Customer relationship management at Siemens Healthcare – a diagnosis and proposal for strategy and market segmentation

Towards a holistic perspective of CRM, this project aims to diagnose and propose a strategy and market segmentation for Siemens Healthcare. The main underlying principle is to apply a full customer-centric outlook taking own business properties into consideration while preserving Siemens Healthcare’s culture and vision. Mainly focused on market segmentation, this project goes beyond established boundaries by employing an unbiased perspective of CRM while challenging current strategy, goals, processes, tools, initiatives and KPIs. In order to promote a sustainable business excellence strategy, this project aspires to streamline CRM strategic importance and driving the company one step forward.

Firing and training costs and labour market segmentation

This dissertation consists of three essays on the labour market impact of firing and training costs. The modelling framework resorts to the search and matching literature. The first chapter introduces firing costs, both liner and non-linear, in a new Keynesian model, analysing business cycle effects for different wage rigidity degrees. The second chapter adds training costs in a model of a segmented labour market, accessing the interaction between these two features and the skill composition of the labour force. Finally, the third chapter analyses empirically some of the issues raised in the second chapter.

Beauty and personal care in mass market: A strategic analysis of perfumery and cosmetics at Sonae MC

Directed internship

Individual and aggregate money demands

I construct a model in which money and bond holdings are consistent with individual decisions and aggregate variables such as production and interest rates. The agents are infinitely-lived, have constant-elasticity preferences, and receive a fraction of their income in money. Each agent solves a Baumol-Tobin money management problem. Markets are segmented because financial frictions make agents trade bonds for money at different times. Trading frequency, consumption, government decisions and prices are mutually consistent. An increase in inflation, for example, implies higher trading frequency, more bonds sold to account for seigniorage, and lower real balances.

Rebalancing frequency and the welfare cost of inflation

Cash-in-advance models usually require agents to reallocate money and bonds in fixed periods, every month or quarter, for example. I show that fixed periods underestimate the welfare cost of inflation. I use a model in which agents choose how often they exchange bonds for money. In the benchmark specification, the welfare cost of ten percent instead of zero inflation increases from 0.1 percent of income with fixed periods to one percent with optimal periods. The results are robust to different preferences, to different compositions of income in bonds or money, and to the introduction of capital and labor.

Seat in China

Currently, China has the biggest automobile industry in the world. China’s economic situation helped the automobile market, as the internal demand of passenger cars increased substantially in the last years. Chinese automobile industry’s astonishing expansion over the past years has attracted many foreign automobile groups. SEAT decided to enter the Chinese market, following its expansion strategy to enter new markets. The purpose of this study is to analyse and understand the strategic entry of SEAT in the Chinese market, hence the choice of an explanatory case study (Yin, 2003). This study extends this analysis by examining the chines automobile market, more specifically the demand, the market segmentation and the intensity of competition, reviewing the SEAT company history, their competitive positioning and resources. I conclude that, although the Chinese market has growing potential, SEAT has failed to achieve its initial objective. The company has not been able to create a brand awareness in the Chinese market, unlike other foreign brands that have managed to accomplish that. This occurred, mostly, because of the high prices in comparison to its competitors due to additional import cost, such as import duties, transportation and distribution.

Finding new opportunities in the Lisbon market through Whitaker consumer lifestyle segmentation

A sample of 445 consumers resident in distinct Lisbon areas was analyzed through direct observations in order to discover each lifestyle’s current proportion, applying the Whitaker Lifestyle™ Method. The findings of the conducted hypothesis tests on the population proportion unveil that Neo-Traditional and Modern Whitaker lifestyles have the significantly highest proportion, while the overall presence of different lifestyles varies across neighborhoods. The research further demonstrates the validity of Whitaker observation techniques, media consumption differences among lifestyles and the importance of style and aesthetics while segmenting consumers by lifestyles. Finally, market opportunities are provided for firms operating in Lisbon.

Intelligent decision support systems for collaboration in industrial plants

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Sistemas de Informação Industriais, Engenharia Electrotécnica, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Technology market transfer plan launch of DELIVES to E.U. Market©

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Biotecnologia

Industrial networks: are they a new and alternative way to conduct business or just a logical consequence of a globalising economy?

Based on a report for the seminar Industrial Networks, at Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main Dozent: Prof. Dr. Blättel-Mink, Prof. Dr. António Moniz SS 2011

Lightweight robust behavior industrial agent methodology

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

Optimal choice between even- and uneven-aged forestry: the case of non-industrial private forest owners

An infinite-horizon discrete time model with multiple size-class structures using a transition matrix is built to assess optimal harvesting schedules in the context of Non-Industrial Private Forest (NIPF) owners. Three model specifications accounting for forest income, financial return on an asset and amenity valuations are considered. Numerical simulations suggest uneven-aged forest management where a rational forest owner adapts her or his forest policy by influencing the regeneration of trees or adjusting consumption dynamics depending on subjective time preference and market return rate dynamics on the financial asset. Moreover she or he does not value significantly non-market benefits captured by amenity valuations relatively to forest income.

