Worldwide, entrepreneurship is seen as one of the most important solutions to unemployment, poverty and low economic growth. The creation of new ventures and the growth of existing businesses are vital contributing factors to any economy. Women outnumber male entrepreneurs, which have led to a renewed focus on gender entrepreneurship and the development of appropriate interventions for gender–specific groups across the globe. In South Africa, women make up just less than 50% of the entrepreneurial population. There is therefore, considerable scope to improve the number of women entrepreneurs in the economy and the level at which they operate. Literature review in this study highlighted that female business ownership is concentrated primarily in the service industries where businesses are relatively smaller in terms of employment and revenue, as opposed to the technology, construction and manufacturing sectors. Women entrepreneurs want to expand their businesses as much as male entrepreneurs but women have a hard time in obtaining external financing and credibility as business owners. The objective of the study was to explore white and black women entrepreneurs in the Carletonville and Soweto areas and to provide practical recommendations to ensure successful women entrepreneurship in the country. This study had a total of 58 black and white women entrepreneurs that were motivated by factors like the need for independence, confidence in the product/service offered, self– fulfillment and the need for a challenge into owning a business. A typical woman entrepreneur in this study is between the ages 40 to 59 years, is married with an average of one to two children. The woman entrepreneur is fairly educated with an education level of matric and a diploma. But her business is micro or very small with an annual turnover of R50 000 to R500 000. Participating women entrepreneurs are faced with obstacles such as inequality of access to credit, awareness and access to business support, risk averse, lack of focused women entrepreneurship policies from regional municipalities and government, lack of education and training in their business start–up phase. They are faced with obstacles such as awareness / access to business support, gaining acceptance and respect of people, liquidity and other financial problems and lack of timely business information in running their businesses. Women entrepreneurs in this study declared that they need support on factors such as business advice, information, counselling, mentoring, marketing support and women entrepreneurship specific based policies to enhance women entrepreneurship in the areas of Soweto and Carletonville. The study also conducted t–tests to compare white and black women entrepreneurs in the Carletonville and Soweto areas. The t–tests focused on motivational factors to self– employment, obstacles to business start–up and obstacles faced in current business operations. The t–test in this study revealed that black women entrepreneurs rated the following motivating factors: desire to wealth, the need for independence, need for flexible work schedule, need for a challenge, self–fulfillment, to develop my hobby, insufficient family income and ensure high job security more positively than the white women entrepreneurs. In addition, the t–tests also revealed that black women entrepreneurs are affected more than the white entrepreneurs by fear of failure and their perceived inequality of access to credit in their business start–up. Furthermore, black women entrepreneurs, in running their businesses are severely affected by family pressures in relation to gender roles and a lack of awareness of or access to business support more than the white women entrepreneurs. This study offered recommendations such as exposing women in entrepreneurship at a tender age, increasing access to finance and the establishment and enhancement of women entrepreneurs’ organisations like SAWEN, BWASA, and SAWIMA amongst others. The women entrepreneurs’ organisations should embark on campaigns and intensify their marketing strategies amongst others. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Worldwide, entrepreneurship is seen as one of the most important solutions to unemployment, poverty and low economic growth. The creation of new ventures and the growth of existing businesses are vital contributing factors to any economy. Women outnumber male entrepreneurs, which have led to a renewed focus on gender entrepreneurship and the development of appropriate interventions for gender–specific groups across the globe. In South Africa, women make up just less than 50% of the entrepreneurial population. There is therefore, considerable scope to improve the number of women entrepreneurs in the economy and the level at which they operate. Literature review in this study highlighted that female business ownership is concentrated primarily in the service industries where businesses are relatively smaller in terms of employment and revenue, as opposed to the technology, construction and manufacturing sectors. Women entrepreneurs want to expand their businesses as much as male entrepreneurs but women have a hard time in obtaining external financing and credibility as business owners. The objective of the study was to explore white and black women entrepreneurs in the Carletonville and Soweto areas and to provide practical recommendations to ensure successful women entrepreneurship in the country. This study had a total of 58 black and white women entrepreneurs that