Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the Département de Neurologie et Neurochirurgie. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2009/09/07). Includes bibliographical references.

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Previous research suggests that employees can experience different types of demands at work. Challenge demands are motivating and goal oriented, whereas hindrance demands are excessively difficult and / or goal irrelevant. Similarly, previous research indicates that employees may think about work in different ways. Affective rumination involves unproductive, emotionally negative work-related thoughts, whereas problem-solving pondering involves productive, unemotional work-related thoughts. I assess challenge and hindrance demands as potential antecedents to the facets of work-related rumination and indicators of employee recovery and well-being (exhaustion and vigor) in both within- and between-person analyses. I additionally consider the role of work schedule and assess my hypothesized model on a sample including both traditionally scheduled and shift workers. My final sample consisted of 92 full-time (80 traditionally scheduled, 12 shift) employees who were sent three surveys per day over a 28-day survey period. Using multilevel structural equation modeling, I found evidence that work-related rumination may operate as a mechanistic pathway linking work demands to recovery indicators. Additionally, evidence from this dissertation suggests that problem-solving pondering may be detrimental to employee recovery at the daily level, but that it may be beneficial to employee recovery at the between-person level. This dissertation contributes to scientific understanding of potential antecedents of the different types of rumination and suggests that hindrance demands, which are almost universally treated as detrimental to employee recovery, may have competing positive and negative relationships with employee recovery. / Doctor of Philosophy / Research suggests that the demands of a job can be thought of as motivating, attainable challenges or as useless or impassible hindrances. Research additionally suggests that when we think about work during non-work time, those thoughts can be problem focused and productive or emotionally driven and unproductive. This dissertation explores the relationships between these two types of work demands, these two types of work-related rumination, and indicators of employee recovery from work (exhaustion and vigor). Additionally, I consider whether work schedule (traditional 9:00-5:00 vs. shift work) changes the ways these variables relate to each other. In a sample of 92 full-time workers (80 traditional, 12 shift), I find evidence to suggest that these types of work demands do relate to work-related rumination. Additionally, these types of work demands have different patterns of relationships with exhaustion and vigor. By assessing this model both in terms of changes in relationships for a person day to day (within-person) and in terms of changes in relationships between different people on average (between-person), I find evidence for potentially competing beneficial and harmful consequences of hindrance demands on employee recovery.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1976.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1976.

In a workplace marked by increasing change and competing commitments, business leaders require an increased understanding of alternative work programs. Utilizing spillover theory, motivator-hygiene theory, and adaptive structuration theory, this single case study was an exploration of the strategies that business leaders use for flexible work schedules and virtual work programs. The population consisted of 3 managerial business executives and 6 employees within a midwestern United States division of a global blood management solutions firm. The data collection process included a series of semistructured interviews, a focus group, and the assessment of company documentation. Methodological triangulation identified 5 emerging themes: program assessment and monitoring, standard set of virtual working hours, remote office setup, increased virtual communication, and promotion of quality of life. The transferability of this single case study remains with the reader and future researchers to determine. Future researchers may discover that the findings contribute to social change by better preparing organizations for success while simultaneously positioning individuals to attain optimum balance across life and work responsibilities.

Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och analysera busschaufförers upplevelser av delaktighet i arbetet. Följande frågor har ställts: Hur kommunicerar arbetsgivare och anställda med varandra? Hur upplever busschaufförer sitt arbetsschema och sina arbetstider? Kan busschaufförer vara delaktiga i utformningen av sitt arbetsschema och sina arbetstider? För att besvara dessa frågor har vi genomfört åtta individuella intervjuer med busschaufförer i ett internationellt bussföretag. Resultatet visar att busschaufförernas delaktighet i arbetet är bristfällig. Anledningen till detta tror vi kan förklaras utifrån tre huvudsakliga faktorer. Den första faktorn är att arbetsgivaren måste anpassa sin verksamhet efter en trafikhuvudman. Den andra faktorn är att busschaufförerna inte har startat en fackklubb på arbetsplatsen. Den tredje faktorn är att det inte finns en tydlig formell kontext som ger anställda möjlighet att komma till tals. / The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze bus drivers’ experiences of participation at work. The following questions arose: How to communicate employers and employees with each other? How do bus drivers perceive their work schedule and their hours of work? Can bus drivers be involved in shaping their work schedule and their hours of work? To answer these questions, we conducted eight individual interviews with bus drivers in an international bus company. The results show that bus drivers’ participation in the work is flawed. The reason that we believe might be explained by three main factors. The first factor is that the employer has to adapt its activities after a transport authority. The second factor is that bus drivers have not started a local compartment club at the workplace. The third factor is that there is not a clear formal context in which employees have the opportunity to express themselves.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Univ., 2004. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2006. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the factors that may be related to employees' decisions to use the family-friendly benefits (e.g., maternity/paternity leave, flexible work schedule) that are offered to them by their employers. Research has shown that both employees and organizations benefit when employees use family-friendly benefits. However, research has also shown that many employees do not take advantage of such benefits. Studies examining this issue are limited, and much of the research that has been conducted is anecdotal and atheoretical. The present study overcame this problem by empirically examining the use of family-friendly benefits within the theoretical context of Ajzen's (1991) theory of planned behavior. The results of this study support the theory of planned behavior. Specifically, the results indicated that whether an individual perceived he/she had control over the use of family-friendly benefits was the most predictive of whether he/she intended to use them. Whether the individual perceived that others would approve of these behaviors was also predictive of intention to perform the behaviors. In addition, an individual's intention to take leave or use a flexible work schedule was the most predictive of whether he or she actually engaged in the behaviors. Implications for practice as well as future research directions are also discussed.