Mentoring, business case competitor development and reverse mentoring at global business case study competitions

Abstract

Even though management education has a long tradition, it has received an immense amount of attention from both scholars and practitioners in the last few decades. Most research efforts have aimed at improving classroom education processes, programs and outcomes. Only a limited amount of research has focused on extracurricular activities such as mentoring top talented students for international business case competitions. This paper aims to examine the knowledge flow between mentors and strategic management undergraduates while they prepare for international business case competitions. This flow provides the opportunity for the development of phronetic skills, knowledge and leadership potential of undergraduates. To understand the flow, 55 mentors worldwide were examined to provide evidence of their mentoring practices, perceived development of undergraduates and reverse learning of the business schools' top talents. Our results indicate that extracurricular mentoring of business case competitors strongly affects their development and creates recursive effects on the development of mentoring activities.