were motivated by factors like the need for independence, confidence in the product/service offered, self– fulfillment and the need for a challenge into owning a business. A typical woman entrepreneur in this study is between the ages 40 to 59 years, is married with an average of one to two children. The woman entrepreneur is fairly educated with an education level of matric and a diploma. But her business is micro or very small with an annual turnover of R50 000 to R500 000. Participating women entrepreneurs are faced with obstacles such as inequality of access to credit, awareness and access to business support, risk averse, lack of focused women entrepreneurship policies from regional municipalities and government, lack of education and training in their business start–up phase. They are faced with obstacles such as awareness / access to business support, gaining acceptance and respect of people, liquidity and other financial problems and lack of timely business information in running their businesses. Women entrepreneurs in this study declared that they need support on factors such as business advice, information, counselling, mentoring, marketing support and women entrepreneurship specific based policies to enhance women entrepreneurship in the areas of Soweto and Carletonville. The study also conducted t–tests to compare white and black women entrepreneurs in the Carletonville and Soweto areas. The t–tests focused on motivational factors to self– employment, obstacles to business start–up and obstacles faced in current business operations. The t–test in this study revealed that black women entrepreneurs rated the following motivating factors: desire to wealth, the need for independence, need for flexible work schedule, need for a challenge, self–fulfillment, to develop my hobby, insufficient family income and ensure high job security more positively than the white women entrepreneurs. In addition, the t–tests also revealed that black women entrepreneurs are affected more than the white entrepreneurs by fear of failure and their perceived inequality of access to credit in their business start–up. Furthermore, black women entrepreneurs, in running their businesses are severely affected by family pressures in relation to gender roles and a lack of awareness of or access to business support more than the white women entrepreneurs. This study offered recommendations such as exposing women in entrepreneurship at a tender age, increasing access to finance and the establishment and enhancement of women entrepreneurs’ organisations like SAWEN, BWASA, and SAWIMA amongst others. The women entrepreneurs’ organisations should embark on campaigns and intensify their marketing strategies amongst others. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Syftet med föreliggande studie har varit att utveckla kunskap om studenters motivation avseende val till högre utbildning. Den tidigare forskning som presenteras har dels genomförts ur ett utbildningssociologiskt perspektiv där man visat hur traditioner hänger samman med individens val att utbilda sig, och dels utifrån motivationsteoretiska perspektiv som redogör för individuella motivationsfaktorer rörande utbildning. Föreliggande studie har syftat till att studera fenomenet ur det sistnämnda perspektivet. Med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod har intervjuer genomförts med sju studenter. Resultatet visade att studenterna hade motiverats att söka högre utbildning dels med anledning av att förvärva kunskap, dels för att i förlängningen få ett fast jobb med fast inkomst samt för att känna uppskattning från andra människor. Resultatet har analyserats med hjälp av Maslows behovsteori som inkluderar fem typer av mänskliga behov som människan motiveras av att tillfredsställa (Maslow, 1987). De mänskliga behov som synliggjordes i studenternas angivna motivationsfaktorer var behovet av trygghet, behovet av gemenskap, tillhörighet och kärlek, behovet av uppskattning, det kognitiva behovet samt självförverkligande. Vi har funnit två motivationsfaktorer som de mest tongivande. Den ena är att i förlängningen uppnå en trygg vardag efter avslutade studier. Den andra handlar om att förvärva kunskap om det valda ämnet. / The aim of the present study was to develop knowledge about students’ motivation regarding the choice to attend university. A presentation of previous research is given, including motives to attend university from a sociological perspective focusing on general traditions regarding higher education. Previous research also focuses on individual aspects through motivational perspectives regarding education. This study aimed to study the phenomenon from the latter perspective. Using a qualitative method interviews with seven students was completed. The results showed that the students had been motivated to attend higher education partly because of the desire to acquire knowledge and partly to ultimately get a permanent job with a steady income and to be appreciated by other people. The results have been analyzed using Maslow’s theory of needs that includes five types of motivational needs (Maslow, 1987). The human needs that were reflected in the students motivational factors was the need for safety, the need for love and belongingness, the esteem needs, the cognitive need and self-actualization. We have found two motivational factors as the most influential. One is the motivation to attain a safe everyday life after graduation. The second concerns the motivation to acquire knowledge about the chosen topic.

