Improving Employment and Income through Development of Egypt’s Aquaculture Sector (IEIDEAS) project

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)-funded Improving Employment and Income through Development of Egypt’s Aquaculture Sector (IEIDEAS) project was implemented by WorldFish in partnership with CARE Egypt and the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation from 2011 to 2014 and later extended to November 2015. The project focused on four governorates with significant aquaculture production (Kafr El Sheikh, Behera, Sharkia and Fayoum) and one governorate (El Mineya), where aquaculture was a new activity. The project was based on a value chain analysis conducted by WorldFish in September 2011 that identified the aquaculture value chain as a significant employer, particularly in rural areas. The analysis suggested that there was scope to increase employment of youth and women in the aquaculture sector The main objective was to increase aquaculture production by 10% and create 10,000 jobs. Other objectives included improving profitability for existing producers, securing employment for women fish retailers, expanding aquaculture in El Mineya and improving the policy environment for aquaculture.

Energy requirements for the continuous biohydrogen production from Spirogyra biomass in a sequential batch reactor

The current energy market requires urgent revision for the introduction of renewable, less-polluting and inexpensive energy sources. Biohydrogen (bioH2) is considered to be one of the most appropriate options for this model shift, being easily produced through the anaerobic fermentation of carbohydrate-containing biomass. Ideally, the feedstock should be low-cost, widely available and convertible into a product of interest. Microalgae are considered to possess the referred properties, being also highly valued for their capability to assimilate CO2 [1]. The microalga Spirogyra sp. is able to accumulate high concentrations of intracellular starch, a preferential carbon source for some bioH2 producing bacteria such as Clostridium butyricum [2]. In the present work, Spirogyra biomass was submitted to acid hydrolysis to degrade polymeric components and increase the biomass fermentability. Initial tests of bioH2 production in 120 mL reactors with C. butyricum yielded a maximum volumetric productivity of 141 mL H2/L.h and a H2 production yield of 3.78 mol H2/mol consumed sugars. Subsequently, a sequential batch reactor (SBR) was used for the continuous H2 production from Spirogyra hydrolysate. After 3 consecutive batches, the fermentation achieved a maximum volumetric productivity of 324 mL H2/L.h, higher than most results obtained in similar production systems [3] and a potential H2 production yield of 10.4 L H2/L hydrolysate per day. The H2 yield achieved in the SBR was 2.59 mol H2/mol, a value that is comparable to those attained with several thermophilic microorganisms [3], [4]. In the present work, a detailed energy consumption of the microalgae value-chain is presented and compared with previous results from the literature. The specific energy requirements were determined and the functional unit considered was gH2 and MJH2. It was possible to identify the process stages responsible for the highest energy consumption during bioH2 production from Spirogyra biomass for further optimisation.

Research-based spin-offs as agents of knowledge dissemination: evidence from the analysis of innovation networks

The paper addresses the role played by research-based spin-offs (RBSOs) as knowledge dissemination mechanisms, through their position in knowledge networks. For this purpose the paper analyses the formal networks established by the Portuguese RBSOs in the context of publicly funded research, technology and pre-commercial product development projects, and investigates their configuration along two levels. At organisational level, in order to understand whether RBSOs extend their reach beyond the academic sphere; and if they do, whether they relate with similar firms or connect to organisations located downstream in the knowledge value chain, and which is their position in networks involving both research organisations and other firms. At spatial level, in order to understand whether RBSOs extend their reach beyond the region where they are created, thus potentially acting as connectors between diverse regions. The analysis starts from the population of RBSOs created in Portugal until 2007 (387) and identifies those that have established formal technological relationships as part of projects funded by all the programmes launched in the period 1993-2012. As a result, the analysis encompasses 192 collaborative projects and involves 82 spin-offs and 281 partners, of which only 20% are research organisations, the remaining being other firms and a variety of other user organisations. The results, although still preliminary, provide some insights into the knowledge networking behaviour of the RBSOs. As expected, research organisations are a central actor in spin-offs’ networks, being the sole partner for some of them. But half of the RBSOs have moved beyond the academic sphere, being frequently a central element in tripartite technological relationships between research and other organisations and occupying an intermediation position in the network, thus potentially acting as facilitators in knowledge circulation and transformation. Also as expected, RBSOs are predominantly located in the main metropolitan areas and tend to relate with organisations similarly located. But while geographical proximity emerges as important in the choice of partners, in about half of the cases, RBSOs knowledge networks have extended beyond regional boundaries. Given their central position in the network this suggests a role as connectors across regions that will be explored in subsequent research.

