Thesis (Ph. D.)--Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005. / Paul Griffin, Committee Member ; Kwok-Leung Tsui, Committee Chair ; Christos Alexopoulos, Committee Co-Chair ; Hengqing Ye, Committee Co-Chair ; David Goldsman, Committee Member. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Due to the increasing integration of renewable energy generations, the overvoltage and overload issues in transmission networks have become more significant, and they may occur at various locations. To mitigate the overvoltage issues, traditional solutions which often consider the installation of reactive power compensators such as shunt reactors, SVC, STATCOM may not be cost-effective. To mitigate the overload issues, traditional methods using direct or price-based demand control will affect customers’ electrical experience in that they are inconvenienced greatly. This thesis discusses the flexible tap changing techniques that utilise existing parallel transformers in distribution networks to provide reactive power absorption and demand response services for transmission systems. Among them, the tap stagger technique operates parallel transformers in small different tap positions, i.e. staggered taps, to result in more reactive power absorption from upstream networks. In addition, the tap changing technique changes voltages in the range of statutory limits through the adjustment of tap positions in order to change network demands without directly affecting customers. The aggregated reactive power absorption or demand response from many pairs of parallel transformers in distribution networks could be sufficient to provide VAr or demand support to transmission networks. Network capability studies have been carried out in OpenDSS simulation software to investigate the VAr absorption capability by using tap staggering technique and the demand reduction capability by using tap changing technique. The studies are based on two UK HV distribution networks (132-33kV) with 11 and 28 primary substations (33/11 or 6.6 kV) respectively, and the techniques are applied to parallel transformers in primary substations. Based on the results of the two networks, the capabilities of the whole ENW and the UK distribution networks have been estimated respectively by using linear estimation method. In addition, the VAr absorption capability of the tap stagger technique has been validated by using site trial data. The results show an average VAr absorption capability of 0.89MVAr for a primary substation, 315MVAr for ENW networks and about 2500MVAr for the UK at stagger level 4 and show an average demand reduction capability of 3.1% of the original demand at tap down level 3. The results of capability studies together with the validations results confirm that the flexible tap changing techniques are able to provide transmission networks with effective VAr support and demand response services. To assess network VAr absorption and demand response capability more precisely, this thesis also proposes an online load profile estimation method to estimate the load profiles of the network more accurately if not all substations in the network are monitored. The method uses Peak Load Share values, Euclidean Distance, and some load measurements to estimate load profiles. The method has been validated and compared with a traditional aggregation-based method. The results show an average estimation error of 13% ~ 23% in different conditions using the proposed method, and show an average estimation error reduction from about 47% (using the traditional method) to about 13% (using the proposed method). The results indicate that the developed method has a considerable improvement on the accuracy of load profile estimation.

The purpose of this study was to examine how middle managers within the social services in Sweden perceived their working conditions. The study group included 475 middle managers who were registered in the labour union akademikerförbundet SSR. The study group answered a digital questionnaire based on Karasek’s control and demand model which contained questions concerning their working environment. The result showed that 80 percent of the managers worked more than 40 hours a week and 60 percent of the managers experience high job strain. Four groups with different working conditions were identified through Karasek's control and demand model and the one that showed the most alarming working conditions were analysed further, the high strained group. Within our studygroup we also identified a utterly small group that could be defined as ISO-strained. This working condition is the most harmful working situation for your health since it contains high risk of psychological strain and physical illness.

