This Master´s Thesis is focused on two areas of human resource management which are motivation and stabilization of employees and the link between them. The aim of my Master´s Thesis is to analyze the structure and quality of management of employee motivation and stabilization in a particular company through my own questionnaire survey and internal company data collection. The questionnaire survey is mainly focused on identifying motivation profiles of the company's employees and factors that have a positive impact on their job satisfaction. Thanks to analysis, the relevant conclusions and suggestions are made to strengthen or stabilize the company's strengths and reduce their weaknesses in area of motivation and stabilization management. The outputs of my Master´s Thesis can be used by the company management in order to improve the quality of human resources management and stabilize company's employees.

From the Introduction, p. 1-2. The main purposes of this study are to examine the methods by which one particular aspect of industrial behaviour, namely that of the worker's final withdrawal from the work situation, can be measured; to offer a more refined technique for the measurement of such withdrawals, and thirdly to attempt to relate this measurable phenomenon of withdrawal, commonly known as Labour Turnover, to the less easily measurable phenomenon of the integration of the individual worker into his working group. Labour Turnover - or the loss, over time, of employees from an employing organisation - is normally regarded as a province of study appropriate to the field of Industrial Psychology, and to its related applied field of Personnel Management. To a large extent, however, (as will be illustrated in Chapter II of this work) the results of such studies have proved inconclusive, and contradictory, and there is little evidence of progress towards a comprehensive understanding of the subject. This is undoubtedly due to the fragmentary nature of most studies in this field. These have generally been limited to the narrow confines of one particular aspect of the phenomenon, and consequently it has not been viewed against a sufficiently broad background.

Bakgrund: I Stockholmsregionen råder det en brist på intensivvårdssjuksköterskor. En orsak är hög personalomsättning där många intensivvårdssjuksköterskor lämnar intensivvården inom två år efter anställning på grund av hög arbetsbörda, otillfredsställande lön eller bristande möjligheter till kompetensutveckling. Arbetsgivare som uppmuntrar till kompetensutveckling får fler intensivvårdssjuksköterskor att stanna kvar inom intensivvården även om arbetsbördan är hög. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vad intensivvårdssjuksköterskorna anser om arbetsväxling som kompetenshöjande intervention. Metod: Studiedesignen var kvalitativ och som metod har fokusgruppsintervjuer använts. Materialet har analyserats med hjälp av kvalitativ manifest innehållsanalys. Resultat: Studiens huvudresultat var deltagarna ansåg att arbetsväxling fungerar som kompetenshöjande intervention. Resultatanalysen utkristalliserade totalt fem teman: arbetsväxlings inverkan på kompetensen, arbetsväxlings inverkan på individen, arbetsväxlings ömsesidiga påverkan mellan avdelningar, arbetsväxling som kvarhållande åtgärd och anledning att stanna kvar inom intensivvård. Slutsats: Studien visade på att intensivvårdssjuksköterskan anser att arbetsväxling är en kompetenshöjande åtgärd för intensivvårdssjuksköterskan. Det är dock oklart om det är något som får intensivvårdssjuksköterskor att stanna kvar inom intensivvården. Klinisk betydelse: Vårdadministrationen har fått en antydan om att arbetsväxling höjer kompetensen för de anställda inom intensivvården. / Background: The Stockholm area has a shortage of intensive care nurses. A main reason for this is the high staff turnover where many intensive care nurses leave their employment within two years. This is related by high workload, unsatisfactory pay and insufficient opportunity to raise the level of competence. Employers that promote actions which could raise the level of competence would get more intensive care nurses to stay within the intensive care unit even though the workload would be high. Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate what intensive care nurses view regarding job rotation as an intervention to raise the level of competence. Method: Two focus groups interviews were used to collect the data. The data was analysed by a qualitative manifest content analysis. Result: The result shows that the participants considered that job rotation works as an intervention to raise the level of competence. During the analysis five themes were found: the impact of job rotations on the competence, the impact of job rotations on the individual, the mutual impact of job rotations between departments, job rotation as a retention measure and reasons to remain in the intensive care. Discussion: This study has shown that intensive care nurses think that job rotation is an intervention to raise the level of competence in intensive care nurses. It is although unclear whether job rotation will keep intensive care nurses within the intensive care. Clinical significance: The care administration has been given a hint that job rotation increases the level of competence for the employers in intensive care.

