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My father Geny Brown practiced science in a certain way during his life, but much of his approach to work and research was not clearly articulated. In this article I convey some of the lessons I learned growing up with him.

This study aims to identify the support practices that enable a successful family business succession process. Using 17 small- and medium-sized family businesses, the authors attempt to analyse the specifics of family business succession processes and identify the support practices appropriate to each phase of the process. The results show that advice and consultation are necessary during the pre-family business succession phase. Furthermore, the results reveal that training is needed to acquire and update knowledge and information during the family business succession phase. Finally, the results confirm that mentoring can ensure social and cognitive transfer in the post-family business succession process. This paper presents a theoretical innovation, as it is the first research study to attempt to understand how supportive practices can contribute to the success of the succession process.

This study highlights the factors that maximize the entrepreneur’s learning that occurs throughout a mentoring relationship. To achieve this, we conducted a hierarchical regression analysis involving a sample of 314 mentees participating in a business-mentoring program. The findings show that to maximize the learning from this relationship, the entrepreneur must perceive similarity and mutual trust with his or her mentor. The data shows that in exerting psychological and career-related functions, the mentor enables the entrepreneur’s learning.

Drawing on insights from the family business succession and mentoring literature, we examined the preparation process for daughters as successors in family firms in the United States. In-depth interviews were conducted with eighteen daughters and their parent mentors (nine mothers and nine fathers) using a qualitative case study approach. We identified a reciprocal social exchange process between parent mentors who provided resources and daughters who acquired the knowledge to become successors in their family firms. Significant elements in the preparation process included: positive childhood experiences, choosing and earning a relevant college degree, the daughter’s autonomous decision to enter the family firm, guided on-the-job training, and counsel and advice to overcome the crucial issues of male gender bias and the burden of childcare responsibility. The significance is highlighted of differences that exist between mothers and fathers as mentors regarding understanding the daughters’ position in the firm and communication.

This paper reports on a mentoring project underpinned by action research methodology that has been implemented in the DRB-HICOM University of Automotive Malaysia (DHUAM). The project is part of a larger strategic organisational development initiative to position the university in a globally competitive market. A mentoring specialist based in New Zealand has been brought in to work with the university to design a mentoring framework, coordinate a six-month pilot programme in conjunction with the Director of DHUAM’s Centre for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT), and manage the rollout of the mentoring programme across the institution over a 3-5 year period. Electronic platforms and on-site campus visits have enabled regular communication and dual management of the pilot programme between New Zealand and Malaysia.

Women, in general, are underrepresented in engineering and technology fields. An online survey has been conducted worldwide to understand the current state and perception of women engineers, challenges and obstacles faced by them in their engineering profession, mentoring or any other support available to them, and opportunities available and scope for their professional development. This paper presents the experiences and perception of women in engineering and technology domains and recommends potential solutions from their perspective to retain and attract more women into engineering and technology fields.

My father Geny Brown practiced science in a certain way during his life, but much of his approach to work and research was not clearly articulated. In this article I convey some of the lessons I learned growing up with him.

The core capabilities of an organization include critical skills of employees, management systems, and norms and values. Core capabilities may be transferred formally and explicitly. However, much knowledge, particularly knowledge with rich tacit dimensions, is transferred informally through processes of socialization and internalization. We focus on two transfer mechanisms—mentoring and storytelling—that can leverage the knowledge of an organization, particularly its tacit knowledge, to build core capabilities. We draw on relevant research in learning and cognitive psychology to clarify the conditions under which mentoring and storytelling can be most effective as carriers of knowledge. Finally, we present recommendations for specific managerial practices that follow from our analysis.