General Theory and Local Action: Experiences from the Quality of Working Life Movement

Quality of Working Life was a researcher-driven social movement culminating in the early 1980s. Its 1981 conference had some 2000 participants from research, management, unions, and government from about 30 countries. Their unifying idea was that the kind of workplace organization demonstrated in the Industrial Democracy Experiments had an emancipatory potential for democracy, productivity, and health in the workplace and beyond. A key question remained, however: how could this transformation take place on a large scale in society? There were different attempts within the movement at combining the general frameworks required to maintain societal significance and impact on the one hand, at the same time as creating relevant knowledge for the local context. After leaving the initial ambition of a universal theory, a turn toward purely local development work was again followed by a return to the general, not as the foundation of a general theory but as elements in a social movement

Innovation and action research

"In the Western economies there is a growing focus on innovation as the key to economic growth. In spite of its orientation towards transcending the given, and creating something new, action research has so far played a limited role as a resource in innovation. Departing from practice-driven innovation and the need for collaboration between many actors, a key role for action research as promoter of joint inquiries in dialogical form and associated action is described and discussed, drawing on experiences from action research programmes in Scandinavia. The core challenge for action research is not only to promote certain forms of collaborative inquiry and action, but to reach a level of scale, or mass, that makes innovation possible." (author's abstract

Research Responses to Practical Challenges: What Can Action Research Contribute?

"During the last decade a major practical turn in research in general has been identified and made subject to discussion. One consequence is a growing interest in what action research can offer in this context. It is a mistake to assume that action research can produce theories of the same kind as conventional research but which are, in some way or other, more practical. The core contributions of action research pertain to how practical challenges are identified, and to how knowledge is made actionable through dialogically structured processes of interplay between research and practical actors. This, however, is not enough. Only when each dialogic process is able to grow in quality and number of actors involved, is the process able to verify its own power as a democratic mechanism." (author's abstract

Learning Organisation and the Process of Regionalisation

"Concepts like Taylorism, lean production and learning organisation draw attention to the point that work organisation can appear in different forms and it is generally recognised that different conditions tend to produce different forms. Still, there is a tendency to underplay how different these generative conditions are. In this article the issue of learning organisation is placed in focus, drawing upon experiences from Scandinavian workplace development programmes. These experiences indicate that learning organisation is not a question of job design but of a democratic social order characterised by open communication and mutual trust between all concerned. These characteristics are best made real in social environments characterised by pluralism combined with possibilities for interaction and the notion of “region” has come to the forefront in work organisation development." (author's abstract

Learning from Workplace Development Initiatives: External Evaluations versus Internal Understandings

"In efforts to promote new forms of work organization, the use of exemplary cases and the notion of best practices have played a key role. There are, however, major problems associated with diffusing experience from such sources to new workplaces. To reach out in working life and attain scope in the changes, there is a need for other strategies. To explore options and potentials in this context, workplace development programs have been launched in several countries. The purpose of this article is to look at some of the programs that have emerged in the Scandinavian context, with a view to seeing how the issue of scope has been approached and what can be learnt from the programs. In association with the learning issue, the evaluations done of the programs will be the point of departure. The article will, consequently, highlight questions associated with evaluations: Are they read? What discourses, if any, do they enter? Are they acted upon?" (author's abstract

Cable Modeling for Very Fast Transient Simulation Studies Using One-Sided Voltage Transfer Function Measurements

A novel measurement-based method for high-frequency modeling of shielded cables is introduced for use in very fast transient simulation studies. The method requires measurements on one cable end only, thereby being applicable to installed cable systems. Three frequency sweep voltage transfer measurements are performed at one cable end using a vector network analyzer (VNA) with gain-phase setup, two voltage probes and one series resistor. From the measurements is calculated the cable 2×2 admittance matrix as function of frequency where a sign arbitrariness is removed using a local rational model that is swept along the frequency samples. The resulting admittance matrix can be fitted by a lumped-parameter rational model, or be subjected to modeling by a frequency-dependent traveling wave model which also permits to change the cable length. Application to a 150 mm 2 single core cable of 252 m length demonstrates that the model reproduces measured cable high-frequency damping effects that result in sub-microsecond voltage rise times. A classical modeling approach based on skin effect formulae gives too little damping.Cable Modeling for Very Fast Transient Simulation Studies Using One-Sided Voltage Transfer Function MeasurementsacceptedVersio

