Expanding leadership diversity through formal mentoring programs

To attract and retain people, it is essential that organizations design and successfully implement programs and processes that develop people and nurture their talents. For those who aspire to a leadership role, the opportunity to engage in mentoring relationships with senior‐level leaders is a powerful way to accelerate growth. In the majority of informal mentoring relationships, mentors and protégés share similar racial, gender, and cultural backgrounds. Senior leaders in most large organizations are still primarily white males. As a result, it can be difficult for people from diverse backgrounds who aspire to higher level leadership roles to find senior executives with whom they can develop a mentoring relationship. To address this challenge, some organizations have implemented formal mentoring programs that are specifically designed to facilitate development of people from diverse backgrounds. Unfortunately, previous research studies conducted on the impact of formal mentoring relationships have shown that these programs do not consistently achieve the desired outcomes. The change intervention described in this article suggests that formal mentoring programs can significantly influence the movement of protégés from diverse backgrounds into higher level leadership positions.     

Why does formal mentoring matter? The mediating role of psychological safety and the moderating role of power distance orientation in the Chinese context

Formal mentoring programs continue to gain popularity within various organizations due to their positive impact on protégés' career successes. However, to date, relevant research has focused on the benefits of informal mentoring relationships. To narrow the literature gap, this study was conducted to examine whether, how and when the amount of formal mentoring provided by mentors influenced protégés' work attitudes. Based on 208 formal mentor–protégé dyads from the People's Republic of China, we found that the amount of formal mentoring provided by mentors related positively to protégés' affective commitment and related negatively to turnover intention. Furthermore, perceived psychological safety of protégés partially mediated the relationship between the amount of formal mentoring and affective commitment, whereas it completely mediated the relationship between the amount of formal mentoring and turnover intention. Finally, protégés' power distance orientation moderated the relationship between the amount of formal mentoring and perceived psychological safety. Additionally, implications for research and practice from our findings are discussed.     

Formal Mentoring Systems: An Examination of the Effects of Mentor/Protégé Cognitive Styles on the Mentoring Process

In informal mentoring systems, protégés seek help from other organizational members between whom there is often mutual attraction and rapport resulting in a level of interpersonal comfort between the members of the relationship. Because of the apparent benefits for both employee and organization, many human resource managers now attempt to establish formal mentoring systems in which mentors and protégés are brought together systematically. It is recognized, however, that assigned mentoring relationships are not usually as beneficial as those that develop informally. There appears, therefore, to be a need to match partners in some way. It has been suggested that a better grasp of psychological factors is necessary if this is to be achieved. One personality variable that may be partly responsible for shaping the overall effectiveness of such relationships is cognitive style. The present study, involving 53 mentor–protégé dyads, examined the effects of the cognitive styles of mentors and protégés on the process of formal mentoring. Data were collected from both partners in each dyadic relationship, and findings suggest that in dyads whose mentor is more analytic, congruence between the partners' cognitive styles enhances the quality of their mentoring relationships. Cognitive style was also found to work indirectly through its influence on other variables to enhance mutual liking and psychosocial and career mentoring functions. Gender composition was also found to have a significant impact on the mentoring process. Dyads with female mentors and male protégés were found to be the least favourable combination.     

The effects of formal and informal CEO power on debt policy persistence

We explore the general trends of debt policy persistence and how formal and informal CEO power may influence the persistence based on four dimensions of debt policy. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms during 2008–2018, we clearly identify, for the first time, that the general trends of debt policy persistence include an initial downward trend phase (of 4–5 years) and a subsequent stable trend phase. We divide CEO power into formal and informal CEO power and find that CEOs’ formal power can help to increase debt policy persistence, while the role of informal power is the opposite, providing evidence that CEO power has a double-edged effect on debt policy persistence. Further, our results show that the most important dimensions through which formal and informal CEO power have their respective effects are ownership power and financial expert power. Lastly, it is CEOs’ formal power rather than their informal power that plays a dominant role in promoting the persistence of debt policy.     

