Research Korner: Human Resources Management Model

Strategic Business Analysis: Procter & Gamble Case Study

Strategic Business Analysis: Procter & Gamble Case Study      Overview of the Company: Procter & Gamble             Procter & Gamble is one of the most successful companies in the industry today. It manufactures and produces a variety of products that features not only high standard of quality, but practicality and value for money as well. Procter & Gamble was founded by William Procter, a candle maker, and James Gamble, a soap maker in 1873. By 1879, they have developed Ivory, an inexpensive while soap, thus, enabling them to establish their own laboratory, being the first in the United States. By 1930, the company was able to purchase a British soap manufacturer, Thomas Hedley & Sons, and by 1935, it was able to establish a factory in the Philippines.             At present, Procter & Gamble sells more than 300 leading brands, such as Pampers, Ariel, Tide, Whisper, Pringles, Downy, Camay, Cover Girl, Pantene, Iams, Crest, Duracell, Puffs, Secret, Wella, Eukanuba, Bounty, Folgers, Gilette, Hugo Boss, Mr. Clean, Oral-B, Old Spice, Clairol, Actonel, Lacoste, Joy, Max Factor, Zest, and Olay. It markets its products to over 160 countries worldwide, and operates a total of 115 plants in more than 80 countries all over the world. Its headquarters are located in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. It employs more than 98,000 employees worldwide. Aside from a wide variety of products, Procter & Gamble has also been active in producing radio and television shows, such as Dawson’s Creek, Shirley Jones and Down to Earth ( 2007).             The global business units of the company is divided into five, namely, fabric and home care, being its biggest division, beauty care, the second biggest, baby and family care, health care, and snacks and beverages. The fabric and home care division of the company is its most profitable division, contributing to a total of $2.1 billion in 2004.             However, the increasing number of competitor companies forced Procter & Gamble to implement far-reaching initiatives that aim to produce changes in terms of the company’s organizational culture, work processes, culture, production, and operations. Procter & Gamble are aiming at this through its implementation of ‘Organization 2005’, which would enable the company to strengthen its global presence.  As such, this paper aims to make an analysis of the business strategies of Procter & Gamble, including its strengths and weaknesses as a company. It also aims to evaluate and assess the performance of the company, based on a specific period, until the implementation of its new business strategy. In this regard, the latest business strategy of the company, ‘Organization 2005’ would be analyzed and evaluated.   TASK 1   Identification of Organizational Strengths and Weaknesses             One of the potential strengths of Procter & Gamble is the wide variety of products, following the five different business segments the company is offering its consumers. The wide variety of products the company offers its consumers enabled the company to operate in almost 200 countries worldwide, thus, strengthening the second potential strength of the company, which is establishing a dominant market position. The dominance of the products and the name of the company in the market and among consumers help the company to become a stable reputation in the market, being an already known and established manufacturer of products in the industry. It has been reported that companies achieve marketplace distinction through their size and dominance, and such advantages can be achieved through a combination of brand-name recognition, accessibility, capacity, broad expertise, and the ability to create advantage through sheer marketplace muscle ( 2003). These characteristics contributed to the strengths and market advantage of the company. Another potential strength of the company is its continuous modification of structure and internal processes, which aims to maximize its global advantage. Through continuous modification and restructuring, the company is able to adapt to the continuous changes that are happening both internally and externally. Because changes in the business sector are continuous, a certain international and multinational company must be able to have different approaches in order to cope with such changes. Another potential strength of the company is its ability to launch various initiatives to facilitate knowledge exchange and best practices in the company, leading to the strengthening of the Organization 2005 initiative. This emphasizes the highly effective value chain of the company, being able to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and information, thus, enhancing the company’s ability to transfer best ideas, assemblies, parts, and process data that can be easily and readily shared (2006). Facilitating best practices and knowledge exchange in the company enables it to reinforce its next potential strength, which is improving and developing its workforce through IT initiatives, reward systems, supply chain management, and training programs. In this regard, the company is able to develop the potentials, skills, talents, and knowledge of its employees, thus, helping them to become empowered and more motivated. However, despite its strengths, several weaknesses can also be determined. One of the weaknesses of Procter & Gamble is that its implementation of new strategies involves substantial and significant costs. Additional costs for the company would enable it to allocate larger amounts of money, thus, contributing to the additional problems of the company. In this regard, significant allocation and budgeting must be adjusted in order to cope with additional costs. Another weakness of the company is the retrenchment being done, thus, affecting the morale of employees. Due to cost cutting, an organization may have the option to retrench, relocate or even fire their employees to be able to cope with the needed changes being faced by the company. However, because of such actions, many employees would be threatened, not only in terms of their performance in the company, but in their individual skills and abilities as well. In this regard, this is being treated as a weakness of the company, as it provides fear and anxiety to employees, being included in the retrenchment and job reduction initiatives. Another weakness is the company’s ability for lower realization. Lower realization means the inability of the company to think about the different problems and solutions that might be implemented. In this regard, low realization of the company entails inaction and passive approach in terms of problems and challenges. The next significant weakness of the company involves the leadership and management skills of Jager, who puts too much pressure on the managers of Procter and Gable for marketing their products. This means that the leadership and management style of the company’s past CEO does not fit the corporate culture of the company. It has been reported that leadership is regarded as the most important element of directing the function of management, and a supportive function to other managerial functions, thus, in this regard, good leadership is important to effective management (2004). The lack of good leadership on the part of Jager has contributed to the weaknesses of the company, as his strategic decisions are out of timing, leading to more problems for the company. In addition, his decisions for employee transfers and relocations resulted to employee behavioral problems. As such, these weaknesses further contribute to the problems of the company in terms of lower sales and profits and lower market recognition during the period from 1995 to 1999.       Identification of Organizational Opportunities and Threats             To complete the analysis of the performance of the company, both its opportunities and threats are needed to be recognized. The major opportunity of Procter & Gamble is the taking over of George Lafley being the company’s CEO. The new management of Lafley focused on taking new initiatives in underdeveloped markets, thus, focusing and prioritizing the market profitability of top-selling brands. The dominance of the products and the reputation of the company dictate its advantage in the market, being established and stable in the industry. As the pioneer in a product or market segment, Procter & Gamble has a large installed base of their products or numerous facilities in key locations ( 2003), thus, enabling the company to obtain relevant information regarding a certain target market. Another potential opportunity for the company is its ability for the improvement of operations, profitability and rebuilding its management team, which are essential factors in improving its competitiveness and in revitalizing its long-term growth. This was done by the company through IT initiatives and investment, through improvement and development of workforce, and through introduction of new products and new technologies. The continuous improvement and development of the IT industry in many countries have provided Procter & Gamble to improve and hasten its operations and production processes, thus, providing larger opportunities for participating in globalization. This is a good opportunity for the company, as it helps increase economic interdependence between countries and leads to an increased flow of goods, capital and knowledge across borders ( 2006). Another opportunity for the company is the reduction for overhead and manufacture costs, which would enable the company to allocate more resources to its other functions, and not only in the operations and production departments. Better allocation and budgeting of the company’s resources would provide better savings and monetary advantage for the company, thus, dictating and determining the ability of the company to allocate resources effectively for the benefit of the whole company.             Along with the opportunities are the threats presented to the company, which serve to be the future problems Procter & Gamble is able to face. The primary and main threat to the company and to any other company is the increase in competition. The increase in the competition against Procter & Gamble is the increase in the production of generic brands, which are the cheaper versions of the company’s core products. The increase in competition in the industry was triggered by the lack of introduction of the company for new products for a long time. In this regard, products sit in one place without adding value (1997), thus, not enhancing the users themselves. In terms of beauty, home and healthcare products, they must continuously be changed and modified to continuously cater to the changing needs of the consumers. Without the introduction of new products in the market, the consumers would have the notion of stagnation of the company, which would provide realization that the things they do not like about the product would remain all throughout. The next threat for the company is the falling stock prices, from which the prices of the company are dependent upon. Because Procter and Gamble is involved in supplying the needs of its consumers, the prices of its commodities then is dependent on the demand of its consumers. In this regard, if the stock prices or the prices of the commodity would fall, then the overall profit, sales, and operations of the company would be affected, leading to significant drop of earnings. The next threat to the business of the company is the increase in the prices of the costs of raw materials. The increase in the prices of raw materials would provide significant threats to the company, as this significant increase would also affect the pricing of the company’s commodities or products, which would may illicit negative and unwanted responses from consumers. The increase in the prices of raw materials would mean a direct effect or increase in the prices of end-products in the market. Another threat determined is the failure of the company’s dual acquisition, which can be regarded as a waste of time, effort, money and energy. Lastly, one of the most important and significant threat to the company is its internal problems, particularly in its human resources.   TASK 2   Identification of the Eight Managerial Tasks for Strategy Execution            (2005) reports of the eight components of implementing and executing strategy of managerial tasks. The eight components include Allocating Resources, Building a Capable Organization, Exercising Strategic Leadership, Shaping Corporate Culture to Fit Strategy, Establishing Strategy-Supportive Policies, Instituting Best Practices for Continuous Improvement, Installing Support Systems, and Trying Rewards to Achievement of Key Strategic Targets. Such components are important to take note off, as they enable the organization to achieve their goals and objectives through effective planning and organizing, based on such components. Specifically, using such components, the organization would be able to fit how the organization conducts its operations to the requirements of the strategy, generate commitment, so an enthusiastic crusade emerges to carry out strategy, see that the activities are done in a manner tightly matching first-rate strategy execution, and unite the whole organization behind the chosen strategies (2005). In this regard, it can be perceived that such elements or components are crucial in determining and executing the different strategies of organizations in order to help them attain and achieve all their goals and objectives.             