The aim of the study was to investigate the association between depression and low bone mineral density (BMD) in premenopausal females. The rationale for the study was that depression is often characterized by cortisol hypersecretion. The role of cortisol includes effects on bone metabolism and the immune system: cortisol is a bone resorption agonist through its support of osteoclastogenesis. The release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, (especially IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-alpha) which induce cortisol secretion, also pushes the balance of bone remodelling in favour of resorption, consequently causing loss of bone mineral density. Significant results have been reported in studies of various groups across the USA, Europe and Asia, indicating a causal role for depression in osteoporosis. However, some studies could not support this association. With both osteoporosis and depression representing growing public health concerns in South Africa, the aim of this study was to examine the association between depression and loss of BMD in a South African sample with varying levels of depression. The study was approached from two starting points: the first used low BMD as the departure point and the second was undertaken from the diagnosis of depression. This was achieved by first investigating women where the primary concern was possible low BMD (referred to as Study 1) and secondly by assessing women whose primary diagnosis was clinically confirmed major depression (Study 2). Study 1 involved investigation of BMD in a volunteer-based sample of 40 premenopausal women drawn from three different sources. All volunteers underwent a DEXA scan, were assessed for depression and supplied saliva for cortisol analysis. Study 2 examined the BMD of five psychiatric patients diagnosed with severe, recurrent major depression and four healthy controls. These volunteers were required to undergo the same testing as subjects in Study 1. In addition, blood and urine samples were taken to examine bone turnover markers (bone specific alkaline phosphate, osteocalcin, urine pyridinoline cross-linked C-telopeptide and deoxypyridinoline). The pro-inflammatory status of the psychiatric patients was compared to reference ranges. The latter served as a small exploratory study and an introduction to further avenues of research. Study 1 revealed no clear general association between depression and bone density on DEXA scores. However, a correlation was found between left femoral neck BMD and depression in those women with low BMD only. Significant differences were found though between subjects with normal and low BMD in terms of body mass index (BMI) and contraception use. Study 2 on the other hand, indicated a trend of association between depression and low BMD: subjects suffering with severe major depression were noted to have lower bone density (on DEXA) and higher bone turnover (as measured by markers of bone turnover) as well as higher cortisol levels than healthy controls. In addition, depressed subjects exhibited elevated IL-1-alpha levels but normal TNF-alpha levels when compared to normative data. In conclusion, the study indicated that the effect of depression on bone density is dependent on the intensity and duration of depression. IL-1-alpha and cortisol may be instrumental in this loss of BMD. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Physiology / unrestricted

Actions by both private sector organizations and legislators in recent years have highlighted the importance of the audit committee of the board of directors of corporations in the financial reporting process. For example, the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 has multiple sections that deal with the composition and functioning of audit committees. My dissertation examines multiple issues related to the composition of audit committees. In the first two parts of my dissertation, I examine the stock market reactions to disclosures of audit committee appointments and departures in the 8-Ks filed with the SEC during 2008 and 2009. I find that there is a positive stock market reaction to the appointment of audit committee directors who are financial experts. The second essay investigates the cumulative abnormal return to departure of audit committee directors. I find that when an accounting expert leaves the audit committee, the market reaction is significantly negative. These results are consistent with regulators’ concerns related to having directors with audit, accounting and other financial expertise on corporate audit committees. The third essay of my dissertation examines the changes in audit committee composition in the last decade. I find that while the increase in audit committee size is relatively modest, there has been a significant increase in the number of audit committee experts and the frequency of audit committee meetings over the past decade; interestingly, such increase in the number of meetings has persisted even after the media focus on the auditing profession, in the immediate aftermath of the Enron and Andersen failures, have waned. My results show that audit committee composition and its role continues to evolve with regulatory and other corporate governance related changes.

The purpose of this study is to advance knowledge and practitioner understanding of human resource dynamics of the U.S. fast food franchise (FFF) industry, one plagued by extraordinary voluntary turnover (VTO), estimated at 75% of total turnover, and its effects on unit productivity. Following the research of Sun, Aryee, and Law (2007), this study looks for the potential of improving the VTO problem through the practice of high-performance human resource management (HPHRM) and the potential benefits of service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (SOCB) that it offers. This study used primary research, namely the domestic operating units of a nationally franchised sub sandwich chain, with a sample size of 112 units representing 14.8% of the total units and the evaluation of 336 hourly employees. Results showed a strong correlation between HPHRM and VTO, but surprisingly there was no significant relationship between HPHRM and productivity. Despite a modest correlation between HPHRM and SOCB, that relationship did not demonstrate any significant mediating effect on the HPHRM/VTO relationship. The results may indicate a differentiation between the effectiveness of HPHRM and SOCB depending on the performance level of hourly employees, noting that low-performing employees do not respond to HPHRM or demonstrate SOCB as well as others. Numerous opportunities for further research are suggested, especially in light of the size and impact of the domestic FFF industry.

