This study is intended to analyze employee acceptance of an alternative reward system that reinforces continuous learning, teamwork, major expansion of individual capabilities, business knowledge application, and business unit (team) performance. This system is in contrast with traditional pay systems that reward seniority and individual performance determined by the subjective ratings of a direct supervisor, with pay increases based mainly on current job grade (and the availability of higher job grades within the company) and comparison with market value of the job. Individuals from three areas of a major electronics manufacturing company in the southwestern part of the United States served as subjects.

As the demand for electricity increases throughout the globe while we want to reduce the use of fossil fuels, the need for renewable energy sources is bigger than ever. In countries where solar power makes up a large part of the total energy production, the overall electricity spot price level has become lower. This thesis investigates the underlying mechanism that drives the energy market, and in specific, how the solar power impacts the electricity spot price. We present results from studies made in other markets, and introduce a Regime Switching model for explaining the impact in Sweden. We show that an increase of photovoltaics power has a price lowering effect on the daily price pattern in price area SE3 and SE4.

Wind power has been growing rapidly in Sweden over the past decade as the country focuses on 100% renewable energy by 2040. The thesis seeks to investigate if increased wind power has had a dampening effect on the hourly day-ahead spot prices in Sweden’s bidding area SE3. An empirical approach is undertaken to estimate the impact that wind power has had onprices. Hourly spot prices for bidding area SE3 for the years 2016-2019 are analysed using a multivariate regression method. Other important variables like hydropower and nuclear production which are very significant in the Swedish electricity market are controlled for in the study. The results confirm that in the period 2016-2019, bidding SE3 experienced a merit order effect on price caused by increased wind power. The study shows that a 1% increase inwind power production is estimated to have decreased SE3 hourly spot prices by between 0.0268% and 0.059% between 2016 and 2019.

<p>Social functioning encompasses interactions with people across situations of varying complexity. Given the frequency of observed social impairments in individuals with schizophrenia, there is a need to identify mechanisms that influence social functioning impairments. One proposed mechanism is metacognition, a mental process that enables the integration and interpretation of mental states and experiences. Impaired metacognition can inhibit one’s ability to engage and navigate through our social world. In individuals with schizophrenia, both social functioning and metacognitive deficits are profound. This study examined three hypotheses. Following Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT), (1) individuals will show improvements in social functioning; (2) individuals will show improvements in metacognitive abilities; and (3) improvements in social functioning will be associated with improved metacognitive abilities. </p>

Examensarbetet som omfattar 22,5 högskolepoäng har utförs som den slutliga delen avhögskoleingenjörsprogrammet i byggteknik, inriktning husbyggnad vid KarlstadsUniversitet.  Hållbarhet är ett viktigt ämne som berör företag av alla slag. Ingen bransch kan undvika attfundera över hur de kan främja hållbarhet. Frågan om hur varje bransch kan göra detta äralltid viktig. Genom regeringens förslag och överenskommelser står det klart attkoldioxidutsläppen ska halveras till 2030. Det är dock inte klart hur koldioxidutsläppen skahalveras.  Grön betong är en typ av miljövänlig betong där en del av cementen ersätts av masugnsslaggeller flygaska som har tagits fram av Cementa och Swecem. De två vanligaste typerna avcement som används i grön betong är Merit och Anläggningscement FA. Merit kommer frånSwecem medan Anläggningscement AF kommer från Cementa. Målet med denna typ avbetong är att minska byggbranschens koldioxidutsläpp. Rapporten syftar till att ge läsarna en överblick över de olika typer av cement som användsvid tillverkning av grön betong och dess miljökonsekvenser. Rapporten bygger på en mängdlitteraturforskning och dialog med experter från Swecem och Cementa för att få en bättreförståelse för fenomenet grön betong. Den tar också hänsyn till hur deras produkt bidrar tillhållbarhet. En labundersökning gjordes för att jämföra halterna av tungmetaller i olika typerav cement, speciellt grön betong kontra konventionell betong. S1 titan detektorn används föratt mäta och samla in data, detektorn använder röntgenfluorescens (XRF) som mätmetod. Studien fann att både produkterna Merit och Anläggningscement AF innehöll lägretungmetaller än Naturvårdsverkets gränsvärde. Grön restbetong kan återvinnas på sammasätt som en vanlig betong till ballast eller vägfyllnadsmaterial. Grön restbetong innehållerendast tungmetaller som finns i själva cementen. Grön rivningsbetong som innehåller avfallsåsom brandskydd, värmeisolering, skumplast, elinstallationer, fogmassor och rör kanpotentiellt innehålla högre halter av tungmetaller och kan leda till potentiell lakning avfarliga ämnen till naturen. / The degree project, which includes 22.5 higher education credits, has been carried out as the final part of the higher education engineering program in construction technology, majoring in building construction at Karlstad University. Sustainability is an important topic that affects companies of all kinds. No industry can avoid thinking about how they can promote sustainability. The question of how each industry can do this is always important. Through the government's proposals and agreements, it is clear that carbon dioxide emissions are to be halved by 2030. However, it is not clear how carbon dioxide emissions are to be halved. Green concrete is a type of environmentally friendly concrete where part of the cement is replaced by blast furnace slag or fly ash that has been produced by Cementa and Swecem. The two most common types of cement used in green concrete are Merit and Anläggningscement FA. Merit comes from Swecem, while Construction cement AF comes from Cementa. The goal of this type of concrete is to reduce the construction industry's carbon dioxide emissions. The report aims to give readers an overview of the different types of cement used in the production of green concrete and its environmental consequences. The report is based on a lot of literature research and dialogue with experts from Swecem and Cement to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon of green concrete. It also takes into account how its product contributes to sustainability. A lab study compared the levels of heavy metals in different types of cement, especially green concrete versus conventional concrete. The S1 titanium detector is used to measure and collect data, the detector uses X-ray fluorescence(XRF) as the measurement method. The study found that both the products Merit and Anläggningscement AF contained lower heavy metals than the Environmental Protection Agency's limit value. Residual green concrete can be recycled in the same way as ordinary concrete for aggregate or road-filling material. Residual green concrete only contains heavy metals found in the cement itself. Green demolition concrete that contains waste such as fire protection, thermal insulation, foam plastic, electrical installations, grouts, and pipes can potentially contain higher levels of heavy metals and can lead to the potential leaching of hazardous substances into nature.

