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An Investigation Into The Relationship Between An Engineering Manager's Purpose-Seeking Beliefs And Behaviors And The Engineering Manager's Perception Of Employee Creativity, Initiative And Purpose-Seeking Behavior, Charles Burton Daniels

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Organizations have placed an overwhelming emphasis on extrinsic motivation of its workforce, normally in the form of financial incentives, in an attempt to assure individual and organizational high performance. While a significant level of financial resources is expended in this attempt to predict and influence employee behavior, no objective evidence exists of a favorable return of investment. In fact, the primary impact of most extrinsic motivation might actually be demotivation – the opposite of the intended use.

In this research the prevailing literature was examined and a conclusion about the power of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation was synthesized to …

A Qualitative Analysis Of A Corporate Adventure Program, Kimberly Molyneux

Theses and Dissertations

Outdoor adventure learning (OAL) provides a unique environment to teach organizational change. Therefore, there is an implication these programs can be used to foster necessary specific skills such as leading change, innovation, and thriving in hostile environments to lead in the ever-changing corporate world. Little research, however, supports the efficacy of adventure learning in achieving specific outcomes. Skeptics suggested the benefits of OAL programs do not always generalize effectively from the outdoor experience to the workplace. This paper outlines how utilizing strategic skills and theory to conduct OAL programs are effective and impactful in the corporate world. The purpose of …

Weiser Carrots And Sticks: Motivation Beyond Money At The Shakedown Café, Julian A. Martinez

CMC Senior Theses

It is generally assumed that monetary incentivization is the most effective means of motivating organizationally-beneficial behaviors. Individuals, under this line of thought, pursue their own objective self-interest above all else. However, evidence is being uncovered that indicates that human motivation may be a much more complicated facet of the human psyche. The purpose of this study is to examine the deeper underpinnings that drive people work that might lie beyond financial rewards. In order to do this, the Shakedown Café, a student-run restaurant on Pitzer College’s campus, will be examined. This specific organization is of particular interest because it does …

An Empirical Examination Of Self-Development Activities : Integrating Social Exchange And Motivational Lens, Kanchan Vasant Deosthali

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In today's competitive global environment, organizations are continuously seeking out ways to motivate employees to learn new skills and update existing skills. One way that employees are updating their skills are through voluntary self-development activities. The current research focuses on these behaviors, and extends prior research by developing and empirically examining a model of self-development behaviors that integrates two theoretical lenses: social exchange and motivation. The social exchange component of the model included distributive justice, procedural justice, trust, and organizational identity and the motivational component of the model focused on subjective norms, self-efficacy, need for achievement, conscientiousness, resources, and attitudes …

The Mediating Role Of Regulatory Focus In The Relationship Between Transformational/Transactional Leadership And Follower Work Outcomes, Erin J. Walker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to integrate the areas of leadership and motivation by examining how leaders' behaviors affect their followers' regulatory foci. Specifically, a separate laboratory experiment and field survey were conducted to determine whether leader transformational and transactional behaviors shape followers' work-based promotion and prevention regulatory foci, which in turn affect followers' outcomes at work. Overall, there was limited evidence that inspirational motivation and contingent reward leader behaviors were related to follower work-based regulatory focus, and work-based regulatory focus was related to several work-related outcomes. The moderating role of chronic regulatory focus on the relationship between leader …

Sport Tourism: An Exploration Of The Motivations And Tourism Experiences Of Australian Football League Interstate Sport Tourists Travelling To Western Australia, Grace Rinaldi

Theses : Honours

Sport tourism is a growing sector within both the tourism and sport industries. The majority of research into sport tourism has focussed on definitions, the benefits and impacts associated with hosting a sport event and exploring who these sport tourists are. The motivations behind these sport tourists have been considered, however the associated tourism experience tourists have while at a destination has not been widely explored. There is also a lack of research into the motivations and tourists activities of fans who travel interstate to support a team in a professional national sport league like the Australian Football League (AFL). …

Motivations For Camp Staff To Work At Camp, Jessica M. Cresci

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

Camp staff are the heart of summer camps and can affect how the summer runs. The purpose of this study was to identify the motivations for staff to work at residential summer camps with special regard to any differences in motivations between staff who attended camp as a camper and staff who never attended camp as well as between international and national staff. This study used cluster sampling measuring 21 possible motivations. A link to an online survey was sent to eight camps as identified on the American Camp Association website. The top six motivations for staff to work at …

The Influence Of Intrinsic And Extrinsic Job Satisfaction Factors And Affective Commitment On The Intention To Quit For Occupations Characterized By High Voluntary Attrition, Kenneth Mark Baylor

HCBE Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine the antecedents to the intention to quit in an occupation characterized by a high degree of voluntary attrition. This study posits that job satisfaction and affective commitment are antecedents to voluntary turnover. The study concerns the application of Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory to determine the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction factors and affective commitment on the intention to quit among drivers in the solid waste management industry. Participants were volunteers taken from an industry leading publicly listed company, a premier privately held organization, and a unionized operation which represent all three …

