The humanistic concept of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975), which describes intrinsically enjoyable experiences, is based on the ratio of challenges to skills. Csikszentmihalyi's (1975) flow theory emphasises the positive affective state ('flow') experienced where challenges and skills are matched, so that the theory has clear implications for the study of personality. However, of more immediate consequence are the possible implications of the experience of flow and intrinsic motivation for the study of of health and well-being. In this study, three experiments were conducted. The first determined the intrinsically motivating qualities of performing on a computer video game in comparison with other stimulating and unstimulating activities. Subsequently, this task was used in Experiment Two to formally examine the flow theory by assessing skill, and varying the challenge dimension of the activity. Affective states were assessed via the Experience Sampling Method (Larson and Csikszentmihalyi, 1983) and Experience Questionnaire (Privette, 1984) thereby identifying the factors underlying the flow experience. Three factors, labelled intensity of flow, coping and motivation, were shown to vary in line with predictions from the flow model; that is to say, the flow and experience factors were at their most positive where skill and challenge were matched, and at their most negative where the skill/challenge ratio imbalance was greatest. Experiment Three originated the construction of 'flow profiles' to examine the hypothesis that the flow experience is a desirable quantity, and that differences in individual experiences of flow are accompanied by crucial differences in personality factors. The findings suggested that differences in flow experiences should not be considered in personality terms alone, but also that the flow experience is associated with more desirable personality characteristics from a health point of view, as described by Eysenck (1987). More specifically, healthy personality characteristics were associated with positive aspects of the flow factors (intense flow experience, ability to cope, motivation), whilst vulnerability to stress related disease was associated with the negative aspects of the flow factors (less intense flow experience, coping at a cost to health, less motivation). Evidence as to the causality of the relationship between flow, personality and health is discussed, and it is concluded that this indicates a cyclical relationship. It was concluded that the flow experience may therefore play an important role in the prevention of stress related health disorders via it's interaction with personality factors. Further implications and directions for future research are discussed.

This research examined the role of motivational cognitions and belief systems in the process of exercise adoption and maintenance. Deci and Ryan (1985,1990) outline a continuum of behavioural regulation that ranges from non-self-determined regulation (external regulation) to completely self-determined regulation (intrinsic regulation). Prochaska and DiClemente (1984) describe five stages of behaviour change that range from no thoughts of changing (precontemplation) to maintenance of change (maintenance). They also outline ten strategies and techniques for encouraging and maintaining change which are known as the processes of change. Kelly (1955, 1963) presents a personal construct theory which maintains that each of us has theories or constructs about people and events which guide beliefs and behaviour. Research, which integrated these concepts, was conducted in three phases. A Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire was developed in the first phase of research. Results from the second phase of research revealed that regulation of exercise behaviour was more self-determined in the later than in the earlier stages of change. This highlights the importance of motivational considerations in understanding the change process. Only five of the ten processes of change made a meaningful contribution to differentiation among the stagesi n femalesw hile only three of the processesm ade a meaningfulc ontribution to differentiation among the stages in males. These processes showed moderate to strong correlations with those forms of behavioural regulation that are at least somewhat selfdetermined. In addition, those successfully changing their stage of exercise behaviour over a three month period increased their use of the counter-conditioning process. However, confirmatory factor analysis of the Processes of Change for Exercise Questionnaire brought into question the factorial validity of the measure. The final phase of research examined personal construction of exercise as a function of stage of changea nd self determination for exercise. Those in the maintenance stage of change had strong opinions about and strong preferences for certain modes of exercise, while references to being too serious about exercise were strongest in the preparation and precontemplation stages. The preparation stage was marked by desire for more motivation and push to take more exercise. As self-determination decreased references to lack of time for exercise and a desire to have more motivation or put in more effort increased. This research suggests that conflict between desired self (more active and healthy) and actual self (not the fit and active type) may be greatest in the preparation and action stages of change where the act of exercising is still low in self-determination and not yet reconciled with one's sense of self.

This thesis examines the implementation of Just In Time manufacturing through team leaders. Western industry has failed to achieve the performance benefits experienced in Japan with the introduction of Just In Time, a manufacturing system based on the relentless elimination of waste. Criticism is emerging of the experience of employees of Just In Time. It is argued that stress levels are high and motivation is low. However, Just In Time relies on a new, more active, role for employees. A contradiction is apparent between the needs of Just In Time, in terms of the role played by employees, and the reality of their experience of a Just In Time working environment. Resolving this contradiction, while improving industrial performance, is the subject of this research. The research draws on knowledge from a wide range of fields. Work on Just In Time is combined with work on employee motivation, and the management of change. The role of the team leader emerges as a critical factor in the review of the literature. The implementation of Just In Time, through a focus on team leaders, utilising knowledge gained from socio-technical systems is tested in a year long, action research project with Alcan Aluminiurn at their Banbury extrusions factory. Survey evidence is gathered to analyse its impact. The results suggest that companies will benefit from the utilisation of the approach developed; the implementation of Just In Time through team leaders. There is substantial scope for further work to develop this approach to the implementation of Just In Time and to explore its application in other forms of change.

