Yes / Objectives: To determine whether individual goal-oriented cognitive rehabilitation (CR) improves everyday functioning for people with mild-to-moderate dementia. Design and methods: Parallel group multi-centre single-blind randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing CR added to usual treatment (CR) with usual treatment alone (TAU) for people with an ICD-10 diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, vascular or mixed dementia and mild-to-moderate cognitive impairment (MMSE score ≥ 18), and with a family member willing to contribute. Participants allocated to CR received ten weekly sessions over three months and four maintenance sessions over six months. Participants were followed up three and nine months post-randomisation by blinded researchers. The primary outcome was self-reported goal attainment at three months. Secondary outcomes at three and nine months included informant-reported goal attainment, quality of life, mood, self-efficacy, and cognition, and study partner stress and quality of life. Results: We randomised (1:1) 475 people with dementia; 445 (CR=281) were included in the intention to treat analysis at three months, and 426 (CR=208) at nine months. At three months there were statistically-significant large positive effects for participant-rated goal attainment (d=0.97, 95% CI 0.75 to 1.19), corroborated by informant ratings (d=1.11, 0.89 to 1.34). These effects were maintained at nine months for both participant (d=0.94, 0.71 to 1.17) and informant ratings (d=0.96, 0.73 to 1.2). The observed gains related to goals directly targeted in the therapy. There were no significant differences in secondary outcomes. Conclusions: Cognitive rehabilitation enables people with early-stage dementia to improve their everyday functioning in relation to individual goals targeted in the therapy. / National Institute for Health, Health Technology Assessment Programme, Grant/Award Number: 11/15/04

A Performance Management and Development System has become the main focus for many organisations in the Public Service. Organisations are always looking for strategies to effectively enhance the performance of their employees in order to improve the organisational performance. However, despite all these efforts the implementation of the System is still marred by many challenges and as a result it is perceived by many employees as ineffective and inefficient. The focus of this study is, therefore, to identify the different perceptions of employees regarding the System and to investigate the underlying factors influencing the employees’ perceptions regarding Performance Management and Development System at the Matlosana Service Point, DSDWCPD. A triangulation research approach encompassing qualitative and quantitative analysis was employed in this study. The primary data were obtained from a semi-structured questionnaire completed by 50 respondents. Secondary data were drawn from the departmental reports, business plans, performance agreements and other official documents from the North-West University library. The respondents for the questionnaire were sampled utilising the purposive sampling within the non-probability category of samples. The sample comprised social workers, social auxiliary workers, community development practitioners and human resource officers. The sample was purposively sampled due to the fact that the sample frame that was needed for this study included people who were aware of the Performance Management and Development System; were regarded as experienced in the subject matter and who could provide useful information. The data from the questionnaire were analysed by means of conceptual (thematic) analysis, every statement that was relevant to the research questions was created; and meanings were also attached to the categories. The findings of the study show that the employees perceive implementation of the Performance Management and Development System as not complying with the legislation. The implementation of the Performance Management and Development System is not effective and efficient in the Matlosana Service Point. The findings also revealed that the need for training in the System is undisputed as employees felt that the training that they received is not adequate and failed to address their needs. The respondents also felt that the assessments were not properly implemented hence they perceive the System as biased, unfair and subjective and also felt that the assessments were implemented just for compliance purposes. The findings of the study also highlighted the importance of effective communication and feedback in the entire process and in integrating the components of the Performance Management and Development System leading to poor supervision and monitoring of employees’ performance. All these factors revealed a correlation between the negative perceptions of the employees and the Performance Management and Development System in the Matlosana Service point. The study concludes by providing recommendations on a systematic training strategy for changing employees’ perceptions regarding the Performance Management and Development System in order to ensure a common understanding and consistent implementation of the Performance Management and Development System. / M Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

