The purpose of the current research was to determine whether goal-setting as motivational work theory influences productivity and the productivity measurement and enhancement system (ProMES) as a human resource intervention that provides feedback improves productivity in an Angolan female handball team after the implementation. Motivation and productivity are important to the success of a sports organisation. Goal-setting theory was formulated on the premise that conscious goals affect action. The ProMES approach offers a method for measuring action results, in other words team productivity, which takes this feature of typical team settings into account. Each participant completed a questionnaire toolkit and the results showed that when athletes are task oriented and collectivist they believe in goal-setting and productivity improves. The ProMES process itself, with its participative aspects and process of role clarifying and expectations can successfully be used within the sports industry. This research also reaffirms the relationship between motivation and productivity. / Business Management / M. Admin. (Business Management)

The main aim of this study was to develop a diversity management content model based on the organisational team sport intervention and to compile a process model to implement organisational team sport in an organisation in nine financial organisations in Gauteng, South Africa. The diversity constraints relevant in this study were age, gender, race, religious beliefs, physical abilities, ethnicity, generation gaps, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, physical abilities, education, income, political beliefs and income. The study was conducted among 63 sport participants and nine sport coordinators employed at nine financial organisations in Gauteng, South Africa. The data were collected by means of focus group interviews with sport participants and individual interviews with sport coordinators. The results indicate that organisational team sport interventions as a diversity management initiative do have benefits for the employees (i.e. the employees learn more about and from one another, communicate openly, become friends, trust and respect one another, are able to work together in a team, have equal opportunities and there is less stereotyping/discrimination) and for the organisation (i.e. productivity, the company is able to achieve its goals, employees are more cohesive and able to work together, there is creativity, new ideas are generated and client service improves). The findings of this study contribute valuable new knowledge to the literature on the diversity management content model based on organisational team sport interventions because no studies have been conducted on an organisational team sport intervention model that can be utilised as a diversity model in organisations. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / D. Com.

[Truncated abstract] Broadly, research literature on the physiological aspects of water polo game play is limited, but particularly so in the women's game. Moreover, significant changes to game rules in recent years are likely to have had an impact on the game demands. Therefore, this research project sought to investigate the physiological characteristics of contemporary elite female water polo players and the demands of match play. Overall, the five studies comprising this thesis aimed to improve the practical knowledge of coaches and sport scientists concerning the training and monitoring of players. Study one (Chapter 3) compared two water polo-specific field tests of aerobic and/or match fitness (MSST, multistage shuttle swim test; and WIST, water polo intermittent shuttle test) with a traditional incremental swimming test to exhaustion (IST, 5 x 200 m). Prior to this study, the physiological responses to the MSST and WIST were not well understood. Additionally, the degree of association between these two tests was unknown. Therefore, 14 Australian National Women's Water Polo Squad players performed the MSST and WIST, and 13 players from a National Water Polo League club performed the MSST, WIST and IST, on separate occasions. Peak heart rate, blood lactate and ratings of perceived exertion were obtained for all tests. Expired air was collected post test for the National League players. The results showed that the National Squad players performed significantly better in the MSST (636 ± 114 vs. 437 ± 118 m, p < 0.001) and WIST (270 ± 117 vs. 115 ± 57 m, p < 0.001) than the National League players. ... Absolute decrement yielded TE of 0.55 s (-0.42-0.81), CV of 26.0% (19.3-41.0) and ICC of -0.002 (-0.44-0.44). Relative (%) decrement yielded TE of 1.6% (1.2-2.3), CV of 27.2% (20.1-42.9) and ICC of -0.02 (-0.46-0.42). Results indicate that total time was a reliable measure, whilst decrement was not. Similar to land-based RSA tests, total time should be the criterion measure of performance in the RST. The RST can form part of a specific battery of field tests for water polo, and can also be used as a conditioning tool. The final study (Chapter 7) was a nutritional-intervention study. Based on the time-motion data from study three, a 59-min match simulation test (MST) was designed to mimic the activity profiles and physical demands of water polo match play. Using a randomized cross-over double-blind design, 12 Australian National Women's Water Polo Squad players ingested 0.3 g·kg-1 of NaHCO3 or placebo, 90 min before performing the MST, which included 56 x 10-m maximal-sprint swims as the performance measure. Although pre-exercise ingestion of NaHCO3 was effective in enhancing extracellular pH and bicarbonate levels, the percentage difference in mean sprint times between trials showed no substantial effects of NaHCO3 (0.4; ±0.9%, effect size = 0.09; ±0.23, p = 0.51). The results suggest that elite water polo players should not expect enhancement in intermittent-sprint performance from NaHCO3 supplementation. These findings are contrary to previous NaHCO3 studies on simulated team-sport performance, but this investigation is unique in that it examined highly-trained athletes performing sport-specific tasks. In conclusion, the findings of this thesis add to the existing literature on the applied physiology of women's water polo. It is hoped that the knowledge gained from these findings will lead to more appropriate conditioning, testing and selection outcomes.