An Investigation Of Scholar-Baller And Non Scholar-Baller Division I Football Student-Athletes' Academic, Athletic, Intrinsic Motivation And Athletic Identity, Janet Rasmussen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As less than 3 % of student-athletes go on to play sport professionally, it is important that they are prepared for careers outside of athletics (Susanj & Stewart, 2005). Many football student-athletes have low grade point averages and graduation rates. Universities incorporate academic motivational programs to help combat low academic performance. One unique program, Scholar-Baller, utilizes popular culture within its curriculum to bridge the gap between academics and athletics. This dissertation examined the differences between Scholar-Baller and Non Scholar-Baller Division I football student-athletes' motivation (academic, athletic, intrinsic) and athletic identity using expectancy-value theory and self-affirmation theory as its framework. In …

The Determinants Of Executive Compensation In The Commercial Banking Industry, David A. Romer

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the viability of two basic theories of compensation to explain executive compensation in the banking industry. The two executive compensation motivation theories are sales/sales growth maximization and profit/shareholder wealth maximization. Overall, strong support is found for both theories. This research also seeks to significantly expand, compared to previous research, the number of banks investigated. This study succeeds, with over a four-fold increase in the number of banks analyzed, including over 330 banks not previously used in the literature. This investigation is further motivated by the paucity of banking studies on compensation …

How Voice Affects Perceptions Of Relationship Wih Adults, Ownership, And Engagement In Youth, Melissa D. Wade Cater

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if youth voice affects the ownership and engagement experienced by youth in a county 4-H program. For the treatment group, a youth-led approach was used where "having a voice" included youth sharing decision-making power with the adults in the program. The comparison group consisted of 4-H members in three other clubs in the county. These youth experienced an adult-led approach where the decisions about the club programming were made strictly by the adults. The Youth Voice Survey instrument was developed to assess youths' perceptions of ownership, engagement, and relationship with adults at …

The Lived Experience Of Nurses Working With Student Nurses In The Acute Care Clinical Environment, Donna Coffey Hathorn

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to describe the lived experience of nurses’ who work with baccalaureate student nurses in the acute care clinical environment. Because of the nursing shortage nursing education is challenged with equipping a safe qualified workforce while preventing or reducing student attrition. Students may choose to leave the profession or receive less than optimal learning experiences when exposed to negative socialization behaviors of nurses while in the clinical environment. Findings from this study can be used to foster collaboration between nursing education and nursing service in the development of positive clinical environments for nurses …

The Impact Of Motivation And Conflict Escalation On The Five Zone Model For Preferred Conflict Handling And Managerial Decision Making, Dewey Wilson Todd

Managerial Sciences Dissertations

ABSTRACT THE IMPACT OF MOTIVATION AND CONFLICT ESCALATION ON THE FIVE ZONE MODEL FOR PREFERRED CONFLICT HANDLING AND MANAGERIAL DECISION MAKING BY DEWEY WILSON TODD JULY 2005 Committee Chairmen: Dr. Peter Zhang and Dr. Craig Hill Major Department: Managerial Sciences (Decision Sciences) The Todd-Cambridge Preferred Conflict-Handling Mode (PCHM) Instrument is an example of a two-dimensional, five zone model, similar to the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, used to explain how individuals deal with situations in which their desires are in conflict with another individual or group. The instrument, developed for this research, was based on the Managerial Grid (Van de Vliert …

Employee Motivation: A Comparison Of Tipped And Non-Tipped Hourly Restaurant Employees, Catherine Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Employee motivation shall be defined by Robbins (as cited in Ramlall, 2004) as: "the willingness to exert high levels of effort toward organizational goals, conditioned by the effort's ability to satisfy some individual need." To engage in the practice of motivating employees, employers must understand the unsatisfied needs of each of the employee groups. This study desires to provide practitioners in the restaurant industry the ability to recognize motivators for these different employment groups and their relationship to organizational commitment. The restaurant industry consists of two types of employees: salaried and hourly. This study focuses on hourly employees, and their …

Consequences Of Using Fear As A Motivator And Its Effects On The Employer / Employee Relationship, Nicole M. Griggs

Theses

The following work is an in-depth analysis of the consequences of using fear as a motivator, specifically, in the workplace, and the effects fear has on employees. The empirical research identifies the successful, and often, unsuccessful components of the employer/employee relationship. For many, using fear would seem to be a powerful way of getting employees to produce more, work harder, increasing motivation. This is not always the answer. The study provides reasons why fear can be a negative motivator and detrimental to an organization.

Identification Of Critical Elements That Deter Tqm Program Success, Rex F. Osborn

Theses

This thesis reviews the Total Quality Management (TQM) program initially developed in Japan after World War II and its entry into the United States during the early Eighties.

TQM was incubated in Japan and matured into a viable program. TQM offered those who implemented the program improved quality products and improved cooperation between management and the workers for accomplishing common goals and objectives . The program focused on product quality and the belief that customer satisfaction is of key importance.