Allocating Resources. Allocation of resources refers to the effective, budgeted, and proper distribution of resources in an organization, and involves the effective and efficient skills of a manager. Resources or assets of the company include physical assets, such as land, facilities, buildings, and equipments; financial assets, such as cash and credit rating; operations assets, such as machinery, systems, and processes; human assets, such as employees, and their qualities and skills, marketing assets, such as distribution penetration, marketing, expertise, market positioning, market knowledge, customer loyalty, brand name, reputation, and relationships with distributors; and legal assets, such as patents and copyrights, systems-management information systems, and decision support mechanisms (2003). Given the number of different assets or resources of a company or organization, it can be perceived that the managers of the organization must be able to budget effectively in order to distribute and dissipate adequate resources to all the different functions of the organization. In this regard, proper allocation of resources of a specific organization depends on the ability and skills of the managers to allocate resources effectively, and the organization’s ability to profit from its market, from which the bulk of the resources of the company would come from.             Building a Capable Organization. Building a capable organization serves to be one of the top priorities of managers. This is because a capable organization is characterized as having all the necessary elements that would enable the employees of the organization and its market to coexist effectively. A number of components are recognized, as essential factors that are required in building a capable organization. Such factors include staffing the organization, building core competencies and competitive capabilities, and structuring the organization and the work effort. Staffing the organization means that to build a capable organization, the company must be able to put together a strong management team, and recruit and retain talented employees (2005). Staffing the organization involves the effective recruitment and selection process, where the main goal is to acquire people who possess the ability and competence to successfully accomplish the duties and responsibilities not only of the job to be filled out but also of the potential to grow with the company, and to be assigned to a job which the person’s ability, character, and temperament suit the job given to him or her (2003). The second element involves building core competencies and competitive capabilities of the company, which involves the development, updating, and reshaping of the competence and capability portfolio of the employees and the whole organization itself, based on the external conditions and the changes in the strategies to be adopted (2005). The last element is the structuring of the organization and work effort, which involves the concept and process of Organizational Development. It has been reported that Organizational Development is a long-range effort planned, systematic, organization-wide, and managed from the top, aimed to increase organization effectiveness and health through planned interventions, including usage of behavioral science knowledge to the adaptive development, improvement and reinforcement of such organizational features as the strategies, structures, processes, people, and cultures that lead to organization effectiveness (2005). In this regard, in order to build a capable organization, the employees and top management with their effective and efficient skills, and the whole organization itself must be integrated and coordinated in order to achieve its goals and objectives.             Exercising Strategic Leadership. Leadership is a key issue in the development of groups, organizations, and nations. Leadership is the ability of a specific individual to direct and guide a group of individuals in order to achieve goals and objectives. In relation to this, strategic leadership becomes relevant, as it enables a leader and his followers to focus on a specific goal using their skills and capabilities. In exercising strategic leadership, the roles and characteristics of the team leader and his or her team members matter. The team leader must be responsible in planning, organizing, and controlling the activities of the team and must possess a number of skills. Such skills include the ability to develop people, has excellent communication and interpersonal skills, the ability to handle stress, good problem-solving skills, and time management skills (2005). Similarly, the team members must also be responsible, and support and contribute to the success of the whole team and its team leader. Teamwork, trust, cooperation and coordination of the whole team can be achieved through team’s cohesiveness, development, clear understanding of team objective, clear expectations of roles and responsibilities, and high degree of cooperation, collaboration and trust (2005). In this regard, to be able to implement and exercise strategic leadership, the coordination, cohesion, and cooperation on the part of the team leader and the team members must be achieved.             Shaping Corporate Culture to Fit Strategy. The corporate culture of an organization determines much of the way that “things get done”, and encompasses the company’s values, goals, and dominant ideologies. It is hard to explicitly grasp, but can be expressed through the organization’s myths, heroes, stories, jargon, rites, and rituals (1984). In addition, a mission or vision statement of the organization is a summation of the ideal corporate culture, and differs from the real corporate culture, which acts in many specific and powerful ways to shape, limit and focus its members (2001). Based on such facts, it can be perceived that shaping the corporate culture of an organization depends on the different factors that intertwine and interact within the organization, including the values, perceptions, beliefs, and practices of its employees, the leadership and motivation styles of the top management, and the compensation and reward system of the organization. Because many factors affect the shaping of the corporate culture of an organization, its strategy is also entirely affected. In this regard, the strategies of an organization must be able to be designed and shaped, based on the corporate culture of the organization, which cannot be changed and altered easily. As such, the organization’s strategy must be the one be adjusted to fit the corporate culture of the organization.             Establishing Strategy-Supportive Policies. A number of policies are being implemented in the organization, and are basis for effective and efficient operations. Establishing policies in the organization would enable employees and the top management to execute actions and processes based on the protocol and regulations set by the organization, thus, promoting discipline and compliance on the part of the employees. Similarly, the implementation of strategy-supportive policies in an organization would enable the organization follow protocols based on the chosen, planned and organized business or marketing strategy that would force the employees in the organization to follow and comply with the policies. To be able to do so, the strategy must be integrated with processes to update plans, policies and programs ( 2005).             Instituting Best Practices for Continuous Improvement. This component involves the concept of Total Quality Management, which is a corporate culture characterized by increased customer satisfaction through continuous improvements, in which all employees in the firm actively participate ( 1995). Its aim is to improve and develop the system and approach of an organization for customer and employee satisfaction, where the form of management determines the quality and extent of service that the organization can offer their customers. Based on the concept of Total Quality Management, best practices can be implemented in the organization, through improved efficiency of the employees, reduced operational and production costs, better product and service quality, and greater customer satisfaction. Through best practices and adoption of Total Quality Management, continuous improvement can be achieved.  (1995) reports that if the desire for individual improvement is transferred to systems within the workplace, then these systems will improve. In addition, the continuous improvement of the system management and its employees, increase in productivity will be achieved by the whole company, which will make the company more stable in terms of sales and profit. Through total quality management, the employees will be more improved in terms of skills and knowledge regarding their work in the field. Improvement will give them the advantage of possessing an important and highly effective skill, which they could use in their edge. Improvement in performance covers development in work ethics, improvement in quality of product, creating an environment encouraging teamwork, and respect for one’s abilities.             Installing Support Systems. Support systems refer to information and communication technologies that can be used by the organization to support their operations and production processes. Support systems of today transform all aspects of our lives, including how we work, shop, play, and learn, and thus, transform our economic infrastructure by revolutionizing methods of supply, production, distribution, marketing, service, and management. The use of Information and communication technologies represents nothing less than a fundamental redesign of the entire supply chains of most industries and indeed a fundamental restructuring of many industries themselves ( 2002). It is essential for an organization to use and adopt support systems for a number of reasons. Reasons include becoming updated with the use of the latest technology, keeping a record of all the needed and essential data of the organization, improving and developing effective communication within the organization, hastening production processes, effectively communicating with consumers, hastening the delivery and distribution process, and effectively meeting the demands and needs of consumers. The installation of support systems may involve substantial costs for the organization due to continuous updates and expensive materials, such costs would be replaced, as the organization is able to adopt the support system in their internal processes. In this regard, success and financial revenues would be increased, thus, assuming the effectiveness of the installed support system.             Trying Rewards to Achievement of Key Strategic Targets. Rewards and compensations are integrative and essential elements in the workplace environment, as it aims to motivate individuals to get a job done. It has been reported that it is based on the Instrumentality Theory, which states that people will be motivated to work if rewards and penalties are tied directly to their performance. It is also based on the theory of reinforcement, stating that with experience in taking action to satisfy needs, people perceive that certain actions help to achieve their goals while others are less successful (2002). In this regard, it can be understood that providing rewards to individuals motivate them to achieve and attain their goals. Similarly, this principle goes to be applicable to the whole organization, as it becomes generally motivated and driven, given the fact that the achievement and fulfillment of their goals would allow them to sustain and maintain their financial and industry status. As such, the key strategic targets of organizations refer to their goals and objectives, and thus can be achieved and attained through positive reinforcements. However, the success of the whole organization lies on the individual motivation and achievement of its employees, making individual reinforcements and rewards essential.   Using the Model to Describe Organization 2005             Based on the above discussion, eight components of managerial tasks can be used in strategy execution. Such components can be used to describe and evaluate the strategy of Procter & Gamble on implementing Organization 2005 in their system. Organization 2005 aims to improve the company’s competitive position and generate operating efficiencies through more ambitious goals, nurturing greater innovation, and reducing time-to-market, and such goals were to be accomplished by substantially redesigning Procter & Gamble’s organizational structure, work processes, culture, and pay structures (2005). Using the eight components of strategy execution, carrying out of the company’s strategy can be described.             