MENTORING IN INTER-PROJECT LEARNING

Master's Thesis
Division of Quality Technology and Management
Linköping University, Sweden

by
cand. Dipl. Wirt.-Ing. Florian Kaiser, M.Sc.

 

  
 
The cover of the original Thesis

This Master Thesis was conducted 1999/2000 during the Masters of Science in Engineering Programm at the Linköpings Technical University in Sweden, it has been recognized at the Technical University Darmstadt in Germany and graded with ECTS A (equivalent to the german grade 1,3/very good).
The Length ot the Text is 103 pages with a total length of 113 pages, writen in English. There are 7 Figures and 4 tables in the text.

It is perfectly suited as an introduction to the concept of mentoring and the application of mentoring in inter-project learning in particular. The work is based on an extencive literature recherche with more than 100 references. Four cases of organizational mentoring are presented, providing a first-hand insight to diferent stages of mentoring in practice.

The work can be bought as a file, on CD or on paper. The Price for the file version is € 150,- for commercial usage and € 75,- for students, plus postage. Aditional € 10,- if you are interested in the CD-version or in the printed version.

For further information or orders, please contact me: mail@floriankaiser.de

 

If you wonder about the the flies for FlyFishing on the cover - they are a symbol for a friend of mine who is some kind of mentor to me.

  
   
       
       
       
 

ABSTRACT

The object of this work is to assess the interpersonal development concept of mentoring to its usability in inter-project learning situations. Mentoring is introduced on a theoretical level based on a review of the identified literature. The different characteristics of mentoring relationships are investigated and their implications to inter-project learning applications are considered. Considerable potential of knowledge transfer facilitate by mentoring could be identified. Possible forms for the application of mentoring in project teams to enhance inter-project knowledge transfer are developed. Four Organizations were assessed to observe their current mentoring intentions and applications. No mentoring activities in the proposed form could be identified within the organizational cases due to the fact that this form of mentoring is rather new and only two companies had formal mentoring programs established. The importance of further research and validation of the proposals is expressed. To enhance the knowledge about the concept, observed practical application of this mentoring form is suggested.

 

BACKGROUND

The development of most sectors in Western economies is shifting its focus from the traditional way of producing goods and services inside a hierarchical company and its functional structures towards a more project oriented way of doing business. The examples of areas are numerous and range from Infrastructure projects such as the bridge over the Öresund (Denmark-Sweden) or airplane-construction at Saab AB in Sweden over R&D-Projects for new products like mobile phones at Ericsson down to smaller projects like the introduction of suggestion systems in a company. Some projects are successful but the vast majority of them exceed their planned budget in terms of time, financial resources and/or other resources. One important aspect in this context is the transfer of knowledge between projects.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the personal development form of mentoring with respect to its value in inter-project learning situations. This work attempts to introduce the personal development form of mentoring by presenting a resume of according literature. These findings are considered during the subsequent conception of possible forms of mentoring in inter-project learning situations.

DELIMITATION

This work attempts to introduce to the personal development form of mentoring. It is a theoretical work founded primarily on the review of literature identified to be important. The proposal derived from this base is to utilize mentoring as a form for knowledge transfer in inter-project learning situations. Further theoretical and empirical research is suggested to validate the significance of mentoring in the proposed field.

PROCEDURES

Inter-project learning is a rather new area of research with many facets thus meaning that so is the application of mentoring in inter-project learning situations is a new field of research. As a result, the author introduces mentoring by surveying the existing literature and presenting an overview of the current conceptions about this personal development form. Based on this theoretical fundament a possible model for the application of mentoring in inter-project learning situations is developed. Four organizational cases give an insight into the application of current organizational mentoring.

RESULTS

This paper introduces mentoring on an abstract level illustrated by organizational examples. The current state of mentoring research is presented and different conceptions and issues are considered. The personal development form of mentoring is identified to be highly beneficial and applicable to today's organizations. Based on the theoretical review of literature the concept of mentoring, as a knowledge transfer form for inter-project learning situations seems to be feasible. An explanatory model of mentoring in inter-project learning situations could be developed. As the proposed utilization of mentoring could not be found in practical applications nothing can be said about the performance of mentoring in actual inter-project learning situations.

 

  
 

 

 

Copyright: Florian Kaiser 1999-2001