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

The purpose of this study was to identify the motivational factors that are important for continued ice hockey practice after children have participated in Tre Kronors Hockey School. Furthermore, the purpose was also to investigate the young people's experience of Tre Kronor Hockey School and how they perceived the transition from the same to association hockey. The study was carried out on behalf of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Data has been collected through eight semi-structured interviews with young people between the age of 12-13 years old who previously participated in the Tre Kronors Hockey School and then continued to play association hockey. A key result was that the respondents felt that community and fellowship with teammates was somehow an important motivational factor for continued ice hockey practice. Another important motivational factor was to develop and learn new things, and that it was considered important with support from people close to them. All young people felt that Tre Kronors Hockey School was a fun gateway to start playing ice hockey and that the transition to association hockey was a major change that all respondents thought was motivating. Finally, our study shows that the Swedish Ice Hockey Association has met the purpose of Tre Kronor Hockey School as a playful and fun gateway to start playing ice hockey.

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.

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.

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.

User Generated Content (UGC) blir allt vanligare på webben och flera av de mest besökta hemsidorna på internet är till stor del baserade på innehåll skapat av dess användare. Varje dag redigeras exempelvis över 120,000 artiklar på Wikipedia av dess hängivna användare som i snitt spenderar över 8 timmar i veckan på att skapa nytt eller redigera existerande material. Att motivera användare att bidra med innehåll på detta sätt blir allt viktigare. För att kunna göra detta krävs en förståelse för vad som motiverar användarna att bidra. Uppsatsen tar sin utgångspunkt från detta och vi studerar vilka motivationsfaktorer som ligger till grund för att användare skapar UGC samt om det finns några samband mellan dessa motivationsfaktorer. En litteraturstudie över tidigare forskning inom området genomförs och resulterar i 15 motivationsfaktorer kategoriserade i fyra kategorier. Dessa presenteras i en matris som strukturerar upp motivationsfaktorerna i de olika kategorierna. Matrisen med de 15 motivationsfaktorerna ligger som teoretisk grund för en kvantitativ enkätundersökning ämnad att se i vilken grad användare motiverats av olika motivationsfaktorer för skapandet av UGC. Genom enkätundersökningen etableras en förståelse för hur stor andel av respondenterna som motiverats av de olika motivationsfaktorerna. Resultatet från undersökningen används för att studera sambanden mellan motivationsfaktorerna. Detta leder fram till en korrelationstabell som presenterar alla signifikanta samband mellan faktorer samt en motivationsmatris som kan fungera som ett stöd för att förstå och diskutera kring motivationsfaktorer för UGC och dess kategoriseringar. Studiens resultat kan hjälpa utvecklare att ge stöd för flera motivationsfaktorer i tjänster baserade på UGC. Den motivationsmatris och det resultat som presenteras kan även vara utgångspunkt för framtida forskning. / User Generated Content (UGC) is becoming increasingly common on the web and many of the most frequently visited websites on the Internet is largely based on content created by its users. Every day 120,000 articles gets edited on Wikipedia by its devoted users who spend an average of eight hours a week on creating new or edit existing material. To motivate users to contribute with content is becoming increasingly important. This requires an increased understanding of what motivates users to contribute.  In this paper we study the motivational factors that motivates users to contribute with UGC and if there is any correlation between these motivational factors. A literature review of previous research in the field of UGC is performed and results in 15 motivational factors categorized into four categories. These are presented in a matrix that structures the motivation factors in the different categories. The matrix of the 15 motivational factors are the theoretical foundation for a quantitative survey designed to see to what extent users are motivated by different motivational factors for the creation of UGC. Through the survey we establish an understanding to what extent different motivational factors motivate the participiants of the study to create UGC. The results from the survey are then used to study the relationships between motivational factors. This leads to a correlation table that presents all the significant relationships between factors and a motivation matrix that can serve as a basis for understanding and discuss the motivators for the UGC and its categorizations. Our results may help developers to support multiple motivational factors in services based on UGC. The motivation matrix and the results presented may also be the basis for future research.

