Today’s globalized world and the internationalization of many companies have put pressure on companies to change their communication patterns, both external and internal. The way of operating has also changed. The technological advancements made during the past decades have allowed employees to have almost unlimited possibilities to communicate with each other, no matter the distance. This has led to a new phenomenon, Virtual Teams. Working virtually has become more common in recent time, while the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies and teams to adapt to a virtual environment. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the influence Interpersonal Communication has on the employees’ trust and motivation in Virtual Teams. The research was of a qualitative nature and the collection of primary data was made through semi-structured in-depth interviews with mainly open-ended questions. The participants consisted of five (5) employees and one (1) manager from the same virtual team, with the members located across the globe. The findings showed that Interpersonal Communication has a positive influence on the employees’ motivation and trust, mostly through the establishment of Interpersonal Relations, Sense of Belonging and Level of Involvement. Many of the findings are supported by previous literature and research. The authors argue that the level of influence interpersonal communication has is dependent on the experience and seniority of the members, as well as it having the strongest influence in the beginning of a team. The thesis has contributed to previous and current literature and research, while having implications for future research, managers and virtual teams.

The purpose of this study is to explore individuals perceptions of competence development and workplace motivation. It aims to identify the mechanisms through which competence development influences motivation. The study was conducted through a qualitative research method where the data was collected through twelve employees and managers within one organization. The study integrated thematic analysis to explore how competence development influences work motivation, guided by the self-determination theory. Findings highlighted that competence development, established with effective feedback, recognition, peer influence, collaboration, and supportive organizational cultures significantly boost both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and enhances organizational outcomes. Aligning these initiatives with employees’ needs is essential for optimizing organizational effectiveness.

Improved standard of living has been followed by demographic changes and increased retirement age. Hence today’s organizations manage a diverse workforce of four generations, each of them with its own distinct attributes. Likewise, tomorrows organizations will consist of a generational diversity of five to six generations. Most research on generations has focused on characteristics and attitude differences. Drawing on the crucial and continual work of motivation - a journey without an end - this qualitative research study examined the most recent generation currently entering the labor force, Generation Z, and their workplace motivation. More specifically, the study explored if, and how, the generation is influenced by intrinsic motivation and its three basic needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness with regards to Self-Determination Theory and transformational leadership. Leaders role in promoting autonomy, competence and relatedness were analyzed at. The findings are based on semi-structured interviews with seven employees from Generation Z and three leaders. Our results showed that Generation Z is clearly impacted by and requesting intrinsic motivation in work life. In particular, the need for competence and a higher level of disloyalty towards the employer were portrayed. Furthermore, the strong demand for feedback among the generation was disclosed, suggesting more time-consuming measures from leaders.

The Swedish hospitality industry is facing a number of challenges. Chief among them is high employee turnover and inadequate management of existing staff. The introduction of new employees to workplaces is among the first steps in managing new hires. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between induction processes in Swedish restaurants and motivation among newly hired employees. The study was carried out using qualitative semi-structured interviews to collect empirical data. The results showed a varied picture of induction processes, with some respondents expressing positive experiences, while others were not equally satisfied. Community in the workplace and a sense of belonging has been shown to be a central factor when it comes to employees' self-esteem and motivation. Additionally, a correlation was discovered between employees' professional roles and the quality of the induction process, which should be investigated in further studies.

Depuis une vingtaine d’années, une grande évolution socio-économique apporte dans les entreprises chinoises des changements profonds sur les pratiques de la gestion. Face aux défis successifs de la concurrence, comment motiver efficacement les employés afin d’obtenir plus de performance devient une question majeure. Néanmoins, la motivation au travail est un phénomène complexe. Notre recherche mobilise une démarche qualitative et une analyse quantitative sur les pratiques de gestion de la motivation dans trois types d’entreprises chinoises, étatique, privée, et sino-étrangères, dans la perspective d’identifier les facteurs qui influencent effectivement la motivation des employés chinois dans leur travail. Noussouhaitons que notre recherche puisse être utile pour les managers chinois et les managers étrangers en Chine qui cherchent à améliorer la gestion de la motivation de leurs employés. / Since last 20 years, with the ongoing social and economic development, Chinese companies have profoundly changed their management practices. Facing the enormous challenges of the competition, how to motivate employees in a productive way and realize more performance has become a crucial issue for each enterprise. However, the motivation of Chinese employees in the workplace is a complex phenomenon. Our research adopts both qualitative and quantitative approaches to study the motivation practices in three kinds of Chinese companies: state-owned, private and Sino-foreign companies. Our research goal is to find out the factors that can effectively influence Chinese employees’ motivation in their workplace. This research can be useful for either Chinese managers or foreign managers that are working in China to improve their efficiency in motivating their employees.

An increasing amount of organisations are moving their IT-operations to cloud computing systems which fundamentally changes the role of IT within the organisations. This affects how end users perceive the IT-artefacts and how they interact with them. Research regarding IS-Strategy invariably return to the subject that is IT-implementation and discuss what organisations can do to promote a smoother transition towards new IT-artefacts. We use acquainted research from IS-strategy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and technology acceptance to help us gain a broader understanding of end user adoption. The nature of cloud computing systems differs from older technologies, regarding the opportunities they provide organisations with. We imply that there is a lack of understanding of how theories and concepts originating from these research areas can be combined to study a cloud computing implementation. This interpretative case study focuses on shedding new light on how the unique capabilities of cloud computing systems affect IT-implementation as we know it. Our data were collected through interviews conducted at an IT-consulting company. The data analysis revealed that end user adoption is dependent on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to find perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The analysis also shows that users whom are less willing to adopt are more dependent on an IS-strategy that promotes the use of supportive extrinsic motivation. We also discuss an unexpected finding: perceived purpose of use. We propose that the perceived purpose of use is a construction by individuals, originating from the lack of understanding the organisations explicit purpose for implementing and using the cloud computing system. This finding aims to explain why the use of the different functions is fragmented within our research. This study contributes with a new concept and rich insights that reveals the key relations that affects end user adoption and their conceptualization of a collaborative cloud computing system.

Budget constraints will cause federal furloughs to continue through 2035. Federal furloughs such as the one in 2012-2013, affected 800,000 out of 2.7 million federal employees. This dramatic workforce reduction caused remaining employees to experience stress and morale issues in the workplace. The purpose of the research was to understand how managers comprehend and experience the impact of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation on remaining employees' performance and attitudes during the furlough process. The theoretical foundation and conceptual framework were designed using both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation concepts and theories. Aspects of self-determination theory and hierarchy motivation theory were used to describe intrinsic motivational concepts. Extrinsic workplace motivation was described through expectancy theory, equity theory, and goal-setting theory. The overarching question addressed the lived experiences of 15 government managers to understand their perceptions on employee motivation during a furlough in the workplace through a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Through the use of Flick's method of data analysis, 5 themes emerged from the interviews with the participants. The most notable results described the perceptions that managers had about their challenges in maintaining employee motivation and trust in an organization where the managers felt powerless. Recommendations may support positive social change by enabling more local control for managers and to develop and implement policies and procedures to support motivation of employees. Additionally, this study outcomes may lead to sensitizing national leaders to the detrimental effects of furloughs and the impact to employees and their families.