International Journal of Information Management 33 (2013) 217–226 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect International Journal of Information Management j our nal ho me p age: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijinfomgt E-mentoring: The adoption process and innovation challenge Anastasios P. Panopoulos * , Katerina Sarri University of Western Macedonia, Greece a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Available online 9 November 2012 Keywords: E-mentoring Mentoring Adoption Innovation a b s t r a c t The innovative nature of e-mentoring along with its ongoing adoption process provided the reasons for conducting an innovation–adoption study on e-mentoring. A sample of 234 mentors that have been employed by Ergani Center, a well respected Greek mentoring organization, were asked to identify with the use of an online questionnaire the factors that influence the adoption of e-mentoring. Gender, age, per- sonal innovativeness, relative advantage computer self-efficacy, problems and pressures from mentees emerged as predictors of the innovation process. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Despite extensive research on the use and application of the Internet for mentoring purposes (e-mentoring) (e.g. Bonnett, Wildemuth, & Sonnenwald, 2006; DiRenzo, Linnehan, Shao, & Rosenberg, 2010; Ensher, Heun, & Blanchard, 2003; Headlam- Wells, Gosland, & Graig, 2006; Kasprisin, Single, Single, & Muller, 2003; Martin, Platis, Malita, & Ardeleanu, 2011; Rhodes, Spencer, Saito, & Sipe, 2006; Smith-Jentsch, Scielzo, Yarbrough, & Rosopa, 2008; Stewart & McLoughlin, 2007) no attention, to the best of our knowledge, has been given to the adoption process. Furthermore, it seems that the adoption of the Internet for mentoring purposes has been taken for granted, overlooking the fact that the imple- mentation of e-mentoring was based on the adoption stage. That is why this paper, responding to Ensher et al. (2003) call for empir- ical research on e-mentoring, utilizes criteria associated with the adoption theory in order to offer some quantitative insights on this issue. E-mentoring is a mentoring carried out through the use of the Internet as a communication channel and is otherwise referred to as ‘online mentoring’ or ‘virtual’ or ‘cyber mentoring’ (Stewart & McLoughlin, 2007). The adoption of the Internet for mentoring purposes could be considered as a continuous innovation pro- cess, deviating from traditional offline approaches, although the use of the Internet even in everyday working activities is now mainstream, since new methods and applications appear. This is particularly true for countries such as Greece and others in the Balkan region, where the diffusion of the Internet and the widespread use of new electronic applications lag behind other EU countries (Eurostat, 2011). Thus, the identification of factors that * Corresponding author. E-mail address: apanopoulos@uowm.gr (A.P. Panopoulos). affect adoption by mentors should provide valuable managerial and conceptual insights in order to better understand the diffusion pro- cess, and indeed the current state of affairs within a specific cultural context. The use of Web 2.0 technologies and the success of social networks enabled a shift away from the Web as a passive infor- mation highway to a dynamic platform for the exchange of real communication, interaction and experiences (Pfeil, Zaphiris, & Wilson, 2009) leading to the effectiveness and expansion of e- mentoring practices. The classification of the Internet as a two-way symmetrical communication channel supports an egalitarian dia- logic nature of e-mentoring programmes, since both mentors and mentees now have the power to initiate conversation and to main- tain an active role in online discussions. E-mentoring supports the creation of a constructive feedback process through the use of detailed electronic records of interactions (Kasprisin et al., 2003; Stewart, 2006). Furthermore the elimination of obstacles such as (a) geographical barriers or time constraints, (b) the unavailabil- ity of suitable mentors, and (c) the incompatibility in social status, physical appearance, gender or behavioral expectations, increase collaboration, involvement, satisfaction and value of e-mentoring programmes (Bierema & Merriam, 2002; Ensher & Murphy, 1997; Ensher et al., 2003; Fagenson-Eland & Lu, 2004; Kasprisin et al., 2003; Single & Single, 2005; Stewart & McLoughlin, 2007). The impartiality granted by the Internet allows e-mentoring relation- ships to develop based on openness, honesty, trust and flexibility encouraging the disclosure of experiences that would not happen in a face to face physical encounter (Bierema & Merriam, 2002; Miller & Griffiths, 2005; Stewart, 2006). However, e-mentoring is not an inexpensive alternative of face to face mentoring (Single & Single, 2005). Single and Single (2005) report that e-mentoring activities can present unique practical and technical challenges including the set up and main- tenance of websites, monitoring the Internet and supporting real 0268-4012/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2012.10.003