Search results

The aim of this paper is to show the ways of setting quality objectives, their attributes and the conditions under which they can perform a motivational function.

Collecting relevant data, the authors used the results of previous research and theoretical assumptions concerning quality objectives. Subsequently, they carried out a survey and exemplification research based on participatory observations, document content analysis and interviews.

Goals are set mainly by top management, but the communication process itself is insufficient; the needs of system users are not taken into account. In the opinion of the employees, quality objectives are measurable and objective, although not very ambitious. For quality objectives to fulfil a motivational function, they should be objective and measurable. Also, the allocation of tasks among employees needs to be fair. Furthermore, quality objectives have to play a greater role in remuneration systems.

This paper is one of the first publications on the role and function of quality objectives. Its advantage is that it defines the conditions under which such objectives can have a motivational effect and encourage employees to pursue the improvement of their products and services.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of motivation for knowledge sharing (KS) by assessing how four qualitatively different motivation types, as per self-determination theory (SDT), predict KS, its quality and its undesirable counterpart, knowledge withholding.

The study was carried out as a survey (n = 200) in an expert organization. The analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling.

Autonomous type of extrinsic motivation (identified motivation) was the strongest predictor of KS (in work meetings) and its quality, whereas the other motivation types (intrinsic, introjected and external) had no independent contribution to variance in KS. Knowledge withholding was negatively associated with identified and positively with external KS motivation.

Single organization limits the generalizability of the results. Future studies should further investigate the role of identified motivation for various KS behaviors.

The findings suggest that autonomy-supportive management practices known to facilitate self-determined behavior can improve KS. Fostering external motivation by incentivizing KS may be both ineffective and have undesirable consequences.

Few prior studies investigate KS motivation beyond external and intrinsic motivation or apply SDT to KS using SDT-based scales. This study distinguishes between four different motivation types and is the first to investigate their differential impact on KS and its quality. It is also the first to demonstrate the importance of identified motivation for KS. It further elucidates how the quality of KS motivation is reflected in knowledge withholding, an overall underinvestigated behavior.

The aim of this paper is to present an empirical assessment and strategic planning for measuring the impact of total quality management (TQM) practices on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and its effectiveness for business excellence. The authors investigate the present status of quality system in SMEs and find the thrust areas for TQM implementation in SMEs of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis. Also, it examines the effect of external environment on internal factors of SMEs by situation analysis. This study helps to develop a model for assessing the components of TQM in SMEs after identifying their weightage.

The qualitative and quantitative techniques have been used together for robust conclusions. The survey data has been collected through the properly designed questionnaire. After studying the present status of TQM in SMEs, situation analysis has been carried out for examining the effect of the external environment on internal factors of SMEs. The weightage of TQM critical success factors was calculated by pair-wise comparison method of analytical hierarchical process (AHP) analysis for framework development.

The study offers useful insights and guidelines for identification of the contribution of TQM critical factors in SMEs performance. It has been observed that the attribute understanding of customer need and its fulfillment ability has the highest priority, whereas supplier partnership and the ability to reduce waste having the least priority in SMEs. Validation study facilitates to channelize TQM initiatives, to improve environmental and operational performance.

The authors provide a comprehensive typology of TQM practices, and its performances on SMEs. This paper can increase the awareness of the significance of TQM strategy which could help managers of SMEs to have a better understanding of the benefits of implementing TQM and therefore unable patient satisfaction with their organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the perceptions that undergraduate students formed and provides further insight into the relationship between perceived teaching quality (with its descriptors) and student motivation.

The paper reports the findings from a survey of student perceptions of quality teaching and its interaction with various motivational orientations that students exhibit in higher education. The proposed hypotheses and conceptual model were tested using regression and correlation analyses, as well as analysis of variance from a survey of 271 undergraduate students in programs at two different universities.