A Performance Management and Development System has become the main focus for many organisations in the Public Service. Organisations are always looking for strategies to effectively enhance the performance of their employees in order to improve the organisational performance. However, despite all these efforts the implementation of the System is still marred by many challenges and as a result it is perceived by many employees as ineffective and inefficient. The focus of this study is, therefore, to identify the different perceptions of employees regarding the System and to investigate the underlying factors influencing the employees’ perceptions regarding Performance Management and Development System at the Matlosana Service Point, DSDWCPD. A triangulation research approach encompassing qualitative and quantitative analysis was employed in this study. The primary data were obtained from a semi-structured questionnaire completed by 50 respondents. Secondary data were drawn from the departmental reports, business plans, performance agreements and other official documents from the North-West University library. The respondents for the questionnaire were sampled utilising the purposive sampling within the non-probability category of samples. The sample comprised social workers, social auxiliary workers, community development practitioners and human resource officers. The sample was purposively sampled due to the fact that the sample frame that was needed for this study included people who were aware of the Performance Management and Development System; were regarded as experienced in the subject matter and who could provide useful information. The data from the questionnaire were analysed by means of conceptual (thematic) analysis, every statement that was relevant to the research questions was created; and meanings were also attached to the categories. The findings of the study show that the employees perceive implementation of the Performance Management and Development System as not complying with the legislation. The implementation of the Performance Management and Development System is not effective and efficient in the Matlosana Service Point. The findings also revealed that the need for training in the System is undisputed as employees felt that the training that they received is not adequate and failed to address their needs. The respondents also felt that the assessments were not properly implemented hence they perceive the System as biased, unfair and subjective and also felt that the assessments were implemented just for compliance purposes. The findings of the study also highlighted the importance of effective communication and feedback in the entire process and in integrating the components of the Performance Management and Development System leading to poor supervision and monitoring of employees’ performance. All these factors revealed a correlation between the negative perceptions of the employees and the Performance Management and Development System in the Matlosana Service point. The study concludes by providing recommendations on a systematic training strategy for changing employees’ perceptions regarding the Performance Management and Development System in order to ensure a common understanding and consistent implementation of the Performance Management and Development System. / M Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This research empirically investigates Locke's (1997) model of work motivation by means of quantitative research. The OCQ consisting of three tiered questionnaires was constructed based on Locke's model. OCQ-Tierl deals with core components of Locke's model. OCQ-Tier2 determines which factors caused the incidence of dissatisfaction in OCQ-Tierl. OCQ-Tier3 enables the identification of corrective actions. The OCQ was administered to financial services employees. The results were analysed and Locke's model was tested by means of structural equation modelling using the AMOS graphics programme. The results indicated that the model, suggesting causal links between components within OCQ-Tierl, could not be confirmed. A better fit was found at OCQ-Tier2 and OCQ-Tier3. In testing the causal links across the three tiers per component, the models did not fit the data for "personal actualisation" and "goal achievement". Moderate confirmation of the models was found in the case of "goal setting" and "goal behaviour" across the three tiers after some adaptations were made to the models on the basis of "modification indices", suggested by AMOS. A reasonably good fit was found for the models across the three tiers for "quality of work life". The level of correlation between factors was high because of this, and in some cases some of the factors were merged. Modification indices in the statistical output suggested that improvement was possible if covariance between error terms in the model was allowed. This suggested possible systematic sources of covariance between items not accounted for by the factors in the models. As confirmed by the Cronbach Alpha coefficients within tiers and across tiers, the general level of internal consistency was very high. Possibly response set and response style were the cause of this. This made the testing of models difficult in the present study. So too was it difficult to draw a conclusion about the internal consistency reliability of the measurement of each component across the three tiers, because the high Cronbach coefficients may to some extent be due to the indiscriminate high correlations between items / D.Litt. et Phil. (Industrial Psychology)