Mentoring as an antidote to stress during corporate trauma

This article examines mentoring as a potentially useful resource in an organization's adaptation to global competition and the need for improved learning capabilities. We were surprised to find that mentoring relationships were perceived as more desirable under conditions of corporate stress, low job challenge, and low job involvement. We were further surprised to find that individuals in early and later career stages were as likely, or more likely than, their midcareer colleagues to embrace the mentoring role. Thus, it appears that mentoring may be more readily available as an antidote to stress than previously considered, and that it may be an important form of coping with the stressful, nonrewarding conditions that typically characterize corporate downsizing. Not only is mentoring an important form of promoting development (for self and for others), but it also may represent a valuable vehicle for social support and learning during times of major corporate change.     

Overcoming barriers to women's workplace leadership: insights from the interaction of formal and informal support mechanisms in trade unions

Women face gendered barriers to union leadership. In-depth interviews with UK and Australian female senior trade union leaders investigated how mentoring strategies can help women overcome barriers to leadership. Formal mentoring is most important, but the interaction of mentoring and informal support networks bolsters gender equality and workplace democracy.     

THE RELATIVE PERFORMANCE OF FORMAL AND INFORMAL SECTORS IN INDIA

We evaluate the relative performance of formal and informal sectors in India by looking into their productivity difference. Recognizing the intersectoral linkages in the economy, the competitive general equilibrium prices are computed; these signal the productivities. Our model synthesizes frontier analysis with the general equilibrium approach to generate shadow prices. The formal activities are found to be more productive than the informal. However, the informal services sector is as efficient as the formal one. There would be an overall productivity gain of 22% to the economy if factors were allocated to productive activities. The shadow prices from the model indicate that the formal capital and informal capital are scarce factors, while it has been the opposite for formal (regular) and informal (casual) labour. Formal labour is more productive than its informal counterpart; formal capital and informal capital are equally productive.     

How does perceived formality shape unheard challenging voices?

Abstract

It has been argued that upward challenge is important because it allows employees to have a say in organisational decision-making. Yet upward challenge may go unheard in organisations. Formal voice mechanisms are largely considered to be advantageous for encouraging employees to share their views and concerns. However, recent papers calling into question the distinction between formal and informal voice have prompted investigation into the value of formal voice mechanisms in encouraging upward challenge. This qualitative study attempted to understand in what ways formal voice mechanisms had the potential to create unheard voices by first establishing a working definition of formal voice mechanisms. Using a sample of 19 UK police officers, participants used a card sort to categorise formal and informal voice mechanisms. They subsequently identified, through semi-structured interviews, that formal voice mechanisms could be considered risky for upward challenge. The findings can be used by scholars and practitioners as a framework to identify where challenging voices may be going unheard.     

Antecedents of employee's preference for knowledge-sharing tools

This study examines individual antecedents of employees' preference for formal or informal knowledge-sharing tools. We propose that the preference for different tools is determined by the combined effects of willingness to share knowledge, trust and role breadth self-efficacy (RBSE). The findings of the empirical study, which was conducted at a medium-sized Chinese company (N = 860), revealed that willingness to seek knowledge was related to the usage of both formal and informal tools. Furthermore, the willingness to give knowledge was significantly related to the usage of formal tools. RBSE had a significantly positive impact on both formal and informal knowledge-sharing tools' usage, while its effects on formal tools' usage were stronger than those on informal tools. Affect-based trust had a significantly positive impact on the usage of informal knowledge sharing, which was also stronger than its impact on formal tools' usage. Cognition-based trust positively moderated the relationship between willingness to seek knowledge and the usage of formal tools, and the relationship between willingness to share knowledge and informal tools' usage.     

Entrepreneurship and economic freedom: cross-country evidence from formal and informal sectors

Abstract

The paper empirically examines the effect of economic freedom on the average prevalence of formal and informal entrepreneurship. Whereas the formal entrepreneurship and economic freedom nexus has been studied, the influence of economic freedom on informal entrepreneurship is less forthcoming. The results, based on cross-country data and after accounting for possible reverse causality, show that economic freedom promotes formal entrepreneurship and inhibits informal entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the return from economic freedom is greatest in countries with a relatively higher prevalence of formal and informal entrepreneurship.     

