PCV Holding: Who’s next? - Planning the Succession

This paper is a case study on a family business – PCV Holding – established in Mozambique. Having survived three generations and experiencing one of the most intense periods of growth, a tough issue emerges which is capable of compromising the future of the business: The Succession -How to transfer the management and ownership to the next generation while ensuring a fair process. Through several meetings with the board members and owners, I had the opportunity to understand the business and the family history which allowed me to study it taking into consideration family business’s subjects.

(Non) - Demand driven servitization: strategic implications for suppliers from incorporating their customers up front

Double Degree. A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Master’s Degree in Management from NOVA – School of Business and Economics and a Masters Degree in International Business, Strategy and Innovation from Maastricht University

Foresight exercises as a tool for decision-making: the example of two case studies in health

Based on the report for the unit “Foresight Methods Analysis” of the PhD programme on Technology Assessment at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. António B. Moniz

The importance of succession planning in family-owned Small and Medium Enterprises in Portugal

This work project addresses the importance of succession planning in family-owned Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This is directly related with Human Resources Management (HRM) given that there is an HRM long term vision in order for the succession to be planned on time and benefit the companies. This study focused on SMEs since these are the entities that have a minor focus on HRM practices. A total of 22 in-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed. Selected SMEs owners/managers and successors/antecessors were interviewed with the purpose of acquiring more insight on the level of succession planning, using a qualitative methodology from which the process of succession was derived. This study unveils that the first step in this process is related to the definition of criteria to be a good successor, followed by the choice of possible successors, being the children the natural successors, but also considering other potential ones, and finally some considerations on the future of these companies.

Hotel industry: An answer to the emerging trends on the global demand side of tourism

This dissertation studies essentially how Millennials are changing the hotel industry, in the sense that new trends are emerging with this generation and hotels need to respond accordingly, in order to survive within their competitive industry. Emphasis is also given to Asian travellers, as the enlargement of these countries’ middle class populations is predicted, therefore making Asian travellers a valuable target for the hotel industry. To successfully target this segment, hoteliers need also to consider the cultural differences and aspirations that come together with the Asian travellers, and appropriately adapt their offer to them. I will then redirect this study to the city of Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, to analyse if Lisbon’s four and five-star hotel managers are aware of the new market trends, and to understand how they are changing their hotels in order to make them more attractive to Millennials and Asian travellers. Using a sample of 12 hotels (four and five-stars ratings), I have concluded that, although there is a notable undergoing process of adaptation to these guests, there is a long way ahead in order for Lisbon’s hotels to entirely please and retain millennial guests.

Energy efficiency in energy policy: Empirical evidence of direct rebound effect in Portuguese household's demand for electricity

This project the direct rebound effect for the electricity demand in Portugal. While we find evidence of such an effect, the estimations also reflect the institutional arrangement that has characterized the electricity market in the country. Also, issues related to energy efficiency promotion are addressed in general putting into context the case study developed.

Do hospitals react to random demand pressure by early discharges?

This project tries to assess whether hospitals react to random demand pressure by discharging patients earlier than expected. As a matter of fact, combining an unpredictable demand for medical services with limited and, to some extent, fixed medical resources, generates strong incentives to discharge patients earlier than expected when demand is high − increasing the risk of readmission and decreasing the benefit from treatment. This work was conducted as a way to determine whether those incentives actually affect discharging decisions. Analysis of Portuguese hospitals data shows that hospital utilization levels at the time of admission, prior to the admission and post admission do have a negative impact over the length of stay in hospital, although this impact is quantitatively irrelevant. More than that, larger utilization levels have a positive impact over the probability of being discharged at certain days of the week, indicating that an early discharges problem may exist.

Estimating demand for primary health care services

Primary health services exist with the purpose of providing basic health care to every person at a cost they can afford. But is it fully available to everyone? The objective of this work project is to estimate the demand for primary health care services having into account that in some regions the citizens are not using as much health care as they would like due to supply side constraints. Using the number of consultations as proxy for demand, and applying an econometric tool called switching regression, the demand for primary health care services will be estimated.

Control in distribution networks with demand side management

The way in which electricity networks operate is going through a period of significant change. Renewable generation technologies are having a growing presence and increasing penetrations of generation that are being connected at distribution level. Unfortunately, a renewable energy source is most of the time intermittent and needs to be forecasted. Current trends in Smart grids foresee the accommodation of a variety of distributed generation sources including intermittent renewable sources. It is also expected that smart grids will include demand management resources, widespread communications and control technologies required to use demand response are needed to help the maintenance in supply-demand balance in electricity systems. Consequently, smart household appliances with controllable loads will be likely a common presence in our homes. Thus, new control techniques are requested to manage the loads and achieve all the potential energy present in intermittent energy sources. This thesis is focused on the development of a demand side management control method in a distributed network, aiming the creation of greater flexibility in demand and better ease the integration of renewable technologies. In particular, this work presents a novel multi-agent model-based predictive control method to manage distributed energy systems from the demand side, in presence of limited energy sources with fluctuating output and with energy storage in house-hold or car batteries. Specifically, here is presented a solution for thermal comfort which manages a limited shared energy resource via a demand side management perspective, using an integrated approach which also involves a power price auction and an appliance loads allocation scheme. The control is applied individually to a set of Thermal Control Areas, demand units, where the objective is to minimize the energy usage and not exceed the limited and shared energy resource, while simultaneously indoor temperatures are maintained within a comfort frame. Thermal Control Areas are overall thermodynamically connected in the distributed environment and also coupled by energy related constraints. The energy split is performed based on a fixed sequential order established from a previous completed auction wherein the bids are made by each Thermal Control Area, acting as demand side management agents, based on the daily energy price. The developed solutions are explained with algorithms and are applied to different scenarios, being the results explanatory of the benefits of the proposed approaches.