過去許多有關探討目標設定理論（Goal setting theory ）與期望理論（Expectancy theory）的研究大致上皆支持目標的難易和動機三因素乘積的大小的確會影響動機的 高低。然而，二者之間究竟何者才是影響動機的主要因素呢﹖二者是否是透過了相同 的途徑影響了動機，只是一個較直接，一個較間接﹖抑或是二者是透過了不同的途徑 影響了動機，所以當二者同時出現時，彼此之間會互相干擾﹖本研究的目的即在了解 究竟目標和動機三因素乘積何者才是影響動機的主要因素。本研究以政大學生１０８ 人為受試，操弄目標難易度（難、中、易）和動機三因素乘積的高低（高、中、低） ，以受試者在手眼協調測驗上的工作表現作為動機的指標，採用完全隨機的３＊３二 因子實驗設計。以二因子共變數分析的結果顯示，在工作表現上，主要效果及交互作 用皆不顯著，表示各組之間的動機沒有差異。一個可能的原因為目標和動機三因素乘 機彼此之間互相干擾，導致在動機上各組之間沒有差異。在討論中將詳細的說明此一 可能的解釋，並檢討在實驗進行中的可能產生的一些偏差及本研究所能適用的範圍。

Bakgrund: Sedan 1990-talet har de stora klädkedjorna tagit allt större marknadsandelar, vilket i sin tur har lett till att klädbranschen blivit mer centraliserad. På grund av detta blir butikschefen, som har huvudansvaret för butiken, mer styrd i sitt arbete. Butikschefen har mål att förhålla sig till samtidigt som han eller hon blir styrd i sina handlingar för att uppnå målet. Syfte: Syftet är att genom intervjuer ge en förståelse för hur butikschefers motivation påverkas av den utformade styrningen och redogöra för vilka motivationsfaktorer butikscheferna finner mest motiverande i sitt arbete. Genomförande: Studien har genomförts genom sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med butikschefer och är i och med det en kvalitativ metod. Detta metodval möjliggör att studera butikscheferna mer på djupet. Intervjuerna har transkriberats och sedan analyserats med hjälp av teoriramen i studien. De fyra klädkedjorna i studien har alla en omsättning på över en miljard kronor årligen och de använder sig av en centraliserad styrning. Resultat: Butikscheferna i studien anser att deras uppsatta mål måste uppfattas som rättvisa för att vara motiverande. Det är också viktigt att det långsiktiga budgetmålet kombineras med kortsiktiga mål, eftersom flera mål i arbetet uppfattas som positivt och det leder till att det långsiktiga målet inte upplevs lika avlägset. Ansvar är en viktig del i arbetet, dock leder inte mer ansvar alltid till högre motivation utan i butikschefernas fall ska det vara på en rimlig nivå. Feedback är något som butikscheferna behöver ha regelbundet. Det är viktigt att feedbacken inte endast innehåller information om resultatet, utan de vill även få direktiv på hur de kan förändra sina handlingar i arbetet till det bättre. / Background: Since the 1990s, the major clothing companies have taken an increasingly large market share. This has led to that the clothing industry has become more centralized. Because of this, the store manager who has primary responsibility for the store is more guided in their work. The store manager has goals to relate to while he or she is guided in their actions to achieve their goals. Purpose: The aim is that through interviews provide an understanding of how the store managers' motivation is influenced by the designed control system and explain what motivators store managers find most motivating in their work. Implementation: The study was conducted by six semi-structured interviews with store managers and is thus a qualitative approach. This methodology allows for the study of store managers in more depth. The interviews have transcribed and then analyzed using the theoretical framework of the study. The four clothing companies in the study all have a turnover of over 1 billion annually and uses a centralized control. Outcome: Store managers in the study pronounce that their goals must be perceived as fair to be motivating. It is also important to the long-term budgetary objective, combined with short-term goals, as several goals at work are perceived as positive and the long term goal does not feel as distant. Responsibility is an important part of the work, however more responsibility does not always lead to higher motivation and therefore store managers' cases should be at a reasonable level. Feedback is something that store managers need regularly. It is important that feedback not only contains information about the results, but they also want to get a directive on how they can change the work for the better.

The purpose of this study is to determine the relation between the teachers’ and the students’ understanding of music rubrics. The study will present the use of music rubrics in three different schools. In these schools, observations were performed as well as interviews with the teachers and their students. A study of the rubrics on each school was also executed to construct appropriate questions and an observation schedule. To analyse our material a phenomenographical method was used. The result shows that the teachers and students have similar understandings and interpretations of the content as well as the purpose of the music rubric.

