Paul Wong <
wong@twu.ca> is looking for people to join a symposium proposal
for the MED of the Academy of Management August 1999 meeting. Please
contact him immediately if you are interested.
>
> ______________________________________________________________
>
> "A mentoring approach to management education"
> Paul T. P. Wong
>
> Management education in a pluralistic world needs to consider new
> approaches
> and curriculum changes, if its graduates are to provide effective
> leadership
> in a multicultural, multinational global economy. Recently, the Asian
> Academy of Management was established in the Chinese University
> in Hong Kong
> because of the long felt dissatisfaction among both academics and managers
> in Asia that western models of management are inadequate in Asian
> cultures.
> The recent proliferation of international Executive MBA programs recognize
> the need to produce managers that are able to function in different
> cultures. The present paper or symposium proposes that the mentoring
> approach contributes to the development of cross-cultural competences in
> managers. There is a substantial body of literature that demonstrates the
> benefits of mentoring in higher education and mentor. These
> benefits include
> faster promotion and higher incomes. The present thesis is that
> mentoring in
> management education yields additional benefits. First of all, mentoring
> helps over the cultural gaps between professors and ethnic minority
> students. To be a mentor is to someone committed to the well-being and
> success of the protege. Such a caring attitude not only provides
> a good role
> model, but also provides a safe environment for minority students to lean.
> Secondly, the mentoring approach is the preferred approach of education in
> most Asian cultures. For example, Confucius mentored a small group of
> disciples; the in small business, the boss mentors his or her apprentices.
> Mass production in education is a western phenomenon. Secondly, mentoring
> emphasizes certain skills that are important in a multicultural
> environment;
> these include active listening, becoming aware of one's own
> assumptions and
> world views; understanding the beliefs and values systems of
> other cultures;
> developing relationships with people other cultures, and adopting the
> appropriate communication strategy in negotiation and conflict resolution.
> Thirdly, mentoring moves management beyond the realm of technology and
> number crunching into the realm of personal development and spirituality,
> because a mentor is concerned with the growth of the whole
> person. The paper
> will also discuss how this approach can be implemented in management
> education.