Entrepreneurs and the components that motivates them not to give up when facing obstacles have been the focus in many different studies. There have also been some studies which aims at connecting the concepts of intrapreneurs and motivation. However, we found a gap in the research which compares Swedish entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs focusing on their motivational factors. Therefore, this study aims to fulfill the found research gap through looking deeper into the intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors of both entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. This led up to the following formulation of the research question: What are the main differences in motivation factors between successful entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs in Sweden? To answer this question, a qualitative study was conducted with the focus on gaining more understanding on what intrinsic and extrinsic factors motivates entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. Participants in the study were found based on criteria such as working in Sweden and being considered as successful through nominations or rewards. Data collection was done through using semi-structured interviews with five entrepreneurs and five intrapreneurs with the focus on finding motivational factors and typical personal characteristics related to their line of work. Since we found similar motivational factors in our chosen theories, it was decided that they would be used in the interviews. These factors were; Monetary reward, Challenges, Training, Acknowledgement, Affiliation, Power and Accomplishment.  Results show that the entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs have differences in their motivational factors both among the individuals within each title, as well as between the titles. The motivational factors found were paired with definitions of factors from the theories. Personal characteristics of entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs were also found and connected to theories about personal characteristics. The analyzed answers of intrapreneurs’ and entrepreneurs’ motivational factors were compared against each other to see if the motivational factors differ between entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. The conclusion of this study is that for the extrinsic motivational factors, the entrepreneurs are more motivated by monetary rewards than the intrapreneurs and challenges motivates the intrapreneurs more than the entrepreneurs. For the intrinsic factors, power was more motivating for the entrepreneurs and more intrapreneurs saw acknowledgement as motivating. The factors which had no differences were concluded to not being related to being an entrepreneur or intrapreneur.

No description available.

Voluntary automatic milking is a system whereby dairy cows can be milked as the cow desires without routine human intervention. Motivation to be milked was studied in a Y -maze and an automatic milking system (AMS). In both motivation to be milked was variable. In the Y -maze some early lactation cows chose to be milked every 31/ 2 hours five times per day, but there was much individual variation. Late lactation cows did not choose to be milked less often than the early lactation cows. When given the choice to be milked or fed concentrate in the Y -maze, early lactation cows always chose to eat. In the AMS mean attendance increased from 1.1 visits/ cow / day when they were not fed concentrate to 2.8 visits/cow/day when they were fed concentrate. The effects of feeding in the AMS on attendance were studied. Feeding concentrate in the parlour had no effect on attendance or the number of milkings. The AMS exit area feed type (where the cows had to visit the AMS to reach the food; either forage or concentrate) however, had a significant effect on attendance (forage: 6.0 visits/cow/day, concentrate: 4.1 visits/cow/day, s.e.d=0.25) but only a small effect on the frequency of milkings (forage: 2.6 milkings/cow/day, concentrate: 2.4 milkings/cow/day, s.e.d=0.06). Feeding forage in the exit area, as opposed to freely available in the bedded area, significantly reduced the total forage feeding time (209 vs 289 minutes/cow/day, s.e.d=33.6), and the number of bouts (4.9 vs 7.9 bouts/cow/day). Feeding cows in the parlour increased the level of shuffling during the automatic teat cup attachment process (6.7 vs. 3.4 shuffles/cow/milking, s.e.d 2.07). There were no other behavioural effects or any effects on their milking characterisitcs. Future automatic milking systems could feed concentrate in the exit area as the lure to attract cows into the system. There is no requirement to feed cows while they are being milked.

