per cent of expatriate managers terminate their assignments early. Each failed expatriate assignment costs a company between $50,000 and $150,000. Proposes to examine who should be trained for international assignments and to review the five major training programmes typically used by organizations. Offers practical suggestions for improving the training of expatriates.

Super′s theory of career stages has not yet been tested with individuals who are planning to retire. In this present research, results from a longitudinal investigation of academics at a large midwestern institution show that individuals in the disengagement stage are more likely to retire than individuals in the maintenance stage. In addition, individuals in the disengagement stage are more likely to choose early retirement than those in the maintenance stage. Discusses implications for managers and directions for future research.

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the relationship between individuals' developmental mentoring networks and a subjective career outcome, clarity of professional identity. How developmental network characteristics are related to professional identity over time is explored. Design/methodology/approach – This is a three‐wave, longitudinal survey study, covering a five‐year span (1996‐2001). The participants (n=136), full‐time MBA students at the inception of the study, provided complete developmental network data on each survey. The relationships between clarity of professional identity and three different measures of developmental network density were explored: early‐career density; general density; and density dynamics (e.g. the change in density over time). Findings – Developmental network density, which reflects the professional identity exploration process, is negatively related to clarity of professional identity. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited by the use of graduating MBA students from a single, top‐20 business school as participants. Practical implications – The findings suggest that people might be able to improve their careers through changing their developmental networks, particularly during their early‐career years. Originality/value – This paper provides novel insights to the mentoring, identity, and careers literatures. Given the previously uncharted territory of understanding the dynamics of developmental networks and its relationship to career outcomes, this study opens avenues for future research, while also answering questions about developmental networks and the ways they function over time.