In terms resource allocation, it can be perceived that Procter & Gamble was able to improve on this first component through determination of the fact that the development of their company lies on proper allocation of time and effort on human assets, financial assets, and marketing assets of the company. Resource allocation was improved and developed through the implementation of the strategy, as Lafley focused on the improvement of the company’s operations and profitability, and in rebuilding the management team of the company. In addition, the company needs additional financial assets, as substantial costs are involved in the implementation of the strategy. In this regard, it can be assumed that due to the implementation of the Organization 2005 strategy, significant changes can be observed in the company, such as changes in the officers, employees and members of top management, and changes in the operations and production processes in order to improve marketing and financial status. (The effects of such changes can be seen in the financial reports, and sales and earnings of the company, which are shown in the appendices.) From this, it can be observed that such changes have been effective means in meeting the objectives of the strategy. Another component of strategy execution is building a capable organization, which has been one of the successful achievements of Procter & Gamble. It has been mentioned that in order to build a capable organization, a company must be able to staff it, build its core competencies and competitive capabilities, and structure its work effort. Through the Organization 2005 strategy, staffing and structuring of the different functions of the organization was further improved, with the inclusion and integration of new faces in the management of the company, such as  as the head of global baby care, as the global marketing officer, and as the head of the global snacks business. This means that with the new staff heads, the implementation of a new style of management would be observed in the company, which would further restructure it, such that would fit the implementation of its new strategy. Along with the changes in the company’s staff and structure is the change in its new core competencies and competitiveness, as each head has new capabilities and skills that would be used by the company to fit the implementation of its new strategy. It has been mentioned that modifying the core competencies and competitive capabilities of an organization tends to be its response to the changing external conditions, which significantly affect and alter the growth and development of the organization. In this regard, the aim of the strategy for the restructuring of the organization has been met, as with the implementation of Organization 2005, significant growth in terms of sales and profits of the company has been attained.             The third component of strategy execution is exercising strategic leadership, which was achieved by Procter & Gamble with the modification and improvement of its management. It has been mentioned that in exercising strategic leadership, the roles and characteristics of the team leader and the team members matter, and thus, contribute to and determine the success of the whole organization. One of the goals of the Organization 2005 strategy is to improve Procter & Gamble’s competitive positioning, and this goal can be achieve through strategic leadership. The changes in the management style of the organization, with the new CEO and the new heads and managers of the different divisions of the organization have prompted Procter & Gamble to exercise strategic leadership in all levels of management in the company. This contributed to the increase of sales and profits of the whole organization. The fourth component of strategy execution involves shaping the corporate culture of the organization to fit its strategy. It has been emphasized that one way to achieve the goals of the Organization 2005 strategy is through redesigning Procter & Gamble’s organizational structure, including its culture and work processes. Changing the corporate culture of the organization has been achieved with the implementation of the Organization 2005 strategy based on five key elements. Primarily, Procter & Gamble placed the responsibility for strategy and profit on its brands, instead of geographic regions, from four to seven global business units or GBUs. Second, the company established eight market development organizations or MDOs to adapt global marketing programs to local markets. Third, a global business services or GBS was founded, incorporating overhead functions, including human resources, accounting, order management, and information technology. Fourth, most of the corporate staff in the company was transferred to one of the new business units. Lastly, the fifth key element aimed at changing Procter & Gamble’s organizational culture is redesigning reward systems and training programs in improving the orientation of employees. All the key elements focused upon by the Organization 2005 strategy are indicated to be important elements in shaping an organization’s corporate culture, as discussed previously. As such, due to the success of the Organization 2005 strategy, it can be assumed that the corporate culture of Procter & Gamble fits its implemented strategy. In addition, it has also been mentioned that under the strategy and the management of Lafley, Procter & Gamble’s competitiveness and long-term growth have been achieved through streamlining the company’s cost structure by reducing overhead and manufacturing costs. Along with such initiatives, the company also reduced staffing by about 9% of the total workforce of the company. Moreover, reductions have to be made through involuntary separations. In line with this, the company continued to review its investments and goals, which may lead the company to incur additional costs (2005).             The fifth component of the strategy execution is establishing strategy-supportive policies, which further supports and reinforces the chosen strategy or strategies of organizations. It has been mentioned that strategy-supportive policies allow the organization to follow protocols based on the chosen, planned and organized business or marketing strategy that would enforce the employees in the organization to follow and comply. In this regard, it can be assumed that because the Organization 2005 strategy has been a successful strategy, policies that support such a strategy have been followed within the organization, and thus, becomes one good means to achieve the goals of the organization. The sixth component of strategy execution is instituting best practices for continuous improvement, which involves the concept of Total Quality Management; wherein corporate culture of the organization is characterized to become focused on the satisfaction of customers through continuous improvement, in which all employees of the organization participates. In this regard, focusing on the individual capabilities and motivation of employees enable the company to build on its overall performance. It has been reported that under the management of Lafley, the company focused on prioritizing and in promoting Procter & Gamble’s top-selling brands, from which the company would be obtaining its increased revenue ( 2005). In this regard, it can be assumed that through this strategy, each employee of the organization is able to contribute significantly to the success of the company, through focusing on their work and selling the top brands of Procter & Gamble. In addition, it has also been mentioned that one of the impacts of Total Quality Management is continuous improvement, which focuses on the improvement of skills and knowledge of the employees of the organization. Improvement will give them the advantage of possessing an important and highly effective skill, which they could use in their edge. Improvement in performance covers development in work ethics, improvement in quality of product, creating an environment encouraging teamwork, and respect for one’s abilities. In this regard, it can be assumed that through the implementation of the Organization 2005 strategy, Total Quality Management has been achieved in the organization, thus, determining the performance of the employees in the organization.             The seventh component in strategy execution involves installing support systems. It has been mentioned that support systems refer to the application of information and communication technologies that can be used by the organization to support their operations and production processes. In addition, several advantages have also been mentioned in line with the use of support systems in the organization. Such advantages include becoming updated with the use of the latest technology, keeping a record of all the needed and essential data of the organization, improving and developing effective communication within the organization, hastening production processes, effectively communicating with consumers, hastening the delivery and distribution process, and effectively meeting the demands and needs of consumers. With such advantages, it can be perceived that the use of support systems in any organization entails increased productivity and profits. Such advantages were also experienced by Procter & Gamble, with the implementation of the Organization 2005 strategy. It has been reported that the key enabler for the strategy was IT or information technology, which totaled to as much as $1 billion in 2002 and continuously increasing. The implementation of the strategy incorporated a number of IT initiatives in the organization, including collaborative technology that aims to facilitate planning and marketing, business-to-consumer e-commerce, Web-enabling, supply chain, and data standards and data warehouse project that delivered timely data to desktops worldwide (2005). In this regard, it can be perceived that this component serves to be one of the determining components in the success of the implementation of the Organization 2005 strategy. The use of information technology in Procter & Gamble served the company best, thus, enabling the company to achieve its goals and objectives. However, in relation to this, it has been mentioned earlier that one of the impacts of implementing the Organization 2005 strategy is incurring substantial costs. The installation and use of support systems, such as Information Technology, thus, proves to be an expensive strategy of improvement and development of an organization. Installing a software or purchasing machines and gadgets for the production processes and operations of the organization is not as easy as it seems. A company must collaborate with software companies and other IT companies in order to tailor the features of the software program to the needs and processes of Procter & Gamble. This process takes time, effort, and money, as the organization must ensure that their software must be unique, so as not to be copied by their competitors in the industry. The process does not stop there, as the maintenance and updates must still be done to make sure that the software or the IT process continuously fits the production processes of the company. In this regard, it can be perceived that substantial costs can be incurred by Procter & Gamble in order to maintain and sustain their support systems, which is in line with its Organization 2005 strategy.             The last component of strategy execution is trying rewards to achievement of key strategic targets. It has been mentioned that rewards and compensations are integrative and essential elements in the workplace environment, as it aims to motivate individuals to get a job done. In this regard, it can be understood that providing rewards to individuals motivate them to achieve and attain their goals. Similarly, this principle goes to be applicable to the whole organization, as it becomes generally motivated and driven, given the fact that the achievement and fulfillment of their goals would allow them to sustain and maintain their financial and industry status. As such, the key strategic targets of organizations refer to their goals and objectives, and thus can be achieved and attained through positive reinforcements. It has been reported that one of the goals of the implementation of the Organization 2005 strategy is to accelerate annual sales growth to 6 to 8% and annual earnings growth to 13 to 15% (2005). This goal serves to be one of the motivations of the employees and the organization as a whole, as the increase in the growth and sales of the company means the increase in revenues and total earnings of the whole organization, which would provide incentives, rewards, and compensation to all the employees of the organization. Changes in the organization, including all the changes discussed previously, are key changes in the structure and culture of the company. In this regard, it can be assumed that Procter & Gamble offers good compensation and rewards to its employees, which allow them to become effectively motivated in complying with the Organization 2005 strategy. In this regard, based on the assumed compensation and rewards being received by the employees of the company, it can be perceived that through this component, the goals of the Organization 2005 strategy have been attained. This is because through the Organization 2005 strategy brought the much-needed discipline in the company’s global marketing efforts ( 2005). In general, without the implementation of this strategy, Procter & Gamble would not be regarded as one of the most successful companies in the market in the world, which manufactures the best among the best brands.   TASK 3   A. Acquisition: May or May not be a sensible strategy for a diversified company             Merger or acquisitions are a part of a company’s long-range planning and may be considered as the one of the means of implementing company plans and reaching company objectives (2003). It presents crucial benefits or advantages, such as increased stability for the two companies involved, employee diversification, expansion, wider target market and market segment, product variety and innovation, and increase in profit and sales. However, mergers and acquisitions may not always be a sensible or reasonable strategy for a diversified company or organization. A diversified company has features of having a diversified culture, language, practices, operations, and management. In a diversified organization, different types of individuals, having diverse cultures, beliefs, and languages can be encountered, thus, making management and leadership a bit challenging. It has been reported that diversified organizations find it difficult to maintain sufficient resources in areas of capital, information, technology, and human resources, involves high cost of management, lack of overall strategy, lack of authority and capability over resource allocation, and difficulty to achieve synergy to benefit the company as a whole (2004). In this regard, for such kinds of organizations, mergers and acquisitions may serve to a great and tough challenge.             