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Att arbeta i olika typer av arbetsgrupper är idag vanligt förekommande i organisationer, och många företag tillämpar någon form av incitamentsprogram med rörlig lön för att motivera arbetsgrupperna till högre prestationer. Den forskning som finns är framförallt genomförd i laboratoriemiljö och undersöker hur individer påverkas av olika faktorer såsom andel rörlig lön och storlek på arbetsgrupper. Dock finns en brist på forskning som undersöker hur dessa program påverkar till exempel motivation och samarbete i verkliga miljöer. Syftet med denna studie är att studera hur incitamentsprogram för grupper kan utformas. Med studien vill vi ge företag ökad kunskap om hur de kan utforma incitamentsprogram för att öka prestationen i sina arbetsgrupper. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med totalt 15 personer ur två säljorganisationer i ett tjänsteföretag med verksamhet spridd över hela Sverige. Genom intervjuerna har vi sökt få svar på hur olika aspekter av incitamentsprogram för grupper motiverar de individuella medarbetarna samt påverkar samarbetet. Respondenternas svar antyder att faktorer som gruppstorlek, andel rörlig lön och frekvens på utbetalningar alla påverkar hur medarbetare beskriver att de motiveras av incitamentsprogrammen. Därutöver har att ett tydligt syfte och klara spelregler framträtt som avgörande för hur incitamentsprogrammen tas emot av de anställda, vilket har föranlett oss att ge ett förslag på hur befintliga modeller kan kompletteras. Today it is very common to work in different types of teams in organizations, and companies are applying incentive programs with variable salary to motivate their teams to increase performance. Existing research is primarily done in laboratory environments and only analyzes how individuals are affected by various factors, such as share of variable salary and team size. However, previous studies are missing to investigate how these programs affect for instance, motivation and collaboration in real environments. The aim of this study is therefore to study how incentive programs for groups in can be designed. With this study we want to give companies a deeper understanding for how they can design incentive programs to increase the performance in their teams. The study has a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews have been performed with a total of 15 persons from two sales organizations in a service company with its business spread over the whole of Sweden. Through the interviews we searched for answers to how different aspects of team-based incentive programs motivate the individual employees and how they affect collaboration. The respondent’s answers suggest that factors such as size of the team, share of variable salary and frequency of payments, all affect how employees describe how they are motivated by the incentive program. In addition, a clear purpose and a set of rules emerged as vital parts for how the incentive program will be received by the employees. This led us to propose how existing models may be complemented. The language of this thesis is Swedish.

With incomplete information about the potential benefits and costs of energy-using durables, households may be unwilling to invest in products that are more energy-efficient but also more expensive in purchase decisions. To deal with this problem, labeling policy has been developed to guide customers’ energy consumption decisions by providing understandable information to evaluate the energy efficiency of products. Over the last 20 years, China has implemented a series of mandatory and voluntary energy labeling and incentive policies to reduce energy use and improve the energy efficiency of durable goods in dwellings. This study has employed empirical survey data from the Chinese General Social Survey to study the implementation effectiveness of these policies and explore demographic factors behind consumer investments in energy-saving durables by using the logistic regression model. Statistical results show that energy efficiency labeling, incentive programs, education levels, and regional differences of customers appear to be strong predictors for investing in energy-efficient air conditioners and washing machines. House size is a decisive factor in driving consumers to choose energy-saving air conditioners. In light of the above results, the study suggests improved policy for motivating consumers to purchase energy-efficient appliances in dwellings.

The low intake of fruits/vegetables (FV) by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants is a persistent public health challenge. Fruit and vegetable incentive programs use inducements to encourage FV purchases. The purpose of this scoping review is to identify structural factors in FV incentive programs that may impact program effectiveness, including (i.) differences in recruitment/eligibility, (ii.) incentive delivery and timing, (iii.) incentive value, (iv.) eligible foods, and (v.) retail venue. Additionally, the FV incentive program impact on FV purchase and/or consumption is summarized. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for scoping reviews, a search of four bibliographic databases resulted in the identification of 45 publications for consideration; 19 of which met the pre-determined inclusion criteria for full-length publications employing a quasi-experimental design and focused on verified, current SNAP participants. The data capturing study objective, study design, sample size, incentive program structure characteristics (participant eligibility and recruitment, delivery and timing of incentive, foods eligible for incentive redemption, type of retail venue), and study outcomes related to FV purchases/consumption were entered in a standardized chart. Eleven of the 19 studies had enrollment processes to receive the incentive, and most studies (17/19) provided the incentive in the form of a token, coupon, or voucher. The value of the incentives varied, but was usually offered as a match. Incentives were typically redeemable only for FV, although three studies required an FV purchase to trigger the delivery of an incentive for any SNAP-eligible food. Finally, most studies (16/19) were conducted at farmers’ markets. Eighteen of the 19 studies reported a positive impact on participant purchase and/or consumption of FV. Overall, this scoping review provides insights intended to inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of future FV incentive programs targeting SNAP participants; and demonstrates the potential effectiveness of FV incentive programs for increasing FV purchase and consumption among vulnerable populations.

