Die steigende Konkurrenz um qualifizierte Mitarbeiter veranlasst Unternehmen die Mitarbeiterbindung zu forcieren, und durch Belohnung und Anerkennung Anreize zu schaffen, um die Fluktuation möglichst gering zu halten. Dieses Paper geht auf Reward and Recognition Systeme als eine mögliche Strategie der Mitarbeiterbindung ein und stellt Schlüsselfaktoren und Handlungsempfehlungen für eine Implementierung in virtuellen Teams dar. Dazu wurde ein Literature Review durchgeführt und die daraus resultierte Datenbasis einer qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse unterzogen. Dabei konnte festgestellt werden, dass virtuelle Teams besondere Herausforderungen wie fehlende räumliche Nähe und eingeschränkte Feedbackmöglichkeiten überwinden müssen, damit Belohnung und Anerkennung nicht auf der Strecke bleiben. Als zentrales Ergebnis der Untersuchung kann festgehalten werden, dass bei der Implementierung von Reward and Recognition Systeme die Individualität und Diversität der Mitarbeiter, der virtuellen Teams und der Organisation beachtet werden sollte.

Evaluating our environment by deciding what is beneficial or harmful, pleasant or punishing is a part of our daily lives. Seeking pleasure and avoiding pain is a common trait all mobile organisms exhibit and understanding how rewarding stimuli are represented in the brain remains a major goal of neuroscience. Studying reward learning in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster has enabled us to better understand the complex neural circuit mechanisms involved in reward processing in the brain. By conditioning flies with sugars of differing nutritional properties, we determined that flies trained with sweet but non-nutritive sugars formed robust short-term memory (STM), but not long-term memory (LTM). However, flies conditioned with a sweet and nutritious sugar or a sweet non-nutritious sugar supplemented with a tasteless nutritious compound, formed robust 24 hour LTM. These findings led us to propose a model of parallel reinforcement pathways for appetitive olfactory conditioning in the fly, in which both sweet taste and nutrient value contribute to appetitive long-term memory. We followed this line of research by examining the neural circuitry in the fly brain that represents these parallel reward pathways. We found that the biogenic amine octopamine (OA) only represents the reinforcing effects of sweet taste. Stimulation of OA neurons could replace sugar in olfactory conditioning to form appetitive STM. Surprisingly, implanting memory with OA was dependent on dopamine (DA) signaling, which although being long associated with reward in mammals, was previously linked with punishment in flies. We found that OA-reinforced memory functions through the α-adrenergic OAMB receptor in a novel subset of rewarding DA neurons that innervate the mushroom body (MB). The rewarding population of DA neurons is required for sweet and nutrient reinforced memory suggesting they may integrate both signals to drive appetitive LTM formation. In addition, OA implanted memory requires concurrent modulation of negatively reinforcing DA neurons through the β-adrenergic OCTβ2R receptor. These data provide a new layered reward model in Drosophila in which OA modulates distinct populations of both positive and negative coding DA neurons. Therefore, the reinforcement system in flies is more similar to that of mammals than previously thought.

Remote electrical tilt (RET) optimization involves maximizing the coverage and minimizing interference for antennas in a cellular network. A RET optimization problem typically has many of antennas, each of which has little data. Reinforcement learning (RL) agents have recently been deployed to solve RET optimization problems [1, 2]. These algorithms generally require large amounts of data, and therefore they are not applied for individual antennas but rather for groups of antennas. We show that this leads to degraded performance than agents personalized for individual antennas with extensive data. Furthermore, we design a reward shaping (RS) agent, which augments the reward signal to learn quicker than agents trained only on individual antennas while still retaining their performance. / Remote electrical tilt (RET) optimering innebär att försöka maximera täckningen och minimera störningar för antenner i ett mobilnät. Ett RET-optimeringsproblem har vanligtvis ett stort antal antenner, som var och en har lite data. Reinforcement learning (RL)-agenter har nyligen använts för att lösa RET-optimeringsproblem [1, 2]. Dessa algoritmer kräver i allmänhet stora mängder data och därför används de inte för enskilda antenner utan snarare för grupper av antenner. Vi visar att detta leder till försämrad prestanda jämfört med agenter anpassade för individuella antenner med stora datamängder. Dessutom designar vi en Reward shaping (RS)-agent, som förstärker belöningssignalen för att lära sig snabbare än agenter som bara tränas på individuella antenner samtidigt som deras behåller sin prestanda.