Interest in teacher effectiveness and merit pay has continued to be a high priority for major stakeholders in the field of education as well as the public. The focus of this research was to test the hypothesis that the implementation of a classroom bonus plan would improve the observable attributes and behaviors of teaching that have been determined to be effective in improving student learning. Specifically, the study was conducted to measure intentional teacher-student interactions, classroom quality, environment and organization as well as emotional and instructional support in Pre-K classrooms as measured by Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). During a summer Voluntary PreK program, six eligible classroom teams (teacher and teacher assistant) were randomly divided into either a bonus or non-bonus group. A pre- and post-CLASS was completed on each classroom team of participants to evaluate the quality of their instruction. The CLASS score assesses team versus individual participation, resulting in a compiled score based on the performance of all classroom staff members, i.e., teacher and teacher assistant. There was no statistical significance of the CLASS post-assessment score between the bonus and non-bonus group. However, two of the four bonus group participant teams achieved the targeted scores needed to receive a bonus. None of the non-bonus group achieved the targeted score. Additionally, pre- and post-assessment data for the entire student population of the Agency Summer VPK program was examined. There was no significance in student post-assessment scores between the three groups (bonus, non-bonus, and nonparticipants)

This dissertation research investigates whether merit-based principles and practices are embedded into the HRM systems of 19 Title 5-exempt federal organizations. Title 5-exempt organizations, such as government corporations, serve as a vehicle for exploring the question of what constitutes merit in more loosely regulated public environments. This research fills a void in the discussion about how we can sustain a merit foundation in deregulated and decentralized federal human resources systems. It also captures previously uncollected information about HRM in some organizations that operate fully or partially outside the general government management laws. While the research focus is specific to certain organizations, the context is the broader issue of merit in modern government. A recognition that alternative merit-based HRM systems exist under the federal umbrella without the constraints of Title 5 is important to the overall question of what constitutes merit in federal HRM and whether merit practices must be centrally determined and controlled. The larger goal is that of offering an alternative perspective for embedding the democratic values that merit represents in a more flexible, responsive, and business-like government. The dissertation is divided into three sections that include building a generic model of merit-based HRM to identify the intrinsic components of such public HRM systems, collecting HRM data from 19 organizations through multiple case methodology, and analyzing and comparing the findings to the merit model. The discussion covers six themes emerging from the research, including the institutionalization and legalization of HRM, the impact of collective bargaining on merit, and the limited formal oversight and accountability of HRM in the studied organizations. The findings suggest that even in less regulated political environments, merit-based systems do survive and serve the changing needs of the organization. The key recommendation proposes offering the traditional federal agencies the option to develop and defend their own merit-based HRM systems under a broad public policy and accountability framework. The growth of standard HRM policies and practices in all large organizations and the increased protections in the HRM systems stemming from civil rights and employment law as well as collective bargaining offer protections similar to those merit was originally intended to provide. / Ph. D.

