La croissance d'une entreprise est un processus complexe à analyser. Depuis quelques décennies, la recherche se focalise sur la détection des facteurs influençant la croissance et la performance de l'entreprise. L'objectif poursuivi est d'une part d'affiner la prédiction de réussite ou d'échec des entreprises et, d'autre part, dans une approche plus proactive, de contrôler et d'agir sur ces facteurs pour améliorer la performance de l'entreprise et pour limiter le risque de faillite. Les critères objectifs sont souvent utilisés et considérés comme les seuls facteurs déterminants du devenir des entreprises [Cooper et al., 1994]. Il existe cependant une variance dans les trajectoires de croissance à l'intérieur d'un groupe d'entreprises ayant des caractéristiques « objectives » similaires [Delmar et al., 2000]. L' explication de la diversité des trajectoires de croissance doit donc tenir compte d'autres facteurs, plus subjectifs, ayant trait à la psychologie des dirigeants. Dans ce sens, de nombreux travaux issus de la psychologie montrent que le comportement de l'individu est loin d'être homogène et est régi par différentes variables telles que la motivation. Cette thèse s'inscrit dans une démarche visant à mieux expliquer la croissance des entreprises. Elle s'inscrit dans la lignée des travaux traditionnels qui cherchent à déterminer les facteurs stimulants et inhibants à la croissance des entreprises. Elle se démarque cependant des travaux antérieurs en mettant en évidence l'impact d'un facteur clé de la personnalité des dirigeants, à savoir la motivation. L'objectif de cette thèse est donc de montrer que la motivation des dirigeants est un vecteur incontournable de la croissance des entreprises. Pour répondre à cette problématique, nous nous sommes intéressés à trois stades fondamentaux de la vie d'une entreprise, c'est-à-dire sa création, son développement et enfin sa possible défaillance. Le premier chapitre est consacré à l'étude de l'impact du type motivationnel de l'entrepreneur naissant sur la probabilité de création de l'entreprise. Quatre types de motivations chez les entrepreneurs naissants sont détectés : le succès financier, l'indépendance, la reconnaissance/développement de soi et autrui. Une approche explicative est mise en place pour tester l'effet direct et l'effet indirect du type de motivation des entrepreneurs naissants (médiation par l'effort) sur la probabilité de création de l'entreprise. Les résultats montrent que le type de motivation affecte de manière différenciée l'issue du processus de création. Dans le deuxième chapitre, un modèle est proposé sur le choix de financement avec lequel l'entreprise se développera. L'entrepreneur a la possibilité de choisir un financement par dette bancaire ou par capital-risque. Ce choix est conditionné, entre autres, par son type de motivation. L'entrepreneur doit faire un arbitrage entre la conservation des droits de contrôle et les cash-flows, autrement dit entre le fait de préserver son indépendance et le fait de privilégier ses gains monétaires. Ainsi, un entrepreneur motivé par l'indépendance privilégie la dette bancaire. Le choix de financement d'un entrepreneur motivé par le succès financier est plus complexe et dépend de ses compétences managériales. Il opte pour la dette bancaire s'il dispose de fortes compétences managériales et il privilégie le financement par capital-risque si ses compétences managériales sont faibles. Une forte croissance non contrôlée peut amener à des conséquences néfastes pour l'entreprise, à savoir provoquer sa faillite. L'étude de la défaillance de l'entreprise est l'objet de notre troisième chapitre. Une typologie a été créée pour caractériser et classifier les entreprises selon leur trajectoire de croissance.... / The growth of business is a complex process to analyze. In recent decades, the research focuses on the identification of the determinants influencing the growth and performance of ventures. The objective is, on the one hand, to refine predictions of success or failure of ventures and, on the other hand, as a more proactive approach, to monitor and to affect the factors that improve the performance of the venture and limit the risk of bankruptcy. The objective criteria are often used and considered as the only determinants of the future of the venture [Cooper and al., 1994]. However, there is a variance in growth trajectories within groups of ventures which have the same "objective" characteristics [Delmar and al., 2000]. The explanation of the diversity of growth trajectories must take into account other factors, more subjective, relating to the psychology of entrepreneur. Many studies in the field of psychology show that the behavior of the individual is far from being homogeneous and is governed by variables such as motivation.This thesis aims to better explain the growth of ventures. It is in line with the traditional studies that seek to determine the factors stimulating and inhibiting the growth of ventures. However, it differs from previous works in highlighting the impact of a key feature of personality of entrepreneurs : the motivation. The objective of this thesis is to show that the motivation of entrepreneur is a major vector for growth of the venture. We are interested in three stages in the life of a venture : creation, development and potential failure.The first chapter is devoted to the study of the impact of a nascent entrepreneur's motivation on the probability of successful launch. Four types of nascent entrepreneur's motivation are detected : financial success, recognition/self-realization, roles and independence. An explanatory approach is implemented to test the direct effect as well as the indirect effect of nascent entrepreneur's motivation (mediation through effort) on the probability of successful launch. The results show that the type of motivation affects differentially the venture's creation process.In the second chapter, a theoretical model on the financing choices with which the venture will grow is proposed. The entrepreneur can choose between bank debt financing and venture capital financing. This choice is conditioned, among other things, by the type of motivation. The entrepreneur must make a trade-off between conservation control rights and cash-flows, i.e. between the fact to preserve his independence and the privileging his monetary gains. Thus, the entrepreneur who is motivated by independence prefers bank debt. The choice of financing for an entrepreneur motivated by success financial is more complex and depends on his managerial skills. He opts for bank debt if he has strong managerial skills and favors funding by venture capital if his managerial skills are week.A strong uncontrolled growth can lead to adverse consequences for the venture, i.e. cause bankruptcy. The study of business failure is the subject of our third chapter. A typology was created to characterize and classify ventures according to their growth trajectory. Then, inter and intra groups comparative and explanatory analyzes were conducted to better understand the determinants of failure. These results show that the hyper-growth is not necessarily an asset for a venture.

