Kjønn og ledelse : en studie av kjønnsforskjeller innen ledelse, og hvilken betydning dette har for motivasjonen til medarbeidere i norske kommuner
Abstract
The purpose of this master thesis is to reveal what impact management style and the managers
gender has on employees’ motivation. This study aims to uncover possible differences
between female and male managers, in addition to reveal which management style has an
impact on the employees’ motivation. First, this study presents relevant literature about
genders and management style, in order to better understand gender differences in
management. The study continues by analysing management style and motivation, by looking
at the theoretical framework of transaction management, transformational leadership, change
management, and intrinsic- and extrinsic motivation.
This study has a partially causal design and uses a quantitative approach throughout. As this
study is a cross-sectional study, the paper provides limited capabilities to prove any causal
relationships. However, the assessment will be capable of ensuring correlations between the
different variables, despite the lacks in causality. The study is based on the responses gathered
from a survey sent to all employees in Kristiansand and Vennesla, in order to uncover
possible differences in leadership among managers and to uncover differences between both
female and male managers. In addition, the survey has been created in order to uncover
employees’ motivation by separating between internal and external motivational factors.
The findings in this survey indicate that there are no differences between genders concerning
management style, despite previous research and literature. However, this study indicates that
there is a positive relationship between transformational leadership and intrinsic motivation,
whilst there is no correlation between transactional leadership and extrinsic motivation. Our
findings therefore suggest that managers that perform transformational leadership will obtain
the most intrinsically employees. Furthermore, the survey indicates that there is no overall
difference between the gender of the manager and employees’ motivation. Moreover, the
findings in this study are relevant for researchers and scholars, who are trying to better
understand employees’ evaluation of their own motivation, while considering their managers
gender and leadership style. The findings in this study will also be relevant for professionals,
as the findings can provide insights into being intrinsically manager.
Description
Masteroppgave økonomi og administrasjon - Universitetet i Agder 2016