Given the different features of a diversified company, the several disadvantages for having a merger or acquisition can be determined. One reason why a merger or acquisition may not be a positive strategy for a diversified organization is the different cultures that exist between the two organizations. In this regard, the difference between the organizational cultures of the two companies may be one of the causes of deeper conflicts and problems, such as language or culture barriers. It has been reported that the lack of human compatibility between the acquirer and the target, and the lack of strategic fit between the companies’ corporate culture is the major driver of the failure of such endeavors ( 2003). Another reason is that the human and economic resources of the target organization may not be as strategic as it seems, thus, contributing to the burden of the acquirer. In this regard, the acquirer must do extensive research in order to obtain relevant information and data from the target organization.             The third reason for mergers and acquisitions not being a sensible strategy for diversified organizations is the presence of social incompatibility with regards to the aggregate values and beliefs held by the managers and employees of the organization. In this regard, the reputation of the acquirer must be known to have participated in mergers and acquisitions in order to gain the trust of target organizations, and have the sufficient experiences and expertise in terms of acquisitions. Another reason is the acquirer’s lack of internal evaluation and assessment if it really needs an acquisition, or if it really needs to merge with another company. The company may not have the proper evaluation on the needs and the resources of the organization, thus, in reality, not really needing any merger with any organization. In this regard, the organization must be able to assess their performance and resources first before deciding to have a merger with any other company.             The fifth reason why mergers may not be a sensible strategy for diversified organizations is the accumulation and addition of risks, which may have adverse changes in the type of management each organization implements. With mergers, the risks each organization has would be combined, thus, doubling the risks. In this regard, the leadership and the management style of each organization matters, as it dictates and determines the kind and type of culture the members may have. As mentioned earlier, leadership and management are important aspects in the operations of an organization, thus, are essential contributory factors for the failure or success of a particular merger or acquisition process. The last reason is the manufacturing and production process that are employed in both organizations. A diversified organization has a diversified process of production and operations, thus, might entirely affect the process of production and operations of the target company. In the event that the production and operations of the target company are significantly different from the acquirer, then problems and challenges would be encountered. As such, extensive and long-term research activities must be prioritized and facilitated effectively to prevent and avoid merger problems and conflicts, not only to the acquirer but to the target company as well. Such researches can be done through internal and external references, thus, allowing both companies involved in the merger to obtain relevant information and data from each other.              B. Strategic Business Benefits of Gillette Acquisition             It has been previously discussed that some acquisitions and mergers for other companies may not be as successful and may not be a sensible strategy. However, the Procter & Gamble’s acquisition of Gillette have been a good one and have served both companies with benefits. In this discussion, the different strategic business benefits of the acquisition, on the perspective of Procter & Gamble would be discussed.             On the perspective of Procter & Gamble, one of the strategic business benefits of the acquisition of Gillette is the addition of new products and brands to the wide variety of products and brands offered by Procter & Gamble. It has been reported that the Gillette Company is the world leader in male grooming, a category that includes blades, razors, and shaving preparations, and also holds the leading position in selected female grooming products in the world, such as wet shaving products and hair epilation devices. Aside from male and female grooming materials, Gillette also holds the leading position in the world, in terms of manual and power toothbrushes and alkaline batteries. Brands of Gillette include Gillette Mach 3, Gillette for Women Venus, Gillette Series, Right Guard, Duracell Copper Top, Oral-B, Braun Oral-B, and Braun” (2005). Through the acquisition, such products have already been added to the long list of products being offered by Procter & Gamble. In this regard, the company, thus, can offer more innovative and practical products providing effective solutions for all its consumers. As such, this acquisition provides the consumers with superior customer service, unmatched by any other manufacturers in the industry. Companies perceive customer service as a benefit, not only to their consumers, but also to their company as well. It means that the company or organization is driven by the goal of providing the customer with the highest level of satisfaction, concentrates on how the customer is better served by the company compared to competitive offerings, and that all processes and activities in the entire organization are integrated and coordinated to accomplish this goal (2003). It serves to be a key factor in the success of any business (2000), as customers look for convenience, cost and quality of the commodity. As such, firms concentrate on the technology and capabilities of employees to provide and deliver customer satisfaction. In this regard, the acquisition further ensures the consumers of both companies or manufacturers of their improved services and products, for their joined forces would mean the best possible products consumers could purchase from the market. In relation to this, the cash flow of the company was increased, and the addition of Gillette’s products in the line of products of Procter & Gamble resulted to an increased in sales, from 8% to $19.7 billion, where Blades and Razors and Fabric and Home Care leading the segments with 8% organic sales growth ( 2007). This also served to be the next strategic business benefit of the acquisition, as Procter & Gamble was able to increase its revenues.   The significant increase in revenues of the company due to the Gillette Company acquisition entails more benefits and advantages for the company. Some of these advantages include more effective resource allocation, such as being allocated to other functions of the organization, namely, the human resource, marketing, advertising, and many others. Aside from effective resource allocation, the increased in revenues of the company would enable it to provide more incentives and compensation to its employees, thus, increasing and enforcing their motivation to work for the company. In this regard, the employees would be driven to work more effectively and efficiently in the company, thus, driving the operations and production processes of the company in an active fashion. Satisfied and motivated employees mean that the company would not have many problems in terms of teamwork and interpersonal conflicts. Because the company is giving its employees with more than adequate compensation, it can be perceived that employees would not have any reason to become dissatisfied with their work, leading them to have intra and interpersonal issues, and leave the company. In addition, increased revenues would mean more savings for the company, thus, having more excess resources and savings in case unexpected events happen in the company. In case stock prices fall or earnings drop, the company would not have severe problems that would lead to company bankruptcy. Thus, in this regard, that with a single benefit, it can be perceived that a chain reaction of benefits would be obtained and attained by the company. Another benefit of the Gillette acquisition is the further establishment and emphasis on the status of Procter & Gamble being a worldwide corporation. Through the acquisition, the names, brands, and products of both companies would be further established and promoted in the market, thus, further strengthening its position in the industry. Prior to the acquisition, both companies have been able to provide their consumers with superior value for their products and services. With their forces joined, it can be perceived that the superior value of their products and services would be further enhanced and improved, thus, providing excellent, superb, and world-class consumer value. It has been reported that providing consumer value means delivering on a whole range of promises to the consumers, where such values can be compared to those of competitors. The concept of ‘value-added’ is relevant in this regard, as it is defined as the component of customer value provided by an individual organization within the overall business system, and derived from the business system in which the organization operates ( 2001). In this regard, it can be perceived that through the acquisition, Procter & Gamble would have be able to provide its consumers with value-added products and solutions, which leads back to the previously discussed benefits, such as increased sales and revenues, establishment and positioning of the company, and product variety. It has been emphasized that Gillette manufacturing operations are carried out at thirty-four facilities in fifteen countries prior to the acquisition, thus, its products are distributed through wholesalers, retailers, and agents in more than 200 countries and territories around the world (2005). This fact serves to be one of the significant advantages of the acquisition, as Procter & Gamble will not have a hard time focusing on the distribution channels it would use for the distribution and introduction of the company’s product. Because Gillette is already known in its own right, introduction and distribution of Gillette’s products to the market, being an addition to the products of Procter & Gamble would not be hard to do. Gillette already has an established value-added chain and distribution channels that would be effective in reaching their consumers all together. It has been reported that at each stage of the value-chain, there exists an opportunity to contribute positively to the organization’s competitive strategy, by performing some activity or process in a way that is better than one’s competitors, and so providing some uniqueness or advantage (2001). In addition, the value-added chain and established distribution channels of the Gillette Company serves to be an advantage for Procter & Gamble, which would have the edge of using that existing channels for the distribution of other products. It has been emphasized that distribution channel productivity is often a critical success factor for many businesses (2005), as it enables a specific company to serve their consumers better, regardless of distance and boundaries. As such, the company would be able to attain increased revenues and recognition from its consumers. Lastly, the benefit of the acquisition stresses the aim and the purpose of Procter & Gamble to uphold equality of human rights. Through the acquisition, the company would not only be able to uphold anti-discriminatory policies that address sexual orientation in the workplace ( 2007), but also uphold the equality between genders through the promotion of both female and male grooming products and services. Majority of the products of Procter & Gamble cater to the needs of women, and include home care, beauty, and cosmetic products. With the acquisition of the Gillette Company, the company would also have the opportunity to cater to the needs of the male consumers, through offering innovative solutions and products, including male depilators, batteries, and toothbrush that suit the male gender. This in turn provides the consumer system with an equal chance to purchase the products of Procter & Gamble through the products of the Gillette Company. Given the wide variety of products of the company, consumers, both men and women, old and young, would be provided with more choices and options, thus, giving them the right and the freedom to choose their preferred products, and the products that would suit their lifestyle. This would further provide Procter & Gamble with benefits, as the company would be able to further establish itself not only to the female consumers, but to the male consumers as well, and in this regard, the company would have more competitive advantage over its competitors in the industry.               Appendices   Appendix A. SWOT Analysis of Procter & Gamble that Triggered Organization 2005

Strategic Business Analysis: Procter & Gamble Case Study

Strategic Business Analysis: Procter & Gamble Case Study Overview of the Company: Procter & Gamble ...