In the public education accountability movement, politicians and corporate reformers claim that student performance on standardized tests is an appropriate and reliable measure of a teacher's ability to educate. Given the process of holding K-12 classroom teachers directly accountable for individual student achievement based on standardized testing results, the teachers at XYZ Elementary School are currently motivated to change only through externally controlled factors or extrinsic motivation. The purpose of this research was to explore processes other than extrinsic motivation that motivate teachers to engage in strategies and methods that indirectly influence students to learn over the long term. The purpose of the mixed transformative emancipatory design focused on change orientation and the social injustice inflicted upon professional educators (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). The study took place at a single-site elementary location with 19 volunteer teachers. The qualitative and quantitative data included 2 assessments, 1 experiment, 1 activity, and individual interviews. Data analysis of this transformative, mixed-methods, emancipatory design revealed the participants of XYZ Elementary School were ready and willing to change, felt low levels of autonomy in the workplace, experienced levels of flow (intrinsic motivation) in the classroom, and experienced low levels of support or appreciation from political leaders and the business community. The implication for local social change is the reexamining of current extrinsic motivation and management techniques to help educators become more effective. Broader social implications of this study are that teachers who experience higher degrees of autonomy and sense of purpose also feel a greater amount of intrinsic motivation to teach and learn.

Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, herauszufinden, wie sich die Motivation bei Schülerinnen und Schülern in speziellen homogenen Begabtenklassen verglichen mit regulären Schulklassen entwickelt. Dazu wurden im Rahmen des „Projekts zur Untersuchung des Lernens in der Sekundarstufe“ (PULSS-Projekt) zu vier Messzeitpunkten die Leistungs- und Lernzielorientierung sowie die intrinsische Motivation in Mathematik und Deutsch erfasst. Der Untersuchungszeitraum erstreckte sich vom Beginn der 5. Jahrgangsstufe bis zum Ende der 7. Klasse. Um eine größtmögliche Vergleichbarkeit der Begabten- und der Regelklässler zu gewährleisten, wurden die Stichproben anhand entscheidender Merkmale parallelisiert (Schule, Geschlecht, IQ, sozioökonomischer Status). Die statistische Auswertung bestätigte den Rückgang der Motivation aller Schülerinnen und Schüler über die vier Messzeitpunkte hinweg. Darüber hinaus zeigten sich keine bedeutsamen Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Klassentypen. Differenzierte man in den einzelnen Klassen nach Schülerinnen und Schülern unterschiedlicher Begabung, so zeigte sich, dass die Ausprägung der Intelligenz keinen Einfluss auf die Höhe der Motivation nimmt. Beim akademischen Selbstkonzept verhält es sich teilweise anders. Wurde neben dem Klassentyp zwischen Schülerinnen und Schülern mit hohem und solchen mit niedrigem akademischen Selbstkonzept unterschieden, so war bei einigen Kennwerten die Höhe der Motivation in den Begabtenklassen stärker vom Selbstkonzept beeinflusst als in den Regelklassen. Dies äußerte sich dahingehend, dass die Begabtenklässler mit hohem akademischem Selbstkonzept verhältnismäßig stark motiviert waren, wohingegen die Begabtenklässler mit niedrigem akademischem Selbstkonzept die geringste Motivation zeigten. Eine abschließende Bewertung dieser Entwicklung kann aufgrund der in vorliegender Arbeit gefundenen Ergebnisse jedoch nicht vorgenommen werden. Insgesamt konnte die Befürchtung eines ungünstigeren Entwicklungsverlaufs in begabungshomogenen Klassen widerlegt werden. Das Ausmaß, inwieweit einzelne Schülerinnen und Schüler von der Beschulung in Begabtenklassen profitieren, scheint hinsichtlich der motivationalen Entwicklung nicht so sehr von der Intelligenz, sondern vielmehr von nicht-kognitiven Persönlichkeitsfaktoren abzuhängen. So legen die Resultate nahe, die Ausprägung des akademischen Selbstkonzepts bei Auswahlverfahren stärker zu berücksichtigen.