M.Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Le visa est traditionnellement présenté comme le fondement logique de l’arrêt de cassation, en ce qu’il désigne la règle de droit qui a été violée par la juridiction du fond. Cependant, aussi importante que soit la logique dans le raisonnement juridique, certaines étapes de celui-ci sont irréductibles à une simple déduction. La présentation du visa comme fondement de l’arrêt a alors l’inconvénient de travestir la réalité. Elle passe en effet sous silence les opérations que sont l’interprétation et la qualification, pourtant centrales dans le raisonnement juridique, et laisse de côté certains arrêts qui ne peuvent pas être expliqués sous ce prisme. Il apparaît alors plus juste de voir dans le visa un élément de justification de la cassation. Cette justification opère de multiples façons selon la nature du lien unissant le visa et la solution, mais aussi selon la fonction du visa dans la justification. En effet, lorsque les visas sont multiples, tous n’ont pas le même rôle. La fonction justificative du visa étant établie dans toute sa complexité, reste à savoir si le visa atteint vraiment son objectif, à savoir convaincre ses destinataires. Il apparaît que les commentateurs se saisissent largement du visa pour tenter de déceler la règle appliquée et les raisons ayant mené à son choix, déterminer la portée de l’arrêt, voire pour déterminer quelles sont les sources du droit. Cependant, le message véhiculé par le visa n’est pas toujours bien reçu. La cour de cassation, confrontée à de tels problèmes, a traditionnellement tendance à multiplier les moyens de communication sur l’arrêt plutôt que de modifier sa pratique du visa, mais cette attitude évolue actuellement / The reference to the law in the French supreme court of appeal decisions is traditionally presented as their logical basis, in that it refers to the rule of law which has been violated by the court. However important logic in legal reasoning, certain stages of it are irreducible to deduction. The presentation of the reference to the law as the basis of the judgment has the disadvantage of disguising reality. It ignores the operations of interpretation and qualification, which are nevertheless central to legal reasoning and leaves aside certain judgments which can’t be explained under this prism. It seems more accurate to see in the reference to the law an element of justification for the cassation. This justification operates in many ways depending on the nature of the link between the reference to the law and the solution, but also according to the function of the reference to the law in the justification. Indeed, when references to the law are multiple, not all have the same role. As the justification action of the reference to the law is revealed in all its complexity, it remains to be seen whether it really achieves its objective, namely to convince its recipients. It appears that commentators are largely aware of the reference to the law in an attempt to identify the rule applied and the reasons for its choice, determine the scope of the judgment, and even determine the sources of the law. However, the message conveyed by the visa is not always well received. The court of cassation, confronted with such problems, has traditionally tended to multiply the means of communication on the judgment rather than modifying its practice, but this attitude is currently changing

Motivation som process innefattar det som driver människan framåt och får henne att agera. Det som driver människan till handling är hens behov. Människan upplever välbehag när behov uppfylls och obehag när dessa inte tillfredsställs. För att en student ska påbörja, fortsätta med och slutföra högskolestudier krävs en viss mängd motivation. Motivation kan vara av antingen intern eller extern karaktär. Syftet med detta arbete var att studera till vilken utsträckning programstudenterna vid Luleå Tekniska Universitet ansåg sig vara motiverade till sina studier. Ytterligare ett syfte var att studera förekomsten av intern och extern motivation bland dessa programstudenter. Detta för att kunna framta den motivationsfaktor som respondenterna värderar högst. Data samlades in med hjälp av en webbenkät där respondenterna skattade graden av total motivation, intern motivation och extern motivation. Skattningarna jämfördes sedan mellan studenter tillhörande olika typer av utbildningar samt mellan studenter som befann sig i början respektive slutet av sin utbildning. Materialet analyserades sedan med hjälp av SPSS. Resultatmönstret tydde på att studenterna vid universitetet var stabilt motiverade till sina studier. Respondenterna uppvisade även en svag tendens till att skatta intern motivation högre än extern. Utbildningstyp (filosofisk/teknisk) och/eller tid vid utbildning (början/slutet) hade ingen signifikant effekt på skattningarna av total motivation, intern motivation eller extern motivation. / Motivation as a process involves everything that drives humans forward and causes them to act in a certain direction. What primarily drive people to act are their needs. Humans feel comfortable when needs are met and discomfort when not satisfied. In order for a student to start, continue and complete university studies, a certain amount of motivation is required. Motivation may be of either internal or external character. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate to what extent the students at Luleå University of Technology considered themselves motivated for their studies. Another purpose was to study the amount of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation among these students. Data was collected using a web survey where the participants were asked to estimate their total motivation, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Estimates were then compared between participants belonging in philosophical versus technical faculty and between students in the beginning versus the end of their education. The material was then analyzed using SPSS. The performance pattern indicates that the students felt motivated to their studies. The feeling of motivation was seen as stable. The results showed that students had a week tendency to estimate their intrinsic motivation a bit higher than extrinsic motivation. Results showed that faculty affiliation or beginning / end of education had no significant effect on estimates of total motivation, intrinsic motivation or extrinsic motivation.

M.Com. (Industrial Psychology) / The twentieth century is marked by fast developing communities which are currently moving into a new era of social, political, economic and cultural change. These developments include, among other, increased economic activities, over-population and an international tendency towards political conflict. In the South African environment these factors, together with the socio-economic structure and heterogeneous racial composition place an ever increasing demand on the occupational and organisational environment...