The main aim of this study was to develop a diversity management content model based on the organisational team sport intervention and to compile a process model to implement organisational team sport in an organisation in nine financial organisations in Gauteng, South Africa. The diversity constraints relevant in this study were age, gender, race, religious beliefs, physical abilities, ethnicity, generation gaps, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, physical abilities, education, income, political beliefs and income. The study was conducted among 63 sport participants and nine sport coordinators employed at nine financial organisations in Gauteng, South Africa. The data were collected by means of focus group interviews with sport participants and individual interviews with sport coordinators. The results indicate that organisational team sport interventions as a diversity management initiative do have benefits for the employees (i.e. the employees learn more about and from one another, communicate openly, become friends, trust and respect one another, are able to work together in a team, have equal opportunities and there is less stereotyping/discrimination) and for the organisation (i.e. productivity, the company is able to achieve its goals, employees are more cohesive and able to work together, there is creativity, new ideas are generated and client service improves). The findings of this study contribute valuable new knowledge to the literature on the diversity management content model based on organisational team sport interventions because no studies have been conducted on an organisational team sport intervention model that can be utilised as a diversity model in organisations. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Com.

The purpose of the current research was to determine whether goal-setting as motivational work theory influences productivity and the productivity measurement and enhancement system (ProMES) as a human resource intervention that provides feedback improves productivity in an Angolan female handball team after the implementation. Motivation and productivity are important to the success of a sports organisation. Goal-setting theory was formulated on the premise that conscious goals affect action. The ProMES approach offers a method for measuring action results, in other words team productivity, which takes this feature of typical team settings into account. Each participant completed a questionnaire toolkit and the results showed that when athletes are task oriented and collectivist they believe in goal-setting and productivity improves. The ProMES process itself, with its participative aspects and process of role clarifying and expectations can successfully be used within the sports industry. This research also reaffirms the relationship between motivation and productivity. / Business Management / M. Admin. (Business Management)

Fysisk aktivitet kan genomföras genom exempelvis lagidrott vilket genererar psykiska, fysiska och sociala vinster i relation till hälsa. Som lagidrottsutövare under en pandemi har utmaningar uppstått som kräver att idrottsverksamheter behöver anpassa sig vilket också påverkar utövarna. Handboll är en sport som bedrivs inomhus med fysisk kontakt som till följd av Covid-19 pandemin både pausats och stängts ned. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur handbollsspelare upplever möjligheten att vara fysiskt aktiv under en pandemi och huruvida detta påverkar motivation i relation till lagidrotten. I studien har en kvalitativ metod tillämpats genom ett målstyrt urval där sex handbollsspelare i Västmanland intervjuades genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Insamlade data transkriberades och analyserades genom en manifest innehållsanalys. Resultatet visar att det finns upplevda möjligheter till fysisk aktivitet under Covid-19 pandemin som krävt en individuell träningsomställning och detta har möjliggjort mer tid till annat. De upplevda hindren är begränsad tillgänglighet att utöva handboll och mindre kollektiv träning som har bidragit till bristande motivation till lagidrotten. Slutsatserna visar att den sociala vinsten lagidrott genererar upplevs meningsfull vilket pandemin begränsat. Möjligheter och hinder har gjort att handbollsspelare ifrågasätter varför de tränar så mycket när det inte finns något att träna för vilket också påverkar motivation till sporten. / Physical activity can be performed through for example team sports which generate mental, physical, and social benefits in relation to health. As a team sport athlete during a pandemic, challenges have arisen that require sports activities to adapt, which also affects the athletes. Handball is a sport that is played indoors with physical contact which as a result of the Covid- 19 pandemic has both been paused and shut down. The aim of the study is to investigate how handball players experience the opportunity to be physically active during a pandemic and whether this affects motivation in relation to team sports. In the study, a qualitative method was applied through purposeful sampling where six handball players in Västmanland were interviewed through semi-structured interviews. The collected data were transcribed and analyzed by manifest content analysis. The results show that there are perceived opportunities for physical activity during the Covid- 19 pandemic that required an individual training adjustment, and this has enabled more time for other things. The perceived barriers during a pandemic with limited accessibility to practice handball and less collective training have contributed to a lack of motivation to team sports. The conclusion shows that the social winning teams sport generates, and which is perceived as meaningful, has been limited during the pandemic. Opportunities and barriers have made handball players questioning why they train so much when there is nothing to train for, which also affect motivation for the sport.

In conclusion, the results of the theoretical and empirical parts of the work, as well as conclusions on the hypotheses put forward, the practical significance of the study. Part of the research results is reflected in the article of the Higher Attestation Commission “Analysis of communicative strategies of personnel in roleplaying”, as well as at the conference “Psychology: from theory to practice”. / В работе исследуется взаимосвязь коммуникативных стратегий и игровой результативности хоккеистов