United States managers were searching for improved management programs to motivate workers, improve production and increase sales and profits . …

Motivating Sales Personnel, Kel T. Denker

Theses

The purpose of this study is to develop a reference manual for managers to examine on a periodic basis and refresh their memories about the motivational process and its importance in the field of sales.

Research has shown that individuals are motivated differently to achieve specific goals and those who are positively motivated definitely out perform those who are not. In the field of sales, this is extremely important. This project illustrates motivational theory, personality types, a managers role, a sales persons role, and a variety of different motivational techniques.

This project is not intended to teach managers how to …

Working With Your Employees To Move Through Change Using Communication And Motivation: A Case Study, David G. Buck

Theses

This thesis focuses on effecting change in a government agency by the use of communication, motivation through incentives, and other management tools.

The United States Army Reserve Personnel Center (ARPERCEN) manages, trains, and mobilizes Army personnel. Its largest directorate is the Personnel Records Management Directorate, which houses the Accessions Division. At least 200,000 hard-copy personnel records pass through the Division for verification and processing in a typical year.

Eighty percent of hard-copy records transferred to ARPERCEN were also transferred electronically; however all were band-processed as if new. This entire accessioning process was redundant and inefficient.

Change was coming. The Reserve …

Motivating And Leading Today's Workforce, Janet Brown-Mitchell

Theses

This thesis will focus on the study of motivation tactics used by American companies in reaching their two most important goals - goals which are one, to grow and expand by increasing profits and two, to stay in business.

Organizations are finding that they cannot survive and prosper merely by laying off employees and restructuring . Events are unraveling at a dramatic pace, and businesses are no longer able to compete globally.

Companies must begin to think long term if they are to meet their goals. Downsizing and restructuring are resulting in poor employee morale, and reduction of quality in …

Employee Motivation: What Works, What Doesn't, Michelle A. Koenig

Theses

Corporate America has seen a multitude of changes in the last century, but the change with the greatest impact is that of the employees. In the 'old' days, it was an employer's market. Employees felt lucky just to have a job. Companies did not spend time or money worrying about whether or not their employees were happy or motivated. The majority of jobs required manual labor and little or no education. This made replacing an unhappy or unmotivated worker much easier. In addition, there weren't as many U.S. or foreign companies competing for employees.

In today's competitive market, hiring and …

A Preliminary Study Of A Job Analytic Inventory Derived From A Behavioral Consistency Method For Assessing Intrinsic Motivation, William John Banis

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

The research question for this study asked if the Job Specifications Inventory (JSI) had acceptable internal reliability and an ability to differentiate among occupational groups. The JSI was designed to have subject matter experts rate the importance of skill, content, context, relationship and work focus requirements of jobs or occupations. The JSI used a taxonomy of 268 behavioral elements derived from the content analyses of satisfying achievements reported by a large, diverse clientele. A clinical-type behavioral consistency method was used to extract performance dimensions from clients' achievements to build the taxonomy. The achievement-based taxonomy was seen as potentially enhancing productivity …

A Perception Based Integrative Theory Of Individual Behavior In Organizations, John Edward Mathieu

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop an integrative theoretical approach to the study of individuals' behavior in organizations, and to present an application of the approach to understanding the performance of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets. Individuals' perceptions of the environment were proposed to exist at three levels of analysis: (1) psychological climate (i.e., individual); (2) group climate; and organizational climate. Further, climate perceptions were proposed to result from the simultaneous influence of objective (i.e., actual) situational characteristics, and individuals' needs and characteristics. The underlying dimensions that linked climate perceptions operationalized at the three levels of analysis …

Motivation, Management Motivation, And Its Perceived Decline In American Bureaucratic Organizations In The Context Of Changing Attitudes And Values, Jon Lawrence Johnson

Theses

This Culminating Project represents an inquiry into the existence, applications, and parameters of human motivation and its impact on perceived management attitudes, values, and motivation to manage.

The topic is examined from three vantage points. Part I embodies a selective indoctrination in human motivation concepts and suggests relevant organizational applications and examples in illustration. The term "motivation" has evolved into a popular but often misapplied catch phrase. Therefore, a foundation in prominent human motivation theory is provided as precedent to issues subsequently discussed in the Project, to offer the reader an accurate base of subject knowledge.

Part II addresses the …

Optimizing The Involvement Of The Members Of Voluntary Organization Boards: Keys To Motivation, Sarah Cox

Theses

Not available.

A Study Of Job Satisfaction And Motivation, Carl Franklin Martin

Legacy ETDs

No abstract provided.

Motivating Employees To Overcome Marginal And Unsatisfactory Performance: Academic Preachments And Practical Considerations, William P. Baker

All Master's Theses

Research related to five theories of motivation is examined in a search for solutions to managing marginal or unsatisfactory employees. The study reconciles practical truth and theory, and suggests ways by which the manager can cope with the problem of marginal performance. "Maintenance-Motivation" theory and "Psychological Advantage" theory when coupled with the "Systems Management" approach merit consideration when dealing with employee motivation.