Knowledge is increasingly seen as the organization’s most important asset. The knowledge-based view dictates that by understanding the importance of knowledge as a competitive advantage, and leveraging it, organizations can compete in a differentiated and sustainably advantageous way. In project-based organizations where individuals with different specialized knowledge meet and create new knowledge together, this might be seen as especially valuable. Despite having a big impact on both the academic and managerial world, organizations seem struggle when actually faced with the practical implications of integrating knowledge in the firms.This problem has been highlighted both in research, as well as in an empirical pre-study. Understanding where this problem stems from is an important step in finding a way to solve it. Following the idea that the use of incentive systems has long been an effective way of steering behavior in organizational members, we wonder what the role of incentive systems is in the context of knowledge integration in project-based organizations.   Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate and analyze if missing or deficient incentive systems is the reason why project-based organizations struggle with knowledge integration.

The Web 2.0 concept brought up the trends of growing rapidly interactive websites which were based on the internet characteristics such as upload creations, member votes, and even the the exchange of the gifts. In a brief summery, all the incredible activities are growing mainly under the encouragement of the diversity and accumulation of the users¡¦ engagements. This study is based on the reference to the user experience and interface activities of kinds of popular Web2.0 websites. Also, through the 480 questionnaires samples and researches, this study tried to find the possible motivative activities and knowledge sharing models according to the users¡¦ motives, behaviors and self-gratification. Furthermore, this study also focused on the evaluation to the users¡¦ self-gratification after the extrinsic motivate rewards which were published to the general users. The study results appeared that when the virtual community platforms adopt different kinds of motivate rewards; the positive influence is always existed between the user motive and the outside motivation rewards. To particularly point out, the extrinsic rewards of praising in public and community usefulness has the highest correlation through the Pearson correlation analysis. Also, the outside motivate activities will affect the interactive behaviors between the users accordingly. On the personal characteristics observation, the ages and educations have significant differences to the users¡¦ motive. And the user experience of virtual community websites such as the quantities of accounts, frequency to visit the websites, and the average time of staying on the website have significant differences to user motives. And on the perspective of motivation and user behaviors, the results basically are similar with the theory of uses and gratification. There is above 50% samples pointed out that trust and identification are the important key factors on all the websites activities between users. Especially the human-human interaction is the most popular one during the research. To conclude all the research efforts, this study made a prior research on the new internet activities and provided some ideas on the correlations of the motive, behaviors and gratification on users¡¦ side. Through the concrete results hope may have the study bases for further market researches or much practical reference to the website business management.

<p> </p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to understand the opinions and potential effects of objective and subjective assessments of performance as a basis for performance pay for blue-collar workers.</p><p>The study takes a qualitative approach to find out how and why four companies - Trelleborg Forsheda, Finnveden Powertrain, Isaberg Rapid and Parker Hannifin- work with salaries, incentive system and performance assessment the way they do.</p><p>The concept of individual salary is central in this thesis, and individual salary is based on four criteria; capabilities, performance, work demand and formal competence. These can be divided in subjective or objective criteria. Individual salaries also contribute to salary divergence, which in many studies have indicated higher performance. Important to remember is that it has to exist a purpose to salary divergence and how salary is diverged in the company is related to the goals and strategy of the company. If the company chooses to have performance based salaries- which is salary divergence- another question arise; what is good performance?</p><p>In organizations that have performance salaries, a group or an individual (often the middle manager) have to decide if a certain group of personnel performs good or bad. This can mainly be done in two different ways; objective performance assessment or subjective performance assessment. Objective performance assessment is based on numerical calculation of measures, which will form the basis for rewarding employees using a salary system that reward performance. Subjective performance measurements are based on judgment. Instead of relying on numerical calculations, one evaluates if the results reflect good or bad performance.</p><p>For both methods it is essential that the personnel feels that the salaries are fair, and that the salary system is clear and easy to understand. Something else that is important to understand is that employer and employee have different views in what is a fair salary.</p><p>Objective assessments are based on numerical calculations of measures, and one important property such measures have is that they don’t leave any room for excuses. Research indicate that performance pay has important motivation enhancing effects, but the profitability doesn’t always benefit from it. When monitoring costs are high, or product quality or long term thinking is required, hourly wages may be preferable. Tasks which are measured, will naturally be prioritized by the organization. This means that the choice of measures is very important. The amount of measures mustn’t be too high, and they have to be carefully considered. Subjective assessments are the opposite to objective ones. The advantages with subjective performance assessments are, among other things, that additional information which have surfaced during the period of measurements can be taken into consideration, errors in the measurement process can be corrected and unlucky circumstances can be dealt with. However, problems exist in unfair assessments, which are based on prejudice.</p><p>Findings in this report shows that profitable companies have large differences in their salary systems. This is also supported by other research. The company Isaberg Rapid AB only uses objective criteria, focused on simplicity and group rewards. Finnveden Powertrain on the other hand, has a system focused on individuals and subjective assessments. Some conclusions could be drawn; one of the most important being that connections between the type of activities and the salary system is positive, and that salary systems have to be updated and revised continuously.</p><p> </p>