Algorithmically designed reward functions can influence groups of learning agents toward measurable desired sequential joint behaviours. Influencing learning agents toward desirable behaviours is non-trivial due to the difficulties of assigning credit for global success to the deserving agents and of inducing coordination. Quantifying joint behaviours lets us identify global success by ranking some behaviours as more desirable than others. We propose a real-valued metric for turn-taking, demonstrating how to measure one sequential joint behaviour. We describe how to identify the presence of turn-taking in simulation results and we calculate the quantity of turn-taking that could be observed between independent random agents. We demonstrate our turn-taking metric by reinterpreting previous work on turn-taking in emergent communication and by analysing a recorded human conversation. Given a metric, we can explore the space of reward functions and identify those reward functions that result in global success in groups of learning agents. We describe 'medium access games' as a model for human and machine communication and we present simulation results for an extensive range of reward functions for pairs of Q-learning agents. We use the Nash equilibria of medium access games to develop predictors for determining which reward functions result in turn-taking. Having demonstrated the predictive power of Nash equilibria for turn-taking in medium access games, we focus on synthesis of reward functions for stochastic games that result in arbitrary desirable Nash equilibria. Our method constructs a reward function such that a particular joint behaviour is the unique Nash equilibrium of a stochastic game, provided that such a reward function exists. This method builds on techniques for designing rewards for Markov decision processes and for normal form games. We explain our reward design methods in detail and formally prove that they are correct.

In the following study you will be presented with the research that has been done to investigate how monetary rewards affect motivation and performance. The point of the research was to understand how monetary rewards affected employees motivation and performance. We chose to reach out to four companies within four different industries which all either have or have had monetary reward systems with either bonuses or commissions. To gather all the empirical data needed we chose semistructured interviews with a total of nine respondents. Four of the respondents have or have had monetary rewards and the other five respondents have or have had positions where they are able to affect or have insight in how the reward system works. The purpose of choosing the respondents we did was to get a broader understanding for how the monetary rewards affect employees within different industries so that we could find general conclusions that can be used within other branches and companies. The result of the research shows that monetary rewards increase the level of motivation on employees, but that it does not necessarily mean that it will have a big effect on the performance. We found that monetary rewards does affect performance in the way that it makes the employees extensively will do their best at work, but that the employees still would reach their goals at work without any monetary rewards. We also researched whether group or individually based rewards were more desired and why. Our conclusion was that most people prefer a mix of the two, but that individually based rewards was more preferred than group based. / I följande studie kommer du som läsare att få ta del av den forskning som genomförts för att undersöka finansiella belöningars påverkan på motivation och prestation. Syftet med studien var att kunna förstå hur finansiella belöningar i form av bonus och provision påverkar medarbetare. Vi valde att vända oss till fyra företag inom fyra olika branscher som alla har eller tidigare haft finansiell belöning i form av bonus eller provision. För insamling av empirisk data genomfördes nio semistrukturerade intervjuer. Fyra av respondenterna omfattas eller har omfattats av finansiell belöning och fem av respondenterna besitter positioner som har eller har haft en påverkan och insyn i hur de finansiella belöningssystemen fungerar. Syftet med det breda urvalet av respondenter var att kunna få en bredare uppfattning om hur finansiella belöningar påverkar medarbetare inom olika branscher och genom det kunna dra mer generella slutsater som kan användas även inom andra branscher och företag. Resultatet av studien visar på att finansiella belöningar är motiverande för medarbetare, men att det nödvändigtvis inte behöver ha en större påverkan på prestationen. Vi fann att finansiella belöningar ökar prestationer i den bemärkelsen att medarbetaren blir mer mån om att prestera sitt allra yttersta, men att medarbetarna även utan finansiella belöningar skulle genomföra sitt arbete och för att nå de mål som finns uppsatta. Vi undersökte också om grupp- eller individbaserad belöning föredras och varför. Slutsatsen blev att de flesta föredrar en blandning av grupp- och individbaserad belöning, men att medarbetarna föredrar individbaserad belöning före gruppbaserad.