Rational Function Approximation of Transformer Branch Impedance Matrix For Frequency-Dependent White-Box Modeling

Transformer white-box models are used by the manufacturers to calculate internal winding voltages during the lightning impulse test. The model can also be applied in general network studies, but the model accuracy should then be improved, considering the many different voltage waveforms and frequencies that can exist in the system. Accuracy improvements are achievable by including the frequency-dependency of the branch impedance matrix via rational function approximation, but the large size of the matrix makes such modeling very difficult. Two suitable methods for passive rational modeling are presented, based on vector fitting and residue perturbation in either phase domain or modal domain. Application to a power transformer shows that the two methods are capable of fitting a 213×213 branch impedance matrix with a 6 th order passive pole-residue model in a few seconds. The resulting model is included in a complete white-box state-space model of the transformer that is compatible with a previously implemented model interface for EMTP. An efficient procedure is presented for validating the simulation result by the Numerical Laplace Transform. Comparison with a measurement shows that the inclusion of the frequency dependency gives a better reproduction of the measured waveshape than a previously proposed damping-factor model.Rational Function Approximation of Transformer Branch Impedance Matrix For Frequency-Dependent White-Box ModelingacceptedVersio

Eliminating Measurement Cable Effects From Transformer Admittance Measurements

-Admittance frequency-sweep measurements is an accepted procedure for characterizing transformer terminal behavior for the purpose of frequency-dependent black-box modeling. The errors introduced by the measurement cables is with one existing practice mitigated by removal of the associated shunt capacitance effect. In this paper, it is shown that the accuracy can be greatly improved by using transmission-line representation of the measurement cables with parameters obtained from standard cable data or from S-parameter measurements. The procedure is demonstrated for the modeling of a 45 MVA generator step-up transformer requiring cable lengths of six meters and an upper frequency limit of 10 MHz

Multi-Conductor Cable Modeling With Inclusion of Measured Coaxial Wave Propagation Characteristics

The prediction of voltage stresses in transformer and machine windings requires the ability to calculate pulse propagation effects on the feeding cable with sufficient accuracy. The use of commonly available cable models in electromagnetic transient (EMT) programs can lead to voltage wave fronts with too weak damping at very high frequencies. This work shows a method for improving the accuracy of such models by usage of measured coaxial mode propagation characteristics. The information is introduced into a wide-band multi-conductor cable model at high frequencies by a merging procedure, with only a minor impact on the non-coaxial modes of propagation. The application of the developed model is demonstrated for cases where the metallic sheaths are grounded at one end only, or are cross-bonded.Multi-Conductor Cable Modeling With Inclusion of Measured Coaxial Wave Propagation CharacteristicsacceptedVersio

A 2D FEM Model For Impedance and Loss Calculation of Armored Three-Core Cables With Inclusion of 3D Pitching Effects

A method is introduced for impedance and loss calculation of three-core power cables with steel armoring, based on 2D finite element method (FEM) computations. The pitching effect of the cores and armor wires is taken into account by 1) enforcing identical net current on the wires, and by 2) introducing a fictitious non-conductive material between the wires having a complex-valued permeability. The permeability is obtained by considering the effect of the pitching on the total energy in a volume slab around each wire, which involves the solving of a small 2D FEM problem in an optimization loop. The method permits to calculate the positive-sequence and zero-sequence impedance on cables, induced sheath currents, and losses in cores, sheaths, and armor. The method is validated against published results using a full 3D FEM model. The calculations are fast, requiring only a few seconds of computation time. The procedure is simplified by use of pre-calculated look-up tables for the fictitious material permeability value.A 2D FEM Model For Impedance and Loss Calculation of Armored Three-Core Cables With Inclusion of 3D Pitching EffectsacceptedVersio