FORMAL MENTORING PROGRAMS IN EDUCATION AND OTHER PROFESSIONS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

FORMAL MENTORING PROGRAMS IN EDUCATION AND OTHER PROFESSIONS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Abstract The sheer volume of literature on mentoring across a variety of disciplines is an indication of the high profile it has been afforded in recent years. This paper draws upon a structured analysis of over 300 research-based papers on mentoring across three discipline areas in an attempt to make more valid inferences about the nature and outcomes of mentoring. It begins by reporting on the findings compiled from a database of research papers from educational contexts. These research-based papers are examined to determine the positive and more problematic outcomes of mentoring for the mentor, mentee and the organization. A discussion of the findings from two other databases, namely, 151 research-based papers from business contexts and 82 papers from medical contexts, is provided and commonalities across the three databases are highlighted. The paper concludes with a discussion of key issues that administrators responsible for establishing mentoring programs should consider to maximise the experience of mentoring for all stakeholders. Key Words Mentoring, education, business, medicine, challenges FORMAL MENTORING PROGRAMS IN EDUCATION AND OTHER PROFESSIONS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Introduction This paper represents an ongoing quest to synthesise our current understandings of the mentoring phenomenon. As researchers in the field, we were conscious that a great deal of writing in the area of mentoring in education and across other professional disciplines reported that mentoring was an overwhelmingly positive learning process for mentors and mentees alike (2002). Our initial investigation of mentoring in educational contexts confirmed this since there did not appear to be a substantial body of work which reported on the “darker side” of mentoring (1994; 1997). Thus we became interested in examining more closely a sizeable body of the mentoring literature so that we could begin to make more valid inferences about its potential to be a beneficial force in educational contexts. To this end, we compiled a database of research papers from educational contexts and undertook a structured analysis of these papers. A structured analysis is a pre-determined set of criteria, namely a set of coding categories, that is used to analyse literature. In this study, we coded each of the studies according to descriptive data (i.e. positive and problematic outcomes of mentoring for the mentor, mentee and the organization) and then identified the frequency of occurrence of the predetermined coding categories. Findings from the analysis of the education-focused studies prompted us to investigate the nature, frequency and outcomes stemming from mentoring in other professional areas such as business and medicine. Following the study of educational contexts, we repeated the process and compiled a database of research papers on mentoring from business contexts and medical contexts. While the focus of this paper reports on the positive and more problematic outcomes of mentoring from our structured review of papers from education contexts, it will also illuminate the features of mentoring common to the three different contexts (i.e. education, business and medical contexts). This paper begins with a discussion of the meaning of mentoring, identifies some of the common strengths and weaknesses of mentoring and then proceeds to discuss the methodological process that guided the study. The Meaning of Mentor and Mentoring The original meaning of the word, mentor, refers to a “father figure” who sponsors, guides and develops a younger person. Throughout history, mentors have played a significant role in teaching, inducting and developing the skills and talents of others. Indeed, there are many examples of mentors in the biographies of famous artists, scientists and musicians (1991) who have played a key role in shaping their protégés or mentees’ destiny. Traditional or informal mentoring arrangements where the mentor and mentee somehow find each other (1985) continue to operate in many contexts. It was only in the last two to three decades that formal mentoring programs were introduced in government departments and corporations. This movement occurred because organizations could see the advantage of implementing formal programs since they enabled potential learning and growth for employees on the job (1999). Our concern in this paper lies with formal mentoring programs. Formal mentoring programs differ greatly in nature, focus and outcomes. For instance, in her extensive review,(1991) noted that some programs train mentors, while others do not; mentors are assigned to mentees and in other programs the mentee selects the mentor; some programs designate the location and frequency of meetings, while others leave it to the participants to decide. In addition, some programs are evaluated while others are not or are “evaluated” by vague and imprecise techniques (1991). In relation to evaluations of mentoring programs,  (1983) concluded that many “consist of testimonials and opinions” (). After reviewing over 300 research-based papers on formal mentoring programs, we would support Merriam’s claim. Strengths and Weaknesses of Mentoring Our precursory investigation of the literature revealed that there tends to be a general acceptance that mentoring yields benefits for mentees and mentors. Career advancement and psycho-social support are often identified as two important outcomes of mentoring for the mentee (1985;  1978). For instance, in terms of career outcomes,  (1979) found that 75% of the top executives in the United States had been mentored and compared with their counterparts, earned 28% more, were more likely to have a degree, were happier with work, and more likely to mentor others. Psychosocial support, such as encouragement, friendship, and advice and feedback on performance (1985), has also been identified as a positive outcome of mentoring for mentees. As mentoring is a two-way or reciprocal process, it provides benefits also for the mentor. For instance, the work of  (1978) found that mentoring rejuvenates mentors’ careers since it enables them to assist and shape the professional and personal development of mentees. According to  (1997), other benefits for the mentor include increased confidence, personal fulfilment and assistance on projects. In relation to the benefits for the organisation,  (1991) identify several benefits of formal mentoring programs including increased productivity, improved recruitment efforts, motivation of senior staff, and enhancement of services offered by the organization. While there is a considerable body of literature that documents the merits of mentoring for all parties,  (1997) is more cautious. According to  (1997), “under various conditions, the mentoring relationship can actually be detrimental to the mentor, mentee or both” (). She goes on to identify several concerns regarding mentoring including a lack of time for mentoring; poor planning of the mentoring process; unsuccessful matching of mentors and mentees; a lack of understanding about the mentoring process; and lack of access to mentors from minority groups. (1997) also highlights the difficulties that mentoring poses for organizations if there is insufficient funding or termination of funding before the program is established. Other drawbacks of mentoring from the organization’s point of view include problems when there is a lack of support; the difficulties in coordinating programs within organizational initiatives; and the costs and resources associated with mentoring (1997). It seems that as formal mentoring programs are planned, structured and coordinated interventions within an organisation’s human resource policies, it makes sense for those charged with the responsibility of implementing such programs to endeavour to ensure that the goals of the program are clear and known to key parties; that mentors and mentees are well-matched; and that organizational support and commitment are evident. Since organizations including schools invest considerable resources into mentoring programs, it is incumbent on the planners, such as educational administrators, to minimise potential problems that could arise. The final part of our paper attempts to synthesise some of the recommendations that educational administrators should consider when planning and implementing a formal mentoring program. Before we discuss these recommendations, the next section of this paper turns to the methodological process that we used in analysing the body of mentoring research reviewed. Methodology We used a structured analysis of the literature from three discrete disciplines in order to arrive at our understanding of the mentoring phenomenon. For inclusion in the three reviews, studies had to meet two criteria. Firstly, they had to report original research findings and, secondly, they had to focus on the use of mentoring in an educational setting (such as schools or universities), business context (government or non-government organizations) and medical context (hospitals, universities, and other medical contexts). Databases used for the literature search on education contexts included ERIC, AUSTROM (AEI), PsycLIT and ProQuest. Databases used for the search in business contexts used some of these plus EBSCO and Business Periodicals Index, Business Australia on Disk, Science Direct and Emerald. Databases used for the analysis of mentoring in medical contexts included some of aforementioned in addition to Health Reference Centre – Academic, Medical Library, Webspirs, Australasian Medical Index and Google. Our search of the selected education databases identified above revealed 159 studies conducted between 1986 and 1999. From the search of business databases, 151 studies between 1986 and 2000 were identified and later analysed. While 82 articles between 1995 and 2002 were found from the medical databases, only eight studies reported on the outcomes of mentoring and were therefore eligible for use in our study. The overarching majority of the papers from the medical field were descriptive in nature and seemed to focus on the value of engaging in mentoring. This suggests to us that research in the area of mentoring in medical contexts is variable and relatively new in comparison with other fields such as education and business. It is important to appreciate that while mentoring in the medical field has been around for many years, “most … is informal and by its nature, often invisible” (1999) All of the studies were analysed according to a coding sheet which was developed from a preliminary reading of 14 articles in the area of educational mentoring. Two main categories of data were coded. These were factual data comprising the year of publication, source (eg journal, research report), country of study, sample size and data collection techniques employed; and descriptive data comprising the reporting of positive and problematic outcomes associated with mentoring for the mentor, mentee and