Strengthening Network Ties through Mentoring of Alienated Personnel

This study examines the social network aspects of mentoring in order to suggest ways to manage alienated public employees. It also explores the impact of mentoring that requires closer relationships between mentors and mentees to develop network ties. Networks of trust, respect, and friendship among soldiers in four barracks of the Republic of Korea Army (two experimental groups and two control groups) were measured using a social network survey. Alienated soldiers in the experimental groups were mentored by fellow soldiers with stronger ties, while no such mentoring was conducted in the control groups. After three months of mentoring, changes in network strengths were found among alienated soldiers in the experimental groups, while no significant changes were found among alienated soldiers in the control groups. This study is expected to contribute to human resource management by suggesting ways to strengthen the network ties of alienated personnel through mentoring

Understanding the adoption of Pay-for-performance in state governments: A diffusion theory approach

As various private sector practices have been introduced into the public sector, some were adopted without careful assessment of potential policy and management implications. One such example is the adoption of pay-for-performance (PFP). While previous research has corroborated that this performance incentive mechanism was implemented without thorough assessment, the diffusion process of PFP has not been empirically tested or evaluated. This study applies a regional diffusion model among American (U.S.) states to examine the diffusion process. Findings show that state governments tend to adopt PFP plans when they become aware of their neighbouring states adopting them, but the marginal probability of adoption decreases as the numbers of neighbours adopting such plan