Opening Pousada da Serra da Estrela in Covilhã: A two-way impact - studying the value chain

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Rethinking the Portuguese banking sector in a post-crisis context

As the financial crisis hit the Portuguese banks, the profitability of the whole sector squeezed to historical minimums. Reinventing the banking business model in the post-crisis context is an overriding issue to achieve sustainable profits and a low cost-to-income ratio. We propose banks to adopt a true multichannel approach, proceeding to a branch network reformatting and a relocation of services to online channels; adopt a true customer-centric approach and reduce the product and services portfolio complexity; finally, industrialize operations and rationalize the structure. With these measures in place, Portuguese banks will become leaner and more efficient, aspiring to a cost-to-income ratio below 45%.

The influence of price changes on consumers' purchase decisions

The development of an effective pricing strategy requires the acquaintance of consumers’ price perception as well as the range of elements that influence the price sensitivity. This paper analyses the relationships between product features, individual characteristics and the level of price increase/decrease that induces the consumers to change their purchase decisions. The results of a dedicated survey show, that price sensitivity, individual preferences, type of product and direction of price change and individual characteristics of consumers (gender, age, professional situation) have a significant impact on a threshold at which people are willing to choose the less attractive, but cheaper alternative to their favorite product or give up the variety in consumption. From a consumer behavior perspective, these findings play a fundamental role in pricing.

Structured products in the current low interest rate environment

Directed Research Internship

“Private label products: A category analysis”

The presented dissertation was developed within a partnership between Nova School of Business and Economics and the Portuguese retailer Sonae MC. The main objective of the study was to develop an analysis for the confectionary category to identify potential development opportunities for new Private Label products. In order to do so, the starting point was to understand how the confectionery market was behaving, followed by and understanding of Continente’s performance in that market. Aiming to point out development opportunities, the analysis was split between the subcategories – Chocolate, Chewing Gums and Sweets. The Subcategory performance was assessed in terms of sales, number of SKU’s, Private Label weight and it market position in terms of share. For the potential development opportunities a comparison between the top selling Branded Product and the competitors’ position was developed, in order to establish a reasonable size and retail price for such products. Key Word: Private Label, Branded Products, Continente, Sonae MC, Retail, SKU’s, Sales, Price, Market Share,

Development of an experimental setup for metal cutting research

Analytical, numerical and experimental models have been developed over time to try to characterize and understand the metal cutting process by chip removal. A true knowledge of the cutting process by chip removal is required by the increasing production, by the quality requirements of the product and by the reduced production time, in the industries in which it is employed. In this thesis an experimental setup is developed to evaluate the forces and the temperature distribution in the tool according to the orthogonal cutting model conditions, in order to evaluate its performance and its possible adoption in future works. The experimental setup is developed in a CNC lathe and uses an orthogonal cutting configuration, in which thin discs fixed onto a mandrel are cut by the cutting insert. In this experimental setup, the forces are measured by a piezoelectric dynamometer while temperatures are measured by thermocouples placed juxtaposed to the side face of the cutting insert. Three different solutions are implemented and evaluated for the thermocouples attachment in the cutting insert: thermocouples embedded in thermal paste, thermocouples embedded in copper plate and thermocouples brazed in the cutting insert. From the tests performed in the experimental setup it is concluded that the adopted forces measurement technique shows a good performance. Regarding to the adopted temperatures measurement techniques, only the thermocouples brazed in the cutting insert solution shows a good performance for temperature measurement. The remaining solutions show contact problems between the thermocouple and the side face of the cutting insert, especially when the vibration phenomenon intensifies during the cut. It is concluded that the experimental setup does not present a sufficiently robust and reliable performance, and that it can only be used in future work after making improvements in the assembly of the thermocouples.

Carl Icahn pushes ebay to spin-off paypal

The following case-study describes the situation involving eBay, PayPal and Carl Icahn as of February 2014. Its structure is divided between the narrative and a teaching note. The case narrative describes all the events between the three parties until the 24th of February 2014, when the activist investor Carl Icahn sends a public shareholder letter strongly criticizing eBay’s board and corporate governance practices while proposing at the same time the spin-off of PayPal from eBay. The teaching note intends to analyse the possibility of spinning-off PayPal, while at the same time analysing the Corporate Governance issues in eBay’s board. The final conclusion in the teaching note is favourable towards the spin-off of PayPal.

Determinant factors to merger control decisions in Portugal

The present paper aims to investigate the determinant factors of Portuguese merger control. Our sample comprises 652 M&A cases occurred between January of 2003 and September of 2015. Through a probit model we have tested the relevance of product and geographic market, entry barriers, type of concentration, merger effects, year of decision and the President of the Competition Authority at the time. The results suggests that the conglomerate and vertical effects, the existence of barriers to entry as well as the number of regulatory agencies listened are the main explanatory variables to determine a need for an in-depth investigation and to make a final decision. According to the evidence, cases cleared at Phase 1 are increasing over time. The number of prohibited mergers is close to zero.

Sustained competitive advantage of different sized multinational corporations in rural base of the pyramid markets

This thesis explores how multinational corporations of different sizes create barriers to imitation and therefore sustain competitive advantage in rural and informal Base of the Pyramid economies. These markets require close cooperation with local partners in a dynamic environment that lacks imposable property rights and follows a different rationale than developed markets. In order to explore how competitive advantage is sustained by different sized multinational corporations at the Base of the Pyramid, the natural-resource-based view and the dynamic capabilities perspective are integrated. Based on this integration the natural-resource-based view is extended by identifying critical dynamic capabilities that are assumed to be sources of competitive advantage at the Base of the Pyramid. Further, a contrasting case study explores how the identified dynamic capabilities are protected and their competitive advantage is sustained by isolating mechanisms that create barriers to imitation for a small to medium sized and a large multinational corporation. The case study results give grounds to assume that most resource-based isolating mechanisms create barriers to imitation that are fairly high for large and established multinational corporations that operate at the rural Base of the Pyramid and have a high product and business model complexity. On the contrary, barriers to imitation were found to be lower for young and small to medium sized multinational corporations with low product and business model complexity that according to some authors represent the majority of rural Base of the Pyramid companies. Particularly for small to medium sized multinational corporations the case study finds a relationship- and transaction-based unwillingness of local partners to act opportunistically rather than a resource-based inability to imitate. By offering an explanation of sustained competitive advantage for small to medium sized multinational corporations at the rural Base of the Pyramid this thesis closes an important research gap and recommends to include institutional and transaction-based research perspectives.

Portugal Telecom

This Masters Thesis aims to be used in class for teaching purposes. The primary objective of the case is to understand the way critical anti-takeover measures can be used in a hostile takeover environment. The case portrays not only all defensive tools used by PT against Sonaecom (conditioned by the Portuguese Securities Code) but also all major interactions with relevant stakeholders. Communication is positioned as a central tool to stakeholders’ interaction. As a consequence of that, students are supposed to comprehend how PT used this instrument to implement its defensive strategy. This Masters Thesis was written essentially from PT’s perspective but it also includes all available Sonacom’s public statements and data. It joins several different points of view (from PT’s CEO and top management to PT’s employees and labor unions). Therefore, it is not supposed to mach exactly to one’s perspective of Sonecom’s takeover attempt but instead to be an aggregate view of the case. The mains idea is to promote debate in order to create an interactive class environment among session’s attendants. Main areas developed in this Thesis are Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Communication and Corporate Governance. The case's recommended questions are in line with these areas. Suggested answers for these questions are balanced with some academic documentation that can be complemented with some in-class notes according to the session's objectives.