Mentoring as an Antidote to Stress during a Regional CPA Firm Merger (1995)

ABSTRACT The study examines mentoring as a potentially useful resource in an organization's adaption to rapid corporate change and the need for improved learning capabilities. The study found that accounting professionals in early, middle, and advanced career stages all embraced the mentoring process during periods of increased stress resulting from mergers. It appears that mentoring may be an important antidote to stress. The psycho-social aspect of mentoring may be an important form of coping with the stressful, nonrewarding conditions that characterize business mergers and corporate restructuring. INTRODUCTION This study analyzes mentoring as a valuable resource for learning and coping with major organizational change. In periods of increased competition, restructuring, merging, rapid technological change and increasing constraint on resources, organizations seek ways to accomplish more with fewer resources, especially in the area of human resource management. Effective coping with these changes requires the institution of a different process of organizational learning (Kram and Hall, 1989). Mentoring can help individuals and organizations respond effectively to an increasingly complex and diverse work place. Although corporate mergers and acquisitions are an important part of the business environment, it is only recently that researchers and practitioners have become interested in studying the effect of these phenomena on employees. Specifically, problems that arise from uncertainty regarding the organizational and personnel changes following mergers and acquisitions have received considerable attention. This study examines the role of mentoring as a resource for learning and coping with a major organizational change. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: a review of prior research on mentoring; a discussion of theoretical underpinnings of the mentoring process; the research methodology; analysis of results; and summary and suggestions for additional research. PRIOR RESEARCH ON MENTORING Mentoring is a sponsorship system, where managers (e.g., in an accounting firm, seniors, managers or partners) take a personal interest in developing their proteges' careers by performing advisory and guiding functions. These relationships exist in most CPA firms and are considered effective because they help in career management and personal development of employees (Viator and Scandura, 1991). Studies on mentoring have found three important types of mentoring relationships: 1) Mentors are the most powerful patrons in promoting and shaping their proteges' careers, acting as protectors, benefactors, sponsors, champions, advocates, supporters and advisors. 2) Sponsors are strong patrons, serving many of the same functions as mentors, but they are less powerful than mentors in promoting and shaping their proteges' careers. Sponsors are considered to be approximately twothirds along a continuum to a mentor. 3) Guides are less able than either sponsors or mentors to promote, protect or champion their proteges, but are invaluable in explaining the system. They primarily provide general, valuable information to their proteges by pointing out pitfalls to avoid and shortcuts to pursue (Klauss, 1981; Siegel, Rigsby, Agrawal, & Leavins, 1993). A number of behavioral researchers have examined the mentoring process from an individual's professional and career development perspective. Bray, Campbell, & Grant 0974), Dalton, Thompson, & Price (1977), Gould (1978), Hall (1976), Schein (1978) and others recognize that individuals entering the adult, professional world are likely to face many developmental hurdles as they form their professional identities. LeVinson, Darrow, Klien, Levinson, & McKee (1978) reported that in the early stages of their careers, youngadults seek occupational identities and form mentoring relationships. Schein and Van Mannen (1977) and Schein (1978) sought to define the mentoring relationship within the organization and to determine the extent to which organizational life influenced development of necessary technical, interpersonal and political skills. …