Intresset för hållbarhetsfrågor har ökat och sociala hållbarhetsaspekter får allt större betydelse. Organisationer redovisar en nollvision avseende arbetsplatsolyckor och Sveriges arbetsmarknadsminister uppger att detta är prioriterat hos regeringen. Samtidigt som organisationer redogör för vikten av säkerhetsarbete i hållbarhetsrapporter har antalet dödsolyckor ökat istället för att minska. Hållbarhetsprocesser saknar prissättning och går inte att kostnadsföra i dagsläget. Examensarbetet syftar till att skapa en förståelse för om processer som inte går att prissätta kan styras samt en förståelse till varför säkerhetsutfall avviker från organisationers målsättningar. Den teoretiska referensramen belyser vikten av säkerhetsarbete samt objektifieringens betydelse för styrningens möjligheter till beteendeförändring. Vidare lade den teoretiska referensramen grunden till examensarbetets teorimodell samt utformning av intervjuguide. För att besvara examensarbetets syfte har en kvalitativ studie utförts genom intervjuer med organisationer inom gruv-, stål- och byggindustrin i Norrbotten. Vidare har innehållsanalyser med avseende på social hållbarhet, säkerhet och hälsa gjorts på respektive organisations hållbarhetsrapporter. För att få organisationers och arbetstagares perspektiv utfördes intervjuer med både tjänstemän och fackliga representanter. Empiriinsamlingen bidrog med kunskap om bakomliggande orsaksfaktorer samt visade på styrningsproblematik, vilket lade grunden för examensarbetets analys och resultatdiskussion. Analysen antyder att det är svårt att styra processer som inte har ett pris eller går att kostnadsföra, vilket medför att det finns en styrningsproblematik. Styrningsproblematiken grundar sig även i att det finns en diskrepans i uppfattning om säkerhet, medvetenhet och kommunikation mellan tjänstemän och arbetstagare. / The interest in sustainability issues has increased and aspects of social sustainability are gaining importance. Organizations report a zero-vision regarding occupational accidents and the Ministry of Employment in Sweden states that it is highly prioritized within the government. While organizations report on the importance of safety work in sustainability reports, the fatal accidents have increased instead of decreased. There is a lack of price setting methods for sustainability processes, which results in the inability for these to be expensed. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of whether processes can be controlled if they lack pricing methods and obtain an explanation to why safety outcomes deviate from the goals and objectives. The theoretical framework highlights the importance of safety work and objectification for the control’s possibilities for behavioral change. It also laid the foundation for the theory model and the design of the interview guide. To answer the study’s purpose, a qualitative study has been conducted through interviews with organizations in the mining, steel and construction industry in Norrbotten. Furthermore, content analysis regarding social sustainability and safety and health have been made of the organizations' sustainability reports. To gain the organizations' and employees' perspectives interviews were conducted with both officials and union representatives. The empirical result contributed with knowledge of the causal factors, as well as indicated control issues. This laid the foundation for the analysis and results discussion. The analysis suggests that it is difficult to control processes that do not have a price or can be expensed, which means that there is a management and control problem. The management and control problem is also based on the fact that there is a discrepancy in the perception of safety, awareness and communication between officials and employees.

Jämställdhet är ett omdebatterat ämne som får allt mer uppmärksamhet i dagens samhälle och blivit en allt viktigare del av den svenska politiken. För att arbeta för jämställdhet har Sveriges regering beslutat att ha jämställdhetsintegrering som strategi. 2013 skrev Luleå kommun under den europeiska deklarationen för jämställdhet (CEMR-deklarationen) vilket innebär ett tydligt engagemang för att arbeta mot att bli en jämställd kommun. Examensarbetet syftar till att skapa förståelse för hur en kommunal verksamhet tillämpar målstyrning för att integrera jämställdhet i organisationen och hur målstyrning i praktiken används ur ett vertikalt perspektiv. För att besvara studiens syfte har en fallstudie på Luleå kommun genomförts, där fem anställda på olika hierarkiska nivåer inom kommunen deltagit i intervjuer. Utöver intervjuer har interna styrdokument studerats. För att vidare besvara våra forskningsfrågor har begreppen anpassning- och omvandlingstolkning använts för att skapa förståelse för jämställdhetsarbetet. Uppsatsen bygger på en deduktiv metod med induktiva inslag där tidigare forskning kring jämställdhetsintegrering använts för att förstå det empiriskt insamlade materialet. Resultatet från studien visar att Luleå kommuns styrdokument huvudsakligen förhåller sig till anpassningstolkning med fokus på kortsiktiga mål. Resultatet visar också att samspelet mellan de organisatoriska nivåerna inte ger rätt förutsättningar för jämställdhetsarbetets vertikala resa. Resultatet visar att medvetenhet