This study investigated the perceived locus of causality of motivation in high school football players. The Sports Motivation Scale (SMS) was used to study seven motivation subscales (IM to know, IM to accomplish, IM stimulation, EM identified, EM introjected, EM external and Amotivation) with respect to motivation among high school football players. This indicated that IM to know, IM to accomplish, EM identified and EM introjected were the best predictors of the participants? perceived locus of causality of motivation. The results indicate that when using perceived locus of causality for motivation, position played could be predicted 62 percent of the time. The study also speculates on ways in which communication could be used to affect motivation.

ABSTRAKT Titel: Beyond motivation - in search of professionals Nivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Desirée Arman & Lisa Simu Handledare: Lars Ekstrand Datum: 2013-01-04 Syfte: Vi lever i ett kunskaps– och expertsamhälle där professionerna är bärare av expertkunskap. Uppsatsen ämnar därmed till att få ökad kunskap och förståelse för hur samt vad professionella medarbetare motiveras av i sitt arbete. Följande frågeställningar har undersökts: 1. Vad motiverar professionella medarbetare? 2. Har professionella medarbetare en inre drivkraft som medför att de motiverar sig själva?  Metod: Uppsatsen är skriven utifrån det hermeneutiska synsättet. Detta arbete är en kvalitativ studie och det empiriska avsnittet baseras på nio semistrukturerade djupintervjuer med professionella medarbetare. För att besvara uppsatsens frågeställningar har vi valt ut nyckelord från teorin som vi tror stämmer väl in på våra studieobjekt, därefter har vi utformat intervjufrågorna. Resultat & slutsats: Flertal av respondenterna värdesätter fria ramar samt möjlighet till att påverka och ha inflytande över sitt arbete. Även uppgifternas utformning är av betydelse för respondenterna. Studien har visat att dessa individer motiveras av komplexa och utmanande arbetsuppgifter. Det framkom även att individerna värdesätter gemenskapen, ledarskapet och meningsfullheten i arbetet. Likaså är den personliga och professionella utvecklingen något respondenterna angivit påverkar deras motivation och arbetstillfredsställelse. Studien visar även att professionella medarbetare driver sig själva i stor utsträckning men att stöd samt beröm från chefer och kollegor är något individerna värdesätter. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Forskningsområdet kan utökas till att vända sig till en större grupp individer och studera likartade frågeställningar. Ett alternativ kan vara att endast undersöka respondenter inom en specifik profession för att studera motivationen för endast den gruppen. Det vore även intressant att studera eventuella likheter och skillnader mellan ledares och medarbetares syn på motivation. Uppsatsens bidrag: Uppsatsen bidrar med ökad kunskap och förståelse för vad som motiverar professionella medarbetare. Vår förhoppning är även att ledare inom olika professioner ska kunna ta del av studien för att bättre kunna tillvarata humankapitalet.   Nyckelord: Motivation, inre motivation, professionalism, expertis, självförverkligande.