Increasing efforts have been dedicated recently towards the development of advanced system controls to optimize Central Energy Facility (CEF) operations in order to reduce energy consumption, and, consequently, energy cost. Reduction of electric consumption is beneficial for both customers and the Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) managing the power grid. Therefore, RTOs have setup Incentive-Based Demand Response (IBDR) programs, such as Economic Load Demand Response (ELDR), and Price-Based Demand Response (PBDR), such as Peak Load Contribution (PLC), to incentivize customers to lower their electric consumption or shift their electric loads. These strategies also reduce the need for the RTO to commission additional or even invest in new power plants during peak hours. The ELDR program allows customers to choose when and by how much to curtail their electric consumption in response to market prices. The customer is then compensated for the amount of power curtailed at the real-time Locational Marginal Prices (LMP). PLC charge, which prompts customers to shave or shift their peak load consumption, is a demand charge structure based on a customer’s contribution to the demand peaks which occur in a region or a zone managed by an RTO at certain hours over a base period. Charges associated with PLC are significant and a customer is billed, in addition to the regular energy consumption and demand charges, a monthly charge during the billing period, based on their PLC during the base period in the prior year. Given the diversity of assets within a CEF, the challenge becomes how to efficiently run the facility and allocate assets while responding to market prices in the IBDR programs and minimizing cost due to PLC charges. In this work, a hierarchal approach for optimizing CEF operations with integrated IBDR and PBDR programs is developed. The approach is focused on the ELDR program and the PLC charge structure in the Pennsylvania, Jersey, Maryland (PJM) RTO region. However, it can be extended to accommodate other programs in different regions. Given predicted CEF loads, day-ahead and/or real-time LMP, PLC charges, and energy rates, the optimization problem is solved over a horizon into the future using a linear programming framework. Since PLC Coincidental Peaks (CP) are not known in advance, the optimization problem uses an hourly mask of projected CP hours, which can be either entered by the user or predicted based on the status of the region. The developed approach allows for an optimal allocation of assets to guarantee the curtailment commitment in the ELDR program, in addition to minimizing the customer’s PLC during projected CP hours. Furthermore, it is adaptive as it updates asset allocation based on feedback from the ELDR market and any changes in the projected CP hours. In this paper, a case study of the implementation of the developed approach at Kent State University (KSU) is presented, which shows the validity of the proposed solution.

Policy makers have proposed various incentive programs to curb consumption-related problems, such as traffic congestion and carbon emissions. While experts consider such programs effective in reducing those problems, consumers are more skeptical. Although this “effectiveness skepticism” is currently viewed as an important cause of public opposition, the authors argue that it may also arise as a consequence of opposition. Specifically, consumers oppose policies they consider personally unattractive or unfair. This opposition motivates them to also be skeptical about the potential effectiveness of such policies. Three studies that include a variety of methods, policies, and samples provide empirical support for this reasoning: perceptions of expected effects can be biased by consumers’ perceptions of personal attractiveness and fairness. In line with this causal ordering, the authors find that offering optimistic effectiveness estimates, although successful in reducing effectiveness skepticism, did not boost policy support. Policy makers aiming to boost support prior to implementation should thus not only communicate a policy's effectiveness, but also address other causes of opposition.