Monetära belöningssystem är vanligt förekommande inom organisationer och implementeras vanligtvis för att öka motivationen hos medarbetare för att kunna påverka deras prestation, dock kan det finnas andra effekter som det inte tas någon hänsyn till. Syftet med studien är att skapa kunskap och en djupare förståelse om effekter av monetära belöningssystem i arbetslivet och hur monetära belöningssystem påverkar prestationen. Den teoretiska referensramen komponerades av tidigare studier på monetära belöningssystem och olika motivationsteorier, såsom Maslows behovshierarki och Vrooms förväntansteori. För att samla in data har semistrukturerade intervjuer utförts med åtta informanter. Valet av informanter gjordes med vissa kriterier där kriterierna var att informanten skulle arbeta vid en arbetsplats där de hade ett monetärt belöningssystem som antingen baserades på individen eller gruppen prestation eller både individen och gruppen prestation. Studiens resultat visar att uppfattningen av det monetära belöningssystemet påverkas främst av hur trygg personen känner sig ekonomiskt. Det visar att det finns positiva effekter i form av ökad motivation, men att det även finns negativa effekter i form av minskad motivation i vissa fall. Studien visar även att det monetära belöningssystemet i vissa fall även kan bidra till stress, oro, rädsla för att misslyckas och försämrad kvalité i arbetsuppgifter som inte innefattas av det monetära belöningssystemet. I vissa fall visar resultatet även att samarbetet och kommunikationen blir lidande vid användning av ett belöningssystem som är baserat på individens prestation, medan i andra fall så påverkas inte samarbetet och kommunikationen av belöningssystemet som är baserat på individens prestation. Vi har kommit fram till att monetära belöningssystem har både positiva och negativa effekter och påverkar prestationen båda positivt och negativt och att det främst beror på hur ekonomiskt trygg personen känner sig. Organisationer behöver ta hänsyn till detta vid implementeringen av ett monetärt belöningssystem så att belöningssystemet kongruerar med organisationens intresse. / Monetary reward systems are common in organisations and are usually implemented to increase motivation amongst the employed. The goal is to have an impact on the performance, but there may be other effects that are not considered. The purpose of the study is to create knowledge and a deeper understanding of the effects of monetary reward systems in the working life and how monetary reward systems affect the performance. The theoretical frame of reference was composed of previous studies on monetary reward systems and various motivational theories, such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Vroom's expectancy theory. In order to collect data, semi-structured interviews have been conducted with eight informants. The selection was based on a few criteria where the criteria were that the informant would work at a workplace where they had a monetary reward system that either was based on the individual or group performances or both the individual and the group performances. The study's results show that the perception of the monetary reward system is affected primarily by how financially secure the person feels. It shows that there are positive effects like increased motivation, but that there are also negative effects in terms of reduced motivation in some cases. The study also shows that in some cases the monetary reward system also contributes to stress, concern, fear of failure and a deterioration in the quality of tasks that are not included in the monetary reward system. In some cases, the result also shows that the cooperation and communication suffer when using a reward system that targets the individual's performance, while in other cases the cooperation and communication of the reward system that is based on the individual's performance is not affected. We have concluded that monetary reward systems have both positive and negative effects and affect both performances positively and negatively and that it depends primarily on how financially secure the person feels. Organizations need to take this into account when implementing a monetary reward system, so that the reward system correspond with the organisation's interest

Reward-related learning occurs when previously neutral stimuli acquires an enhanced ability to elicit approach and other responses. Studies in the past have shown that dopamine receptor-mediated 3’,5’-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent intracellular signalling is important for reward-related learning. Until recently, cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) was the only known signalling molecule that was activated by cAMP. However, it has been discovered that another enzyme, exchange protein directly activated by cAMP (Epac), is also activated by cAMP. Thus, it is possible that cAMP mediates reward-related learning by an Epac-dependent signalling pathway. The present study used a conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm to investigate whether Epac is involved in the acquisition of reward-related learning. Bilateral injections of amphetamine (20 µg/0.5μl/side) into the nucleus accumbens (NAc) have been shown in previous studies to reliably produce a CPP. Thus, amphetamine (20 µg) and Sp-adenosine 3’,5’-cyclic monophosphorothioate triethylamanine (Sp-cAMPS) (0.1, 1.0, 10, 15, 20 µg), an agent that activates both PKA and Epac, or amphetamine (20 µg) and 8-(4-chlorophenylthio)-2’-O-methyladenosine-3’,5’-cyclic monophosphate (8-pCPT) (0.73, 1.27, 1.45, 2.89, 5.78, 11.56 µg), an agent that selectively activates Epac, were co-injected into NAc to determine their effects on the acquisition of CPP. Results showed that 8-pCPT (1.45 µg), but not lower or higher doses, inhibited CPP. Sp-cAMPS (0.1, 15, 20 µg) also inhibited CPP, replicating the results of previous studies. The results implicate Epac in the acquisition of reward-related learning. / Thesis (Master, Neuroscience Studies) -- Queen's University, 2008-04-25 13:29:37.857

