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The SMART Group has been investigating joining methods for ball grid arrays (BGAs). Originally a development of IBM, and expected to be a dominant packaging technology, the BGA is best visualised as a legless PGA. It has the same advantages—high lead count, wide pitch, small area—but does not need holes. The problem of the BGA is that the interconnects are not visible. This places a high demand on process control and material selection — it really is a case of ‘right first time’. The investigation concentrated on this aspect.

The UK is a leader in the implementation of surface mount technology, and SMARTEX '91 sponsored by the SMART Group is one of only a few shows organised worldwide which is dedicated solely to this field. Perhaps it was not surprising then that this year's three‐day event proved a great success.

The first results from two collaborative UK programmes assessing the performance of non‐CFC cleaning options for the electronics assembly industry were presented at a one‐day conference on 6 February at the Heathrow Forte Crest Hotel. This was the latest of the long series of meetings on the CFC issue organised by the National Physical Laboratory.

With spaces at a premium at the SMART Group symposium in Newport, Gwent, on 5 June it is anticipated that a new ‘SMART Group Wales & West’ division may be formed to service the technical needs of the Welsh and West electronics manufacturing community. Congregating at the Stakis Hotel, a total of 55 individuals from electronics sites across Wales and the West were treated to a complimentary presentation and demonstration of ball grid array (BGA) technology, followed by an open forum discussion on general electronics assembly.

Design for manufacture and testability seems to be a very hot topic. This seminar organised by Bob Willis was over‐subscribed within the first two weeks of announcement, and the standby places were already sufficient to warrant a repeat seminar during September. This will be held in Chelmsford on 9 September.

This conference, in the series being run by the National Physical Laboratory to help the electronics assembly industry consider the problems of CFC phase‐out, was essentially an updated repeat of the event held on 30 April, which had been a complete, standing‐room‐only sell‐out. Surprisingly, this repeat performance also attracted a full house and the format used has proved to be the most popular of all the NPL non‐CFC options conferences.

The purpose of this paper is to shed light upon the reasons why knowledge workers are offered considerable autonomy, and the extent to which they are given the freedom to determine how and when they work.

In order to examine the level of flexibility available to knowledge workers, a large consultancy firm was investigated using a case‐study approach.

The results obtained from the case‐study firm demonstrate the reasons why consultants are afforded temporal and locational flexibility and the degree of flexibility available to them. Contrary to the claims of “futurists”, many knowledge workers are not able to exercise greater control over their working arrangements than traditional employees, as their temporal/locational flexibility is restricted by the needs of their employer(s), client demands and expectations, “professionalism”, network relations and personal career ambitions.

The role played by knowledge workers in the new knowledge economy and the extent to which they are able to extract concessions from their employers have become key areas of interest for organisations, academics and policy makers. Consultancy characterises many of the changes that are being elicited with the emergence of a knowledge‐based economy, and an analysis of the working arrangements available to consultants provides an insight into the degree to which they are given freedom to determine how and when they work and the extent to which they may be defined as “free workers”.