Syftet med denna undersökning har varit att kartlägga vad som driver människor att söka sig till eller anta mellanchefspositioner. En kvalitativ intervjustudie har genomförts utifrån en induktiv ansats då intresseområdet tidigare har varit obeforskat och ambitionen har varit att undersöka det unika inom detta. Tio intervjuer har utförts i vilka samtliga respondenter, vid undersökningstillfället, har befunnit sig på mellanchefspositioner inom antingen privat- eller offentlig sektor. Data har transkriberats och senare analyserats utifrån en induktiv tematisk analys vilken har resulterat i fyra övergripande teman för vad som driver människor att söka sig till eller anta mellanchefspositioner. Dessa teman benämns som: Utvecklingen – en strävan efter utveckling på det personliga planet, Makten – att ha makt och därigenom kunna påverka såväl organisationen som sin egen arbetssituation, Att klättra i karriären – mellanchefspositionen som en fas i karriären på väg uppåt i karriärvärlden, Bekräftelsen – en önskan om att bli omtyckt, att få bekräftelse från folk i sin omgivning för att man har lyckats åstadkomma något. Resultatet har jämförts mot befintliga psykologiska teorier och slutsats har dragits i form av att ovanstående teman beskriver vad som driver människor att söka sig till eller anta mellanchefspositioner. Avslutningsvis har förslag till vidare forskning presenterats för att exemplifiera hur man vidare kan kartlägga det som här har undersökts. / The purpose of this research has been to map out what drives people to strive towards or accept middle management positions. A qualitative interview study has been conducted with an inductive approach since the area of interest until now had not been researched and that the ambition has been to examine the unique within this. Ten interviews were carried out in which all of the respondents, at the time of the study, were working as middle position managers within either the private or public sector. The data has been transcribed and then analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis which resulted in four overall themes answering what drives people to strive towards or accept middle management positions. These themes are denominated as following: The Development – a strive towards a development on a personal level, The Power – to have power and through it the possibility to influence as well the organization as the own work situation, Career advancement – the mid-level management position is seen as but a step in the career advancement, The Confirmation – a wish to be liked, to be confirmed by those in your surroundings for having accomplished something. The results have been compared with existing psychological theories and a conclusion has been made that the above themes describe what drives people to strive towards or accept middle management positions. To conclude, suggestions about future research have been presented to exemplify how to further map out what has been researched here.

<p>Syftet med denna undersökning har varit att kartlägga vad som driver människor att söka sig till eller anta mellanchefspositioner. En kvalitativ intervjustudie har genomförts utifrån en induktiv ansats då intresseområdet tidigare har varit obeforskat och ambitionen har varit att undersöka det unika inom detta. Tio intervjuer har utförts i vilka samtliga respondenter, vid undersökningstillfället, har befunnit sig på mellanchefspositioner inom antingen privat- eller offentlig sektor. Data har transkriberats och senare analyserats utifrån en induktiv tematisk analys vilken har resulterat i fyra övergripande teman för vad som driver människor att söka sig till eller anta mellanchefspositioner. Dessa teman benämns som: Utvecklingen – en strävan efter utveckling på det personliga planet, Makten – att ha makt och därigenom kunna påverka såväl organisationen som sin egen arbetssituation, Att klättra i karriären – mellanchefspositionen som en fas i karriären på väg uppåt i karriärvärlden, Bekräftelsen – en önskan om att bli omtyckt, att få bekräftelse från folk i sin omgivning för att man har lyckats åstadkomma något. Resultatet har jämförts mot befintliga psykologiska teorier och slutsats har dragits i form av att ovanstående teman beskriver vad som driver människor att söka sig till eller anta mellanchefspositioner. Avslutningsvis har förslag till vidare forskning presenterats för att exemplifiera hur man vidare kan kartlägga det som här har undersökts.</p> / <p>The purpose of this research has been to map out what drives people to strive towards or accept middle management positions. A qualitative interview study has been conducted with an inductive approach since the area of interest until now had not been researched and that the ambition has been to examine the unique within this. Ten interviews were carried out in which all of the respondents, at the time of the study, were working as middle position managers within either the private or public sector. The data has been transcribed and then analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis which resulted in four overall themes answering what drives people to strive towards or accept middle management positions. These themes are denominated as following: The Development – a strive towards a development on a personal level, The Power – to have power and through it the possibility to influence as well the organization as the own work situation, Career advancement – the mid-level management position is seen as but a step in the career advancement, The Confirmation – a wish to be liked, to be confirmed by those in your surroundings for having accomplished something. The results have been compared with existing psychological theories and a conclusion has been made that the above themes describe what drives people to strive towards or accept middle management positions. To conclude, suggestions about future research have been presented to exemplify how to further map out what has been researched here.</p>

The purpose of this study is to investigate the managers’ perspective on leadership in relation to the motivation of the employees by an example of a manning and recruitment agencies. This is implemented by framing of two questions; What kind of leadership can be identified by middle managers to motivate their employees? Which motivation factors are relevant to employees based on the perspective of the managers? To answer the question and identify leadership strategies and motivational factors and the relationship in between, we have conducted eight interviews with persons who hold a middle management position. Through a qualitative investigation we have been able to go into depth and had access to these managers reflections, thoughts and experiences. The study is deductive and based on two theories; Two Factor Theory (Herzberg, 1959) and internal and external motivation (Deci &amp; Ryan, 2000). The study also takes into account previous research on motivation and leadership such as adults' motivation for learning and training (Ahl, 2006), the transformative leadership (Guthenberg, 2011), recognition of motivation (Hansen and Hermansson, 2013), and indications of what creates a good workplace (Lindberg and Vineyard, 2012). We have, using empirical data, developed and identified categories based on two themes, leadership and motivation, to answer our question. Empirical evidence shows that the developed categories commitment and presence, leadership coaching, individual and situational leadership, reward, daily work and corporate culture/relationships go hand in hand and are necessary to achieve good leadership to increase motivation. By this we mean that the involvement and presence, coaching, personalised and situational leadership are central to achieve what we have distinguished to be good leadership. While the reward, the daily work and the corporate culture and the relationships within the organisation are essential parameters to get motivated employees based on the manager's approach. We can also see that these two themes are related and interdependent. Based on empirical data, we perceive that the organisation we studied the good leadership is resulting in better conditions for motivated employees.