Belöningar till ledningen är det som ofta debatteras i media, samtidigt anses personalen vara företagets viktigaste resurs. Detta examensarbete avser att undersöka vilka belöningar ”vanliga” anställda får ta del av. En fallstudie på OKQ8 har genomförts för att åskådliggöra avsikterna, uppbyggnaden, förhoppningarna, resultatet och framtiden för ett antal belöningssystem som tillämpas i praktiken. Datainsamling har skett genom personliga intervjuer samt observationer. Författarens viktigaste slutsatser är att rättviseaspekten har stor betydelse samtidigt som det är av yttersta vikt att ett belöningssystem kommuniceras, framförallt vid implementeringen. Det är betydelsefullt att belysa dessa faktorer och inför framtiden ta hänsyn till dem för att på så vis kunna utforma bättre belöningssystem. / Rewards to the people in the management are often debated in media, at the same time the personnel is considered to be the company’s most important asset. This paper intends to examine which rewards “ordinary” staff members have a share in. A case study at the company OKQ8 has been undertaken to illustrate the intentions, design, expectations, results and the future for a number of incentive systems applied practically. Data have been collected through personal interviews and observations. The author’s most important conclusions are that communication and justice play a crucial role when an incentive system is implemented. It is crucial to illuminate these factors and take it into consideration for better designed incentive systems in the future.

The purpose of this thesis is to understand the opinions and potential effects of objective and subjective assessments of performance as a basis for performance pay for blue-collar workers. The study takes a qualitative approach to find out how and why four companies - Trelleborg Forsheda, Finnveden Powertrain, Isaberg Rapid and Parker Hannifin- work with salaries, incentive system and performance assessment the way they do. The concept of individual salary is central in this thesis, and individual salary is based on four criteria; capabilities, performance, work demand and formal competence. These can be divided in subjective or objective criteria. Individual salaries also contribute to salary divergence, which in many studies have indicated higher performance. Important to remember is that it has to exist a purpose to salary divergence and how salary is diverged in the company is related to the goals and strategy of the company. If the company chooses to have performance based salaries- which is salary divergence- another question arise; what is good performance? In organizations that have performance salaries, a group or an individual (often the middle manager) have to decide if a certain group of personnel performs good or bad. This can mainly be done in two different ways; objective performance assessment or subjective performance assessment. Objective performance assessment is based on numerical calculation of measures, which will form the basis for rewarding employees using a salary system that reward performance. Subjective performance measurements are based on judgment. Instead of relying on numerical calculations, one evaluates if the results reflect good or bad performance. For both methods it is essential that the personnel feels that the salaries are fair, and that the salary system is clear and easy to understand. Something else that is important to understand is that employer and employee have different views in what is a fair salary. Objective assessments are based on numerical calculations of measures, and one important property such measures have is that they don’t leave any room for excuses. Research indicate that performance pay has important motivation enhancing effects, but the profitability doesn’t always benefit from it. When monitoring costs are high, or product quality or long term thinking is required, hourly wages may be preferable. Tasks which are measured, will naturally be prioritized by the organization. This means that the choice of measures is very important. The amount of measures mustn’t be too high, and they have to be carefully considered. Subjective assessments are the opposite to objective ones. The advantages with subjective performance assessments are, among other things, that additional information which have surfaced during the period of measurements can be taken into consideration, errors in the measurement process can be corrected and unlucky circumstances can be dealt with. However, problems exist in unfair assessments, which are based on prejudice. Findings in this report shows that profitable companies have large differences in their salary systems. This is also supported by other research. The company Isaberg Rapid AB only uses objective criteria, focused on simplicity and group rewards. Finnveden Powertrain on the other hand, has a system focused on individuals and subjective assessments. Some conclusions could be drawn; one of the most important being that connections between the type of activities and the salary system is positive, and that salary systems have to be updated and revised continuously.