Women increasingly 'make the leap' into 'traditionally male' entrepreneurial ventures. This dissertation reviews relevant literature on what, how many, why and where women entrepreneurs in construction found their niche markets, which aspects make women unique, how poverty and unemployment hurt women and what entrepreneurial barriers women experience, comparing a developed (USA) and developing country (SA). A survey instrument was developed to test the constructs empirically and case studies illustrate the models of success. Given the excellent results of the Cronbach Alpha and Factor Analysis, the instrument developed proved to be reliable and valid and could be used for similar studies. The case- and empirical studies analyse women ownership attitudes and push and pull factors to determine why women became entrepreneurs in construction. The main findings are: 1. Women took up their rightful place as construction entrepreneurs. It is a myth that they are only labourers. 2. Differences and similarities; SA-USA: In the USA women are mostly ‘Corporate Entrepreneurs’ and in SA they are mainly ‘Entrepreneurs’. They agree that their associations are successful in promoting women in construction. 3. Positive pull factors are the main reason why women are in construction as they demonstrate entrepreneurial behaviour and characteristics. 4. Negative push factors, e.g. “need to make a living” are a lesser reason. 5. Gender discrimination can become fatal barriers for successful women entrepreneurs. 6. The majority of respondents see themselves as successful and intent on developing key aspects of their businesses to expand their competitive edge. 7. SAWiC played a pioneering role in developing a database to prevent clients from justifying their non-compliance of the law in terms of non-availability of women entrepreneurs in construction. / Thesis (PhD (Entrepreneurship))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Business Management / unrestricted

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the motivational factors for participation in collaborative consumption across industries and if specific factors attracts funding. This will be done as an attempt to extend current research within sharing economy regarding what factors to consider when attracting funding. Method and Methodology - Utilizing a deductive approach, the research questions connect motivational factors for participation with funding of industries within the sharing economy. Secondary data containing 776 funding rounds were analysed through univariate and bivariate analyses and linked to 40 935 observations of motivational factors for participation. Findings - The findings entail how some motivational factors for participation in the sharing economy can be applicable to all investigated industries, while others are industry specific. The study thus suggest that the sharing economy cannot be viewed as one coherent industry and motivational factors should not be cross-sector generalized. Contribution - The study contributes with a theoretical implication in the way it bridges the existing gap by dividing the sharing economy into different industries and connect the specific motivational factors underlying the possibility to attract funding. Furthermore, a practical implication suggests that companies can use these findings as a guideline to attract consumers and ultimately funding.

Föreliggande studie syftade till att undersöka om det fanns något samband mellan respondenternas upplevda tillfredsställelse gällande motivationsfaktorer och deras upplevda tillfredsställelse gällande hygienfaktorer på arbetet. Vidare syftade studien till att se om personlighetsdraget extraversion predicerar respondenternas upplevda tillfredsställelse av hygien- och motivationsfaktorer på arbetet. 61 respondenter från två olika organisationer fick svara på en enkät med personlighetsfrågor som konstruerades med hjälp av mätverktyget “Ten item personality inventory”. Vidare fick respondenterna svara på frågor angående deras upplevda tillfredsställelse av hygien- och motivationsfaktorer på arbetet som konstruerades utifrån Herzbergs tvåfaktorsteori gällande arbetstillfredsställelse och arbetsmotivation. Resultatet som kunde utläsas av enkäten påvisade ett statistiskt signifikant samband mellan respondenternas upplevda tillfredsställelse av hygienfaktorer och deras upplevda tillfredsställelse av motivationsfaktorer på arbetet. Inget statistiskt signifikant samband kunde upptäckas i föreliggande studie mellan personlighetsdraget extraversion och respondenternas upplevda tillfredsställelse av hygien- och motivationsfaktorer på arbetet. / The present study aimed to investigate whether there is any connection between the respondents perceived satisfaction regarding motivational factors versus their perceived satisfaction regarding hygiene factors at work. Furthermore, the study aimed to see if the personality trait extraversion predicts the respondents perceived satisfaction with hygiene and motivational factors at work. 61 respondents from two different organizations were asked to answer a questionnaire with personality questions that were constructed using the measuring tool "Ten item personality inventory". Furthermore, the respondents had to answer questions regarding their perceived satisfaction of hygiene and motivational factors at work, which were constructed on the basis of Herzberg's two-factor theory regarding job satisfaction and work motivation. The results that could be deduced from the survey showed a statistical significant relationship between the respondents perceived satisfaction of hygiene factors and their perceived satisfactions of motivational factors at work. No statistical significant relationship were found in the present study between the personality trait extraversion and the respondents perceived satisfaction with hygiene and motivational factors at work.