organization across the three databases. The descriptive data underwent content–analysis to identify underlying themes or categories ( 1990). The findings discussed in this paper refer to the descriptive outcomes that emerged from the three sets of analyses. In this article, the four most frequently identified positive and problematic outcomes for mentors, mentees and the organization will be highlighted. We have reported elsewhere precise details concerning both the factual and descriptive findings from the studies (2003 September) Findings Positive Outcomes of Mentoring from Education Studies Of the education studies reviewed, 35.8% reported only positive outcomes as a result of mentoring and four studies (or 2.5%) reported exclusively problematic outcomes. In relation to the benefits for mentors, less than half (47.8%) of the education studies that reported some positive outcome associated with mentoring identified benefits for the mentor. In contrast, substantially more studies noted positive outcomes for mentees (82.4%) than for mentors. This can be attributed to the fewer studies that sought opinions from mentors. Insert Figure I here Figure I presents the four most frequently cited positive outcomes (in percentages) of mentoring for mentors and mentees in the education studies. As illustrated, the most commonly cited mentor outcome was that of collegiality and networking. Almost 21% of the education studies reported benefits associated with collaborating, networking or sharing ideas with colleagues. For instance, school principals in (1993) Australian qualitative study noted “cross fertilisation of ideas” as being a beneficial outcome of mentoring. Similarly, a teacher in a mentoring program in the USA noted that mentoring provided “a unique opportunity for teachers to share and exchange ideas with other teachers” ( 1986) Reflection was the second most frequently cited outcome for mentors with 19.5% of studies attributing reflection or reappraisal of beliefs, practices, ideas and/or values to their mentoring activities. For instance, a mentor teacher in a university pre-service teacher education program in Australia commented that “you reflect on your own teaching … its some incentive to improve, work harder, try other things” (1994). Mentoring was also said to facilitate the professional development of mentors. Just over 17% of studies made reference to the important outcome of professional development. As an illustration, a mentor teacher in a study by  (1998) described her experience as “a worthwhile professional experience in its own right” (), while (1996) quoted a mentor in her United Kingdom study as saying that mentoring “added another dimension to his experience” () Personal satisfaction, reward or growth (16.4% of studies) was the fourth most frequently cited outcome for mentors. This sentiment was exemplified by a teacher mentor in  (1991) study who commented, “I love working with these students and learn so much from them as well as about myself” As indicated in Figure I also, the most frequently cited positive outcome for mentees, evident in 42.1% of studies, related to support, empathy, encouragement, counselling and friendship. Both mentee teachers and headteachers indicated that support was an important outcome of mentoring. For instance, a mentee headteacher in  (1995) United Kingdom study stated “knowing that there is somebody in the background I can turn to is a great source of comfort” (). Similarly, a beginning teacher in an Australian study by  (1995) commented, “I feel very comfortable around her [mentor] and know she is there to help where she can” Assistance with classroom teaching was the second most frequently cited positive outcome for mentees. Just over 35% of the studies pinpointed help with teaching strategies, content, resources, classroom planning and or discipline. This high percentage is reflective of the large number of studies in the review that focused on mentoring for pre-service or beginning teachers. As an illustration, a pre-service teacher in  (1999) United Kingdom study noted, “I gained a lot of subject knowledge on areas I was not experienced in” The third most frequently cited positive outcome for mentees, noted in 32.1% of studies, related to contact with others and discussion. This category included discussing or sharing ideas, information, problems and gaining advice from peers. As an illustration, a mentoring program for black /ethnic minority school and university students in the United Kingdom “acted as a positive form of networking” that enabled students to “establish that their problems are not unique to them alone” (1996). Feedback via positive reinforcement or constructive criticism was the fourth most frequently cited outcome of mentoring for mentees. More than one in four of the studies (or 27.7%) reported that feedback was beneficial. For instance, in his investigation of educational administration in Singapore,  (1995) cites one mentee as saying, “everyday a session is provided for me to go through the completed tasks and my mentor would give me her evaluation and feedback. This is most useful” (). Common to both mentors and mentees are issues relating to sharing ideas and knowledge. Although not shown in Figure I, other common positive outcomes for mentors and mentees were reflection and professional development. Whereas these outcomes were rated more frequently by mentors, reflection was reported in 15.1% of studies and professional development was reported in 13.8% of studies for mentees. Problems Associated with Mentoring from Education Studies Almost half (48.4%) of the studies that reported problems identified problems for mentors, while slightly fewer studies (42.8%) identified problems for mentees. As Figure II reveals, the difficulties associated with mentoring were similar for both mentors and mentees and, for this reason, will be discussed together. The two most frequently cited outcomes were lack of time, and professional expertise and/or personality mismatch. Lack of time was noted in 27.7% of studies for mentors and 15.1% of studies for mentees. As an illustration, 14 of the 15 mentors in  (1992) study of preservice teacher mentoring in the United States claimed that lack of time was their “greatest impediment” (p.17) while a mentor headteacher in Bush and Coleman’s United Kingdom study noted there is “such a shortage of time these days to do everything that you need to do” (). In terms of a mentee’s perspective, one trainee teacher in a study of teacher education partnerships in the United Kingdom reported, “my mentor never has time; he is always so busy that I feel acutely embarrassed if I need to bother him ( 1995). Insert Figure II here Professional expertise or personality mismatch was the second most frequently cited problematic outcome for both mentors and mentees. Unsuccessful matches between mentors and mentees were reported in 17% of studies for mentors and 12.6% of studies for mentees. The mismatches were either the result of personality, ideological or expertise differences. As an illustration,(1995) noted that professional and personality mismatches were a major concern for mentor teachers in his United States study. These mentors expressed anxiety about not getting on with their mentee, having to assist mentees who were working at different levels or whose teaching philosophy differed from their own. Some of the studies revealed that personality differences were instrumental in the failure of some relationships. For instance, two mentees in a study by  (1993) attributed their ineffective mentoring relationships to incompatibility with their mentors. Equal numbers of studies (i.e. 15.1%), reported a lack of training or understanding of program goals and the extra burden or responsibility as problematic outcomes associated with mentoring. For instance, a mentor in (1992) study admitted, “I have no idea what my responsibilities are and I suspect he [the mentee] probably doesn’t either” (). In relation to the added burden created by mentoring, a mentor in  (1996) study explained, “you are having to add the role of mentor to an already full workload” (). For mentees, the third and fourth most frequently cited problematic outcome of mentoring related to mentors who were critical, out of touch, defensive or untrusting (10.7% of studies) and the difficulty of meeting, being observed or observing their mentor (9.4% of studies). Referring to the former, mentees in some studies indicated that their mentors had been overly harsh, critical and out-of date in their thinking. A lack of flexibility and trust were apparent not only for mentee teachers but also mentee principals. For instance, a potential school principal mentee in  (1995) study noted, “the principal did not trust me to run the school as she did not want to be held accountable for any mistakes that I might make” (). The other problematic outcome for mentees, difficulty in meeting, often stemmed from timetable clashes that resulted in limited opportunities to observe mentors (1997). As indicated above, comparison of mentor and mentee problematic outcome categories reveals some commonality across the groups. Both groups were reported to have experienced problems stemming from lack of mentor time and professional expertise or personality mismatch. The other categories for mentors were a lack of training and understanding about the program and the perception that mentoring was yet another responsibility or burden. Positive and Problematic Outcomes of Mentoring for the Educational Organization In addition to identifying positive and problematic outcomes of mentoring for the mentor and mentee, our review also considered the outcomes for the organization. Just over 16% of studies cited one or more positive outcome that impacted upon the organization within educational settings. The most frequently cited outcome that emerged from our review was improved education or grades or attendance or behaviour of students (evident in 6.3% of studies). For example, according to an Australian study of peer mentoring among law students,  (1994) noted that mentoring resulted in increased levels of attendance at lectures. The next three most frequently cited outcomes included “support or funds for the school” (3.1% of studies), “contributes to or is good for the profession” (2.5% of studies); and “less work for principals / staff” (2.5% of studies). Only 8.8% of studies revealed one or more problems that directly impacted on the organization. These problems were disparate and only two, costs and lack of partnership, were reported in more than one study. For instance,  (1993) and (1996) reported that schools in the United Kingdom receive inadequate funding for the implementation of preservice or beginner mentor programs while lack of partnership or communication with and / or commitment from organizations was reported in a small number of studies. In the next section we provide a discussion of the positive and more problematic aspects of mentoring derived from the business and medical studies reviewed. Outcomes from Business and Medical Studies As anticipated, there were numerous outcomes for the mentor and mentee reported in the business studies. However, due