نقش نظارت در ارتقای تعهد سازمانی در بین مدیران سیاه : ارزیابی اثرات غیر مستقیم شباهت نژادی و دیدگاه های نژادی مشترک

Due to the effort and expense of recruiting black managers, there is a need to maximize the chances of retaining those that are most productive. Effective mentoring may be one avenue to reach this objective by enhancing job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Using the responses of 139 members of the National Black MBA Association (MBMBAA), this study explored the indirect or mediated effects of demographic (i.e. white mentors–black protégés vs. black mentors–black protégés) and attitudinal (i.e. perceived complementary racial perspectives) similarity on the affective commitment of black managers. The results suggest that attitudinal similarity is a more critical factor than demographic similarity in enhancing mentoring-driven affective commitment among black managers. In addition, the results reveal that in certain circumstances demographic similarity can actually have an adverse impact on the career benefits realized from mentoring relationships.

In a qualitative study of cross-race dyads, Thomas (1993) found that when colleagues in cross-race mentoring relationships shared complementary racial perspectives (i.e. common attitudes about race and race-related issues), their relationships tended to evolve into rewarding, mentor–protégé relationships. In contrast, when partners in cross-race mentoring relationships shared non-complementary racial perspectives, their relationships seemed to achieve suboptimal, “sponsor–protégé” relationships. This notion of shared racial perspectives seems vital in the determination of effective cross-race mentoring relationships and is the primary focus of the research reported herein. Generally, the functions of a mentor are considered career (instrumental) and psychosocial (Burke, 1984 and Kram, 1985). Career functions include sponsorship, exposure and visibility, coaching, protection, and providing challenging assignments. Psychosocial functions include role modeling, acceptance and confirmation, counseling, and friendship. According to Thomas (1993), mentors provide both career and psychosocial guidance, whereas sponsors provide only career guidance. This study assesses the relative influence of perceived complementary racial perspective (PCRP) and racial (i.e. demographic) similarity on mentoring functions and the ultimate outcomes of mentoring relationships involving minority protégés. Given the effort and expense of recruiting minority managers, retention is a key concern for many organizations (e.g., Jackson and Alleyne, 2005). Job satisfaction (Futrell and Parasuraman, 1984 and Sager et al., 1988) and affective commitment (Chandrasekaran et al., 2000 and McNeilly and Russ, 1992) are important outcomes from the point of view of retaining black managers. With this in mind, this study examines the extent to which PCRP and racial similarity influence black protégés' 1) perceptions of his/her mentor's behaviors and 2) job satisfaction and attitudinal commitment. It attempts to capture the perceptions of black protégés involved in same-race and cross-race relationships in order to address questions related to how firms might best develop and ultimately retain their minority hires through mentoring programs.

We estimated the conceptual model using path analytic techniques in LISREL 8.72. The results indicated that the hypothesized model fit the data relatively well. However, model residuals and modification indexes also revealed that a significant improvement in fit could be obtained by specifying a direct path between the constructs “racial congruency” and “career advancement.” Given this finding, we respecified the model and ran it with the added path (see Fig. 1). The respecified model fit the data extremely well and performed significantly better (p < .01) than the original model (fit indexes: χ2 = 18.64, d.f. = 20, p = .55; CFI = 1.00, SRMR = .054, GFI = .97). Despite the tremendous improvement in fit, the freeing of the aforementioned path in the respecified model did not have a substantive effect on parameter and significance estimates. The resulting model accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in the dependent variables (role modeling: R2 = .08; psychosocial interaction: R2 = .13; career benefits: R2 = .36; satisfaction: R2 = .02; affective commitment: R2 = .43The parameter and significance estimates for the model are presented in Fig. 1. The test of the conceptual model provided strong evidence in support of the hypotheses developed in this study. With the exception of Hypothesis 1B (racial similarity → psychosocial interaction), all of the estimated paths are statistically significant and in the expected direction. The non-significant association between racial congruency and psychosocial interaction is particularly noteworthy because it provides strong evidence in support for Hypothesis 1C. More precisely, it suggests that perceived racial perspective (b = .38, p < .01) has a relatively greater effect on psychosocial interaction than racial similarity (b = − .07, p > .10). Finally, it is worth noting that the control variable “supervising mentor” had a significant effect on career benefits (b = .36; p < .01) while “gender-match”, our other control variable, did not exert a significant effect on psychosocial interaction (b = − .06; p > .10).This study demonstrates the importance of similarities in racial perspective on the formation and success of mentoring relationships. It contradicts notions about the value of same-race dyads as a predictor of the effectiveness of mentoring relationships, at least in organizational contexts, by suggesting that same-race dyads may inhibit career benefits in certain circumstances. Shared racial perspectives appear to be vital as these attitudes may lead to a level of personal and professional engagement that indirectly results in organizational commitment. This result is noteworthy because few researchers have examined both attitudinal and demographic similarities in the same study. The foundations of relationships are much more complex than easily identifiable demographic profiles. Perhaps if individuals in the mentoring dyad do not perceive some degree of synergy or fit based on interests, values, or experiences, there is little reason to expect the personal intimacy and socializing necessary for career rewards, regardless of race. Furthermore, human resources managers may be able to influence retention efforts by thoughtfully encouraging mentoring dyads based more on attitudinal factors rather than racial factors. In the short-term, attitudes may not change, but the organization has the ability to measure racial perspectives and encourage those relationships where perspectives are congruent while discouraging those that suggest a conflict. This study contributes to mentoring literature in several ways. We posit directional relationships among the individual mentoring functions. Our findings suggest that psychosocial interaction is the gateway that leads to a protégés career benefits and positive role modeling behaviors. Furthermore, we find that the effects of mentoring functions on job outcomes depends on the extent to which psychosocial interaction and role modeling behavior leads to career benefits. These findings highlight the relative importance of sound career guidance as it relates to job satisfaction and commitment. Moreover, while mentoring in general has been linked to job outcomes, we have attempted to examine how each dimension of mentoring relates to job outcomes related to the retention of minority managers. Understanding this growing segment of the labor market is critical for most corporations (e.g., Fullerton and Toosi, 2001), particularly in light of the fact that it experiences a higher turnover rate than other groups. It should be noted that the study reported here has a number of limitations. It deals with racial perspectives rather than a wide range of attitudinal variables; it examines job satisfaction and affective commitment rather than the equally important outcome of performance; the sample is slightly biased towards female respondents; and the dyads involve only black protégés. The results should be viewed with these limitations in mind and further research is needed to broaden the context of study.