Titel: Motivationsskapande ledarskap på distans: En studie utifrån målvägsteorin Nivå: Examensarbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi. Författare: Maria Wihlborg och Emilia Wästlund Handledare: Monika Wallmon Datum: 2022 - Juni  Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att utifrån ett ledarperspektiv skapa förståelse för vilka ledarbeteenden och motivationstekniker som svenska ledare inom privat och offentlig sektor använder när distansarbete införts på arbetsplatsen.  Metod: Studien har en kvalitativ utgångspunkt, vilket tar sig i uttryck i 10 semistrukturerade intervjuer. Vidare har studien en deduktiv ansats som grundar sig i målvägsteorin, som är en motivationsteori inom ledarskapsområdet.  Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet av studien visar på att relationen till gruppen är en framstående källa till motivation hos medarbetarna när arbetet sker på distans. Arbetet med att stärka relationen inom gruppen har sker ofta genom att använda kommunikationen som verktyg. Studien fastställer att det framstående ledarbeteendet inom privat sektor är det prestationsorienterade medan det deltagande är vanligast förekommande inom offentlig sektor.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar med ökad kunskap för hur ledare inom privat och offentlig sektor arbetar med motivation när arbetet sker på distans. Den privata sektorns prestationsorienterade ledarbeteende och den offentliga sektorns deltagande ledarbeteende visar på en markant skillnad mellan sektorernas ledarskap. Detta ger en ökad förståelse för hur de olika sektorerna leder organisationen när arbetet varit på distans. Studien har även gett insikter om vilka nytänkande strategier som kan tillämpas på en distanserad arbetsplats för att öka motivationen hos medarbetarna. Några av dessa strategier är att hålla möten utomhus, strukturerad kommunikation samt distansarbetesbingo.  Förslag till fortsatt forskning: En intressant aspekt att undersöka är hur arbetet efter covid-19 pandemin hanterats, vilka lärdomar tar man med sig och vilka kommer rutiner kommer man gå tillbaka till? Utöver detta föreslår vi att man i en framtida studie kan använda sig av samma empiriska material men i stället utgå från motivationsteorin Self Determination Theory. Slutligen föreslår vi att vidare forskning på ämnet skulle kunnat beröra hur upplevelsen av arbetet förändrats när det skalats ner till dess kärna och även huruvida aktiviteten på arbetsmarknaden påverkats till följd av detta.  Nyckelord: Målvägsteorin, Ledarskap, Distansarbete, Motivation, Privat sektor, Offentlig sektor. / Title: Motivational leadership at teleworking: A study based on the path goal theory. Level: Final assignment for Bachelor’s degree in business administration Authors: Maria Wihlborg and Emilia Wästlund Supervisor: Monika Wallmon Date: 2022 - June  Aim: The purpose of this study is to create an understanding from a leadership perspective of the leadership behaviors and motivational techniques that Swedish leaders in the private and public sector use when teleworking is introduced.  Method: The study has a qualitative method, which is expressed by 10 semi-structured interviews. Furthermore, the study has a deductive approach based on the path goal theory, which is a motivation theory in the field of leadership.  Result and conclusion: The results of the study show that the relationship with the group is a prominent source of motivation among employees during teleworking. The work of strengthening the relationship within the group has often been done by using communication as a tool. The study establishes that the prominent leadership behavior in the private sector is the achievement-oriented leadership behavior, while the participative leadership behavior is most common in the public sector.  Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes with increased knowledge of how leaders in the private and public sector work with motivation when the work takes place at a distance. The achievement-oriented leadership behavior of the private sector, and the participative leadership behavior of the public sector show a marked difference between the leaderships of the sectors. This provides an increased understanding of how the various sectors lead the organization when the work has been at a distance. The study has also provided insights into which innovative strategies can be applied in a remote workplace to increase employee motivation. Some of these strategies are outdoor meetings, structured communication and telework bingo.  Suggestions for further research: An interesting aspect to investigate is how the work after the covid-19 pandemic was handled, what lessons do you take with you and what routines will you go back to? In addition to this, we suggest that in a future study one can use the same empirical material but instead start from the motivation theory SDT - Self Determination Theory. Finally, we suggest that further research on the subject could have touched on how the experience of work changed when it was scaled down to its core and whether activity in the labor market was affected as a result.  Keywords: Path goal theory, Leadership, Teleworking, Motivation, Private sector, Public sector.