kring att omvandlingstolkningen finns, men att arbetet idag främst handlar om att synliggöra obalanser och reglera omedelbara orättvisor med fokus på anpassningstolkning. Uppsatsens slutsats är att den kunskap inom ämnet stannar högt upp i organisationen vilket medför att jämställdhetsarbetet huvudsakligen innefattar anpassningstolkningen. Studien visar att styrning mot jämställdhet är komplex och att målstyrning medför att jämställdhetsintegrering huvudsakligen tolkas utifrån anpassningstolkning. Avslutningsvis konstateras att om än medvetenhet kring omvandlingstolkningen verkar finnas, tycks de kvalitativa aspekterna av jämställdhet i dagsläget inte “fångas” genom målstyrning. / Gender equality is a discussed topic that is gaining increasing attention in today's society and has become an increasingly important part of Swedish politics. To work towards gender equality, the Swedish government has decided to have gender mainstreaming as a strategy. In 2013, Luleå municipality signed the European Declaration for Gender Equality (The CEMR- declaration), which implicates a clear commitment to work towards becoming an equal municipality. The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how a municipality applies management by objectives to integrate gender equality into the organization and how management by objectives is used in practice from a vertical perspective. To answer the study's purpose, a case study at Luleå municipality has been carried out, where five employees at various hierarchical levels within the organization participated in interviews. In addition to interviews, internal documents have been studied. In order to further answer our research questions the concepts of adaptation and conversion interpretation have been used to create an understanding of gender equality work.   The thesis is based on a deductive method with inductive elements, where previous research on gender mainstreaming has been used to understand the empirically collected material. The result of the study shows that Luleå municipality’s governing documents mainly relate to the adaptation interpretation with a focus on short-term goals. The results also show that the interaction between the organizational levels does not provide the right conditions for the vertical journey of gender equality work. The result shows that awareness of the transformation interpretation exist, but that the work today mainly is about making imbalances visible and regulating immediate inequalities with a focus on the adaption interpretation. The conclusion of the thesis is that the knowledge on the subject stays on higher levels in the organization, which indicates that gender equality work mainly involves the adaptation interpretation. The study shows that governance towards gender equality is complex and that management by objectives allows gender mainstreaming to be interpreted primarily on the basis of adaptation interpretation. Finally, it is stated that, although awareness of the transformation interpretation seems to exist, the qualitative aspects of gender equality does not seem to be "caught" by management by objectives.

Thesis (MBA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / This paper evaluated the relationship between the Chief Executive Officer’s gender and firm performance. This study was conducted by evaluating the differential effect of CEO’s gender and sales turnover, share price and net profit. The study was deemed necessary because related researches in South Africa did not address the relationship between gender and variables such as turnover, share price and net profit. Hence this research focuses on the evaluation of the differential effect between CEO's gender and the corporate turnover, share price and net profit. The methodological approach used in this study was the quantitative approach. Data were collected from the archives of Socially Responsible Investing Index companies in the JSE. The T-test of difference was applied for data analysis of sixteen (16) selected companies. Three specific objectives were examined as follows: (1) To evaluate the relationship between the CEO's gender and company turnover (2) To assess the relationship, the CEO's gender and share price (3) To examine the relationship between the CEO's gender and net profit. Findings from the statistical analysis revealed that there is no significant relationship between CEO gender and sales turnover. It was further identified that no relationship exists between CEO gender and share price. It was also discovered that there is no differential effect between CEO gender and net profit. Findings from statistical analysis revealed that P-Value was greater than 5 percent indicating that there was no significant relationship between CEO gender and sales turnover, share price and net profit. This means that within the companies examined, CEO gender had no influence on sales turnover, share price and net profit. Based on the findings above, women CEOs can perform as well as the men CEOs. Therefore, women should be afforded the CEO’s positions as their presence have no negative effect on firm performance. Key words: CEO gender, firm performance, sales turnover, share price, net profit, JSE listed companies, corporate profitability, shareholder value and gender stereotyping.