What do broadband consumers want? Design and execution of a questionnaire on demand for bundled services on the Portuguese telecomunications market

The report addresses the question of what are the preferences of broadband consumers on the Portuguese telecommunication market. A triple play bundle is being investigated. The discrete choice analysis, adopted in the study, base on 110 responses, mainly from NOVA students. The data for the analysis was collected via manually designed on-line survey. The results show that the price attribute is relatively the most important one while the television attribute is being overlooked in the decision making process. Main effects examined in the research are robust. In addition, "extras" components are being tested in terms of users' preferences.

Caracterização da carga da doença arterial periférica dos membros inferiores : contributos para um melhor conhecimento do peso desta doença no internamento hospitalar

RESUMO - A doença arterial periférica (DAP) apresenta uma carga de doença significativa, afetando cerca de 3 a 10% da população em geral e 15 a 20% dos indivíduos com idade superior a 70 anos. A sua prevalência em Portugal foi estimada em cerca de 5,9% no continente; 6,6% na Região Autónoma dos Açores (RAA) e 3,8% na Região Autónoma da Madeira (RAM). Para além da importante carga de doença, quer em termos epidemiológicos, quer económicos, a DAP confere aos seus portadores um risco cardiovascular agravado, sendo que os mesmos apresentam cerca do triplo do risco de mortalidade e de eventos cardiovasculares quando comparados com indivíduos sem DAP. Tratou-se de um estudo observacional, transversal e descritivo tendo como base duas populações de estudo. A primeira é referente aos hospitais do Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS) com a valência de cirurgia vascular e a segunda à população portuguesa com episódios de internamento por diagnóstico de DAP dos membros inferiores (MI) nos anos de 2013 e 2014 na totalidade dos hospitais do SNS. Através da análise dos resultados do questionário procedeu-se à descrição de algumas das características dos serviços e unidades de cirurgia vascular de sete hospitais do SNS; através da análise da base de dados dos GDH para os anos de 2013 e 2014 procedeu-se à caracterização do peso do internamento por DAP dos membros inferiores a nível nacional no mesmo período. A DAP tem uma carga significativa e atendendo aos seus fatores de risco e história natural da doença, apresenta uma tendência crescente durante os próximos anos, representando por isso um enorme desafio para os sistemas de saúde. São, no entanto, necessários estudos mais aprofundados sobre o tema que permitam conhecer melhor o peso desta patologia e, de forma global, melhorar o planeamento, tendo por base a caracterização quer do lado da procura (dados epidemiológicos e peso no internamento), quer da oferta (capacidade instalada).

Impactos territoriais de processos de cooperação transfronteiriça : caso de estudo : Elvas e Badajoz

A cooperação transfronteiriça é vista na União Europeia como um modelo de integração territorial e como uma alternativa para o desenvolvimento das regiões de fronteira, devido ao seu afastamento em relação aos grandes centros urbanos. No início da década de 90 foi lançado o programa do INTERREG tendo em vista a maior permeabilidade da fronteira e o desenvolvimento destes territórios, entre os quais o das regiões do Alto Alentejo e da Extremadura. A grande proximidade territorial entre Elvas e Badajoz permitiu desde sempre relações de cooperação mais ou menos intensas e consentidas, mesmo antes da abertura da fronteira, motivadas sobretudo pela diferença de valor entre as duas moedas. Contudo, com a entrada conjunta dos países ibéricos na CEE (1986), essas relações intensificaram-se ao nível do comércio, do emprego, do turismo, do lazer e da procura de serviços. Impactos territoriais como a procura e utilização conjunta de infraestruturas e de espaços públicos pelas populações das duas cidades, a promoção e realização de espetáculos culturais, a prática de cross-border shopping, a procura de uma segunda residência, em ambos os lados da fronteira, e a tendência para uma urbanização contínua no futuro, justificaram a criação da Eurocidade Elvas-Badajoz (2013). Esta iniciativa tem como principais objetivos promover a conceção, gestão e prestação conjunta de serviços, desenvolver projetos de cooperação em áreas de interesse comum, estimular a cooperação entre empresas e atrair investimentos geradores de novos postos de trabalho. No entanto os desafios para ambas as cidades prendem-se com a existência de um quadro jurídico e legal distinto que tem condicionado algumas das ações ou iniciativas e o desenvolvimento territorial conjunto ainda carece de uma proposta estratégica.

Jeronimo Martins in 2030 succession and strategy planning

The case outlines the history of Jerónimo Martins and the Dos Santos family in the context of a dialogue between the pater familias Alexandre and his successor Pedro. The case idea analyses the problems associated with next generation entrance in the family business and the outcomes on the different stakeholders and environment, with a particular focus on the evolution of the relationship between family, family holding and the JM group. The case is designed to assess the sustainability of a traditional succession strategy in the context of the challenges of globalization and growth of the company and family, analysing the reciprocal influence in a long-term strategy.