Unveiling the factors which drive the seasonal workforce in a family-park tourism destination setting through interviews with previous workers of those destinations, and to understand the challenges of working seasonally opposed to working full-time.

[pt] Desafios diversos são colocados para os empreendedores atingirem o seu mercado consumidor. O financiamento de projetos é um dos mais sensíveis, visto a escassez e custo de capital. Com o avanço recente da tecnologia, novas iniciativas se propõem a estreitar esta relação e viabilizar negócios. O financiamento colaborativo por meio de crowdfunding se apresenta como solução a ser explorada neste estudo e o conceito e adoção da inovação é analisado como fator diferencial no alcance dos fundos necessários em conjunto com demais fatores motivacionais que balizam a decisão de apoio aos projetos. A prática é recente no Brasil, justificando a existência de poucos estudos. A Metodologia de Pesquisa prevê a aplicação de modelo de regressão logística, que é capaz de prever a probabilidade de que o projeto alcance sua meta em função de um conjunto de variáveis independentes. Por fim, a aplicação do modelo permitiu concluir que dentre as métricas avaliadas as que favorecem o sucesso são o tipo do projeto ser tudo ou nada, o número de apoiadores, o valor médio doado e pertencer ao grupo pessoa. Em contrapartida, sinalizou que as variáveis inovação, artes, empreendedor e social não influenciam a probabilidade de o projeto alcançar sua meta. / [en] Multiple challenges are placed for entrepreneurs to reach their consumer market. Project finance is one of the most sensitive, given the scarcity and cost of capital. With the recent advancement of technology, new initiatives aim to strengthen this relationship and make business viable. Collaborative funding through crowdfunding presents itself as a solution to be explored in this study and the concept and adoption of innovation is analyzed as a differential factor in the reach of the necessary funds together with other motivational factors that guide the decision to support the projects. The practice is recent in Brazil, justifying the existence of few studies. The Research Methodology provides for the application of a logistic regression model, which is able to predict the probability that the project will achieve its goal in function of a set of independent variables. Finally, the application of the model allowed us to conclude that among the evaluated metrics the ones that favor success are the type of project to be all or nothing, the number of supporters, the average value donated and belong to the personal group. On the other hand, it pointed out that the variables innovation, arts, entrepreneurship and social do not influence the probability of the project reaching its goal.

Este trabalho está inserido no grupo de Inteligência Artificial da UFRGS e contribui com os estudos que estão sendo realizados pela Profª. Magda Bercht, ambos sob orientação da Profa. Rosa Maria Viccari. Situa-se na área de Inteligência Artificial, Inteligência Artificial Aplicada à Educação, Sistemas Tutores Inteligentes e Agentes. O objetivo deste trabalho é propor a arquitetura de um agente capaz de identificar fatores motivacionais e afetivos pela monitoração das ações do usuário através da interface de um STI. Esta proposta inclui a descrição de um protótipo e descrição em detalhes de diversos itens necessários à integração, entre os quais estão: a arquitetura do STI utilizado, o sistema de comunicação utilizado pela sociedade de agentes, a interface e os requisitos necessários. Inicialmente, apresentam-se algumas estruturas de STI e alguns conceitos de agentes, seguidos de conceitos sobre emoção e afetividade. Em seguida apresentam-se as estratégias de identificação de três importantes fatores motivacionais e afetivos: Independência, Confiança e Esforço. Também são apresentados os requisitos mínimos necessários para aplicação das estratégias de identificação e integração do agente em um STI. / This work is inserted in the group of Artificial Intelligence of UFRGS and it contributes with the studies that are being accomplished by Magda Bercht. These studies are both under the guidance of Rosa Maria Viccari. They are focus the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence applied to the education, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, and Agents. The objective of this work is to propose an agent's architecture able to identify motivational and affective factors for the monitoring of the user's actions through the interface of an ITS. This proposal includes the description of a prototype and details of several items necessary to the integration. Among these are: the used ITS architecture, the communication system used by the agents' society, the interface, and the necessary requirements. Initially, some structures of ITS and some agents' concepts, followed by concepts about emotion and affectivity are presented. After, we present identification of identification of three important motivational and affective factors: Independence, Confidence and Effort. The necessary minimum requirements for application of the identification strategies and the agent's integration in an ITS are also presented.

