Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2000. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 36 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 25-29).

Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-79). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M.A.I.S.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-57). Also available on the World Wide Web.

<p>This research was initiated due to the novelty of the topic. Humor is a common phenomenon in the daily interaction of many people; however this study is particularly interested in humor as used by managers. As a preconception to the study it was assumed that appropriately used humor results in benefits for a leader, thus we wish to explore how managers in Swedish organizations reason about <em>if</em> and <em>how</em> humor can be used as a management tool. For this purpose we employed qualitative research with semi-structured interviewing method. The subjects for investigation reside in Umeå, northern Swedish town, and are leaders in 8 medium/big sized, private, service companies.</p><p>The findings of this research suggest that managers often do realize the benefits of using humor and even consider it as a management tool. Our findings furthermore illustrate that the utility of humor to achieve the desired organizational outcomes of reduced stress, group cohesiveness, improved communication, creativity and leadership effectiveness is in fact very situation dependent.  We could also see that our respondents tended to attribute the use of humor to their natural skills as they reason that they rarely use humor on purpose. Interestingly though, our findings showed both that managers were aware of the effects of humor and that they often utilized the benefits of humor. We therefore conclude that humor thus instead is consciously used as the managers often clearly are aware of the beneficial effects that humor brings. However, we do believe that it could be difficult to state to what extent one implements the benefits of humor in practice since humor is, as mentioned by the majority of our respondents, simply a part of their personality.</p><p>We think that one of the most important things that this study can contribute with would be to inform the reader that it is acceptable and OK to use humor also as a manager or a leader. People do not have to be less serious or effective because they have fun at work. On the contrary there are instead many benefits with humor that our research shows and if implemented, humor could contribute to make the workplace more pleasant.</p>

This research was initiated due to the novelty of the topic. Humor is a common phenomenon in the daily interaction of many people; however this study is particularly interested in humor as used by managers. As a preconception to the study it was assumed that appropriately used humor results in benefits for a leader, thus we wish to explore how managers in Swedish organizations reason about if and how humor can be used as a management tool. For this purpose we employed qualitative research with semi-structured interviewing method. The subjects for investigation reside in Umeå, northern Swedish town, and are leaders in 8 medium/big sized, private, service companies. The findings of this research suggest that managers often do realize the benefits of using humor and even consider it as a management tool. Our findings furthermore illustrate that the utility of humor to achieve the desired organizational outcomes of reduced stress, group cohesiveness, improved communication, creativity and leadership effectiveness is in fact very situation dependent.  We could also see that our respondents tended to attribute the use of humor to their natural skills as they reason that they rarely use humor on purpose. Interestingly though, our findings showed both that managers were aware of the effects of humor and that they often utilized the benefits of humor. We therefore conclude that humor thus instead is consciously used as the managers often clearly are aware of the beneficial effects that humor brings. However, we do believe that it could be difficult to state to what extent one implements the benefits of humor in practice since humor is, as mentioned by the majority of our respondents, simply a part of their personality. We think that one of the most important things that this study can contribute with would be to inform the reader that it is acceptable and OK to use humor also as a manager or a leader. People do not have to be less serious or effective because they have fun at work. On the contrary there are instead many benefits with humor that our research shows and if implemented, humor could contribute to make the workplace more pleasant.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-77).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 226-237).

No description available.

A boa produtividade laboral é uma importante condição para as empresas e entre as possíveis causas de variação dessa medida estão as condições psicofisiológicas, que podem alterar o comportamento dos trabalhadores e influenciar seu desempenho. O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar a influência das Condições Psicofisiológicas Individuais de Trabalhadores de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior na sua produtividade laboral. Para isso foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo, aprovada pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisas da UTFPR, com 50 trabalhadores de um Centro Universitário em Santa Catarina e que foram submetidos a 5 avaliações em um dia de trabalho, a cada duas horas, totalizando 250 momentos de avaliação. Foram coletados dados da dor, através da Escala Visual Analógica (EVA), dos Estados de Humor, através da Escala de Humor Brasileira (BRAMS), da Pressão Arterial, a partir de medição digital e da Variabilidade da Frequência Cardíaca (VFC), através de frequencímetro. Todas os dados desses desfechos foram associados aos valores de Produtividade que foi obtido através do Instrumento Rápido para Avaliação da Produtividade de Trabalhadores (IAPT), que foi desenvolvido, validado e teve sua consistência interna aferida, para atender aos objetivos da pesquisa. Os dados foram tratados a partir da estatística descritiva e inferencial onde para identificar a influência combinada das variáveis independentes sobre a produtividade foram utilizados métodos de regressão linear múltipla e regressão logística binária no software SPSSTM v. 23.0. Os níveis de significância para a pesquisa atenderam à p0,05. Os dados demonstraram uma produtividade abaixo do que é considerado o ideal pela literatura e que houve variação significativa da mesma entre os períodos do dia e entre os dias da semana. Os dados da regressão linear múltipla mostraram que houve influência das variáveis independentes nessa variação produtividade. Por técnica stepwise obteve-se um modelo de predição onde os estados de humor combinados (vigor, raiva, fadiga e tensão) geraram um índice preditivo de 65,2% (R2=0,652) sobre a produtividade obtida. Nenhuma outra variável aferida gerou influência significativa. Além disso, foi observada no modelo de Regressão Logística uma maior razão de probabilidade para que bons índices de produtividade estejam relacionados com sujeitos com bons níveis de Vigor, ausência de Dor e baixos índices de fadiga. Por fim, observou-se que as condições psicofisiológicas, mais particularmente dor e estados de humor, influenciam de forma decisiva na produtividade dos trabalhadores e que estas devem ser consideradas por gestores empresariais e pesquisadores interessados na área. / Work productivity is an important condition for companies and one of the possible causes of variation of this measure are in psychophysiological conditions, which can alter the behavior of workers and influence their performance. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of the Individual Psychophysiological Conditions of Workers of an University Center in their labor productivity. For this reason, this research was carried out, approved by UTFPR's Research Ethics Committee, with 50 workers from a University Center at Santa Catarina, Brazil, who were submitted to 5 evaluations in a working day, increasingly, totaling 250 moments of evaluation. Pain data were obtained through the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Mood States were carried out by the Brazilian Humor Scale (BRAMS), Blood Pressure from digital measurement and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) were obtained through of frequencimeter. All data were correlated to the Productivity components that were obtained through the Rapid Instrument for the Evaluation of Worker Productivity (IAPT), which was developed, validated and had its internal consistency ascertained, to meet the research objectives. The data are treated by descriptive and inferential statistics. To identify a combined influence of the independent variables on productivity, linear variable regression and binary logistic regression were carried out. SPSS software v. 23.0 was used for all analysis. The significance levels for the data respond to p0.05. The data showed a productivity below what is considered ideal for the literature and a variance of these index between the periods of the day and between the days of the week. The multiple linear regression data showed that there was influence of the independent variables in this productivity variation. By stepwise technique, a prediction model was obtained where the combined mood states (vigour, anger, fatigue and tension) generated a predictive index of 65.2% (R2 = 0.652) on a productivity obtained. No other measured variable generated significant influence. In addition, a greater probability ratio was observed without Logistic Regression model so that good productivity indices are related to subjects with good Vigour levels, absence of prices and low rates of fatigue. Finally, it was observed that psychophysiological conditions, more particularly, pain and mood states, have a decisive influence on worker productivity and must be considered by business managers and researchers interested in this subject.