PurposeThere are many studies of personality and leadership and gender and leadership, but only few leadership studies have taken into account both personality and gender. That may partly be due to the fact that there are relatively few female leaders, however, the aim of this paper is to discover if similar personality types exhibit the same kind of leadership behavior irrespective of gender.Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative analysis involves 459 leaders (283 men and 176 women) and 378 subordinates working in various fields. Leaders rated their leadership behavior and subordinates also appraised them.FindingsResults indicated differences in leadership behavior by gender, in that women exhibited more enabling behavior, and men more challenging behavior. Further, gender and personality had an impact on leadership behavior, as viewed by both leaders and subordinates. For example, extraverted and intuitive male leaders along with those exhibiting the perceiving dimension regarded themselves as more challenging than their introverted, sensing and judging male counterparts, a view confirmed by subordinates in the case of perceiving male leaders.Research limitations/implicationsAs limitations, the Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator offers only one view of the personality, and future studies would be needed with different methods. Also the study did not control confounding factors, and it should be taken into account with the study.Practical implicationsFrom a practical view point, this study offers specific knowledge for people seeking to develop themselves as leaders.Originality/valueVery few studies have concentrated on the relationship between personality and gender in the transformational leadership context, and this study provides a new perspective on this area.

Purpose -The article aims to report the findings of quantitative and qualitative analysis of the benefits, drawbacks and future prospects of formal mentoring in medium-sized and large organisations. Design/methodology/approach -The empirical data for the study were collected via an online survey, and consist of responses from 152 human resource specialists from companies and public sector organisations in Finland. Findings -The results reflect the organisations' current situation, and the issues that are important to the HR function. Mentoring is primarily used to transfer tacit knowledge from those near retirement to younger colleagues, foster the personnel development and create well-being at work. Career advancement and work performance are not as important as might have been thought. The results suggest that mentoring will be more widely used in the future. Among the future potential deliverables of mentoring are strengthening competence management, creating well-being and enhancing an organisation's image. Young people, in particular, may demand the use of social media alongside mentoring. This could also facilitate mentoring in multicultural organisations. Practical implications -HR functions intending to make greater use of mentoring in future will require more focus and resources to do so. For example, almost one in five of the respondents saw a lack of information as a barrier to establishing mentoring. Originality/value -This paper focuses on how organisations view mentoring, which has not been extensively examined previously.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the interplay between human resource management (HRM) and emergent factors in constructing a strong HRM climate. Specifically, the paper aims to shed light on how employee perceptions of the HRM process and emergent factors together construct a strong HRM climate, i.e. employees' shared perceptions of HRM.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses qualitative interview data (managers and employees) from two organisations operating in Finland. The data are analysed based on a systematic data analysis and gives an illustration of the interplay between high-performance work system and the emergent factors.FindingsThe findings illustrate the three types of interplay between HPWS and emergent factors – supplementation, substitution and suffocation – that construct employee experience.Originality/valueThe paper extends earlier discussions on the relationship between HRM and employee experience by empirically examining how the HRM process – together with emergent factors – constructs a strong HRM climate. The present study contributes to further theorising and increasing our understanding of the creation of employee experience.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the meaning of socially responsible human resource management (HRM) in the global business context.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a multiple case study and is descriptive. The study focuses on four case studies of two Finnish multinational companies. The data sources are company documents and web sites, newspapers, financial periodicals and web‐based open communication channels.FindingsThe study shows the contextual nature of socially responsible HRM and highlights the need to recognise the magnitude of the issues and viewpoints that affect the evaluation of social responsibility from the HRM point of view. The study also reveals the gap between the rhetoric used by top management and the messages given out by the HR function.Research limitations/implicationsThe four cases examined in this study do not allow for empirical generalisations.Practical implicationsThe study stresses that the costs and consequences of unethical behaviour cannot be overlooked when aiming to maintain the image of a socially responsible company.Originality/valueThis study addresses a research gap in HRM studies by adopting an ethical perspective and suggesting that instead of balancing global integration with responsiveness to local customs companies should find a balance between profitability and responsibility. The study provides rich material for discussion and illustration.

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