The findings document the explanatory role of various motivations in students' perceptions of teaching quality: correlation analysis found intrinsic motivation to be positively correlated with the perceived teaching quality, while extrinsic motivation was found to be moderately correlated, suggesting that motivational orientation dimensions are influential in students' assessments of their teaching experience in school. Intrinsic motivation with its possible states and factor loadings showed strong positive impact on the teaching quality and students' evaluation, even after accounting for the reputation (general opinion) of the educational institution (or program). Thus, we cannot ignore the value‐added nature of various motivational orientations and their influence upon the perceptions of students. Surprisingly, few differences in perception based on gender, age, and country of birth (ethnicity) were found. Young students (less than 25‐year old) and Canadian‐ and American‐born students exhibited significant negative reactions (difference) to perceived teaching quality; in contrast, female students exhibited positive reactions towards it.

The results presented here will assist researchers, professors, and higher‐education administrators by capitalizing on students' existing intrinsic motivation and understanding the relationship between student perceptions of teaching quality and their degree of motivation to further expand and implement a better quality‐assurance educational system. A viable strategy to enhance and further motivate students extrinsically and intrinsically in their learning will significantly enhance their perceptions.

The article explores for the first time the link between students' motivational orientations and their perceptions about teaching quality.

This study sought to advance understandings of migrant worker labor outcomes by examining (1) the relationship between migrant employees’ motivational cultural intelligence (CQ) and employee well-being and (2) whether voice behavior at work mediates this relationship.

Working with leader–member exchange (LMX) theory and conservation of resources theory, the author proposed a multiple mediation model to explain the relationship between motivational CQ and employee outcomes and how employee voice may mediate this relationship. LMX and voice behavior were tested for the mediating effects in a cross-cultural context. To test the model, a questionnaire was conducted with Vietnamese migrants working in Taiwan (343 valid responses were collected). The results were analyzed using regression and bootstrapping.

Higher motivational CQ was associated with higher levels of work engagement and lower levels of job burnout. Strong employee voice mediated this relationship: high motivational CQ enabled workers to learn cultural nuances that helped them speak up in appropriate ways (in part by building strong relationships with leaders), which positively influenced work engagement and job burnout.

This study is one of the first to clarify and contribute to the research domain of cross-cultural management and motivational CQ among Vietnamese migrant workers living in Asian cultures. Past studies regarding CQ have seldom studied Southeast Asian migrant workers and the impact of motivational CQ on job burnout and work engagement. This study fills this gap and provides empirical evidence that may prove helpful for international human resources and organizational leaders.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a quality management (QM) philosophy underlies the joint use of operations and human resource management practices, and the relationships with job-related contentment and performance.

Data from an economy-wide survey are used to test hypotheses via latent variable analyses (latent trait and latent class models) and structural equation models. The sensitivity of each path is then assessed using regression models.

Different elements rather than a unified philosophy are identified. A managerial approach that integrates total QM and just-in-time procedures is rare, but is associated with the quality of the product or service delivered. Labor productivity and quality are independent of the level of job-related contentment in the workplace. Although the average workforce is content, high involvement management and motivational support practices are associated with job anxiety. On the positive side, job enrichment is linked to labor productivity, thus suggesting potential gains through job design.

The study adds evidence from a national sample about a comprehensive range of management practices, and suggests distinct outcomes from different elements of QM. Additionally, it shows that performance expectations based on previous studies may not hold in large nationwide heterogeneous samples.

Shopping motivation is one of the key constructs of research on shopping behavior and exhibits a high relevance for formulating retail marketing strategies. Previous studies of shopping behavior as well as research in the areas of psychology and organizational behavior point towards a need to investigate the hierarchical nature of shopping motivation. The present study intends to take the first steps towards the development of a hierarchical theory of shopping motivation.

Means‐end chain theory is adopted to explore the hierarchical nature of shopping motivation. A total of 40 in‐depths interviews with apparel shoppers were conducted using the laddering technique. Results are depicted in three hierarchical value maps.