"La propuesta tiene su origen en la necesidad de garantizar un mejoramiento continuo de la Fundación Javeriana de Servicios Médicos Odontológicos Interuniversitarios ""Carlos Márquez Villegas"" Javesalud, lo cual redundará en una excelente calidad y continuidad en la atención, en mantener una ejecución- costo efectiva de la operación, reducir la rotación del personal médico y obtener un mayor número de resultados clínicos satisfactorios que permitan cumplir metas clínicas de control, promoción y prevención. Se realizó una revisión de la literatura en búsqueda de modelos P4P diseñados para motivar a los profesionales de las instituciones para lograr mejores resultados clínicos y en la calidad de la atención. Se realizó una encuesta a los proveedores Javesalud para determinar sus características sociodemográficas y sus preferencias a partir de las cuales se diseñó un modelo P4P para los médicos generales en Javesalud." "The proposal stems from the need to ensure continuous improvement of the Fundación Javeriana de Servicios Médicos Odontológicos Interuniversitarios ""Carlos Márquez Villegas"" Javesalud, which will result in improved quality and continuity of patient care, maintaining an execution-cost effective operation, reduce turnover of medical staff and get more satisfactory clinical result that would meet clinical goals of control, promotion and prevention. A literature review looked at P4P models designed to motivate professionals in institutions to achieve better clinical outcomes and quality of care. A survey of Javesalud providers was undertaken to determine the preferences for motivation for the local providers. A P4P model was designed for general practitioners in Javesalud taking into account demographics and preferences from the survey." Magíster en Administración en Salud Maestría

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Dissertação de Natureza Científica para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil na Área de Especialização de Edificações A reabilitação de edifícios, na região de Lisboa, éuma temática cada vez mais discutida no sentido de reduzir o número de fogos devolutos, degradação generalizada, falta de manutenção do edificado e desertificação de algumaszonas. Por outro lado, a solução, por parte dos habitantes da região, tem sido adquirir habitações novas na periferia, com preços mais baixos. Os centros históricos de grande parte das cidades, no presente caso Lisboa, são os que espelham e evidenciam um maior número de áreas afetadas e edifícios degradados, totalmente ou parcialmente devolutos. Uma das razões que está na origem da referida problemática prende-se com o escasso apoio do Estado e das Autarquias na criação de incentivos para a recuperação e reconversão urbana, nomeadamente no caso dos edifícios degradados. Recentemente foi criado, pela Câmara Municipal de Lisboa (CML), o programa “Reabilita Primeiro, Paga Depois” com o intuito de incentivar e apoiar os investidores a comprar património, na sua maioria, degradado e reabilitá-lo. A presente dissertação visa um estudo mais abrangente sobre o investimento em edifícios para futuro arrendamento bem como as implicações que esse mesmo investimento poderá trazer para à cidade. Para tal, foi necessário realizar pesquisa bibliográfica, de modo a aprofundar conhecimento sobre o estado da reabilitação em Portugal mais concretamente na região de Lisboa. Foi também realizado trabalho de campo, visitando os edifícios em análise permitindo assim definir pressuposto de acordo com a localização e características dos mesmos. Por último, a junção da pesquisa bibliográfica e dotrabalho de campo culminou numa análise de investimento de três edifícios pertencentes ao programa da CML. Abstract: Building rehabilitation, in the Lisbon region, is nowadays being debated with the aim of decreasing the number of abandoned properties, non-existent building maintenance or areas at risk of desertification. Inhabitants many times move to the outskirts of the city because houses are newer and cheaper. Lisbon's city center is quite affected and abandoned buildings are a common sight. One of the reasons for this problem is the lack of support from the State or City concerning small and medium investors, which they can help inverting this trend if they have the funds. The City of Lisbon recently created the program “Reabilita Primeiro, Paga Depois” ("Rehabilitate First, Pay Later") to incentivate and support investors into buying real estate and rehabilitate it. This dissertation aims at a broader study about investment in buildings for leasing, as well as what that investment could bring to the city. To this purpose, it was necessary a bibliographic research for a deeper knowledge about the state of rehabilitation in the region of Lisbon. Field work was also done, visiting buildings allowing assumption set according to their location. Lastly, the bibliographic research in conjunction with the field work culminated in an investment analysis of three buildings that belong to the City Hall Lisbon’s program.

In finding way from global economic crises women entrepreneurship often stands up as unused economic potential. Why? Probably because women represent, in the world and in the Croatia, majority of unemployed persons, are much less represented as the carriers of entrepreneurial activities, but also for braking down the historical distorted perceptions about value, credibility, competitiveness, responsibility and knowledge which women have, or can have. Although the number of women entrepreneurs is rising today, we believe that there is still a long way to reach potential and successful women entrepreneurship development. By breaking down the barriers as access to finance, education investments, knowledge, skills and confidence development, women just need to accomplish more significant and more efficient entrepreneurial outcome.