Research-based spin-offs as agents of knowledge dissemination: evidence from the analysis of innovation networks

The paper addresses the role played by research-based spin-offs (RBSOs) as knowledge dissemination mechanisms, through their position in knowledge networks. For this purpose the paper analyses the formal networks established by Portuguese RBSOs, in the context of publicly funded research, technology and pre-commercial product development projects, and investigates their configuration across two levels. At organisational level, in order to understand whether RBSOs extend their reach beyond the academic sphere; and if they do, whether they connect to organisations located downstream in the knowledge value chain, and which is their position in networks involving both research organisations and other firms. At spatial level, in order to understand whether RBSOs extend their reach beyond the region where they are created, thus potentially acting as connectors between diverse regions. The analysis starts from the population of RBSOs created in Portugal until 2007 (327 firms) and identifies those that have established formal technological relationships, as part of projects funded by all the relevant programmes launched in the period 1993-2012. As a result, the analysis encompasses 192 collaborative projects and involves 82 spin-offs and 281 partners, of which only 20% are research organisations, the remaining being other firms and a variety of other downstream organisations. The results, although still preliminary, provide some insights into the knowledge networking behaviour of the RBSOs. As expected, research organisations are a central actor in spin-offs’ networks, being the sole partner for some of them. But half of the RBSOs have moved beyond the academic sphere, being frequently a central element in tripartite technological relationships between research and other organisations, and occupying an intermediation position in the network, thus potentially acting as facilitators in knowledge circulation and transformation. Also as expected, RBSOs are predominantly located in the main metropolitan areas and tend to relate with organisations similarly located. But while geographical proximity emerges as important in the choice of partners, in about half of the cases, RBSOs knowledge networks have extended beyond regional boundaries. Given their central position in the network, this suggests a role as connectors across regions that will be explored in subsequent research.

Planteamiento para una cadena de valor aplicada al modelo de negocio Hotelero All Inclusive

Durante los últimos 10 años, el modelo de negocio hotelero All Inclusive ha sido posicionado como principal influencia para la expansión turística global, sin embargo, en la revisión documental, se ha observado que este modelo no está fundamentado en una estructura organizacional definida, por lo cual, es común que se manifiesten deficiencias en la calidad de los servicios prestados. A partir de este escenario, se propone aportar nuevos elementos teóricos al modelo conceptual de Cadena de Valor, como herramienta de gestión, mediante la construcción de un marco teórico basado en documentos de distintos autores, reconociendo nuevas variables (eslabones) que pueden complementar la teoría, e indagando su relación e incidencia en algunos de los principales destinos en América, al fin de obtener un referente de interés para futuras líneas de investigación. Palabras clave: All Inclusive, Cadena de Valor, Medio Ambiente, Recurso Humano, Turismo.

Uma tipologia de análise da inovação no Sector dos Moldes em Portugal

Neste artigo estuda-se o comportamento de 12 empresas inovadoras do Sector dos Moldes em Portugal. Determina-se onde e como as empresas inovadoras do sector dos moldes nacional, adquirem o conhecimento necessário para a realização das suas inovações, isto é, se apenas internamente e/ou se externamente através de redes de inovação, determinando quais os principais elementos que constituem as redes de inovação, bem como qual o seu desempenho, como impulsionadores da inovação. Este trabalho procura, assim, estudar a relação entre inovação e as ligações que são estabelecidas entre as empresas do Sector dos Moldes e outras empresas (clientes, fornecedores, concorrentes), bem como com instituições académicas (universidades e institutos superiores) e instituições do sector público (laboratórios, centros tecnológicos e de formação). Consequentemente, com este trabalho de investigação, é possível constatar que são fortes e consistentes as ligações que estas empresas têm com outras empresas, sejam elas clientes, fornecedores ou mesmo concorrentes, mas são extremamente fracas e por vezes inexistentes as relações que existem com as instituições académicas e que as empresas mais inovadoras são as que mais se relacionam com as instituições académicas e instituições do sector público. Podendo-se concluir, que a grande vantagem competitiva deste sector da indústria nacional deve-se à sua forte capacidade de se relacionar com outros parceiros, independentemente da sua posição na cadeia de valor.

La cadena de valor del cacao en Perú y su oportunidad en el mercado mundial

El objetivo de este trabajo es describir las características de la cadena de valor del cacao en Perú. Para ello se realiza un estudio de tipo documental que relata el desempeño de los mercados de comodities agrarios, la comercialización de estos, el funcionamiento de la cadena en el País y la explicación de la estrategia nacional para este producto. Como resultado se plantea que el contexto en que se desarrolla el cacao peruano presenta ventajas debido a los problemas que tienen los productores en África, el potencial del mercado internacional con la inclusión de China e India, y el apoyo que el Estado está brindando a los pequeños produc­tores, lo que debe ser aprovechado a través de la formación de cadenas de valor

Ferramentas de apoio à implementação da sustentabilidade na gestão da cadeia de abastecimento