to the nature and the small sample of the medical studies (N=8), it was not possible to distinguish between outcomes for mentors and mentees. Positive Outcomes for Mentors and Mentees The most frequently cited response from the business studies for mentors related to networking and collegiality with 7.9% of business studies nominating collegiality / networking as constructive outcomes from a mentoring experience. In the medical literature, networking and a sense of community was also deemed important for the profession. The prominence of this positive outcome was not surprising given that mentoring relationships involve the sharing of knowledge and expertise and, as such, the process has the potential to foster collegiality and collaboration. The other three most frequently cited positive outcomes for mentors included “career satisfaction / motivation / promotion” (7.3%); “improved skills/job performance” (6.6%) and “pride/personal satisfaction”’ (6.6%). Similar frequently cited outcomes pertaining to career and skill development were apparent for mentees from the business studies. A review of these studies revealed that “career satisfaction / motivation / plans / promotion” was the most frequently cited response (50.3% of studies), “coaching / feedback/ strategies” was rated in second place (30.5%), while “challenging assignments / improved skills / performance” was the third most frequently cited positive outcome for mentees (23.2%). That career development and skill enhancement emerged prominently in the analysis was not unexpected since both outcomes are commonly cited for mentors and mentees alike in the business literature. Indeed  (1985, 1983), whose work was acknowledged in approximately 42% of the business papers, maintains that key functions of mentoring are career development and skill development. The fourth most frequently cited positive outcome for mentees was “counselling / listening / encouragement” (21.9%). This type of outcome is akin to  (1985, 1983) notion of the “pyscho-social” outcomes associated with mentoring. In all of the medical studies, personal growth appeared as a positive outcome of mentoring for mentors and mentees alike. In some instances, these were simply general comments indicating personal growth, while other medical papers referred to enhanced confidence, interpersonal contact, and being more valued as a person. Problematic Outcomes for Mentors and Mentees Many of the problematic outcomes experienced by mentors and mentees were similar across the education, business and medical reviews. For example, frequently cited in the reviews was “lack of time”. Lack of time was the most commonly noted problem by mentors in the business studies (6%). It was also identified as a problematic outcome of mentoring in the medical studies. The second and third most frequently cited problematic outcomes for mentors in the business review, were “negative mentee attitude / lack of trust / cooperation” (5.3%) and “little training or little knowledge about the goals of the program” (4.6%). In the medical context, a lack of mentor training was viewed by mentors and mentees as detrimental to the well-being of the program. The fourth most frequently cited problematic outcome for mentors was “jealousy / negative attitudes of others”. While jealousy was not an outcome that emerged in the medical studies, what did emerge as a problematic workload issue was the extra burden or responsibility that mentoring created for mentors. In contrast to the mentor outcomes, the two most frequently cited problems for mentees in the business studies were issues relating to race and gender (7.9% of studies) and cloning or conforming or over-protection (7.3% of studies). The race or gender issues tended to arise as a consequence of matching female mentees with male mentors as well black mentees with white mentors. Similar to the problems experienced by mentors discussed earlier, mentees reported particular mentor characteristics and behaviours as being problematic. Problematic attitudes of others was noted as the fourth most frequently cited negative outcome of mentoring for mentees (6% of business studies) and ineffective and untrained mentors were seen as the third most frequently cited outcome for mentees (6.6% of business studies. An important problematic outcome of mentoring that was unique to the medical studies was the perception of mentees that seeking help signalled a type of weakness or inability to cope. Yet, mentoring by definition is a process that is based on support and development. Perhaps this outcome can be explained in terms of the predominance of informal mentoring arrangements in the medical field which can emerge if and when mentees approach mentors for help. Positive and Problematic Outcomes for the Organization In contrast to the education studies reviewed in this paper, almost twice as many business studies (30.5%) cited one or more positive outcome for the organization. The most frequently cited benefit reported in 13.9% of studies was improved productivity or contribution or profit by employees. Other outcomes from the business studies included retention of talented employees (11.9%), promotes loyalty (6.6%) and improves workplace or communications or relations (4%). As was the trend in the education literature, the business literature featured fewer studies reporting problematic outcomes of mentoring for the organization. Of these problematic outcomes, two problems were cited in more than a single study. These were high staff turnover which was seen to hamper the development of long-term relationships between mentors and mentees, and gender or cultural bias in the organization which resulted in good staff being overlooked in the mentoring process. In the medical studies, on the other hand, organizational or attitudinal barriers was the most frequently cited problematic outcome of mentoring. It was reported in seven out of eight of the studies. Problematic organizational barriers included ambivalence to the project by management, minimal support from management, issues relating to the use of resources, problems arranging schedules and a belief that mentoring should not be formalised. In contrast, the belief that mentoring should not be formalised was an issue that did not emerge from either the business or education databases. Discussion The results from our study revealed, not surprisingly, considerable commonalities in outcomes across the three reviews of the literature. For mentors, for instance, lack of time and training, personal or professional incompatibility, undesirable mentee behaviours and attributes such as lack of commitment and unrealistic expectations were issues that caused problems for mentoring relationships. In addition, for some mentors, mentoring was a burden or workload issue that often went unnoticed by others. Mentees, too, were concerned by a lack of mentor interest and training and a host of problematic mentor attributes and behaviours (e.g. critical or defensive behaviours). Professional or personal incompatibility or incompatibility based on other factors such as race or gender was also seen by both mentors and mentees as impediments to the success of the relationship. Organizations, too, were confronted with difficulties arising from mentoring programs. Lack of commitment from the organization, lack of partnership and funding problems were reported in some studies, while in others, cultural or gender biases meant that some mentees’ experiences were not positive. Despite the shortcomings of mentoring, our findings suggested that mentoring appears to offer far-reaching benefits for mentors and mentees. Many of the reviewed studies indicated that mentoring provided both personal and emotional support as well as career development and satisfaction. For mentees, mentoring provided opportunities to develop competencies and skills, knowledge and improve performance. For mentors, it promoted professional and personal development. Benefits of mentoring for both groups included improved skills, access to new ideas and personal growth. The aforementioned discussion has highlighted the major themes and common outcomes that emerged from our three reviews. While word limitations prevent us from identifying all of the points of divergence that we found, some attention will be afforded in the following discussion to two important points. These are the issue of “reflection”, which emerged as a positive outcome unique to the education studies, and “gender and race” that emerged as a significant focus and source of incompatibility between mentors and mentees in business settings. Reflection The first issue, reflection, was a significant outcome of mentoring in the education studies only. This is unsurprising given that reflection is a term that has been used in the education field for the last two decades or more and described as the “sine qua non of the “teacher-researcher”, “action research” and “reflective practitioner” movements” (1993)  (1987), a proponent of the “reflective practitioner” movement, suggests that the key to development for teachers lies in their ability to reflect on their own learning. This process is also called, “reflection in action”. (1983, 1987) maintains that the process or act of reflecting has considerable power in enabling a person to change his or her work practices and / or personal beliefs. Thus, the mentoring process has been identified as a vehicle in facilitating reflection since it provides opportunities for mentors and mentees together and alone to reflect upon their practice, reconsider what they are doing and why and work towards improving their professional practice. Our review confirmed in educational contexts that mentors, in particular, and mentees to a lesser extent, consider reflection to be fundamental to the overall development of an educator. Gender and Race Issues The second issue emerging from the comparative analysis relates to the prominence, in the business studies, of gender and race issues. Our review of these studies revealed that 30.5% examined gender, 6% examined race, and a further 6% examined both race and gender issues. In contrast, gender and equity were the focus in only a very small sample (2.5% and 1.9%) of the education studies that we reviewed. As identified earlier in the paper, the most widely investigated mentoring focus in the education studies, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all studies reviewed, was mentoring for practice or beginning teachers. This is not to say that issues of gender and equity are unimportant within the field of education. On the contrary, there is a growing body of research that has specifically investigated the outcomes of mentoring processes and programs for women and people of colour across a range of educational contexts (1996; 1995;2000) . What is more likely is that the interest in gender and race so apparent in the business literature has coincided with the introduction of formalised mentoring programs within organisations. Indeed, one of the reasons that formal mentoring programs were introduced into organizations in the United States and to a lesser extent in Australia, was to address affirmative action legislation (1995). It