I. Artaki, U. Ray, A.M. Jackson, H.M. Gordon and P.T. Vianco
Substitution of lead‐free solders in electronic assemblies requires changes in the conventional Sn:Pb finishes on substrates and component leads to prevent contamination of the…
Abstract
Substitution of lead‐free solders in electronic assemblies requires changes in the conventional Sn:Pb finishes on substrates and component leads to prevent contamination of the candidate solder. Options for solderability preservative coatings on the printed wiring board include organic (azole or rosin/resin based) films and tin‐based plated metallic coatings. This paper compares the solderability performance of electroless tin coatings versus organic azole films after exposure to a series of humidity and thermal cycling conditions. It is shown that the solderability of immersion tin is directly related to the tin oxide growth on the surface and is not affected by the formation of Sn‐Cu intermetallic phases as long as the intermetallic phase is protected by a surface Sn layer. For a nominal tin thickness of 60 ?inches, the typical thermal excursions associated with assembly were not sufficient to cause the intermetallic phase to consume the entire tin layer. Exposure to elevated temperatures, in the presence of humidity, promoted heavy tin oxide formation which led to solderability loss. In contrast, thin azole films were shown to be more robust to humidity exposure; however, upon heating in the presence of oxygen, they decomposed and led to severe solderability degradation. Evaluations of lead‐free solder pastes for surface mount assembly applications indicated that immersion tin significantly improved the spreading of Sn:Ag and Sn:Bi alloys compared with azole surface finishes.
I. Artaki, U. Ray, H.M. Gordon and R.L. Opila
The emergence of new interconnection technologies involving double‐sided surface mounted components has put stronger restrictions on the method of preserving the solderable finish…
Abstract
The emergence of new interconnection technologies involving double‐sided surface mounted components has put stronger restrictions on the method of preserving the solderable finish on printed circuit (PC) boards. The popular Sn/Pb coatings have come under strong scrutiny due to environmental hazards of lead and also because they do not provide flat, planar surfaces for SM assembly. Organic solderability preservative coatings (OSP) are emerging as strong contenders for replacing Sn/Pb surface finishes. Benzotriazole based organic coatings have been successfully used in the past by several electronics manufacturers. However, assembly technologies involving multiple thermal operations have necessitated a fundamental understanding of the thermal stabilities and the mechanism of corrosion protection provided by the OSPs. This paper reports the results of an investigation of the thermal stabilities of two organic corrosion protection coatings. Although both are organic azole based, they operate in two distinct regimes: one forming thin films (∼100 Å) and the other forming thick films (∼5000 Å). The mechanism of surface protection has been studied using direct surface analytical techniques such as X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), scanning transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR). The solderability of the copper was measured by wetting balance techniques and correlated to the amount of copper oxidation. The results indicate that, although the thin films provide excellent protection for storage and handling operations, they decompose under heat, thereby causing oxidation of the copper. The thick films appear to withstand multiple thermal cycling. However, the underlying copper substrate can still be oxidised by oxygen diffusion through pores or cracks, or the film may undergo chemical changes that render the copper unsolderable.
In response to provisions in Public Law 99–383, which was passed 21 June 1986 by the 99th Congress, an inter‐agency group under the auspices of the Federal Coordinating Council…
Abstract
In response to provisions in Public Law 99–383, which was passed 21 June 1986 by the 99th Congress, an inter‐agency group under the auspices of the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology (FCCSET) for Computer Research and Applications was formed to study the following issues: the networking needs of the nation's academic and federal research computer programs, including supercomputer programs, over the next 15 years, addressing requirements in terms of volume of data, reliability of transmission, software compatibility, graphics capabilities, and transmission security; the benefits and opportunities that an improved computer network would offer for electronic mail, file transfer, and remote access and communications; and the networking options available for linking academic and research computers, including supercomputers, with a particular emphasis on fiber optics. Bell reports on the process and recommendations associated with the committee's work, and suggests a means for accomplishing the network objectives addressed by its report.
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The authors present nine dimensions to provide structure for the many Futures of Work (FoW). This is done to advance a more sociotechnical and nuanced approach to the FoW, which…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors present nine dimensions to provide structure for the many Futures of Work (FoW). This is done to advance a more sociotechnical and nuanced approach to the FoW, which is too-often articulated as singular and unidimensional. Futurists emphasize they do not predict the future, but rather, build a number of possible futures – in plural – often in the form of scenarios constructed based on key dimensions. Such scenarios help decision-makers consider alternative actions by providing structured frames for careful analyses. It is useful that the dimensions be dichotomous. Here, the authors focus specifically on the futures of knowledge work.
Design/methodology/approach
Building from a sustained review of the FoW literature, from a variety of disciplines, this study derives the nine dimensions.
Findings
The nine FoW dimensions are: Locus of Place, Locus of Decision-making, Structure of Work, Technologies’ Roles, Work–Life, Worker Expectations, Leadership Model, Firm’s Value Creation and Labor Market Structure. Use of the dimensions is illustrated by constructing sample scenarios.
Originality/value
While FoW is multi-dimensional, most FoW writing has focused on one or two dimensions, often highlighting positive or negative possibilities. Empirical papers, by their nature, are focused on just one dimension that is supported by data. However, future-oriented policy reports tend are more often multi-faceted analyses and serve here as the model for what we present.