Many organizations use global incentive systems without recognizing the suitability to foreign subsidiaries' local cultures. Applying incentives to employees in foreign subsidiaries without considering culture's impact on incentive system effectiveness may dilute the incentives' effectiveness. The majority of the incentive system literature is based on Anglo-Saxon notions of incentive system effectiveness and employee motivation. And assuming that culture impacts incentive system effectiveness, the Anglo-Saxon notions may be inapplicable in a non-Anglo-Saxon context. This study uses a sequential exploratory mixed method to explore culture's impact on incentive systems, and to analyze the applicability of Anglo-Saxon incentive system literature to non-Anglo-Saxon cultures. The study develops a five-dimensional incentive system framework that, together with a literature review of Swedish, Japanese, and South Korean culture, interprets empirical findings. Empirical findings from Swedish organizations operating in Japan and South Korea are used to form hypotheses and a basis for qualitative interviews with representatives from the Japanese and South Korean subsidiaries. Sweden, Japan, and South Korea are strongly represented on the global market with multinational organizations covering a wide range of industries. Together they constitute a large portion of global business, and are good representatives for business in Europe and Asia. The study's results establish that culture should be considered an important determinant of incentive system effectiveness, and that the Anglo-Saxon literature may be too insular to be applied outside Anglo-Saxon countries.

<p>Belöningar till ledningen är det som ofta debatteras i media, samtidigt anses personalen vara företagets viktigaste resurs. Detta examensarbete avser att undersöka vilka belöningar ”vanliga” anställda får ta del av. En fallstudie på OKQ8 har genomförts för att åskådliggöra avsikterna, uppbyggnaden, förhoppningarna, resultatet och framtiden för ett antal belöningssystem som tillämpas i praktiken. Datainsamling har skett genom personliga intervjuer samt observationer. Författarens viktigaste slutsatser är att rättviseaspekten har stor betydelse samtidigt som det är av yttersta vikt att ett belöningssystem kommuniceras, framförallt vid implementeringen. Det är betydelsefullt att belysa dessa faktorer och inför framtiden ta hänsyn till dem för att på så vis kunna utforma bättre belöningssystem.</p> / <p>Rewards to the people in the management are often debated in media, at the same time the personnel is considered to be the company’s most important asset. This paper intends to examine which rewards “ordinary” staff members have a share in. A case study at the company OKQ8 has been undertaken to illustrate the intentions, design, expectations, results and the future for a number of incentive systems applied practically. Data have been collected through personal interviews and observations. The author’s most important conclusions are that communication and justice play a crucial role when an incentive system is implemented. It is crucial to illuminate these factors and take it into consideration for better designed incentive systems in the future.</p>

Bakgrund: Kunskapsintensiva organisationer upplever svårigheter när det kommer till att behålla medarbetare och de tvingas således arbeta för att hantera den frivilliga personalomsättningen. Den svenska advokatbranschen genomgår förändring och medarbetare byter arbetsgivare i allt större utsträckning. Samtidigt pågår diskussioner kring huruvida monetära- och icke-monetära incitamentssystem påverkar medarbetarnas motivation, arbetstillfredsställelse och engagemang. Därav har intresset väckts för att studera huruvida incitamentssystem påverkar den frivilliga personalomsättningen inom advokatbyråer verksamma i Sverige. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att skapa en ökad förståelse för hur incitamentssystem påverkar den frivilliga personalomsättningen inom advokatbyråer verksamma i Sverige. Metod: Studien innehar en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi och ett konstruktionistisktperspektiv. Arbetet följer en abduktiv ansats och en tematisk analys används viddata analysen. Syftet och forskningsfrågorna besvaras genom att utnyttja en flerfallsstudie på två olika advokatbyråer verksamma i Sverige, där 14 semi-strukturerade intervjuundersökningar ligger till grund för inhämtandet av det empiriska materialet. Slutsats: Studien påvisar att kunskapsintensiva organisationer bör utforma incitamentssystem med både monetära och icke-monetära incitament där en förståelse för att incitamentssystem kan påverka andra medarbetare än vad som var avsett är viktig. Monetära incitament tycks påverka arbetstillfredsställelsen men har begränsad effekt på medarbetarnas motivation och engagemang. De icke-monetära incitamenten tenderar att påverka den frivilliga personalomsättningen i större utsträckning / Background: Knowledge-intensive organizations experience difficulties when it comes to retaining employees and they are obliged to handle the voluntary turnover. The Swedish law branch of industry experiences a period of change where employees change employers to a greater extent. At the same time, there are ongoing discussions about how monetary- and non-monetary incentives affect employee motivation, job satisfaction and commitment. Therefore, it is interesting to study how incentive systems affect voluntary turnover in Swedish law firms. Purpose: The study aims to increase the understanding of how incentive systems affect the voluntary turnover in Swedish law firms. Methodology: The study is designed according to a qualitative research strategy and has a constructionist perspective. The work follows an abductive approach, and a thematic analysis is used when analyzing the data. The purpose and research questions are answered by utilizing a multiple-case study of two Swedish law firms, where 14 semistructured interviews generate the empirical material. Conclusion: The study shows that knowledge-intensive organizations should design incentive systems with both monetary and non-monetary incentives where an understanding that incentive systems can affect other employees than what was intended is important. Monetary incentives seem to affect job satisfaction but have a limited effect on employee motivation and commitment. The non-monetary incentives tend to affect voluntary employee turnover to a greater extent.