Do Opportunities for Formal Learning Stimulate Follow‐Up Participation in Informal Learning? A Three‐Wave Study

Informal learning is an important source of employee adaptability and expertise, yet it is unclear how it may be encouraged through human resource management (HRM) practices. In this study, we investigate how opportunities for formal learning may be used to stimulate short‐ and long‐term participation in informal learning. In addition, we examine whether HRM system strength intensifies the relationship between opportunities for formal learning and informal learning. Using a sample of 430 respondents in 52 teams within six Dutch vocational and educational training schools, we adopt a longitudinal design to examine two types of autonomous informal learning activities (reflection and keeping up to date), and three collaborative activities (asking for feedback, knowledge sharing and innovative behavior) over two years. Opportunity for formal learning was positively related to short‐ and long‐term participation in informal learning activities, with the exception of long‐term innovation. Moreover, HRM system strength intensified these relationships. Managerial implications of these findings for encouraging informal learning activities at work are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

On‐the‐job training: a skill match approach to the determinants of lifelong learning

A recurrent finding in on‐the‐job training research is the ‘training gap’ in formal training: the positive correlation between initial education and continuing training. This finding is here examined from the perspective of two important distinctions: (i) between employee skill supply and job skill demand and (ii) between formal and informal training. Less‐educated workers may hold jobs with low skill requirements demanding little further formal training because the use of high skills is irrelevant, jobs that moreover provide little informal training. Exploring these issues on representative Swedish survey data using the educational mismatch (overqualified, the rightly qualified and the underqualified) model, we find that job requirements are strongly correlated with the incidence of both formal and informal training. Rather than, as has previously been argued, employee training decisions being the cause of the gap, this suggests that employer decisions regarding how to structure jobs and whom to hire are the primary factors behind the training gap.     

Human resource control in MNCs: a study of the factors influencing the use of formal and informal control mechanisms

This study tests the effects of different internal and external factors on Multinational Corporations' (MNCs) use of formal versus informal mechanisms to control their human resources. Responses to a survey of 74 General Managers (GMs) of US subsidiaries in Mexico were used to test the hypotheses. The use of formal and informal mechanisms of control was associated with the extent to which the MNC had a global strategy as well as with the strength of localization forces such as local dependence and local regulations. Level of employee education, a subsidiary characteristic, also predicted the extent to which MNCs used informal control mechanisms. Most importantly, the results suggest that, even though they share some antecedents, each type of control mechanism, namely formal and informal, has a different set of internal and external antecedents. Indeed, our data hint that informal and formal control mechanisms are not mutually exclusive and that, on the contrary, they can fruitfully co-exist because they satisfy different internal and external demands.     

Formal and Informal Corruption Environments and Multinational Enterprise Social Irresponsibility

Using an institutional theory framework we theorize, hypothesize, and empirically show that higher levels of formal and informal corruption environments found in a firm's operating portfolio are related to higher levels of corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR). Failing to consider corruption's informal dimension leads to potentially false perceptions about a multinational enterprise's (MNE) operating environment, particularly when the formal dimension is low but the informal corruption dimension is high, as is the case in about one third of our sample. Including the informal corruption environment component provides additional explanatory power over the formal corruption environment alone in predicting CSiR and yields a superior understanding of both the formal and informal dimensions of the corruption institutional environment's influence on corporate social irresponsibility levels of MNEs. Managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.     

The role of peer-to-peer voice in severe work environments: organisational facilitators and barriers

Encouraging and facilitating employee voice among frontline employees is important in organisations to draw out problems and issues that can potentially be addressed and mitigated by organisational policies and practices. Using Conservation of Resources theory, this study focuses on paramedics and the formal and informal voice mechanisms used to safeguard their well-being. We observe that paramedics are often unwilling to use formal support mechanisms, at least in the first instance immediately following exposure to a traumatic event, but they see informal peer-to-peer voice as critical in preventing resource loss and regaining resources for subsequent call-outs. We also found that without an awareness of the importance of this support mechanism, changes in work organisation can unintentionally and unknowingly limit their capacity to engage in this form of support. Losing peer-to-peer voice can lead to the build-up of stress that could otherwise be mitigated, resulting in diminished well-being.     