O presente trabalho tem como principal objetivo contribuir para o desenvolvimento de um modelo de gestão da cadeia de abastecimento sustentável, posteriormente operacionalizado num conjunto de empresas. O principal elemento diferenciador do modelo apresentado é o seu cariz operacional, focado na fase da implementação com a integração de um conjunto de práticas de apoio à sustentabilidade. Para responder às pressões da conjuntura económica atual, das alterações climáticas, da escassez de recursos e das desigualdades sociais é necessário desenvolver de forma consolidada e abrangente um novo paradigma de gestão nas empresas. Muitas destas pressões fazem-se sentir nas atividades da Gestão da Cadeia de Abastecimento. O grande desafio é conseguir que as empresas obtenham bons resultados económicos, sociais e ambientais. A sustentabilidade tem sido abordada como a área de estudo donde deverá emergir este novo paradigma de gestão. Atendendo a esta problemática, a principal questão de investigação do presente trabalho é “Como se implementa a Sustentabilidade na Gestão da Cadeia de Abastecimento?” A metodologia de investigação partiu da revisão da literatura que permitiu estruturar um conjunto de pressupostos teóricos, estruturados num modelo conceptual sobre a implementação da sustentabilidade na Gestão da Cadeia de Abastecimento. O modelo foi aplicado em dois grupos de estudos empíricos: Análise Qualitativa de Relatórios de Sustentabilidade publicados por seis empresas com atividade em Portugal (Sonae; Lipor, Galp; EDP; Portucel e AutoEuropa); e o desenvolvimento de dois Estudos de Caso nas empresas Bosch Termotecnologia e Gestamp Aveiro. Os resultados permitiram o desenvolvimento de um Modelo Teórico de Implementação da Sustentabilidade na Gestão da Cadeia de Abastecimento. Bem como, um modelo de classificação das ferramentas de apoio à implementação da sustentabilidade adequadas a cada etapa que constitui o modelo de implementação. No desenvolvimento deste trabalho, acreditou-se que o caminho da sustentabilidade é possível e tangível. Os modelos desenvolvidos explicam que a integração da sustentabilidade se enceta pela estruturação da área da sustentabilidade na organização, prosseguindo com o processo de implementação constituído por quatro etapas: Envolvimento, Execução, Monitorização e Comunicação. A implementação necessita de ser abrangente a toda a cadeia de valor e apoiada num conjunto de ferramentas adequadas a cada fase de implementação.

Aplicações de Ferramentas Lean em uma Indústria de Transformação de Papel

Esta dissertação foi desenvolvida no âmbito do 2º ano do Mestrado em Engenharia Mecânica – Ramo de Gestão Industrial no Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto. Este projeto realizou-se em ambiente industrial, nomeadamente na Tubembal, S.A. uma empresa localizada no concelho da Trofa, distrito do Porto. Esta empresa dedica-se à transformação de papel e comércio de embalagens, produz tubos e cantoneiras de cartão e é atualmente a maior empresa do sector na Península Ibérica. Esta dissertação baseia-se na aplicação de ferramentas Lean, numa perspetiva de melhoria de um ambiente produtivo industrial, melhorando o desempenho dos processos existentes e consequentemente a produtividade da empresa em estudo, com o objetivo de a tornar mais competitiva num ambiente global. A metodologia Lean tem como principal objetivo a eliminação de desperdício em toda a cadeia de valor e neste sentido surge como fundamental numa cultura de melhoria contínua e focalização no cliente, que se pretende instalar nesta empresa. Foi realizada uma análise profunda a toda a cadeia de valor como forma de identificar os maiores desperdícios e posteriormente apresentadas medidas para combater estes mesmos desperdícios, podendo assim reduzir custos. No projeto de melhoria apresentado à organização constam como principais ações, a implementação da metodologia 5S’s como ferramenta essencial para mudança de hábitos dos funcionários e integração e envolvimento de todos num mesmo projeto comum, na busca da melhoria contínua. Procedeu-se ainda à simulação de algumas propostas de reorganização do layout de forma a encontrar aquela que minimizasse os custos com movimentações e garantisse um fluxo controlado e em segurança dos produtos e pessoas dentro da fábrica. As propostas apresentadas mostram que a reorganização do layout da fábrica pode trazer ganhos significativos para a empresa, redução direta no tempo perdido em deslocações e maior disponibilidade dos meios e consequente direta redução dos custos. Todas as propostas apresentadas visam a adaptação da empresa a um modelo mais dinâmico de negócio, capaz de responder rápida e eficazmente aos seus clientes, adaptando-se ao mercado e garantindo a sua sustentabilidade num futuro próximo.

