Title: Development of trust in electronic mentoring relationships

Authors: Mari W. Buche

Addresses: Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931, USA

Abstract: With the rising number of geographically dispersed workers and employees working from home (telecommuting), mentoring relationships are being supported, to various degrees, by Computer-Mediated Communications (CMC). The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of the challenges of developing trust in mentoring partnerships when face-to-face communication is very limited. Five female business leaders participated in a focus group discussion on this topic. In-depth interviews were performed with five additional managers. The results of the qualitative analysis were used to create a research model on the impact of CMC Use on the Development of Trust in Electronic Mentoring.

Keywords: trust; electronic mentoring; computer-mediated communications; CMC; social pressure; mentoring relationships.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2008.016001

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2008 Vol.5 No.1, pp.35 - 50

Published online: 02 Dec 2007 *

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