The primary goal of the current study is to develop a more advanced model of information-seeking behaviors. For achieving this goal, it paid attention to two social phenomena characterizing contemporary society: informationalization and globalization. First, focusing on these two influential phenomena, this study investigated how individual-level factors—information overload, information ambiguity, and goal orientations—affected information-seeking behaviors among employees in a multinational corporation. Next, in addition to these individual predictors of information-seeking behaviors, this study explored the effects of two team-level factors—team task interdependence and team tenure—on the relationships between the main predictors and information-seeking behaviors. Last, paying more attention to the multicultural context, this study investigated how these employees in a multinational corporation seek task and feedback information from two culturally different sources: American direct advisors and Korean expatriates. In order to more thoroughly investigate the roles of the cultural backgrounds of information sources, this study explored how American employees perceived the cultural backgrounds of the two culturally different sources and how such perceptions influenced those employees’ information-seeking behaviors. / text

Ο σκοπός του Αριστοτέλη είναι να ορίσει έναν τρόπο ζωής μέσα μέσα από τον οποίο πρέπει να μάθει κανείς πώς να ζεί με ικανοποιητικό τρόπο καθώς και πώς να ρυθμίζει την συμπεριφορά του σύμφωνα με τους κανόνες της αρετής έτσι ώστε να οδηγηθεί στην κατάκτηση του ύψιστου αγαθού, το οποίο είναι η ευδαιμονία. Ο στόχος ο δικός μας είναι είναι διττός¨1) Να διακρίνουμε την έννοια του τέλους και να την διαφοροποιήσουμε από αυτήν των επιμέρους τελών και 2) να κατανοήσουμε και να ερμηνεύσουμε τον λόγο για τον οποίο ο Αριστοτέλης ορίζει την ευδαιμονία ως το ύψιστο αγαθό στην περιοχή του ανθρωπίνου βίου. / The aim of Aristotle is to define a lifestyle media through which one must learn how to live a satisfactory manner and how to regulate their behavior in accordance with the rules of virtue so as to drive to conquer the highest good , the which is bliss . The Our ​​objective is twofold ¨ 1) To discern the meaning of the fee and to differentiate it from individual charges and 2 ) to understand and interpret the reason why Aristotle defines happiness as the highest good in human

Στην παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζονται εφαρμογές των στοχαστικών διαδικασιών στα λεγόμενα κοινωνικά συστήματα από τη σκοπιά του προγραμματισμού ανθρώπινου δυναμικού (manpower planning). O προγραμματισμός του ανθρώπινου δυναμικού έχει να κάνει με την κατάλληλη τοποθέτηση των μελών του συστήματος στις σωστές θέσεις, σε αριθμούς οι οποίοι εγγυώνται την ομαλή λειτουργία. Αρχικά αναπτύσσουμε το μη ομογενές Μαρκοβιανό σύστημα (ΜΟΜΣ), το οποίο έχει ως βάση του τις Μαρκοβιανές αλυσίδες: η συμπεριφορά του καθορίζεται από την οριακή ή σε πεπερασμένο χρόνο συμπεριφορά μιας μη ομογενούς Μαρκοβιανής αλυσίδας. Το ΜΟΜΣ, είναι ένα μαθηματικό μοντέλο, το οποίο αποτέλεσε μια θεωρία ενοποίησης μέσα σε ένα κοινό πλαίσιο, πολλών γνωστών στοχαστικών μοντέλων προγραμματισμού ανθρώπινου δυναμικού. Στη συνέχεια επικεντρωνόμαστε στον έλεγχο της συμπεριφοράς του μοντέλου. Για το σκοπό αυτό, ορίζουμε μια σχέση για το αναμενόμενο κόστος λειτουργίας και αμοιβών του ΜΟΜΣ. Στη σχέση αυτή δίνουμε τη γενικότερη δυνατή μορφή, έτσι ώστε να περιλαμβάνει ως ειδικές περιπτώσεις αρκετές από τις παραλλαγές των συναρτήσεων κόστους-αμοιβών που υπάρχουν. Τέλος, με τη βοήθεια του προγραμματισμού στόχων (Goal Programming), ελέγχουμε τις ροές του ΜΟΜΣ προκειμένου να επιτευχθεί μια ικανοποιητική συμπεριφορά σύμφωνα με κάποιους στόχους, καθώς το σύστημα περνάει τις τρεις φάσεις λειτουργίας του, δηλ. την παροδική, την ημι-παροδική και τη φάση στατιστικής ισορροπίας. / Manpower planning deals with aspects of human resources management and has been given considerable attention in the last decades. In the attempt to simulate the evolution of a manpower system and predict its future properties, mathematical models were proved to be extremely helpful both for descriptive and optimization purposes. Manpower systems have been modeled in several ways, deterministic or stochastic. The attempt of determine and regulate future structures in a manpower planning system is based mainly on the selection of appropriate recruitment distribution vectors. This effort gives rise to the control problem in mathematical manpower planning. The control of manpower systems has been of considerable concern in recent times. In a series of articles and books beginning back in the early 70's, the problem of finding appropriate recruitment policies was considered, and various mathematical models were developed according to several criteria and practical considerations. In the present work aspiration levels and priorities using goal programming are employed in a NHMS which evolves in three phases, the transient, the semi-transient and the equilibrium phase. The general goal programming framework is used in several variations which depend on the phase, in order to detect appropriate input policies that can achieve a satisfactory trade off between operational cost and target attainability.

