Motivation factors enabling positive deviance at workplace

Motivation concerns a person’s willingness to do something. Managers of organizations wish to keep their employees’ motivation level high and improve the performance of the organization. To keep the motivation level high, managers have to acknowledge what are the factors that influence the motivation level of employees. This Bachelor’s Thesis explores factors that influence personnel motivation at workplace. It also studies if these motivational factors enable positive deviance of organizations. The study was conducted within the principles of Positive Organizational Scholarship and theory about motivation is used as a background. This project was launched due to the need to study Positive Organizational Scholarship. The purpose was to study the subject from different viewpoints and this thesis focuses on personnel motivation. The aim of the thesis was firstly to study what were the motivation factors that affect employees and secondly how these factors related to Positive Organizational Scholarship and did they enable positive deviance. The study was carried out by using the qualitative research method. The research material, in-depth interviews of personnel and leaders, was studied. The collected data was analysed by using the qualitative analysis tool Nvivo8. The appearing topics were processed in a World Café session with experts, where the topics were discussed and debated by the participants of the project. As a result, this study presents four factors which influence personnel motivation at workplace. These factors are feedback, rewards, challenges and positivity. The results can be used by managers to improve the motivation level of employees and the performance of organization.Motivaatio voidaan määritellä ihmisten haluna tehdä jotain tehtävää. Työntekijä, joka on motivoitunut, haluaa tehdä hänelle määrätyn tehtävän nopeasti ja hyvin. Johtajat puolestaan haluavat pitää työntekijät motivoituneina ja näin ollen parantaa yrityksensä tehokkuutta. Onnistuakseen tässä johtajien täytyy olla selvillä siitä, mitkä ovat ne tekijät, jotka vaikuttavat työntekijöiden motivaatioon. Tämä insinöörityö esittää vastauksen kysymykseen, mitkä ovat tekijät jotka vaikuttavat henkilökunnan motivaatioon työpaikalla. Lisäksi tutkinnan alla on se, vaikuttavatko nämä motivaatiotekijät organisaation positiiviseen poikkeavuuteen. Tässä työssä käytettiin pohjana yleistä teoriaa motivaatiosta, sekä Positive Organizational Scholarship-nimisen konseptin periaatteita. Tämä projekti käynnistettiin, jotta voitaisiin tutkia Positive Organizational Scholarship-konseptia. Tarkoituksena oli tutkia tätä aihetta monesta eri näkökulmasta ja tämä tutkimus, joka keskittyy motivaatioon, on yksi näistä näkökulmista. Tutkimuksen päätarkoitus on selvittää ne tekijät, jotka vaikuttavat työntekijöiden motivaatioon eniten. Lisäksi tarkoituksena on tutkia, liittyvätkö tulokset tutkittuun konseptiin, sekä aiheuttavatko ne organisaatioiden positiivista poikkeavuutta. Tutkimus suoritettiin käyttäen kvalitatiivista tutkimusmenetelmää. Ensiksi tutkimusmateriaali, työntekijöiden ja johtajien haastattelut, tutkittiin läpikotaisin. Tämän jälkeen materiaalista saatu tieto järjesteltiin käyttäen siihen soveltuvaa ohjelmistoa. Lopuksi järjestettiin World Cafè-keskustelutilaisuus, jossa tuloksista keskusteltiin yhteisesti kaikkien projektiin osallistuneiden kesken. Lopullisena tuloksena tämä insinöörityö esittää neljä tärkeintä tekijää, jotka vaikuttavat työntekijöiden motivaatioon. Tulokset ovat tarkoitettu ensisijaisesti johtajille, jotka pystyvät käyttämään niitä vahvistaakseen omien alaistensa motivaatiota ja näin ollen myös koko yrityksen tehokkuutta

Further evidence that gonadal steroids do not modulate brain opiate receptors in male rats

It is still unclear whether, in the male rat, castration and androgen replacement affect the binding characteristics of brain opiate receptors. To clarify this issue, the effects exerted by orchidectomy and testosterone (T) replacement on the subpopulation of brain mu opiate receptors were studied in male rats; testosterone was administered via subcutaneous Silastic capsules. Utilizing 3H-dihydromorphine (a mu receptor ligand) it has been shown that the affinity constant (Ka) of brain mu opiate binding sites, measured in plasma membrane preparations, is not affected by castration. When mu receptor concentrations were measured in individual brains, it was found that gonadectomy and T replacement failed to produce any change in the number of mu opiate receptors. These data suggest that, in male rats, gonadal steroids do not develop their central feedback effects by affecting brain mu opiate receptors

Estrogen modulation of catecholamine synthesis and monoamine oxidase A activity in the human neuroblastoma cell line SK-ER3

In order to assess the neuronal-like properties of a human neuroblastoma cell line obtained by stable transfection of the estrogen receptor (SK-ER3) a series of quantitative measurements of the activity of two neurotransmitter-related enzymes: tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and monamine oxidase (MAO), and of catecholamine concentrations were performed. When compared to the parental SK-N-BE cell line, the stably transfected SK-ER3 cells show a more pronounced dopaminergic phenotype. The immunoreactivity to a TH antibody is in fact increased and the ratio between dopamine and noradrenaline concentrations is elevated. Treatment with estradiol further enhances the expression of this phenotype. Interestingly, in the transfected cell line MAO-A activity is decreased and further reduced by estrogen treatment. This finding substantiated by previous reports indicates that our model system might represent an interesting tool for the study of the pharmacological treatments of estrogen-induced pathological responses of nervous cells

Monoamine oxidase B expression is selectively regulated by dexamethasone in cultured rat astrocytes

The influence of dexamethasone on monoamine oxidase (MAO) A and B expression and activity was investigated in primary cultures of rat type 1 astrocytes cultured under serum free, defined conditions. Dexamethasone treatment resulted in a dose- and time-dependent induction of MAO-B, but not of MAO-A, activity. The selective MAO-B increase was substantially reduced by the antagonist RU 486, thus suggesting a glucocorticoid receptor-mediated action of the hormone. Kinetic analysis showed an increase in Vmax of MAO-B with no change in apparent K(m). The dexamethasone-induced selective rise in MAO-B activity appeared to be due to enhanced enzyme synthesis, since MAO-B mRNA was markedly increased by dexamethasone treatment and the recovery of MAO-B activity after its irreversible inhibition by deprenyl was more pronounced in the presence than in the absence of the hormone. Furthermore, the dexamethasone effect was abolished by the protein synthesis inhibitors actinomycin D or cycloheximide. The present study demonstrates that dexamethasone is able to selectively induce MAO-B in type 1 astrocytes and leads to speculation of a possible role for glucocorticoids in the increase in brain MAO-B associated with neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases