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In large system development efforts organizational and managerial issues are often more challenging than technical ones. One of the key concerns of managers is the control and evaluation of the overall development effort. The purpose of this paper was to analyze the evaluation of system development process in a setting where there are multiple stakeholders in multiple organizations that develop a common information system (IS). The case is a consortium of universities that has developed a common student registrar system over a period of more than ten years.

The authors used a social process model to analyze the episodes and encounters in the system development and evaluation process. The research approach can be characterized as action case.

The authors found that in the early stages of system development the evaluation was emergent or even non‐existent. As the system was developed further and issues, such as delays and missing features, arose, there was a need for better control of the process. Thus, the evaluation process evolved through a series of critical encounters into a more proactive one.

The authors studied only one case so broad generalizations directly from the case cannot be made. However, the results could hold true for similar settings. The authors believe that the results are interesting to both researchers and practitioners since in outsourcing relationships the consortium kind of arrangement is becoming more common.

The authors analyze the evolution of IS evaluation processes in a setting with multiple client and vendor organizations and reveal the complexities of system evaluation in such settings. Moreover, they introduce three new concepts: reactive, transitional and proactive evaluation processes. These concepts can help researchers and practitioners to better understand the nature of the IS evaluation processes and to possibly choose an evaluation approach that has a better “fit” with the development situation at hand.

To investigate the effects of payor–provider integration on the operational performance of health service provision. The research explores whether integration governs agency problems and tilts the incentives of diverse actors toward more systematic outcomes.

A two stage multimethod case study of occupational health services. A qualitative stage aimed to understand the reasons, mechanisms, and outcomes of payor–provider integration. A quantitative stage evaluated the performance of the integrated hospital against fee-for-service partner hospitals with a sample of 2,726 patients.

Payor–provider integration mitigates agency problems on multiple levels of the service system by complementing formal governance mechanisms with informal mechanisms. Compared to partner hospitals, the integrated hospital yielded 9% lower the total costs of occupational injuries achieved primarily by emphasizing conservative care and faster recovery.

Focuses on occupational health services in Finland. Provides initial evidence of the effects of payor–provider integration on the operational performance.

Vertical integration may provide systematic outcomes but requires mindful implementation of multiple mechanisms. Rigorous change management initiative is advised.

For patients, the research shows payor–provider integration of health services can be implemented in a manner that it reduces care costs while not compromising care quality and customer satisfaction.

This study provides a rare longitudinal analysis of payor–provider integration in health-care operations management. The study adds to the knowledge of operational performance improvement of health services.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the behavior of different lead-free solders (95.5Sn3.8Ag0.7Cu, i.e. SAC387 and Sn7In4.1Ag0.5Cu, i.e. SAC-In) in thermomechanically loaded non-collapsible ball grid array (BGA) joints of a low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) module. The validity of a modified Engelmaier’s model was tested to verify its capability to predict the characteristic lifetime of an LTCC module assembly implementable in field applications.

Five printed wiring board (PWB) assemblies, each carrying eight LTCC modules, were fabricated and exposed to a temperature cycling test over a −40 to 125°C temperature range to determine the characteristic lifetimes of interconnections in the LTCC module/PWB assemblies. The failure mechanisms of the test assemblies were verified using scanning acoustic microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and field emission SEM investigation. A stress-dependent Engelmaier’s model, adjusted for plastic-core solder ball (PCSB) BGA structures, was used to predict the characteristic lifetimes of the assemblies.

Depending on the joint configuration, characteristic lifetimes of up to 1,920 cycles were achieved in the thermal cycling testing. The results showed that intergranular (creep) failures occurred primarily only in the joints containing Sn7In4.1Ag0.5Cu solder. Other primary failure mechanisms (mixed transgranular/intergranular, separation of the intermetallic compound/solder interface and cracking in the interface between the ceramic and metallization) were observed in the other joint configurations. The modified Engelmaier’s model was found to predict the lifetime of interconnections with good accuracy. The results confirmed the superiority of SAC-In solder over SAC in terms of reliability, and also proved that an air cavity structure of the module, which enhances its radio frequency (RF) performance, did not degrade the reliability of the second-level interconnections of the test assemblies.

This paper shows the superiority of SAC-In solder over SAC387 solder in terms of reliability and verifies the applicability of the modified Engelmaier’s model as an accurate lifetime prediction method for PCSB BGA structures for the presented LTCC packages for RF/microwave telecommunication applications.

A prominent labour market feature in recent decades has been the increase in abstract and service jobs, while the demand for routine work has declined. This article examines whether the components of Type A behaviour predict workers' selection into non-routine abstract, non-routine service and routine jobs.

Building on the work by Barrick et al. (2013), this article first presents how the theory of purposeful work behaviour can be used to explain how individuals with different levels of Type A components sort into abstract, service and routine jobs. Then, using longitudinal data, it examines whether the components of Type A behaviour predict occupational sorting. Estimations were performed based on the linear regression method.

The results show that the Type A dimension “leadership” was associated with a higher level of abstract and service job tasks in occupation. High eagerness-energy and responsibility were also positively linked with occupation's level of abstract tasks. These results suggest that workers sort into jobs that allow them to pursue higher-order implicit goals.

Job market polarisation towards low-routine jobs has had a pervasive influence on the labour market during the past few decades. Based on high-quality data that combine prime working-age register information on occupational attainment with information about personality characteristics, the findings contribute to our knowledge of how personality characteristics contribute to occupational sorting in terms of this important job aspect.