Incentive programs aimed at encouraging private landowners to set aside areas of forest for their conservation value have existed in Australia for more than two decades. Many programs restrict the use of the land by legal agreements or other means and some programs offer the landowner financial compensation. Most programs are based on voluntary entry by landowners. Programs available in Tasmania have added significantly to the total forest area conserved on private land. Nevertheless, in some regions more than 80 percent of land with conservation value remains unprotected and programs routinely fail to meet enrolment targets. This has resulted in considerable debate about the design of programs and has resulted in an increase in the amount of compensation offered and the introduction of more flexible conservation management options. In a limited number of situations, the option of forcing landowner entry into conservation incentive programs has also been considered. The objective of this study is to provide information for policy makers that hasn't existed before and that can be used in designing conservation programs. An improved understanding of landowners' decision framework, their motivation and the strength of their behavioral response will facilitate better forecasting of landowner participation decisions which may lead to an increase in landowner enrolment in programs. In this dissertation a conceptual model of landholders' participation choice is developed that combines a traditional utility maximisation framework with information about landowner attitudes. An empirical model of landowners' conservation incentive program choice is then developed. The model is estimated using stated preference data from a Best-Worst and a Choice survey. The responses to the Best-Worst survey, which was carried out first, were used to determine the choice set for the subsequent Choice survey. The Best-Worst survey was also used to explore differences between the perceived importance of program attributes by program designers and administrators, and landowners.

The field of Landscape Architecture can further develop a niche for the design of sustainable productive landscapes. This study attempts to understand a major stakeholders' perceptions and use of riparian buffers and other conservation practices for water quality in an agricultural watershed of Mississippi. A survey was distributed to agricultural producers in the Big Sunflower Watershed of the MS Delta. The survey informs the interested parties of producers' perceptions and uses of riparian forested buffers, perceptions and uses of conservation practices that restore water quality, perceptions of their environment, perceptions of surface water quality, enrollment of governmental incentive programs, and utilization of digital technology. Analysis of this data could lead to a better understanding of the knowledge and attitudes farmers have of the riparian systems and watershed processes at work within the region and factors that influence the farmers' decisions of implementing conservation plans.

RESUMEN: La Universidad de San Pablo es comparable con las mejores universidades medias de los Estados Unidos donde se lleven a cabo tareas de investigación. En su Facultad de Medicina, la evaluación entre colegas (los pares) es básicamente incuestionable. No obstante, en el mundo de hoy, de intensa especialización, la mayor parte de las subdisciplinas médicas resultan demasiado pequeñas y relacionadas entre sí como para permitir que dicha evaluación entre colegas resulte objetiva, cuando se la realiza internamente. Además, las ciencias biomédicas han llegado a un punto en que la línea que separa las diferentes disciplinas se hace cada vez más borrosa. La mayor parte del personal universitario se compone de empleados estatales que mantienen el mismo trabajo durante toda su vida, con un sueldo bajo que les provee el gobierno. En San Pablo, Brasil, las universidades estatales perciben el 10% de los impuestos del estado; tarde o temprano deberán justificar esa inversión ante la sociedad. Luego de tres décadas de salarios realmente bajos, el sistema actual paga sueldos a un personal que, de a poco, ha ido reduciendo su productividad. Nuestra Facultad de Medicina recibe el apoyo substancial de una fundación particular que se ha creado a tal efecto. Para garantizar la eficacia del empleo de esos recursos, hay que establecer un sistema presupuestario que asegure incentivos que impulsen al personal a destacarse en las actividades académicas. Esto se logró al complementar los bajos sueldos con el otorgamiento de premios y una complementación salarial (además del sueldo), cuyo fin fue incrementar los resultados de productividad hasta que éstos alcanzaran los standards internacionales. La tarea de destinar parte del presupuesto a complementar los salarios de los facultativos requiere programas especiales, que incluyan la adopción de rutinas para la evaluación constante de la productividad académica. Ciertos índices de rendimiento nos permitieron clasificar al personal universitario en categorías, según un escalafón, de modo que se pudieron complementar -con las distinciones de cada caso- sus salarios de acuerdo con la productividad individual. La selección de personas se basa estrictamente en el mérito, con orientaciones explícitas que ayudan al aspirante a comprender los criterios que regirán la consideración de sus solicitudes. El propósito de las prioridades presupuestarias es estimular la atención médica de alta calidad en el Hospital Universitario, como así también mejorar la educación médica como un todo, aliado a una distribución equitativa de tareas de investigación básica y clínica. De este modo, hemos definido diversos parámetros que controlan la productividad en las áreas de atención de la salud incluidas las actividades de mano de obra del Hospital de Clínicas-, además de la carrera académica formal en la Facultad de Medicina. Los índices de rendimiento que aquí presentamos pueden ser de ayuda en las decisiones que atañen a las políticas relacionadas con la investigación científica, la formación médica y las prioridades en salud pública, ya que los parámetros que usamos aspiran a extender el análisis de los resultados de la actividad académica (casi siempre referidos tan sólo en términos de publicaciones científicas) hacia otras áreas, como son el impacto educativo y la calidad de la atención médica. Este programa de evaluación, y las consecuentes inversiones diseñadas específicamente, han revitalizado en forma decisiva nuestra comunidad académica, ya que ofrecen en delicado equilibrio una combinación de presión e incentivo que desencadenó un drástico aumento en la productividad. La implementación del sistema de evaluación que proponemos a continuación gracias a su método netamente objetivo- aspira a liberar a decanos y demás autoridades académicas de los engorros políticos que suelen acarrear las decisiones de este tipo SUMMARY: The University of São Paulo compares favourably with a middle-ranking research university in the United States. Peer review at its School of Medicine is basically honest. However, in today's world of intense specialization, most medical subdisciplines are simply too small and close-knit to allow for objective peer review from within. Moreover, the biomedical sciences have come to the point where there is no real separation between the disciplines. Most university faculties are poorly paid public servants who have a job for life, and a salary paid by the government. In São Paulo, Brazil, state universities receive around 10% of the state taxes; sooner or later they will have to have something to show for it. Following three decades of very low wages, the present system pays salaries to non-productive staff and results in poor peer review of academic productivity. Our School of Medicine receives substantial support through a private foundation set up for that purpose. An efficient use of resources should include a budgetary system that provides the faculty staff with incentives to excel in academic activities. This has been obtained by complementing the low wages through the awarding of fellowships, grants and prizes (on top of salary) in order to raise the ceiling up to international standards. To spend part of the budget in complementing university faculties salaries would require special programs, including adoption of routines for regular assessment of academic productivity. Reliable performance indicators permitted the classification of faculty staff into quality categories in order to differentially complement their salaries according to productivity. The selection of individuals is based strictly on merit, with explicit guidelines helping the faculty to understand the criteria by which their requests will be judged. Budgetary priorities should be intended to enhance the ability to deliver high quality health care to patients and to provide medical education as a whole, and combine a more equitable distribution of clinical and basic research. Thus, several parameters were defined for monitoring productivity in health-related areas, including the activities of the Clinical Hospital's medical labour force, in addition to the formal academic career at the School of Medicine. Trends for performance indicators presented here can be useful to inform the decision process about policies directed at health science research, medical education and public health priorities, because the parameters employed were intended to extend the analyses of the results of academic activity (frequently based on publication outputs) to its educational impact and the quality of health care to patients. This evaluation program, and the resulting focused investments, have played an important role in boosting morale in the academic community by offering the right combination of pressure and incentives to allow dramatic improvement in productivity. The implementation of the evaluation method proposed here should, thanks to its objective approach, free Deans and managers of the usual political issues involved in decision-making