Merit pay refers to the awarding of differential amounts of financial rewards to deserving employees based on their individual performances as measured by Performance appraisal and Rating. The idea is that such a practice would act as a spur to all employees -- both deserving and undeserving-- to improve their productivity to earn the extra pay. The systemic effect would be enhanced organizational productivity and effectiveness. Although it has fallen in and out of favor over the years, as its long history in the public sector shows, interest in the concept endures. So has the controversy surrounding its efficacy or the lack thereof. This dissertation is an attempt to further our understanding of the potential of merit pay in the public sector. To this end, it makes a critical assessment of the efficacy or the lack thereof of merit pay programs in the public sector. This has been done by integrating the findings of thirty-six empirical studies that examined such programs. Twenty-nine of these studies elicited from employees their perceptions affected of how merit pay in their organizations has employee motivation, productivity, and organizational effectiveness. The remaining seven represent authors' (non-respondent) conclusions regarding the effect of merit pay on the above variables in the organizations they examined. Taking all in all, the findings of this study show that merit pay has not significantly enhanced employee motivation, productivity, or organizational effectiveness. In addition, virtually all of the shortcomings and organizational behavioral problems identified in the literature with regard to the implementation of merit pay were found to have plagued the merit pay programs examined in these empirical studies. These problems seem to be ubiquitous and endemic. However, the goal-setting aspect of the merit pay process was found to have led to improvement in employee performance. Two main recommendations are made. First, organizations should use goal-setting. It can yield beneficial results without the headaches of merit pay. Second, and more desirably, efforts at enduring motivation and productivity improvement should be directed toward promoting teamwork in the workplace and creating a culture that fosters commitment to organizational purposes and cooperation among persons and units within the organization. / Ph. D.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(情報学) / 甲第24264号 / 情博第808号 / 新制||情||136(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院情報学研究科数理工学専攻 / (主査)教授 山下 信雄, 准教授 福田 秀美, 教授 太田 快人 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Informatics / Kyoto University / DFAM

With the rise of soft-switched converter topologies which enable high-frequency power conversion, there has been a premise that these converter topologies can help achieve loss-less switching in a power device. However, this theory is not completely true as there even with soft-switching there is some degree of loss associated in the form of output capacitance-related hysteresis loss, channel turn-off loss, and loss during the dead-time period in these converter topologies. The soft-switching converters utilize the existence of the device's output capacitance (COSS), which is charged and discharged consecutively at each switching cycle, and a hysteresis loss exists due to the difference in charging and discharging output capacitance. In order fully utilize the potential of these novel soft-switching topologies, we need to investigate further into the origins of these losses or loss mechanisms, methods to measure or compute these losses, and then devise ways to optimize the loss for a given application. This work focuses on exploring methods to quantify this loss for different operating conditions like device current, switching frequency, dV/dT, etc. In this aspect, some methods have been studied and used to quantify this hysteresis loss for a variety of power devices like SI and GaN. It is reported that only channel turn-off losses exist in devices with ZVS transition, however, we found that the charging and discharging of COSS is not loss-free and thus it is important that we account for this loss in the design process. Finally, the loss data obtained from these tests are compared with each other for five different power devices to validate their applicability, and later these test results are used to get an optimized device selection criterion for the best possible efficiency and minimal losses for a ZVS application. / Master of Science / To eliminate the switch-related losses, soft-switching or zero-voltage switching (ZVS) was introduced which provides a soft transition of voltage and current instead of a sharp transition like in hard-switched converters. Moreover, the output capacitance of the devices is charged/discharged to achieve soft switching, which also possesses a loss (hysteresis loss) due to repeated charging and discharging of output capacitance. Soft-switching converter topologies have gained quite a momentum for almost a decade, and it keeps on increasing in the distant future, to extract the maximum benefits from these topologies is to operate at high switching frequencies to minimize the size and volume of the converter. However, the hysteresis loss can severely impact the converter efficiency on even a few 100 kHz and MHz levels. This work focuses on exploring methods to measure hysteresis loss in output capacitance which has a major share in the overall switching loss. In this regard, some methods have been investigated that deal with the measurement of the output capacitance-related hysteresis loss and are implemented to get the hysteresis loss data for different power devices. Two test methods (calorimetric and non-linear resonance) are implemented on five different power devices (3 SI and 2 GaN) to get the energy loss in the output capacitance; these test results are used to explain the switching loss in an isolated boost resonance DC-DC converter, and a concept of ZVS figure of merit is used to obtain the optimized device. Moreover, a design example of a soft-switched converter is presented to highlight the impact of COSS hysteresis loss in the overall switching loss of primary side devices.