Vasaloppet är världens äldsta och längsta skidlopp och inför loppet 2012 är 15800 deltagare anmälda. Tidigare forskning har rapporterat att 75 % av alla deltagare påverkas av yttre motivationsfaktorer till deltagande samt visat att målsättning är en effektiv strategi för att öka motivationen. Studiens syfte var att undersöka vad som motiverar människor att genomföra och senare återvända till Vasaloppet utifrån ett motivations- och målsättningsperspektiv. Undersökningen genomfördes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer och omfattade tio manliga med åldern (M = 33,1) Vasaloppsdeltagare som har genomfört loppet en till fyra gånger och dessutom hade anmält sig till nästkommande lopp. Resultatet visade en förändring från yttre motivation vid det första genomförandet till en högre nivå av inre motivation men med prestationsmål som målsättning vid de båda sammanhangen. Studiens respondenter upplevde en stor skillnad från första till nästkommande Vasalopp, främst att målsättningen och motivationen är större inför nästkommande lopp, detta eftersom vikten av erfarenhet tycks vara en bidragande faktor till både högre målsättning men också högre motivation. För vidare forskning rekommenderas en longitudinell studie utifrån ett liknande syfte som den aktuella studien, samt att det skulle vara av intresse att undersöka vad som får Vasaloppsdeltagare att enbart genomföra loppet en gång. / Vasaloppet is the world's oldest and longest skirace and there are 15800 participants listed for the upcoming race this year. Previous research has reported that 75 % of all participants are extrinsically motivatied to participation and shown that goal-setting is one effective strategy in order to increase motivation. The present study aimed to investigate what causes people to participate in and return to Vasaloppet from a motivational- and goal-setting perspective. Semi- structured interviews were conducted with 10 male (M=33.1) participants whom had all participated in Vasaloppet from one to four times before and were entered for this following year. The result showed a change from extrinsic motivation at the first race to a higher level of intrinsic motivation later on but with outcome goal orientation at both races. The participants experienced a big difference from the first to the following race, especially regarding higher achievement goal-setting and more motivation ahead of the upcoming race, where experience seems to be a contributing factor. For further research it is recommended a longitudinal study a along the similar premises as the current study and to investigate the Vasalopp participants that only choose to attend once.

<p>This investigation explored the conditions that minimize the negative effects of lacking choice and maximize the positive effects of having choice. Four experimental studies were conducted with college students as participants. Four aspects of this issue were addressed: (a) whether the saliency of not having a choice moderates the detrimental effects of lacking choice, (b) whether having choice is more beneficial when the type of choice is less costly in terms of self-regulatory effort, (c) whether the effect of choice on motivation is influenced by the number of choices an individual must make, and (d) whether perceived competence mediates of the relationships between choice, motivation and performance. Overall, this investigation failed to provide substantial support for the hypotheses regarding factors that might moderate the effects of choice on motivation. Null results are proposed to be largely attributable to the strength of the choice manipulations, the nature of the tasks used, and characteristics of participants. The results of two studies provided partial support for hypotheses showing that participants in no-choice conditions experienced a decrease in perceived competence or intrinsic motivation for the task, while participants who received a choice experienced no such decrease. This in conjunction with evidence showing that the participants found the task to be more difficult than expected suggested that choice may serve a protective function for difficult tasks. Further, exploratory analyses revealed that that the effect of choice may be more beneficial for individuals with low perceived or actual competence and that restricting choice may be more detrimental to individuals with high perceived or actual competence. Ways in which future studies may address the limitations of the present investigation and build on exploratory findings are discussed.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oxford Graduate School, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [118]-178).

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985.

Syfte: Syftet var att studera och analysera hur en statlig aktör tillämpar belöningssystem som styrmedel inom den avreglerade apoteksbranschen i Sverige.  Metod: Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ fallstudiedesign hos Apoteket AB. Primärdatan har samlats in med hjälp av semi-strukturerade intervjuer.  Resultat &amp; Slutsats: Analysen visar att den monetära bonusen i det implementerade belöningssystemet hos Apoteket AB inte är direkt motiverade. Belöningsystemet är dock inte funktionslöst, de bonusgrundande målen skapar indirekt viss motivation hos de anställda som gillar att mäta sig mot varandra. Mjukare aspekter fångas inte upp av det nuvarande belöningssystemet. Empirin visar också att det finns en obalans mellan motivationskällor och belöningarna som utgår.  Förslag till vidare forskning: Det finns olika möjligheter vad gäller vidare forskning. En liknande studie skulle kunna göras med ett kvantitativt angreppssätt. En annan intressant inriktning skulle vara en jämförande studie mellan statligt och privat ägda apotek. / Purpose: The purpose was to study and analyze how a goverment owned pharmacy uses reward systems as a management tool in Sweden’s deregulated market.  Method: The study was conducted as a qualitative case study at Sweden’s goverment owned pharmacy, Apoteket AB. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews.  Result &amp; Conlusion: The study shows that the monetary reward of the implemented reward system does not motivate employees to any greater extent. However, the reward system indirectly creates motivation because the goals of the reward system serves as a tool to measure themselves against other pharmacies. The data also shows an imbalance between the employees’ source of motivation and the rewards.  Suggestions to further research: A similar study could be conducted using a quantitative methodology. Another interesting study would be a comparative study between goverment owned and privately owned pharmacies.