Thoroughbred incentive programs are subsidy policies funded from state parimutuel tax revenue designed to promote regional race horse breeding and ownership. At issue is an ongoing debate concerning the effectiveness of alternative policies. Empirical results indicate that incentive programs have a positive economic effect, but gains to Thoroughbred breeders can be obtained by reallocating tax revenue to non-restricted purses. A policy allocating tax revenue ton non-restricted purses shifts yearling demand and increases prices, while breeder subsidies shift only the supply function and therefore lower prices. Consequently, breeder revenues increase in response to a policy that favors non-restricted purses over subsidies.

This thesis analyzes the productivity of enlisted Navy recruiters for the time period FY 1988 FY 1990. The objectives of this thesis are to examine: (1) productivity by geographic area, (2) productivity with respect to the racial/ethnic background of the recruiter and the individual recruited, (3) productivity by gender of recruiter and gender of recruit, and (4) recruiter productivity under two separate incentive program eras. Descriptive statistics are used to show the actual productivity differences, followed by multivariate regression analysis to examine specific effects of gender, ethnicity and geographic location on recruiter production. Bivariate analysis is employed to compare the differences in recruiter productivity between the two incentive program eras. The results show that, with respect to ethnic background, recruiters are significantly more productive when recruiting individuals like themselves than when recruiting individuals of a different ethnicity. Females were found to be more productive than males when recruiting females and geographically, the southwest area of the country was most often significantly more productive than other areas. The thesis provides recommendations to assist Navy Recruiting Command in the assignment of the most effective and productive recruiters to the field in response to possible changes in specific goal requirements. Further study with current, detailed goal information is needed to assess the impact of incentive programs on recruiting and to examine the trends that should now be established with the current incentive programs. http://archive.org/details/annalysisofenlis1094539909 Lieutenant, United States Navy Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.