獎勵系統是使用獎勵去激勵顧客購買或忠誠度行為的一種手法。隨著電子平台服務的演進，具動態與成本效益的電子獎勵機制已發展成增加重複拜訪率以及留住顧客的工具策略，例如:Facebook發行虛擬貨幣去提高使用者的平台參與度; Dropbox使用免費的儲存空間去吸引和保留新舊顧客; Myspace使用虛擬勳章去鼓勵使用者達成平台設定的參與目標等等。並且電子平台上的獎勵的形式可從實體的現金獎品到虛擬的勳章以滿足個人勝任感，有別於傳統獎勵方式，然而在電子平台不斷的創新下，目前仍少有研究針對電子獎勵進行探討。本研究提出電子獎勵分類法，並透過獎勵的動機形式與獎勵的互動程度為分析準則，針對1000網站排名進行內容分析，進而劃分出四種類型的電子獎勵機制: 物質、名聲、個人滿足和社交類型，後續並針對每一種類型的電子獎勵提出平台管理上的洞見。本研究期望能夠提供給後續研究電子獎勵者研究者的參考基礎和平台經營者實作電子獎勵的建議。 / A reward system is a diverse and popular program implemented by many firms in various circumstances to motivate customers’ behavior for frequent and loyal patronage. With the evolving diversity of electronic platforms (e-platforms), more dynamic, cost-effective, and interactive electronic rewards (e-rewards) have been developed as a tool or strategy to retain customers and encourage frequent visits to the platform. For instance, Facebook uses virtual currency to gain user participation. Dropbox uses bonus storage to increase membership and prolong service usage. Myspace uses virtual badges to encourage achievement of specific goals in order to encourage frequent visits. The rewards on e-platforms can range from real items such as cash and discounts, to virtual recognition that enhances self-esteem. These strategies differ from those used by enterprises dealing with face-to-face customers. As variant services on e-platforms have emerged, little research has been done to understand the novel concept and effects of reward systems on e-platforms. Therefore, we propose a taxonomy of e-rewards based on forms of motivation and degree of interactivity. Using content analysis, we examined the world’s 1,000 most accessed Web sites, then, we conducted expert interviews to classifying the 228 e-rewards approaches, discovered from content reviews, into four types of e-rewards: material, prestige, gratification, and affinity. Finally, we propose practical recommendations with insights on the implementation of each type of e-reward systems on e-platform services. We hope that the findings will provide a basis for further study on various impacts of reward systems, and provide a guide for managers in designing and implementing more effective reward systems on e-platforms.

Titel: Inre och yttre motivation – En studie om vilka faktorer som motiverar unga medarbetare mest i fyra detaljhandelsföretag Nivå: C- uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Joel Lawrence Tribble & Abdi Fatah Jimaale Handledare: Lars Ekstrand Datum: 2013 – Juni Syfte: Syftet med undersökningen är att, med hänsyn till incitamenten som tillämpas i detaljhandelsföretag, studera huruvida det är inre eller yttre motivationsfaktorer som har störst positiv påverkan på unga medarbetares motivation. Våra forskningsfrågor är: Är det inre eller yttre motivationsfaktorer som har störst positiv påverkan på unga medarbetares motivation? Vilka incitament tillämpar företag för att motivera sina medarbetare att utföra önskade prestationer? Metod: Vi har gjort fallstudier på fyra branschledande detaljhandelsföretag, där vi utförde fyra kvalitativa intervjuer med företagens respektive chefer. Vi delade även ut 60 enkäter till de valda företagens respondenter där vi riktade oss till unga medarbetare i åldrarna 15-30 år. Även sekundärdata som litteratur inom området och tidigare forskning har studerats. Informationen som genererats behandlades och analyserades vilket sedan ledde till vår slutsats. Resultat & Slutsats: Vi har kommit fram till att arbetstrygghet och goda arbetskamrater är de två mest motiverande faktorerna bland studiens unga medarbetare, och dessa är inre motivationsfaktorer. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Vilka skillnader av motivationspreferenser finns det mellan olika generationsgrupper? Vilket styrsystem motiverar medarbetare mest? Utformar företag sina incitamentsystem på ett effektivt sätt?                      Uppsatsens bidrag: Det bidrag som uppsatsen gett är en ökad förståelse om vad som motiverar unga medarbetare mer och mindre inom detaljhandeln, och vilka incitament de valda företagen använder för att motivera sina medarbetare att utföra önskade prestationer. / Title: Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation - a study of what motivates young employees the most within four retail businesses. Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Authors: Joel Lawrence Tribble & Abdi Fatah Jimaale Supervisor: Lars Ekstrand Date: 2013 - June Aim: The purpose of the study is that, given the incentives applied in the retail businesses, consider whether it is intrinsic or extrinsic motivators that have the greatest positive impact on young employees' motivation. Our research questions are:                      Is it intrinsic or extrinsic motivators that have the greatest positive impact on young employees' motivation?     What incentives do companies apply to motivate their employees to perform the desired performance?             Method: We have done case studies on four industry-leading retail companies, where we conducted four interviews with their respective managers. We also distributed 60 surveys to the selected companies employees where we aimed ourselves to young employees aged 15-30 years. Secondary data in forms of literature and prior research have been studied. The information generated were then processed and analyzed, which then led to our conclusion. Result & Conclusions: We have found that job security and good coworkers are the two most motivating factors among the study's young employees, and these are intrinsic motivators. Suggestions for future research:           What are the differences of motivation preferences between different generational groups? Which control system motivates employees the most? Do companies design their incentive systems in an efficient way? Contribution of the thesis: The contribution that the thesis has given is an increased understanding of what motivates young employees more and less within the detail industry, and what incentives the studied companies use to motivate their employees to perform the desired performance.