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This paper seeks to describe a new service developed by national debt charity Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) aimed at identifying clients within its online debt…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to describe a new service developed by national debt charity Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) aimed at identifying clients within its online debt counselling tool who may be suffering from stress and anxiety and then referring them for advice and support, including computer‐based cognitive behavioural therapy (CCBT).
Design/methodology/approach
Since December 2010, clients using CCCS Debt Remedy, the charity's online debt counselling tool, have been asked four trigger questions which indicate whether the user is suffering from depression and/or anxiety. Clients who show these signs, after they receive a recommendation about how to deal with their debt, are offered the opportunity to complete a more comprehensive assessment known as CCCS Wellbeing. The CCCS Wellbeing assessment consists of 16 questions, nine relating to depression and seven to anxiety. The depression questions are based on the medically endorsed depression screener, PHQ‐9, and the anxiety questions are based on the similarly medically endorsed anxiety screener, GAD‐7. These two screeners are also the source of the four original trigger questions.
Findings
Of the 36,618 clients who were counselled by CCCS Debt Remedy between the launch of the new service in December 2010 and the end of May 2011, 65 percent obtained a recommendation to undertake CCCS Wellbeing. The vast majority of clients who obtained a CCCS Wellbeing recommendation through the online debt counselling tool were showing signs of both depression and anxiety (74 percent).
Originality/value
The high propensity for people to be recommended to CCCS Wellbeing demonstrates the need for the service. This will inform future service development by CCCS, which is studying new ways to further identify and refer for help its clients who are struggling with their mental health.
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The purpose of this article is to discuss the author's experiences as a program manager during the 1980s through early 1990s when Digital went from a booming $15 billion company…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to discuss the author's experiences as a program manager during the 1980s through early 1990s when Digital went from a booming $15 billion company through break‐up and downsizing, to its purchase by Compaq Computer in 1997. The article aims to provide a perspective on what it was like to work in a company that valued transparency, and what it felt like when under pressure the company reverted back to a traditional opaque, hierarchical management.
Design/methodology/approach
Discussions of the author's experiences as a program manager during the 1980s through early 1990s at Digital Corporation.
Findings
Transparency was a core principle used at Digital Equipment Corporation to build a highly successful company with a corporate culture. Alumnae of that organization have continued to communicate and network as they went in many different directions. Their philosophy has influenced the culture of the high‐tech industries.
Practical implications
A high level overview by an executive from the inside discussing a perspective on what it was like to work in a company that valued transparency, and what it felt like when under pressure the company reverted back to a traditional opaque, hierarchical management.
Originality/value
A look from the inside out at the issue of transparency as it applied to a booming $15 billion company.
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Purpose – To explore an ethics of entanglement in the context of mental health and psychosocial research.Design/methodology/approach – To bring together debates within body and…
Abstract
Purpose – To explore an ethics of entanglement in the context of mental health and psychosocial research.
Design/methodology/approach – To bring together debates within body and affect studies, and specifically the concepts of mediated perception and the performativity of experimentation. My specific focus will be on voice hearing and research that I have conducted with voice hearers, both within and to the margins of the Hearing Voices Network (see Blackman, 2001, 2007).
Findings – The antecedents for a performative approach to experimentation and an ethics of entanglement can be found within a nineteenth-century subliminal archive (Blackman, 2012).
Originality/value – These conceptual links allow the researcher to consider the technologies that might allow them to ‘listen to voices’ and introduce the non-human into our conceptions of listening and interpreting. This directs our attention to those agencies and actors who create the possibility of listening and learning beyond the boundaries of a humanist research subject.
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Jennifer Rindfleish, Alison Sheridan and Sue‐Ellen Kjeldal
The purpose of this paper is to present personal experiences of using storytelling as a “sensemaking” tool, to argue for the benefits of this method as a process of better…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present personal experiences of using storytelling as a “sensemaking” tool, to argue for the benefits of this method as a process of better understanding the gendered academy and the role storytelling can play in effecting change.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on personal experiences of storytelling within workplaces, the paper explores how stories between colleagues can lead to positive change through the co‐construction of new worlds of meaning which are spontaneously revised through interaction.
Findings
The paper demonstrates how storytelling between individuals experiencing inequality makes visible the gendered practices in academic workplaces and can lead to a change in those experiences of the workplace. Also, such stories can be a means for prompting change through negotiation. Theoretically, a triple‐loop learning environment within an organization could provide the agora required for stories about inequality to be heard continually and change to come about through negotiation.
Research limitations/implications
The paper uses a method that serves as a heuristic device and as such cannot be generalized for all organizational settings. The findings offer a new but partial solution for negotiating gender inequity in academia by suggesting that there must be more storytelling in openly public spaces between colleagues to challenge and negotiate the gendered organizational cultures of academia.
Practical implications
The application of the method of triple‐loop learning in academic organizational settings can assist in challenging and changing gender inequity through the consistent use of narratives.
Originality/value
The paper is unique in that it argues for the value of a self‐reflexive narrative form of method which favours stories being shared in public spaces – the agora – as a way of addressing gender inequity within complex, male dominated professions such as academia.