The way people work today is shaped by the constant changes in society. The development within informative and communication technology is rapidly evolving, which can be seen as a contributory factor to the way society is shaping. Smartphones and computers lessens the need for physical availability at work, which increases the demands on workers to create an accessibility through their technical devices instead. The changed ways of working can be challenging due to the fact that people, as a result, get bigger influence to arrange their own workday. That leads us to a boundless kind of labor, which comes with both opportunities and risks. This thesis attempts to examine the experience of female managers of two age groups, connected to the boundless conditions that has relevance for their working environment. The purpose of this essay is to look at the female managers own experiences of boundless work conditions and what kind of meaning it has for their wellbeing. In order to provide with knowledge that goes in line with our purpose, theories revolving flexibility, accessibility, the job demand-control model and separation of the two spheres work and leisure have been used in combination with previous research. Previous research within the field has shown that clear boundaries between work and leisure is of importance for one's wellbeing and overall satisfaction with life. The satisfaction can be forsaken when for example working from home. Our conclusions demonstrate that a high workload often results in difficulties within boundary control. The respondents appreciate work flexibility since it enables them to achieve a higher level of concentration. No differences between the age groups were found. / Dagens samhälle präglas av arbetssätt som är under ständig förändring. Utveckling av informations- och kommunikationstekniska medel går framåt med rasande fart vilket bidrar till förändringen. Mobiler och datorer minskar behovet att befinna sig på arbetsplatsen i fysisk bemärkelse, vilket kan kompenseras med att vara nåbar på andra vis både på jobbet och utanför. De förändrade arbetssätten skapar utmaningar för människor där individen har fått ökat inflytande att styra över arbetsdagen. Att ett gränslöst arbete har skapats bär med sig både möjligheter och risker. Den här uppsatsen har författats i ett försök att belysa kvinnliga chefers upplevelse av det gränslösa arbetet som präglar deras arbetsplats samt om detta skiljer sig ur en åldersaspekt. Syftet med uppsatsen är att bidra med kunskap om chefernas egna upplevelse av gränslöst arbete och vad det har för betydelse för deras välmående. För att kunna bidra med denna kunskap har teorier om tillgänglighet och flexibilitet, krav- och kontrollmodellen och teori om de två sfärerna arbete och fritid använts i kombination med tidigare forskning och empiri. Tidigare forskning inom området tyder på att en tydlig gränsdragning mellan arbete och fritid är av vikt för ett fungerande liv präglat av balans mellan sfärerna, vilket lätt försakas till följd av arbete i hemmet. Uppsatsen har resulterat i slutsatser som pekar på att arbetet följer med hem vid hög arbetsbelastning vilket försvårar gränsdragningen. Cheferna uppskattar flexibiliteten i deras arbete då det ger möjlighet till koncentrerad arbetstid. Vi har inte observerat några skillnader ur en åldersaspekt.

Forskningsfrågor: Vilka arbetsfaktorer anser personer anställda genom bemanningsföretag påverka deras välmående och varför? Hur skiljer välmående sig mellan deltid- och heltidsanställda inom bemanningsföretag i förhållande till identifierade arbetsfaktorer? Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka det upplevda välmåendet hos personer som är anställda genom bemanningsföretag i ekonomisektorn samt vilka faktorer som har en påverkan på det upplevda välmåendet. En jämförelse kommer att göras mellan personer som arbetar heltid och de som arbetar deltid via ett bemanningsföretag. Metod: Studien är en kvalitativ studie. Data samlades in med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer, som hölls med åtta respondenter. Intervjuerna hölls via Microsoft Teams. Hälften av respondenterna var heltidsanställda och andra hälften var deltidsanställda.  Slutsats: Många av de identifierade faktorerna är sammankopplade. Jobbsäkerhet, karriärutveckling, inkludering/exkludering och arbetsutveckling har alla en central del för välmåendet. Anledningen till detta är bland annat att jobbsäkerhet har stora konsekvenser även utanför jobbet och påverkar även andra faktorer som ekonomisk kompensation, förväntningar och möjligheter till karriärutveckling. / Research questions: What work factors do people employed within staffing companies deem affects their wellbeing and how?How does wellbeing differ between part- and full-time employees within staffing companies in relation to the work factors? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the perceived well-being of people who are employed through staffing companies in the financial sector and which factors have an impact on the perceived well-being. A comparison will be made between people who work full time and those who work part time through a staffing company. Method: The study is a qualitative study. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, which were conducted with eight respondents. The interviews were conducted via Microsoft Teams. Half of the respondents were full-time employees while the other half were part-time employees. Conclusion: Many of the identified factors are interconnected. Job security, career development, inclusion / exclusion and job development all have a central part to well-being. The reason for this is, among other things, that job security also has major consequences outside of work and also affects other factors such as financial compensation, expectations and opportunities for career development.

No description available.