我国城镇正规就业与非正规就业工资差异的实证研究——基于分位数回归与分解的发现

本文利用2009年CHNS数据对我国城镇正规就业与非正规就业的工资差异进行实证研究,分位数回归与分解的结果表明:正规就业与非正规就业的教育回报率的差异,随工资分布由低端到高端呈现先升后降趋势,经验—工资线在正规就业与非正规就业明显不同,前者为单调递增的线性关系,后者为倒"U"形曲线关系;正规就业与非正规就业的工资差异主要是由中低端的工资差异引起的;在工资分布中低端和歧视等非市场因素是工资差异的主要原因,而在工资分布高端,工资差异主要来自于教育和经验等个人禀赋差异。     

Flexible Working,Individual Performance,and Employee Attitudes: Comparing Formal and Informal Arrangements

In the context of a wider trend to individualize human resource management, this article examines the relationship between flexible working arrangements and individual performance. Drawing on a range of theories, this article also examines potential indirect effects on employee performance via job satisfaction and organizational commitment and analyzes whether these relationships vary according to whether the arrangement was set up through a formal process or negotiated informally between the employee and his or her line manager. Extant research has tended to focus on formal arrangements, however, informal arrangements are widespread and may better accommodate work‐life preferences, thereby potentially fostering more positive attitudes from employees. Survey data from 2,617 employees in four large organizations with well‐established flexible working policies are analyzed. Results from structural equation models show average positive indirect effects from informal flexible working, but also negative direct effects from formal flexible working. When two forms of flexible working amenable to being set up by both formal and informal means are examined separately, formal arrangements for flexibility over working hours are found to be negatively associated with performance, but also a source of greater job satisfaction; informal remote working arrangements have positive indirect effects via organizational commitment and job satisfaction on worker performance. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

我国物流教育的发展现状

通过对我国学历教育和非学历教育的发展现状分析,表明物流学历教育充分发挥了物流人才培养的主导作用;物流非学历教育成为物流学历教育的有益补充,促进了我国物流教育的迅速发展。同时指出物流教育在办学定位、教学内容、教学方法和教学手段等方面存在的问题。     

THE IMPACT OF LABOR MARKET REGULATION ON EMPLOYMENT IN LOW‐INCOME COUNTRIES: A META‐ANALYSIS

Controversy over labor market policy often centers on achieving a balance between preventing worker exploitation, and avoiding loss of productivity or employment through excessive regulation. Although the literature documenting the impact of labor market regulation on employment is extensive, there is a dearth of evidence on the impact of such policies in low‐income countries (LICs). Since it is easier for workers, especially women, to slip into the informal sector in LICs, regulations are likely to have stronger impacts on formal employment in these countries (but lower impacts on unemployment). We systematically reviewed available research from countries that are, or were until recently, LICs. Most studies document that more stringent labor regulations are associated with lower formal sector employment and higher informal sector employment. We also conducted a metaregression analysis of the impact of minimum wages on formal and informal employment. After controlling for publication bias, higher minimum wages are associated with lower formal employment and a higher share of informal workers.     

Structural aspects of social capital: tests for cross-national equivalence in Europe

In this contribution we start from the emerging consensus on the widely disputed phenomenon of social capital. We propose to focus on structural aspects of social capital: formal (contacts within formal organizations) and informal (contacts outside of formal organizations). First, we address methodological questions on the cross-national equivalence of these social capital measurements. Second, we re-visit substantive questions on the patterns of relationships in different European countries. In particular, we inquire to which degree formal and informal social capital can substitute each other, as well as being complementary. We take advantage of recent Eurobaromer data (2004) containing a wide range of valid measurements on both structural aspects of social capital. We find strong evidence for cross-national equivalent measurements regarding formal social capital, employing probabilistic scalogram analyses. For informal social capital, we find strong evidence for configural and metric invariance as well as evidence for partial scalar invariance, employing multi group confirmatory factor analyses. We have to reject the substantive hypothesis on substitution of formal and informal social capital for all countries under consideration, except for Romania. We corroborate the hypothesis on complementarity of formal and informal social capital.