Background- Today online subscription based information products are becoming all the more common. A lot of them are using a immediate reward to compensate the quality uncertainty customer's experience. Even though an immediate reward creates a lot of customer attraction, some services today struggle with customer retention. Purpose- The purpose of this study is to examine how timing of rewards and quality uncertainty affects the choice of products. Method- For this study, four different surveys were conducted all representing one condition each. The survey was distributed to a total of 120 industrial workers from two different companies. A deductive reasoning lay as foundation for the construction of surveys. Result- Our result shows that under specific circumstances an immediate-and-delayed reward is preferable over an immediate reward alone. Also, when it comes to customer retention, a immediate-and-delayed reward is better at retaining customers when quality uncertainty becomes a factor. Conclusion- If customers have a reward upcoming, it is less likely they switch to the uncertain service even if there are an immediate reward present for the competing service. If they are going to switch service and have to give up their upcoming reward, they demand a significantly better quality at the competing service. Delimitations- This study focuses on the effects of timing of reward and quality uncertainty when customers choose or switch to an online subscription based information product. The study isolates timing of reward and quality uncertainty as major drivers for affecting purchase behaviour. / Bakgrund- Idag blir abonnemangsbaserade informationsprodukter allt vanligare. Många av dem använder en omedelbar belöning för att kompensera för kundens kvalitetsosäkerhet. Trots att en omedelbar belöning skapar stor kundattraktion, klarar flertalet av tjänsterna idag inte av att behålla kunder i samma utsträckning. Syfte- Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur timing av belöningar och kvalitetsosäkerhet påverkar valet av produkter. Metod- För denna studie genomfördes fyra olika enkätundersökningar med olika villkor. Undersökningen distribuerades till totalt 120 industriarbetare från två olika företag. Ett deduktiv resonemang låg som grund för utformandet av enkäterna. Resultat- Vårt resultat visar att under specifika omständigheter skulle en omedelbar-ochuppskjuten belöning vara att föredra framför enbart en omedelbar belöning. När det gäller att bibehålla kunder är det emellertid en omedelbar-och-uppskjuten belöning som bättre bibehåller kunder om kvalitetsosäkerhet är en faktor. Slutsats- Om kunderna har en kommande belöning, är det mindre troligt att de byter till tjänsten med osäker kvalité även om det finns en omedelbar belöning hos den konkurrerande tjänsten. Om de dock ska byta tjänst och måste ge upp sin kommande belöning, kräver de en betydligt bättre kvalitet vid den konkurrerande tjänsten. Avgränsningar- Denna studie fokuserar på effekterna av timing av belöning och kvalitetsosäkerhet när kunder väljer eller byter till en abonnemangsbaserad informationsprodukt. Studien isolerar timing av belöningar och kvalitetsosäkerhet som viktiga faktorer som påverkar köpbeteendet.