Abstract
Mentor programs are important mechanisms that serve functions such as career development as well as knowledge transfer. Many see mentor programs as an efficient, inexpensive, flexible and tailored way of transferring technical knowledge from experts to less experienced employees. We have investigated how a mentor program works in a small software consultancy company, and propose that the learning effect of the program could be improved by introducing methods to increase the employees level of reflection.
Keywords
- Knowledge Management
- Knowledge Transfer
- Social Initiative
- Mentor Program
- Mentor Relationship
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Dybå, T.: Improvisation in Small Software Organizations. IEEE Software 17(5), 82–87 (2000)
Wickert, A., Herschel, R.: Knowledge management issues for smaller businesses. Journal of Knowledge Management 5(4), 329–337 (2001)
Lindvall, M., Rus, I.: Knowledge Management in Software Engineering. IEEE Software 19(3), 26–38 (2002)
Armour, F.J., Gupta, M.: Mentoring for Success. IEEE IT Pro., 64–66 (May - June 1999)
Kram, K.E.: Mentoring at work: Developmental relationships in organizational life. Scott Foresman, Glenview, IL (1985) ISBN: 081916755X
Ragins, B.R., Cotton, J.L., Miller, J.S.: Marginal Mentoring: The Effects of Type of Mentor, Quality of Relationship, and Program Design on Work and Career Attitudes. Academy of Management Journal 43(6), 1177–1194 (2000)
Webster’s, Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language. Gramercy Books, New York (1989)
Kram, K.E., Hall, D.T.: Mentoring as an antidote to stress during corporate trauma. Human Resource Management 28, 493–510 (1989)
Allen, T.D., Eby, L.T.: Relationship Effectiveness for Mentors: Factors Associated with Learning and Quality. Journal of Management 29(4), 469–486 (2003)
Raelin, J.A.: Public Reflection as the Basis of Learning. Management Learning 32(1), 11–30 (2001)
Argyris, C., Schön, D.A.: Organizational Learning II: Theory, Method and Practise. Addison Wesley, Reading (1996)
Raelin, J.A.: Work-based learning. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River (2000)
Avison, D., Lau, F., Myers, M., Nielsen, P.A.: Action Research. Communications of the ACM 42(1), 94–97 (1999)
Susman, G., Evered, R.: An assessment of the scientific merits of action research. Administrative Science Quarterly 23(4), 582–603 (1978)
Miles, M.B., Huberman, A.M.: Qualitative Data Analysis: An expanded sourcebook, 2nd edn. SAGE publications, Thousand Oaks (1994)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Bjørnson, F.O., Dingsøyr, T. (2005). A Study of a Mentoring Program for Knowledge Transfer in a Small Software Consultancy Company. In: Bomarius, F., Komi-Sirviö, S. (eds) Product Focused Software Process Improvement. PROFES 2005. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3547. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11497455_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11497455_21
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-26200-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-31640-4
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)