Vodafone - Kabel Deutschland Merger

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

Improving contact center cost efficiency and customer experience in a retail company

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

Felmini, the success of a Portuguese footwear company in the Italian market

NSBE - UNL

L'Oreal acquisition policy: The Body Shop case study

The Work Project I present focuses on the analysis of L’Oréal acquisition policy, trying to outline if the M&A deals it has led over the last 14 years have succeeded in creating value. By replicating the model proposed by Todd Hazelkorn, Marc Zenner and Anil Shivdasani in their paper “Creating Value with Mergers and Acquisitions”, I analyzed the 29 M&A deals that L’Oréal has led worldwide, understanding the common factors able to explain the success of such transactions. Further, I focused on The Body Shop case study, a highly criticized and controversial acquisition that has proved to be profitable and able to create value.

Modulation of electrical stimulation applied to human physiology and clinical diagnostic

The use, manipulation and application of electrical currents, as a controlled interference mechanism in the human body system, is currently a strong source of motivation to researchers in areas such as clinical, sports, neuroscience, amongst others. In electrical stimulation (ES), the current applied to tissue is traditionally controlled concerning stimulation amplitude, frequency and pulse-width. The main drawbacks of the transcutaneous ES are the rapid fatigue induction and the high discomfort induced by the non-selective activation of nervous fibers. There are, however, electrophysiological parameters whose response, like the response to different stimulation waveforms, polarity or a personalized charge control, is still unknown. The study of the following questions is of great importance: What is the physiological effect of the electric pulse parametrization concerning charge, waveform and polarity? Does the effect change with the clinical condition of the subjects? The parametrization influence on muscle recruitment can retard fatigue onset? Can parametrization enable fiber selectivity, optimizing the motor fibers recruitment rather than the nervous fibers, reducing contraction discomfort? Current hardware solutions lack flexibility at the level of stimulation control and physiological response assessment. To answer these questions, a miniaturized, portable and wireless controlled device with ES functions and full integration with a generic biosignals acquisition platform has been created. Hardware was also developed to provide complete freedom for controlling the applied current with respect to the waveform, polarity, frequency, amplitude, pulse-width and duration. The impact of the methodologies developed is successfully applied and evaluated in the contexts of fundamental electrophysiology, psycho-motor rehabilitation and neuromuscular disorders diagnosis. This PhD project was carried out in the Physics Department of Faculty of Sciences and Technology (FCT-UNL), in straight collaboration with PLUX - Wireless Biosignals S.A. company and co-funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology.

Espírito Santo Saúde: The bidding war

This case study describes the current situation of Espírito Santo Saúde, which involved an eventful takeover process. The company initially went public on February 2014 and later that year, due to the financial situation of its holdings it had to be sold. The bidding war began in August 2014, after Ángeles announced the first offer. Other participants who also pitched bids include José de Mello Saúde, UnitedHealth and Fosun. Furthermore, the potential projects Espírito Santo Saúde was considering implementing prior to the sale and the current situation of the healthcare industry in Portugal, will also be analysed.

Case study preparation: The whatsApp acquisition from Facebook

The purpose of this work project is to analyze the acquisition of WhatsApp from Facebook occurred on 19th February 2014. The main research has the aim to understand if the price tag of $19 billion paid by Mark Zuckerberg was fair. Along the reaction of Facebook’s EPS on the keydays after the purchase, a balanced assessment of the acquisition was obtained and discussed. Results suggest that the price tag could be reasonable. However, taking into account the industry in which the two companies operate, where competition is quite intense, Facebook should assess this deal in a longerterm perspective.

Anheuser-Busch InBev acquisition of Oriental Brewery

UNL - NSBE

An internationalisation research project into the German market for the Portuguese canned seafood company COFACO.

This project is aimed to analyse the German market of canned fish, in order to find out if there is potential of entering the market for the Portuguese canned seafood company named COFACO. The purpose of this foreign market research, carried out for COFACO, is to highlight the main key aspects of the current German seafood market, founded out through a deep analysis. Moreover, the work project is also aimed to give the company suggestions regarding the Brand, the Product and the Distribution strategy to implement in order to succeed, once considered the opportunity to enter the market.

Impact of mobile app user acquisition on managerial decisions: Evidence from empirical experiment

In this research we conducted a mixed research, using qualitative and quantitative analysis to study the relationship and impact between mobile advertisement and mobile app user acquisition and the conclusions companies can derive from it. Data was gathered from management of mobile advertisement campaigns of a portfolio of three different mobile apps. We found that a number of implications can be extracted from this intersection, namely to product development, internationalisation and management of marketing budget. We propose further research on alternative app users sources, impact of revenue on apps and exploitation of product segments: wearable technology and Internet of Things.

Study of the risk factors related to acquisition of urinary tract infections in patients submitted to renal transplant

INTRODUCTION: Urinary tract infections (UTI) among transplant recipients are usually caused by gram-negative microorganisms and can provoke a high incidence of morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors associated with the acquisition of UTIs during the first year after renal transplantation. METHODS: Here, we report a single-center retrospective cohort study of 99 renal transplant patients followed for the first year after surgery. The definition of a UTI episode was a urine culture showing bacterial growth and leucocyturia when patients presented with urinary symptoms. The absence of infection (asymptomatic bacteriuria) was defined as an absence of symptoms with negative urine culture or bacterial growth with any number of colonies. RESULTS: Ninety-nine patients were included in the study. During the study, 1,847 urine cultures were collected, and 320 (17.3%) tested positive for bacterial growth. Twenty-six (26.2%) patients developed a UTI. The most frequent microorganisms isolated from patients with UTIs were Klebsiella pneumoniae (36%), with 33% of the strains resistant to carbapenems, followed by Escherichia coli (20%). There were no deaths or graft losses associated with UTI episodes. CONCLUSIONS: Among the UTI risk factors studied, the only one that was associated with a higher incidence of infection was female sex. Moreover, the identification of drug-resistant strains is worrisome, as these infections have become widespread globally and represent a challenge in the control and management of infections, especially in solid organ transplantation.

Should my company use Bitcoin?

This work project analyses the possibility for a company to trade their goods and services for bitcoins, by joining the Bitcoin network. It analyses the technological and business requirements to join the Bitcoin Network by looking at Bitcoin’s potential to act as a mean of exchange for trade, unit of account and store of value. The analysis points to the motives, benefits and risks for investors to use the Bitcoin as a traditional currency and recommends on strategies for addressing those risks and maximizing benefits. Other than companies this report, to a lesser extent, will also analyse the Bitcoin from an investor’s point of view, this is, should an investor buy bitcoins for trade and make savings on a regular and everyday basis? A major finding in this work project is that companies could start using the Bitcoin system as a legit form of payment since the benefits of using this technology outweigh the costs and risks, given the right approach. This form of payment will contribute for the upgrade of a company’s business’ image, attract a new pool of consumers and businesses that already trade in bitcoins and pressure existing financial institutions and electronic payment vendors to upgrade their service levels.