was thought that such programs would help make mentoring more accessible to women and members of minority groups (2000; 1997; 1988;  1989). It appears, however, that even when members of minority groups participate in mentoring programs, problems can and do occur. As our review of business studies findings revealed, gender and race misunderstandings were frequently the source of incompatibility between mentors and mentees (1989; 1990). These problems highlight the need for planners of mentoring programs to be vigilant in the matching process so that cultural, racial and gender factors are taken into account. As was discussed previously, the dimensions of personality and professional ideology are also critical in the matching process of mentors and mentee within all three professions - medicine, education and business. The issue of matching is also highlighted in the latter part of the paper as one of the key challenges facing administrators charged with the responsibility of implementing formal programs. In summary, then, our study of mentoring from three diverse areas indicated not only many common themes and points of convergence, but also that mentoring seems to offer considerably more benefits than drawbacks. We state this on the strength of the numbers of studies reporting exclusively problematic outcomes compared with those reporting exclusively positive outcomes. Our analysis suggests, too, that mentoring is a highly complex, dynamic and interpersonal relationship that requires, at the very least, time, interest and commitment of mentors and mentees and strong support from educational or organisational leaders responsible for overseeing the program. Our analysis confirmed a conclusion that we reached elsewhere that suggests “the negative [or more problematic] outcomes associated with mentoring can be minimised by time and effort being directed toward the design and implementation of theoretically sound programs” (1999). With this thought in mind, the final part of the paper highlights five important issues educational administrators or planners of mentoring programs should consider in order to minimise a range of potential problems from arising. Issues and Challenges for Educational Administrators The decision by a school, an educational district or a state department to engage in a mentoring program should not be the consequence of some chance event. In our examination of the educational literature, it appeared that some programs resulted from a hasty decision that mentoring had much to offer. The resultant programs often lacked intellectual rigour, were poorly planned and inadequately resourced. In addition, mentors were untrained and participants were unaware of program objectives. If such programs were evaluated, there was a tendency for this to be simplistic and based on anecdotal evidence. Unfortunately, the reports of such programs do little for education as a professional discipline. It seems, therefore, that there are several major challenges facing educational administrators contemplating a mentoring program. These challenges are discussed next. Awareness In the light of the vast literature on mentoring, it seems inexcusable for those educational administrators considering the implementation of a mentoring program not to consult this resource. If asked to recommend starting points for the development of such awareness high on any list would be the work of  (1997), (1997) and  (in press).  (1997) provides a summation of past studies and makes several recommendations about possible programs. Awareness of the dangers of negativity in the early stages of planning,  (1997) balances the rosy picture that mentoring equates to satisfaction and positive outcomes. As Long warns, there can be a dark side to mentoring, but we believe that this can be minimised by awareness of potential problems. Support for the Program Although the responsibility for coordinating an educational mentoring program may be vested in human resources personnel, the initial starting point is the strategic plans of the organization. Establishing the need for mentoring and making sure the financial resources and personnel are available commences with the overall strategic plan. Depending on the size of the educational structure involved, the objectives of the mentoring program may also be determined at this stage. This would likely be the case with a statewide project but not necessarily the manner in which an individual school would proceed. In a number of studies we reviewed there was mention that the program did not seem to have the complete support of senior administrators. For a mentoring program to be effective staff need to know the senior executive officers of the district or region are actively supporting the development. It is difficult for a mid-level administrator to drive a program if the staff members are aware that he/she is not supported at the most senior levels. In fact, feedback loops to senior levels during the implementation of the program seem to be beneficial. During the early planning stages, it is important that administrators make it known that there will be transparency concerning the nature of the program, how personnel will be selected, expectations of participants and the evaluative requirements. Mentor Training Educational administrators must make numerous decisions about the mentoring program but perhaps the most difficult decisions relate to who the mentors will be and how they will be trained. Irrespective of the nature of an organization, not all personnel are suited to be mentors. For instance, in a single school program, how does the principal tell some Heads of Department or key teachers they are not required in the program? While some educational programs call for volunteers to act as mentors, there is the possibility that the volunteers may be those least suited to the role of mentor. This challenge is allied to the knowledge that mentoring is an additional load for already busy staff. Having selected the mentors, the administrators must determine how, or perhaps whether, mentors are to be rewarded in some manner. Administrators must also consider the issue of training, commonly cited in the literature as a key to the success of mentor programs. Decisions may need to be made, for example, about whether training should be provided in-house or conducted by external consultants. Selection of Participants Decisions surrounding who will be mentored must be made. Will educational administrators call for volunteers or select staff on the basis of a set of predetermined criteria? To a certain extent, this decision is probably determined by the objectives of the program. Based on the literature, the two other issues that warrant scrutiny relate to the gender of participants and the representation of minority groups. There is much literature that suggests it has been women who have missed out on mentoring opportunities (1988;  1989) and some studies report the potential for sexual discrimination against women in mentoring settings (1989;  1984). Similar problems are reported with respect to minority groups ( 1997; 1990). In educational settings where administrators have ensured that equity policies have been fully implemented, it would be anticipated that gender and minority group issues would not create serious issues. However, the question as to whether mentors and mentees should be matched is clearly a question that must be resolved by administrators. Evaluation of the Program Rigorous evaluation is essential and educational administrators will need to decide on the model of evaluation to implement. Good practice suggests that there should be ongoing evaluative tasks during the life of a mentoring program and a follow-up assessment some time after the completion of the program. Much has been written about the relative strengths of qualitative versus quantitative evaluation models. However, equally, if not more importantly, is ensuring the validity and reliability of the procedures used. Conclusion An important finding to emerge from our structured analysis of over 300 researchbased papers on mentoring across the areas of education, business and medicine, was that mentoring has enormous potential to bring about learning, personal growth and development for professionals. While the majority of reviewed studies revealed that mentoring does provide a range of positive outcomes for mentors, mentees and the organization, it is not, however, without its dark side. In some cases, poor mentoring can be worse than no mentoring at all. Our belief is that the potential problems of mentoring are not insurmountable. With careful and sensitive planning and skilful leadership, most problems can be minimised. In the paper we identified several critical issues that educational administrators should consider during the planning and implementation stages of formal programs. Amongst these were the necessity for planners to be aware of the growing body of research literature on mentoring; the need for program support at various levels; the importance of mentor training; the careful selection of participants; and the need for ongoing evaluations. If resources (both human and financial) are to be invested in mentoring programs, those responsible for planning and implementing programs must be willing to commit time, resources and energy to such programs. Indeed, all parties have a responsibility to make mentoring work so that it can be a positive force for the individuals and their organizations. At this juncture, it is important to acknowledge several limitations associated with our review. Firstly, the studies selected for review were limited in terms of their origin and scope. Our review did not incorporate a true cross-section of studies from around the world; with most emanating from the USA and other English-speaking countries. Although we searched from a selected number of databases, by not searching others, such as “dissertation abstracts” and favouring those from English speaking countries, we have limited the findings. Consequently, it is possible that we may overlooked some key research studies from other databases. Secondly, most studies we reviewed were dated from the mid 1980s to 2000. By focusing on this time-frame, and not on more current research papers, we may have also inadvertently neglected more contemporary mentoring issues and key outcomes for mentors, mentees and organisations. For instance, it is possible that more recent studies, i.e. those conducted from 2000 to the present time, may have reported on the “darker side of mentoring” to a greater extent than those featured in our review. Thus, our findings need to be considered in the light of the scope and time-frame of our study and therefore approached with some reservations. Despite these limitations, we believe that our study contributes to the growing knowledge base on this highly interpersonal, complex and dynamic learning relationship.

FORMAL MENTORING PROGRAMS IN EDUCATION AND OTHER PROFESSIONS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

FORMAL MENTORING PROGRAMS IN EDUCATION AND OTHER PROFESSIONS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Abstract The sheer volume of literature on ...