We are now in the 21st century and each organisation is forced to be on the move and be dynamic, and this depends on the motivation of those working in the organisation in question. In any profession, and nursing is no exception, motivation at work is immediately reflected in everyone´s performance at work. The aim of this thesis was to chart the work motivation factors which support the decision to follow a nursing career and to map the use of motivational programmes by hospital management. Five hypotheses were established on the basis of these aims. Hypothesis 1: General nurses are motivated to pursue their career; this hypothesis was confirmed, as more than half of all nurses are satisfied with thein current positions and do not plan to leave their jobs within the next six years. Hypothesis 2: The main motivational factor to pursue a nursing career is salary assessment. This hypothesis was confirmed. This factor ranked sekond out of a total of sixteen. Hypothesis 3: For general nurses the prestige of the jo bis a motivational factor. This hypothesis was refuted; this factor ranked as the thirteenth most important. Hypothesis 4: General nurses see the possibility of further education as a motivational factor. This hypothesis was confirmed. 89 % of those questioned see this as a very important factor. Hypothesis 5: Hospitals have elaborated motivational programmes. This hypothesis was refuted. A qualitative examination of each of the interviews showed that the hospitals in question do not have motivational programmes. For the top management of hospitals these results can serve as impetus to implement new motivational programmes or procedures for assessing work performance and the effectiveness of educational activities in places where they are not yet in place.

Title: Volunteering at sport events Objectives: The main objective of this thesis is to identify the most important factors that motivate volunteers in Czech Republic to their participation at sport events. A questionnaire was distributed amongst the volunteers. Detected data should help the organizers to understand what kind of people the volunteers are and help with their future recruitment. Methods: The following methods were used when writing this thesis: case studies, the analysis of the relevant and available documents, written questioning. Results: Results of the survey show that most of the volunteers are younger than thirty years and that women are slightly prevailing among them. Volunteers valued following motives as the most important for their participation: I want to help make the event a success, I want to be beneficial, I want to spend my free time in a meaningful way. In comparison with the foreign studies, which are analysed in this thesis, it showed that volunteers in foreign countries consider similar motives as the most important. Keywords: Volunteering, volunteers, motives, motivational factors, sport events

In the theoretical part of my diploma work I determined the terms motivation, stimulation, reward of workers and work satisfaction. I occupied by theory of motivation too. Each of these terms is an important element of motivation. In the practical part of my diploma work I explore motivational factors and work satisfaction in Czech Post by the questionnaires.

This thesis is focused on the analysis of employee motivation, as a necessary component of human resource management in a manufacturing company Dura Automotive CZ, k. s. located in Blatná. The thesis focus was so closely specified after agreement with the company management. The goal of this thesis is the analysis of current level of employee motivation in the company and the proposition of appropriate measures for increasing the firm's competitiveness and strengthening its position as a good-class employer on the labor market. The theoretical part summarizes the findings in human resource management and employee motivation. It also includes the company profile. The analytical part is based on questionnaire survey in the company, it describes the sample selection and the research findings. Employees are most dissatisfied in obtaining necessary information at the right time and communication, productive praise and constructive criticism from the supervisor. The employee-motivation is reduced by working under stress and performing of routine operations. The synthetic section summarizes the findings of the survey and propose recommendations. But it depends on the company's management, whether they accept and apply these proposals. The company, despite the impact of economic crisis in 2008, has maintained its incentive program. It place emphasis on highly qualified staff, their motivation and satisfaction, safe working environment and good relations in the workplace. The company also applies modern management techniques and work process organization.