Mentoring and skill development in e-Internships

Internship in the year of Covid-19: what has changed in internship dynamics?

The purpose of this research is to understand the changes in internship dynamics of MBA students in 2020 who undertook virtual full-time internships as compared to previous years when interns were required to be present physically. Sample was collected from two set of interns; one set interns were working through virtual internship and the second set were working on traditional model of on- site internship. For data collection, structured questionnaire was used. Data was collected on various parameters of internship processes and experience. The result from the current findings suggests that the experience of both set of interns differ significantly. This paper will essentially evaluate whether virtual full-time internships have been able to contribute, create & shape internship experience effectively for interns & understand which dimensions such as learning, productivity, communication, etc have seen changes due to the nature of work being changed. Research material in this area is limited, mainly due to students experiencing a remote working style in their internships for the first time which is why this research will be quite valuable for various stakeholders.

A framework for knowledge retention to support business continuity in the cross-border mergers of the telecommunications industry in Lesotho

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate a framework for knowledge retention to support business continuity in cross-border mergers of the telecommunications industry in Lesotho.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applied a qualitative case study, with data collected through interviews from a purposively selected sample of staff members who held managerial positions. Information in this study was partially extracted from the PhD thesis of Dr Tseole ET supervised by Prof Ngulube P at the University of South Africa completed in 2021.

Findings

The study discovered that a considerable amount of knowledge may have been lost because employees who either left the organisation or those who were apparently forced to resign during the process had left without any proper knowledge retention arrangements.

Research limitations/implications

The framework proposed in this study may be used in framing future studies as a theoretical framework. The study also provides new literature for review and discussion of background in future related studies.

Practical implications

The framework provided in the study may be used as a benchmark in the knowledge management industry and/or organisations for policy development or improvements and implementation of knowledge retention strategies.

Social implications

Through recommendations and framework provided by this study, organisations will be able to improve their services to their sphere of influence in the surrounding communities. So, community will be receiving an improved and good service at all the times.

Originality/value

A framework for facilitating knowledge retention in the cross-border mergers of the telecommunications industry is therefore proposed and the researchers believe it will be helpful to the organisation for improving knowledge retention going forward, particularly in the merger process.