The role of information systems in business process redesign : a case of Turkish electricity market

This study is specifically concerned with the effect of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) on the Business Process Redesign (BPR). Researcher’s experience and the investigation on previous researches imply that BPR and ERP are deeply related to each other and a study to found the mentioned relation further is necessary. In order to elaborate the hypothesis, a case study, in particular Turkish electricity distribution market and the phase of privatization are investigated. Eight companies that have taken part in privatization process and executed BPR serve as cases in this study. During the research, the cases are evaluated through critical success factors on both BPR and ERP. It was seen that combining the ERP Solution features with business processes lead the companies to be successful in ERP and BPR implementation. When the companies’ success and efficiency were compared before and after the ERP implementation, a considerable change was observed in organizational structure. It was spotted that the team composition is important in the success of ERP projects. Additionally, when the ERP is in driver or enabler role, the companies can be considered successful. On the contrary, when the ERP has a neutral role of business processes, the project fails. In conclusion, it can be said that the companies, which have implemented the ERP successfully, have accomplished the goals of the BPR.

Location analysis of city sections: socio-demographic segmentation and restaurant potentiality estimation : a case study of Lisbon

One of the objectives of this study is to perform classification of socio-demographic components for the level of city section in City of Lisbon. In order to accomplish suitable platform for the restaurant potentiality map, the socio-demographic components were selected to produce a map of spatial clusters in accordance to restaurant suitability. Consequently, the second objective is to obtain potentiality map in terms of underestimation and overestimation in number of restaurants. To the best of our knowledge there has not been found identical methodology for the estimation of restaurant potentiality. The results were achieved with combination of SOM (Self-Organized Map) which provides a segmentation map and GAM (Generalized Additive Model) with spatial component for restaurant potentiality. Final results indicate that the highest influence in restaurant potentiality is given to tourist sites, spatial autocorrelation in terms of neighboring restaurants (spatial component), and tax value, where lower importance is given to household with 1 or 2 members and employed population, respectively. In addition, an important conclusion is that the most attractive market sites have shown no change or moderate underestimation in terms of restaurants potentiality.

Estudo da eficiência da ETAR da zona industrial da AutoEuropa por análise biológica

No tratamento de águas residuais por lamas activadas, existem diferentes populações de protozoários e metazoários que se podem desenvolver durante o processo. A sua presença é fundamental para o bom desempenho da ETAR. Além de reduzirem a turvação do efluente final, estimulam o crescimento bacteriano, promovem a floculação e algumas espécies reduzem a poluição. É possível estabelecer uma estreita relação entre a predominância de determinadas espécies ou grupos de espécies, com parâmetros operacionais da ETAR, tais como os índices bióticos. Este procedimento requer a identificação e enumeração das diferentes espécies. No entanto, existem outros métodos, que apresentam relações entre a abundância de uma dada espécie ou grupo e os parâmetros da estação. O presente trabalho tem como objectivos: avaliar o funcionamento do sistema de tratamento de lamas activadas através da observação microscópica de protozoários e metazoários, identificação e contagem das espécies relevantes; estabelecer relações entre os organismos que contribuem para o processo de depuração de águas residuais e as condições de operação, como parâmetros físicoquímicos ou o desempenho da ETAR; e produzir uma ferramenta de apoio à gestão da ETAR, baseada em princípios biológicos. Pretende-se, ainda, contribuir e incentivar para a adopção de metodologias semelhantes em outros sistemas de lamas activadas em funcionamento no nosso País. Em termos metodológicos, a colheita de amostras foi realizada semanalmente na ETAR da ZIA durante dois meses e meio. Os parâmetros operacionais e físico-químicos foram obtidos junto da ETAR. A análise biológica foi efectuada por microscopia óptica. Avaliou-se qualitativa e quantitativamente a microfauna presente no tanque de arejamento, no poço de mistura de lamas e no clarificado de ambos os decantadores, a fim de se verificar as possíveis correlações desses parâmetros com a eficiência do sistema. Aplicou-se os resultados biológicos obtidos, em quatro modelos propostos para a avaliação do processo de tratamento, baseada em análises biológicas. Em termos qualitativos e na maior parte das observações, a lama apresentou boa qualidade. A ETAR da ZIA foi colonizada por tecamebas, principalmente Arcella sp. e Euglypha alveolata, em todo, o estudo e em todos os pontos analisados. No tanque de arejamento foram sempre observados ciliados nadadores livres. A densidade total de organismos no tanque de arejamento variou de 2982 e 7330 organismos/mL, com valor médio de 5995 organismos/mL. Relativamente, aos parâmetros estudados, os objectivos de remoção para o CBO5, CQO, SST e SSV foram alcançados.