Titel: Leadership in remote work during the covid-19 pandemic. Level: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration  Author: Sibel Kervanci & Martial Ntungane  Supervisor: Monika Wallmon Date: 2022 - January Aim: The purpose of this work is with the help of path goal theory to investigate how leaders apply their leadership in remote work. Method: This study has used a qualitative method in the form of 9 semi-structured interviews at the same time as a quantitative method in the form of a questionnaire with 9 participants was produced. Conclusion: The result presented through the study has been that the majority of the respondents showed a mixture of the directive and achievement-oriented leadership behavior. The motivation and relationship of the employees has been affected during the pandemic and to remedy this, all leaders have used digital aids. Contribution of the thesis: This study will contribute to an expanded understanding of how leaders in different industries can lead and motivate employees in times of crisis. The study can benefit both leaders and employees, but the main focus is on how leaders should act during remote work. Suggestions for future research: This study is conducted from a leadership perspective, for further research it would be interesting to present a study based on the path goal theory with a focus on from employee perspective. Regarding the goal path theory, we have based this study on the four leadership styles that House (1974) highlights. However, new leadership styles have been developed since then and it would therefore be interesting to include the new leadership styles in future research. / Titel: Ledarskap vid distansarbete under covid-19 pandemin. Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå i företagsekonomi.  Författare: Sibel Kervanci & Martial Ntungane Handledare: Monika Wallmon  Datum: 2022 - Januari  Syfte: Syftet med detta arbete är att med hjälp av målvägsteorin undersöka hur ledare tillämpar sitt ledarskap vid distansarbete. Metod: Denna studie har använt sig av en kvalitativ metod i form av 9 semistrukturerade intervjuer samtidigt som en kvantitativ metod i form av en enkätundersökning med 9 deltagare framställts.   Resultat och Slutsats:  Resultatet som framförts genom studien har varit att majoriteten av respondenterna uppvisat en blandning av det vägledande och prestationsinriktade ledarbeteendet. Motivationen samt relationen hos medarbetarna har påverkats negativt under pandemin och för att åtgärda detta har samtliga ledare använt sig av digitala hjälpmedel.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Denna studie bidrar till en utökad förståelse kring hur ledare inom olika branscher kan gå tillväga för att leda samt motivera medarbetare vid distansarbete. Studien kommer att kunna tas del av ledare och medarbetare. Fokuset riktas främst till hur ledarna bör agera under distansarbete. Förslag till vidare forskning: I denna studie har vi utgått ifrån ett ledarperspektiv, till vidare forskning hade det varit intressant att framföra en liknande studie som utgår ifrån målvägsteorin men med fokus på medarbetarperspektiv för att kunna få en större uppfattning ur deras synvinkel. Utifrån målvägsteorin har vi utgått ifrån de fyra ledarskapsstilarna som House (1974) belyser.  Det har däremot framtagits nya ledarskapsstilar som hade varit intresseväckande att inkludera i framtida forskning.

Creating successful leaders is one of the challenges that social services organizations are facing. Employees may lack essential managerial skills to become productive leaders, and some managers may lack viable succession planning methods for preparing employees for leadership positions. The purpose of this case study was to explore methods that executive managers use to prepare employees for leadership positions. Path-goal theory and transformational leadership represent the conceptual framework that grounded this study. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 executive managers in the social services industry within southwest Georgia with experiences and skills specific to implementing successful succession planning. Company archives of corporate reports, government records, and business and management records were used for triangulation. The data were coded and analyzed using a modified van Kaam method. Participants verified the accuracy of the analysis of their responses through member-checking. The findings revealed 4 emergent themes: organizational management, hiring employees that fit the culture, leadership capabilities, and talent management. A recommendation from the study was that executive managers find methods to prepare employees for leadership positions. These findings may contribute to positive social change by identifying methods to prepare employees for leadership positions, thereby generating organizational sustainability, increasing organization revenue, and creating community economic development.

Problematisering: Arbetsformen hybridarbete har efter covid-19-pandemin blivit vanlig. Det råder dock tvetydighet i hur ledarskapet ska utformas för att fungera på bästa sätt i det nya normala. Studier visar vidare att sociala dimensioner påverkas av förändringar i tillit, men även att självledarskap kan öka tilliten mellan ledare och anställda. Självledarskap lämpar sig väl i hybridarbete då en högre grad av eget ansvar efterfrågas av de anställda.  Syfte: Syftet med studien är att skapa förståelse för hur ledare i kunskapsintensiva företag upplever att ledarskapet har förändrats i samband med hybridarbete. Eftersom självledarskap kan motverka exempelvis tillitsproblem, undersöks även självledarskapets betydelse i förändringen.  Metod: Kvalitativ metod har valts i form av sex intervjuer av ledare som leder med självledarskap i hybridarbete. Resultat/slutsats: Resultatet visar att ledarna inte upplever stora förändringar i ledarskapet, däremot har tydlighet och kommunikation blivit viktigare. Självledarskapet har i princip samma betydelse som tidigare men användandet har ökat i hybridarbetet. / Problem statement: Hybrid work has become common after the pandemic. However, there is ambiguity about how leadership in the hybrid workplace should be designed to work best. Furthermore, studies show that social dimensions are affected by changes in trust, but also that self-leadership can increase trust between leaders and employees. Self-leadership is well suited to hybrid work where a higher degree of personal responsibility is demanded from employees.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of how leaders in knowledge intensive organizations perceive that leadership has changed in the context of hybrid work. The importance of self-leadership is also investigated.  Method: A qualitative method was chosen, six leaders who lead with self-leadership were interviewed.  Results/conclusion: The leaders do not experience major changes in leadership, but clarity and communication have become more important. Self-leadership has not become more important but its use has increased in hybrid work.

Numerous factors are likely to influence response patterns to situational judgment tests, including agreeableness, leadership style, impression management, and job and organizational experience. This research presents background information and research on situational judgment tests and several constructs hypothesized to influence situational judgment test responses. A situational judgment test and manipulations to influence response patterns were developed and piloted with a small sample of management professionals and undergraduate students. Larger samples of management professionals and undergraduate students participated in the experimental research. Participants were asked to imagine that they are applying for a job. Each participant was presented with background information about a fictitious company, describing a company as either highly Participative/Supportive or highly Directive/Achieving in its leadership culture. A third description provided no information about leadership culture to serve as a control. Participants responded to a situational judgment test consisting of some commercially developed items and some new items. Then participants responded to an inventory comprised of items that measure the factors hypothesized to influence response patterns, specifically Agreeableness and Experience. Significant differences in response patterns were determined to be attributable to the Agreeableness and Experience variables, and the Leadership Culture manipulations, as well as the interaction between Experience and the Leadership Culture manipulations. No significant differences were clearly attributable to the Agreeableness by Leadership Culture interaction. The ramifications of these findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are presented.