Evidence is provided relating to the social, experiential, and utilitarian aspects of shopping as represented by four dominant motivational patterns referring to the issues of shopping pleasure, frictionless shopping, value seeking, and quality seeking. Concrete retail attributes are presented which allow retailers to correspond to these motivations.

The paper identifies the need to introduce a hierarchical perspective to provide an increased understanding of consumers' shopping motivation. First, empirical evidence is provided regarding how consumers' cognitive structures relating to the benefits of shopping are hierarchically organized.

This study was intended to investigate a small-scale School-based Motivational Interviewing (SBMI) pilot with first-year college students. This approach honors student autonomy, supports self-determination and has the potential to impact educational outcomes in higher education. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence based conversational skill set, defined as “a collaborative conversational style for strengthening a person's own motivation and commitment to change” (Miller and Rollnick, 2013, p. 12). Student perceptions of satisfaction with the faculty-student mentoring intervention were sought. Relational aspects of MI (partnership, empathy and alliance) were also explored.

A mixed-method approach was used for the SBMI study, focused on college students with recent academic setbacks (N = 19).

The intervention was deployed with high levels of MI technical fidelity and relational quality. Participants reported high satisfaction with the intervention. The relational aspects and participant perceived alliance with their faculty were highly correlated across the intervention, adding to the discussion of the mechanisms of MI that contribute to its effectiveness.

This work is formative, yet at this point is not generalizable given the scope of the study.

Findings are encouraging for further development of this innovative pedagogical approach. Possible future applications of research are provided.

Discussed herein, SBMI has the potential to meet the needs of traditionally underrepresented student groups.

The reported study is the initial portion of a larger intervention development project.

The objective of this paper is to explore empirically the relationship between quantity and quality of user contributed information in online social computing systems, and how these two performance outcomes are associated with user factors.

Drawing from prior research, the paper presents a conceptual model hypothesizing a tradeoff between quality and quantity of user contributed information. In addition quality and quantity are associated with a set of motivational, cognitive, and social factors. The model was tested using data obtained through a web-based survey of 345 users of the Flickr online photo sharing community.

The empirical results support the hypothesized inverse relationship between quantity and quality of user contributed information, moderated by user's tenure in the community. The findings also suggest that a user's quantity of contribution is positively associated with the intrinsic motivation of commitment to the community, whereas quality of contribution is positively associated with the extrinsic motivation of self-development. While users’ social embeddedness is associated with quality and quantity of contribution, virtualness of social ties is only associated with quality of contribution.

The findings of this study can inform the design and management of online communities, and promote sustained contributions from individual users.

This study extends our knowledge of the quality and quantity of user contributed online information by demonstrating the inverse relationship between these two performance outcomes, and that they could be motivated by different user factors.

The purpose of this paper is to examine perceptions of need dissatisfaction and need importance in the two groups of orthodox medical doctors in Nigeria, relating these motivational variables to quality in‐patient care.

The paper draws on Maslow's theory, and the question format in Heller and Porter's study; 33 government‐employed doctors, and 29 private practitioners were surveyed. The “t‐test” and Mann‐Whitney test were employed in statistical analysis.

The paper finds that the two groups differed significantly in perceptions of need dissatisfaction with respect to 13 of 26 need items; and in the importance attached to “opportunity to belong to social groups” and pay. When absolute values are considered, the overall picture suggests that the two groups are most dissatisfied with pay, physiological, security, self‐actualization, and transcendence needs.

If doctors as a microcosm of Nigerian workers are to replace poor work habits with quality concepts, their needs for better pay must be satisfied to enable them to meet their physiological needs, and better facilities provided in hospitals to support skill utilization. An economy functions as a system. Doctors consume and render services. If they do not have to procure personal power‐generating sets, self‐protection, and other services that ought to be accessed as public utilities, they will be more emotionally engaged with their tasks.

The main contribution in this paper lies in the evaluation of the motivational needs of Nigerian doctors, healthcare being fundamental to life, and the emphasis on centrality of employee motivation in any planned service improvement efforts.