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QC 20110215

Archival data of unrestricted and restricted gift card transactions was compared with national level consumer spending data from both the U.S. and Canada to investigate the similarities and differences in purchase pattern. The objective for this comparison was to investigate the motivational power of unrestricted gift card compared to cash rewards, restricted gift card and other hedonic tangible incentive. Through results interpretation, the data supported the hypotheses that people perceive and use unrestricted gift card as a cash carrying medium rather than a tangible reward. A restricted gift card that is hedonic by design constrains its recipients to hedonic purchase and removes the guilt and eliminates the justification process. The results also suggested that the elimination of justification seems to be associated to not only the hedonic dimension of goods/services but also transaction size.

Archival data of unrestricted and restricted gift card transactions was compared with national level consumer spending data from both the U.S. and Canada to investigate the similarities and differences in purchase pattern. The objective for this comparison was to investigate the motivational power of unrestricted gift card compared to cash rewards, restricted gift card and other hedonic tangible incentive. Through results interpretation, the data supported the hypotheses that people perceive and use unrestricted gift card as a cash carrying medium rather than a tangible reward. A restricted gift card that is hedonic by design constrains its recipients to hedonic purchase and removes the guilt and eliminates the justification process. The results also suggested that the elimination of justification seems to be associated to not only the hedonic dimension of goods/services but also transaction size.

Area LIP has long been considered to be heavily involved in controlling transformations of visual stimuli into oculomotor behavior, as well as being an integral part of the extensive cortico-cortical network that controls covert visual attention. Neurons in LIP have been shown to respond to shifts in spatial attention as well as changes in the reward contingencies associated with visual stimuli, leading to the hypothesis that this area is involved in the selective processing of behaviorally relevant visual stimuli. However, the effects of attentional and motivational processes on neuronal activity in LIP have not been fully dissociated from each other. In one experiment I found that changing the reward contingencies in a peripheral visual detection task sytematically modulated visual responses in LIP, and that these changes in activity were correlated with the reaction time costs of re-orienting attention. In a further experiment, I manipulated the motivational state of rhesus macaque monkeys by varying the reward value associated with successful completion of a cued reflexive saccade task, and was thus able to study the neuronal activity in LIP while attention and motivation were independently controlled and manipulated. LIP responses to visual targets showed that directed visual attention systematically increased activity in neurons coding the attended location, suggesting spatially specific selective processing of that part of the visual field. In contrast, increasing motivation multiplicatively enhanced the response to visual targets irrespective of their location, suggesting a spatially non-specific enhancement of processing. The effects of attention and motivation on LIP activity were both predictive of changes in saccadic reaction times. These results suggest that attention and motivation exert distinct influences on visual representations in LIP, but that they both contribute to the preferential processing of behaviorally relevant visual stimuli. The data thus support the hypothesis that area LIP encodes a salience map of the visual world. / Dissertation

At present , the smart IC card multiple applications have been accepted widely and gradually in all levels of the society. Nowadays it's not surprise for one person to own several IC cards. But such a situation will make the IC cards overload in one's purse if these varying IC card applications are not integrated appropriately. It causes cardholders' embarrassment in using them. Thus, results contract the main purpose of the IC card¡¦s invention which would prove the convenient management for multiple applications. In this study, the management of integration for multi-application in one card was implemented . According to retail and marketing report with the service trade in America and Europe, 80% profit come from 20% loyal customer, so maintain existing loyalty of customer and improve them purchase and how about develop the new travelers continuously, let them become loyal customer is important . The dividend accumulates some and exchanges goods, and can enjoy the favorable practice to consume to hold the card in the special trade company, has already solemnly become a tool which attract customers to consume continuously with, but has observed various kinds of savings cards that the society has already existed now or accumulated a card and has been only limited to applying to the single trade company or the single group, cause consumers to reduce greatly too in maintaining customer's loyal validity in the inconvenience on of using. This research is directed against this shortcoming promptly, develop one set and jointly accumulate the operation way to click, analyses its financial feasibility. Direct against this disappearance, if can develop one set and jointly accumulate some mechanisms of exchanging goods together, can create the win-win situation. In the research structure of this research, collect relevant industry's information that the dividend accumulates some operation at first, by accumulating the cognition with the foundation of some industries and understanding to the dividend. Then regarded as the key goal of this research by way of planning one set and jointly accumulating the operation that is clicked. And, in order to probe into the actual feasibility of this operation way, utilize computer software to build and construct a financial assessment model linked dynamically, include relevant operation materials and the operation ways of the parameter and pictures advised in among them. And the financial affairs utilizing the financial model to make predict the reference basis that can be assessed as investment.