This research focused on the impact of staff turnover in selected departments of the Province of the Eastern Cape Province. High staff turnover rate may jeopardise efforts to attain organisational objectives. In addition, `when an organisation loses a critical employee, there is a negative impact, on innovation; consistency in providing service to guests may be jeopardised, and major delays in the delivery of services to customers may occur. The research design used in this study contained elements of both the quantitative and qualitative approaches, which allowed the researcher to use structured questionnaires in data collection, on which space was provided for comments. This study was influenced and shaped by the concerns raised by a number of General Managers in the course of various provincial meetings. The main purpose of this research was to identify retention strategies that could be used by selected departments to reduce the turnover of their talented staff. The research also investigated methods to retain knowledge within departments that could possibly be lost due to a high turnover rate among talented staff. The first step used to resolve the issues discussed above was to conduct a full literature study. The literature study sought to reveal what characteristics were required in the departments that ensured that staff would be happy in those departments and remain there for a long time. The literature study also covered what knowledge management methods could be used in managing valuable knowledge. Secondly, the views of current staff and management of the selected departments on staff and knowledge management strategies were solicited in an empirical study, which involved the completion of structured questionnaires. It is the researcher’s aim that this study will, firstly, contribute to the existing body of knowledge of staff turnover and that the Provincial Departments will take into cognisance the problems that lead to employee turnover. Secondly, that it will contribute to an improvement in employee working conditions in various Provincial Government departments.

Staff turnover is a human resource management aspect which occurs in any organisation. It involves the replacement of incumbents who have vacated their posts and left the organisation by the appointment of new incumbents in those posts The purpose of the study was to investigate factors influencing the high staff turnover at Walter Sisulu University and to explore strategies which could be utilized to address it. Management has a responsibility of ensuring that staff turnover remains at acceptable levels within the organisation. Causes of labour turnover and their consequences were investigated. High staff turnover could have negative consequences for an organization. It can dent the image of the institution and also have a negative impact on the productivity, especially when it involves the loss of highly skilled and productive workers. Measurement of staff turnover and models of turnover are also discussed and analysed. Job dissatisfaction as a determinant of voluntary turnover is categorically discussed as well as its components. The relationships between management, job satisfaction, performance and turnover as well as the possibility of reducing staff turnover are also explored. An empirical study was undertaken to determine individual, job, organisational and environmental factors influencing staff turnover among staff at all levels at WSU. Interviews were used in gathering data and the findings include the fact that the high staff turnover at this university is attributed to, among others, job dissatisfaction, lack of job security, lack of development and promotion opportunities. Recommendations were made to address factors that may have an impact on staff turnover at WSU as well as strategies that could be utilised to retain staff.

Attachment of an employee to an organization is explored through concept of an organizational commitment. One of the results of an organizational commitment is a turnover, which is in a light of the current situation on the labor market up-to-date topic. Goal of the theoretical part of this thesis is an overview of approaches to organizational commitment and summary of factors, that have been according to many studies considered to be antecedents of organizational commitment. Following these findings, empirical part of this thesis sets the goal to summarize the results of qualitative and quantitative research which objective was to conduct a survey about extent and type of commitment to the organization and related factors. As research methods were chosen semi-structured interviews, TCM Employee commitment survey and survey examining related factors. Based on correlation analysis positive and negative factors related to organizational commitment were identified. Results also suggests that commitment does not correlate with any of demographic variables except of sex. From variables connected to work of employee for organization only length of employment did significantly correlate with affective commitment. Results of this research provide overall view on the organizational commitment at the branch...

A lack of research surrounding the contextual factors that either facilitate or impede the progress of developing learning capabilities in organizations suggests that researchers have yet to examine such issues. Indeed, despite a plethora of information on the trust, politics, and learning constructs, researchers have yet to explore these variables in conjunction with one another. While literature regarding organizational learning has grown substantially over the last decade, studies continue to investigate a common set of established factors that support the development of this practise. This study will explore the complex relationships between trust, politics, and learning, as well as the influence on building employee commitment and reducing turnover intentions. Results from the study provide the basis for the development of an integrative framework that illustrates how contextual factors influence organizational learning capability and in turn, the effects that developing learning capability can have on other organizational processes.