Syftet med studien var att få fördjupad kunskap om sambandet mellan olika ledarskapsstilar och kommunikation. Syftet var dessutom att få fördjupad kunskap om sambandet mellan ledarnas kommunikation och medarbetarnas arbetstillfredsställelse. 114 deltagare besvarade ett frågeformulär innehållande 51 påståenden om ledarskap, kommunikation och arbetstillfredsställelse. Resultatet visade att samtliga ledarskapsstilar som undersöktes hade ett positivt samband med både kommunikation och medarbetarnas arbetstillfredsställelse. Path-goal ledarskapet och det relationsorienterade ledarskapet hade ett starkare samband med både kommunikation och medarbetarnas arbetstillfredsställelse än det resultatorienterade ledarskapet. Resultatet visade dessutom att samtliga undersökta typer av kommunikation hade samband med medarbetarnas arbetstillfredsställelse. Slutsatsen av den här studien är att det finns ett samband mellan ledarskap, kommunikationen och arbetstillfredsställelse. Resultatet stämmer väl överens med aktuell forskning.

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Bakgrund: I Sverige är landstinget enligt hälso- och sjukvårdslagen skyldig att upprätta habiliteringsplaner över beslutade insatser för personer med funktionshinder. Planen är ett viktigt instrument inom habiliteringen för att möjliggöra en jämlik delaktig vård samt inflytande i behandling för personer med funktionshinder. Syftet och målen med insatserna ska framgå av planen, som tas fram i samverkan med personen med funktionshinder. Syfte: Syftet med undersökningen var att beskriva personalens uppfattningar och erfarenheter av arbetet med att upprätta och följa upp habiliteringsplaner samt hur habiliteringsplaner används i det dagliga arbetet med personer med funktionshinder. Metod: Designen är en beskrivande studie med en kvalitativ ansats. Totalt analyserades 16 intervjuer med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Analysen utmynnade i fyra kategorier och 14 subkategorier. Informanterna beskrev att det upplevdes som svårt att formulera mål och utvärderingsbara mål som var meningsfulla över tid. Det saknades kunskap om hur en aktuella habiliteringsplanen uppdaterades därför var många av de insatser som gjordes inom habiliteringen inte kopplad till befintlig habiliteringsplan. Formulär och mallar som var tillgängliga inom verksamheten var inte kliniskt praktiskt förankrade, vilket innebar att olika tillvägagångsätt tillämpades. Det saknades tydliga riktlinjer och rutiner för hur en upprättad habiliteringsplan skulle rapporteras till kollegor. Vid upprättande av habiliteringsplan behövde personalen tydliggöra arbetssättet med habiliteringsplaner för personen med funktionshinder och deras anhöriga. Delaktighet hos personen med funktionshinder beskrevs vara beroende av personens kognitiva förmåga, samt höra samman med om anhöriga förde talan för personen med funktionshinder. För att skapa förutsättningar för delaktighet använde personalen visuellt bildstöd vid behov. Att arbeta utifrån habiliteringsplaner gav struktur och tydlighet men var också en administrativ börda eftersom syftet med planen var oklart. Slutsats: Denna studie visade att det fanns flera svårigheter förknippade med att upprätta habiliteringsplaner. Det fanns identifierade behov av utveckling: tydliga riktlinjer för hur habiliteringsplaner ska uppdateras, att mallar och formulär blir kompatibla med varandra samt tydliga riktlinjer för överrapportering. Enligt intervjumaterialet upplevde informanterna att habiliteringsplan var grundförutsättning för att personalen skulle kunna utföra sitt arbete. Att få habiliteringsplaner fullt verksamma i det dagliga arbetet på habiliteringen är en utmaning som kvarstår. / Background: The Swedish County Council is under the Health Care Act required to establish habilitation plans regarding decided interventions for people with disabilities. This plan is an important implement in habilitation services in order to ensure equitable care, participation and influence in the treatment of people with disabilities.  The purpose and goals of the intervention are documented in the plan, which is created together with the person with a disability. Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe the professional’s perceptions and experiences of working with, establishing and evaluating habilitation plans. In short, the purpose was to study how habilitation plans are used in the daily work with people with disabilities. Method: This is a descriptive qualitative interview study where a total of 16 interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. Results: The analysis yielded four categories containing a total of 14 subcategories: the informants experiences difficulties in goal setting, setting goals that could be evaluated and meaningful during time. The study shows that due to lack of knowledge about how a habilitation plan could be updated, many of the efforts were not connected to the existing habilitation plan. Forms and templates that were available were not clinically anchored, meaning that different approaches were applied. The results also show a lack of clear guidelines and procedures about how a habilitation plan should be reported to colleagues. In the habilitation process the professional needed to clarify the working process with the habilitation plans for the person with disabilities and their relatives.  The participation for the person with disabilities was described to confound with the person cognitive ability and relatives impact. To create conditions for participation, the professional used image support when needed. The work from the habilitation plan gave structure and clarity but was also an administrative burden because the purpose of the plan was unclear. Conclusion: This study shows that there are difficulties in the process of developing habilitation plans and difficulties in making the habilitation plan an effective instrument in the daily work. Several areas in need of development were identified: clear guidelines on how to update habilitation plans, templates and forms should be compatible with each other and clear guidelines for reporting the plan to colleagues. Also, involving habilitation plans in the daily work is a challenge that remains to be met.