Förmågan att motivera medarbetare har alltid varit en viktig fråga i alla olika typer av företag. Ett verktyg som kan användas för att skapa motivation bland de anställda är incitamentssystem, både monetära samt icke-monetära. Det finns inget tydligt svar i tidigare forskning kring vad för typ av incitamentssystem som uppfattas som mest effektiva när det kommer till att motivera anställda. Exempelvis har en del studier visat att monetära incitament så som bonus har en positiv effekt på motivationen på kort sikt. Samtidigt visar andra studier att monetära incitament inte alls fungerar. Således är syftet med denna studie att beskriva och analysera hur medarbetare upplever incitamentssystem med avseende på motivation. För att uppnå detta syfte har vi genomfört en kvalitativ flerfallstudie i två olika företag där det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom intervjuer. Studiens frågeställning: Hur upplevs incitamentssystem hos medarbetare inom olika branscher med avseende på motivation? Studien har visat att icke-monetära incitament har en betydande effekt på medarbetarnas motivation i båda fallföretagen. Vidare visar resultatet att de monetära incitamenten också upplevdes som viktiga, men det empiriska materialet gällande de monetära incitamenten följde inte samma röda tråd som de icke-monetära: ett av företagen upplevde de monetära incitamenten mer viktiga med avseende på motivation än det andra företaget. / The ability to motivate employees has always been an important question in all kind of companies. One way the create motivation among the employees is to use incentive systems, both monetary and non-monetary. There are no clear answers in previous theories what kind of incentive system that perceives as the most effective in terms of motivated employees. For example, some research has shown that monetary incentives such as bonus is an effective way to motivate employees in the short term, while others disagree. Accordingly, the purpose of the study is to describe and analyze how employees perceive current incentive systems in terms of motivation. To fulfill this purpose, we have done a qualitative multiple case study in two specific companies. The empirical material has been collected by interviews. The research question in the thesis is as follows: How are incentive systems perceived by employees in different line of businesses in terms of motivation? The empirical results show that non-monetary incentives have a significant impact on employees' motivation in both case studies. Furthermore, the monetary incentives perceived important as well in both case studies, but the empirical result indicated that monetary incentives didn’t follow the same consistent thread as it did in the non-monetary incentives: one of the case study perceived the monetary incentives as more important in terms of motivation than the other.

<p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan lönsamhet och storlek på rörlig samt total VD-ersättning i de största svenska aktiebolagen. I uppsatsen diskuteras även funna samband samt bakomliggande teoretiska förklaringar till VD-ersättningens storlek. För att undersöka om VD-ersättning och företags lönsamhet korrelerar utförs kvantitativa undersökningar med hjälp av regressionsanalyser för respektive år mellan 2002 och 2007. Populationen som undersökningen baseras på är de företag som i september 2009 var registrerade på Stockholmsbörsens segment Large och Mid Cap.</p><p>Undersökningen resulterade i slutsatsen att inget samband mellan vare sig rörlig eller total VD-ersättning och lönsamhet kunde styrkas. Istället gavs indikationer om andra faktorer som påverkade VD-ersättningens storlek. Studien visade en tydlig koppling mellan företagsstorlek och VD-ersättning. Andra trender indikerade att det marknadsjämförande synsättet är det vanligaste vid fastställande av VD-ersättningsnivåer. Dessutom diskuterades andra faktorers inflytande på VD-ersättningars storlek utifrån tidigare forskning.</p> / <p>The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether a relationship between CEO compensation and organizational profitability exists in the largest Swedish companies. Both the total and the variable compensation schemes’ dependence on organizational compensation are analyzed. The objective is moreover to discuss the observed relationships in the study as well as the theoretical explanations to the level of the CEO compensation. In order to examine if CEO compensation correlates with organizational profitability quantitative research methods are applied via regression analyses for each separate year between 2002 and 2007. The population our research is based on is the companies quoted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in September 2009 within the segments Large and Mid Cap.</p><p>It was concluded that no relationship between neither variable nor total CEO compensation and organizational profitability existed. However, indications of other factors affecting the compensation were indicated. The regression confirmed a relationship between organizational size and CEO compensation. Other trends indicated that the market-based approach was the most common when determining CEO compensation levels. In addition we discussed how other previously proved relationships as well as further theoretical research related to our study.</p>