Police authority is an extremely huge institution within the administrative organization. How to establish a complete and sound promotion system to enable police officers to be promoted in a fair and reasonable method and by which to inspire their morale and reinforce police efficiency is exactly the essential mechanism to fulfill permanent service of police personnel and achieve the goal of administrative reformation. However, those who with outstanding performance don¡¦t necessarily get promoted accordingly owing to numerous restrictions imposed on police officers¡¦ promotion system. Consequently, the efficiency is failed to be improved and the situation of bad money driving out good occurs within the agency and result in adverse selection. Therefore, establishing a sound and complete promotion system can not only facilitate organizers to get promotion based on accomplishments and contributions individually by placing them in the right positions according to their professional specialties but also can inspire their morale to bring talents into full play and therefore increase working proficiency out of great loyalty. The establishment theory of police officers¡¦ promotion system takes ¡§theory¡¨ as the ¡§basis¡¨ and ¡§law¡¨ as the ¡§application.¡¨ The decrees and regulations it acts pursuant to and applies to are divided into law, order, and slip law. Police officers¡¦ promotion methods, standards, and operation principles are proclaimed in detail in the existing ¡§Civil Service Employment Act,¡¨ ¡§The Statute For Personnel Affairs Involving Police Staff,¡¨ ¡§Police Officers¡¦ Promotion Measures,¡¨ and ¡§Regulation Governing the Extended Authorization of Personnel Affairs of National Police Agency, Ministry of the Interior.¡¨ Nevertheless, police officers¡¦ promotion frequency is relatively higher compared to general civil service staff. Though it¡¦s the outcome of considering the specialty of duty and business, police officers¡¦ positions are adjusted easily owing to punishment and therefore they have to adapt to new environment all the time. Whether it will result in adverse influence on social security preservation requires further exploration. Police officers¡¦ promotion legal system is hereby taken as the main research subject, supported with further explanation of other associated administrative regulations and basic principles of administrative law, the five major frameworks including ¡§Administrative Principles, Administrative Organization, Limitation of Administrative Power, Administrative Relief, and Administrative Supervision¡¨ serve as the research approaches to examine police officers¡¦ promotion system of the Republic of China.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 104 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-81).

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 & 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 & 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.

Starting with Steele and Aronson (1995), research documents the performance decrements resulting from the activation of a negative task-relevant stereotype. I suggest that negative stereotypes can generate better performance, as they produce a prevention focus (Higgins, 2000; Seibt & Förster, 2004), because a prevention focus leads to greater cognitive flexibility in a task where points are lost (Maddox, Markman, & Baldwin, 2006). My prior work, Experiments 1 and 2, done in collaboration with Arthur B. Markman, W. Todd Maddox, and Grant C. Baldwin, used a category learning task that requires the participant test different explicit rules to correctly categorize stimuli. Half of the participants gained points for correct responses while half of the participants lost points for correct responses. We primed a positive or a negative gender stereotype. The negative prime matches the losses environment while the positive prime matches the gains environment. The match states are assumed to increase dopamine release into frontal brain areas leading to increased cognitive flexibility and better task performance whereas the mismatch states should not. Thus, we predict and obtain a 3-way interaction between Stereotype (Positive, Negative), Gender (Male, Female), and Reward structure (Gains, Losses) for accuracy and strategy. Experiments 3 and 4 used a category learning task, which requires the implicit learning system to govern participant responses. This task had an information-integration category structure and involves the striatum (e.g., Maddox & Ashby, 2004). Importantly, cognitive flexibility will hurt performance using this category structure. I therefore predicted that regulatory match states, created by manipulating Stereotype and Reward structure, will produce worse performance than mismatch states. I did not completely reverse the effects described in Experiments 1 and 2 as predicted. I found evidence supporting my predictions using computational models to test for task strategy in Experiment 3 and found results consistent with the flexibility hypothesis in Experiment 4. Importantly, I believe that stereotype threat effects should not be conceptualized as a main effect with negative stereotypes producing worse performance than positive stereotypes, but instead as an interaction between the motivational state of the individual, task environment, and type of task performed.