<p>An abstract of a dissertation that examines the motivational foundations of social networks. Five studies using diverse methods examine goal pursuit as an antecedent to social network structure, finding that self-oriented and affiliation-oriented goal pursuit evoke unique patterns of interpersonal perception and motivation which lead to the development of sparser and denser social networks, respectively. Study 1 serves as an empirical summary of our theorizing: individuals primed with dense networks feel more efficacious pursuing affiliation-oriented goals versus self-oriented goals, and individuals primed with sparse networks feel more efficacious pursuing self-oriented goals than individuals primed with dense networks. Study 2finds a correlation between personal goals and network structure. Studies 3 and 4 experimentally demonstrate that reminders of self versus affiliation-oriented goals lead to different cognitively-activated network structures. Study 5 finds that individuals entering a new social network with strong career goals (self-oriented goals) develop significantly sparser local networks and attain more central network positions; the opposite pattern emerges for individuals pursuing strong social goals (affiliation-oriented goals). Individuals strongly motivated to pursue both goals lose the network structure benefits of having a strong career goal. Findings support the hypothesis linking personal goal pursuit to network structure, a novel approach to integrating psychology and networks research.</p> / Dissertation

Motivation is a universal psychological phenomenon that determines all that we do. Self- determination Theory (SDT) and Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) each explain the academic motivation of university students and its relation to important academic outcomes (achievement, dedication, and well-being). Recently, an integration of these theories has been proposed (Drylund, 2009) which theorizes that achievement goals affect academic outcomes through their relationship with SDT constructs. The current study uses this integrative theory as a starting point but applies the critical realist perspective which posits that all empirical behaviours are produced by real generative mechanisms (Bhaskar, 1978). Although critical realism is considered vital to the advancement of psychology, its methodology and actual application has yet to be elaborated. Thus, the goals of the current study are: 1. to increase the current understanding of academic motivation; and, 2. to provide a method capable of facilitating research conducted from the critical realist perspective. Study 1 uses a variable-based approach and statistical analysis of questionnaire data from 385 undergraduate students; Study 2 uses a case-based approach through causal mapping of interview data from a purposeful sample of 12 Study 1 participants. Results support an academic motivational mechanism primarily influenced by autonomy satisfaction and controlling motivation that functions through the complex reciprocal relationships between achievement goals, competence satisfaction, and autonomous motivation. Comparison of Study 1 and 2 results supports the argument for case-based research from a critical realist perspective to aid in the further advancement of psychology.

The construction industry has had difficulty adopting project management software effectively and in a widespread manner. This thesis seeks to uncover common problems preventing the adoption of new software for construction project management, and to find a method to design more successful software. Construction project managers working at universities in the state of Georgia were selected as the specific group to study. To better define the functions of project management software, as well as uncover benefits both realized and anticipated, research was conducted. A Situation Awareness based approach was selected to result in proposing a prototype application that would specifically match the mental model of the study group. To define the mental model, a Goal Directed Task Analysis method was used by way of an online survey and in-person verification. In order to collect the survey data, a web based Goal Directed Task Analysis application was created and tested as a part of this thesis. Using the survey data, a proposed design for a prototype application was proposed. The application design was specifically made to fulfill the needs of project managers like those in the study group. The GDTA method proved effective in producing a software design. Recommendations to create and test the proposed prototype application are provided as a next step.

Abstract: Large amounts of research have been performed regarding goal-setting and leadership and its effect on organizational performance. However, in school settings, the amount of performed research about leadership performance in relation to goal-setting is limited. The aim of the study was, therefore, to analyze specificity of locally-created goals and the principal’s performance-affecting behaviors during meetings, especially in relation to set goals. Based on Komaki’s research on managerial behavior structured observation was used to analyze the principal’s actions while leading meetings. Adding to the observations Locke &amp; Latham’s Goal-Setting Theory was used to perform a content analysis investigating the specificity of written goals. In total, 56 goals from seven schools in a large county/municipality in Sweden were analyzed. In total, 1,235 minutes of a principal leading their staff during meetings were recorded and analyzed. A majority of the goals written in the schools’ work-plans lacked specificity. This study found that principals talked about their goals while leading their staff at meetings, and they changed their behavior towards a more performance-affecting management style while doing so.