The portuguese insurance industry: basis for strategic process decision

Nowadays, the Portuguese insurance industry operates in a market with a much more aggressive structure than a few decades ago. Markets and the economy have become globalised since the last decade of the 20th century. Market forces have gradually shifted – power is now mainly on the demand side. In order to meet the new requirements, the insurance industry must develop a strong strategic ability to respond to constant changes of the new international economic order.One of the basic aspects of this strategic development will focus on the ability to predict the future. We introduce the subject by briefly describing the sector, its organisational structure in the Portuguese market, and challenges arising from the development of the European Union. We then analyse the economic and financial structure of the sector. From this point of view, we aim at the possibility of designing models that could explain the demand for insurance, claims and technical reserves evolution. Such models, (even if based on the past), would resolve, at least partly, one of the greatest difficulties experienced by insurance companies when estimating the budget. Thus, we examine the existence of variables that explain the previous points, which are capable of forming a basis for designing models that are simple but efficient, and can be used for strategic planning.

Validation of a measurement scale for the relationship between the orientation to corporate social responsibility and other business strategic variables

The importance of Social Responsibility (SR) is higher if this business variable is related with other ones of strategic nature in business activity (competitive success that the company achieved, performance that the firms develop and innovations that they carries out). The hypothesis is that organizations that focus on SR are those who get higher outputs and innovate more, achieving greater competitive success. A scale for measuring the orientation to SR has defined in order to determine the degree of relationship between above elements. This instrument is original because previous scales do not exist in the literature which could measure, on the one hand, the three classics sub-constructs theoretically accepted that SR is made up and, on the other hand, the relationship between SR and the other variables. As a result of causal relationships analysis we conclude with a scale of 21 indicators, validated scale with a sample of firms belonging to the Autonomous Community of Extremadura and it is the first empirical validation of these dimensions we know so far, in this context.

Processos de regulação da violência escolar: das políticas às práticas

Esta comunicação tem como objetivo analisar como as políticas respeitantes à segurança escolar são reinterpretadas e reorientadas em resultado das estratégias e filosofias de intervenção das direções das escolas e outros agentes educativos. Tendo como premissa que o contexto social não determina linearmente a violência escolar, o estudo centrou-­se na análise das relações entre o contexto social local e organizacional das escolas, procurando identificar os factores relevantes para o processo de regulação da violência. Foram selecionados três clusters de escolas na Área Metropolitana de Lisboa, tendo em conta contrastes intra e inter clusters assim como a sua posição relativa face aos níveis de violência registadas a nível nacional. Foi identificada uma diversidade significativa de respostas à violência, concretizadas na mobilização de diferentes recursos pelos responsáveis das escolas com o duplo objetivo de atingir as metas políticas definidas e os seus próprios interesses estratégicos. Esta apropriação e reorientação das políticas realiza-­se através da estruturação de redes locais de poder, hierarquizando competências e responsabilidades, e no processo, redefinindo os objetivos do processo de prevenção e intervenção. A ocultação das situações de violência, o recrutamento preferencial de estudantes de classe média ou com sucesso educativo elevado, ou ainda as sanções desproporcionais para alunos agressores ou indisciplinados, foram algumas das estratégias identificadas. Isto mostra que os atores têm diferentes possibilidades e capacidades de ação num sistema complexo de regras sociais que, dentro de certos limites, lhes permite reinterpretar e reconstruir regras e, em última instância, contribuir para a alteração do próprio sistema (Mouzelis, 2000;; Burns e Flam, 2000;; Lipsky, 1980).

A profissão de contabilista em Portugal : evidência empírica em alunos e profissionais

Doutoramento em Contabilidade

Projecto de parceria entre a ONGD Estímulo e a Rede de Farmácias Portuguesas: a união de esforços entre sectores para a resolução de problemas contemporâneos

Trabalho de projeto apresentado à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Gestão Estratégica das Relações Públicas.

A comprehensive high-throughput FTIR spectroscopy-based method for evaluating the transfection event: estimating the transfection efficiency and extracting associated metabolic responses

Reporter genes are routinely used in every laboratory for molecular and cellular biology for studying heterologous gene expression and general cellular biological mechanisms, such as transfection processes. Although well characterized and broadly implemented, reporter genes present serious limitations, either by involving time-consuming procedures or by presenting possible side effects on the expression of the heterologous gene or even in the general cellular metabolism. Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy was evaluated to simultaneously analyze in a rapid (minutes) and high-throughput mode (using 96-wells microplates), the transfection efficiency, and the effect of the transfection process on the host cell biochemical composition and metabolism. Semi-adherent HEK and adherent AGS cell lines, transfected with the plasmid pVAX-GFP using Lipofectamine, were used as model systems. Good partial least squares (PLS) models were built to estimate the transfection efficiency, either considering each cell line independently (R 2 ≥ 0.92; RMSECV ≤ 2 %) or simultaneously considering both cell lines (R 2 = 0.90; RMSECV = 2 %). Additionally, the effect of the transfection process on the HEK cell biochemical and metabolic features could be evaluated directly from the FT-IR spectra. Due to the high sensitivity of the technique, it was also possible to discriminate the effect of the transfection process from the transfection reagent on KEK cells, e.g., by the analysis of spectral biomarkers and biochemical and metabolic features. The present results are far beyond what any reporter gene assay or other specific probe can offer for these purposes.