Gestão da informação: um estudo de caso em um instituto de pesquisa tecnológica

Each two years the amount of available information in the world double. This is the Information Age, where the success depends on what one knows, not on what one has. A new economy appears with the capacity to generate, to store, to process and to apply effectively the knowledge, based on information, determining the companies productivity and competitiveness.The objective of this work is to understand the information management model of a technological research institute - CTGÁS (Gas Technology Center). The research has been done focused on the 5 main processes and the 15 support processes of the organization value chain , aiming to understand the information management in the organization based on Davenport´s Information Management model (1998). Therefore, it was necessary to identify how the necessary information for the organizational processes accomplishment are determined, obtained, distributed and used by the organization. The research can be classified as descriptive, regarding to its aims, and as a case study, related to the research ways. Interviews with the managers of the organization value chain processes have been carried through, with the objective to identify how they perceive the Information Management process that circulates in the organizational processes. Complementarily, a documentary research has been carried through, associated to the direct observation and procedures and actions follow up, involving the Information Management. The data treatment and analysis have been done from the authors theoretical support and from the managers interviews analysis, documents and processes observed by the researcher in the organization. It was noticed that the organization has raised its level of information needs that are not difficult to be determined and are satisfactorily obtained and distributed, although the majority of them are not structuralized, automatized or even classified regarding to its confidence. These peaces of information have good quality and are important, however they reflect a medium dependence on external and informal information, besides being used only in its great majority for people to know what and how to do something

Developing smart services by Internet of Things in manufacturing business

Manufacturing companies have passed from selling uniquely tangible products to adopting a service-oriented approach to generate steady and continuous revenue streams. Nowadays, equipment and machine manufacturers possess technologies to track and analyze product-related data for obtaining relevant information from customers’ use towards the product after it is sold. The Internet of Things on Industrial environments will allow manufacturers to leverage lifecycle product traceability for innovating towards an information-driven services approach, commonly referred as “Smart Services”, for achieving improvements in support, maintenance and usage processes. The aim of this study is to conduct a literature review and empirical analysis to present a framework that describes a customer-oriented approach for developing information-driven services leveraged by the Internet of Things in manufacturing companies. The empirical study employed tools for the assessment of customer needs for analyzing the case company in terms of information requirements and digital needs. The literature review supported the empirical analysis with a deep research on product lifecycle traceability and digitalization of product-related services within manufacturing value chains. As well as the role of simulation-based technologies on supporting the “Smart Service” development process. The results obtained from the case company analysis show that the customers mainly demand information that allow them to monitor machine conditions, machine behavior on different geographical conditions, machine-implement interactions, and resource and energy consumption. Put simply, information outputs that allow them to increase machine productivity for maximizing yields, save time and optimize resources in the most sustainable way. Based on customer needs assessment, this study presents a framework to describe the initial phases of a “Smart Service” development process, considering the requirements of Smart Engineering methodologies.

Forming the link between strategic performance and operational success: The development of a balanced scorecard at Lisbon Consulting Group

Directed internship

Strengthen Unilever-Jerónimo Martins’ position in the traditional supermarkets

Field lab: Entrepreneurial and innovative ventures

ASSESSING THE DETERMINANTS OF TISSUE CULTURE BANANA ADOPTION IN WESTERN KENYA

In this study cross-section data was used to analyze the effect of farmers’ demographic, socioeconomic and institutional setting, market access and physical attributes on the probability and intensity of tissue culture banana (TCB) adoption. The study was carried out between July 2011 and November 2011. Both descriptive (mean, variance, promotions) and regression analysis were used in the analysis. A double hurdle regression model was fitted on the data. Using multistage sampling technique, four counties and eight sub-locations were randomly selected. Using random sampling technique, three hundred and thirty farmers were selected from a list of banana households in the selected sub-locations. The adoption level of tissue culture banana (TCB) was about 32%. The results also revealed that the likelihood of TCB adoption was significantly influenced by: availability of TCB planting material, proportion of banana income to the total farm income, per capita household expenditure and the location of the farmer in Kisii County; while those that significantly influenced the intensity of TCB adoption were: occupation of farmers, family size, labour source, farm size, soil fertility, availability/access of TCB plantlets to farmers, distance to banana market, use of manure in planting banana, access to agricultural extension services and index of TCB/non-TCB banana cultivar attributes which were scored by farmers. Compared to West Pokot County, farmers located in Bungoma County are more significantly and likely to adopt TCB technology. Therefore, the results of the study suggest that the probability of adoption and intensity of the use of TCB should be enhanced. This can be done by taking cognizance of these variables in order to meet the priority needs of the smallholder farmers who were the target group. This would lead to alleviating banana shortage in the region for enhanced food security. Subsequently, actors along the banana value chain are encouraged to target the intervention strategies based on the identified farmer, farm and institutional characteristics for enhanced impact on food provision. Opening up more TCB multiplication centres in different regions will make farmers access the TCB technology for enhanced impact on the target population.

Capability Matrix for Open Data

Part 14: Interoperability and Integration