Peer Mentoring in the Industrial Sales Force: An Exploratory Investigation of Men and Women in Developmental Relationships

Abstract

Peer mentoring relationships are common in sales organizations, but there have been few systematic investigations of the nature of these relationships in the sales domain. Additionally, the literature from other fields is mixed on whether men and women fare differently in mentoring relationships. We investigate the nature of mentoring in an industrial sales force, focusing on the similarities and differences between men and women in mentoring dyads. Results show that while there are many similarities, men generally perceive greater benefits to mentoring. Women who are mentored by other women, however, seem to gain in the area of job motivation, perhaps because they receive high levels of counseling and coaching from their female mentors.