Technological evolution

The evolution of a technology and the understanding of the moment in its life cycle is of the utmost importance to the entry strategy devised by any company. Having the entry of EDP Brazil on the micro-generation market as background, the present workproject attempts to summarize the most important topics in management literature concerning the theory of technology life-cycles and the updated literature on developments of photovoltaic technology to infer the current positioning of this technology in the theoretical models. The need for this type of work stems from the very common lack of bridging between the academic research of economic aspects relevant to the evolution of technologies and the agents of research on specific technological issues. When this occurs, namely due to the external nature of research to companies, thereby escaping the harsh economic controls of a profit seeking enterprise, the evolution many times lacks the appropriate framework to be studied on a more forward looking manner and to allow for management decisions to be based on.

Asking why

The growth of a solid, knowledge-intensive firm, OutSystems—an IT company recognized in 2003 by Fortune magazine as one of the most promising start-ups in the world—is accompanied by efforts to create a strong culture that preserves the traits that have driven OutSystems’ success and that drives innovation, adaptability, high performance, and accountability. The lessons OutSystems learned from previous international experiences are presented along with its latest growth model of branded local partners. The case study is intended to introduce concepts related to organizational culture, traits of cultures that drive innovation, national versus organizational culture, and the challenges of globalization. It is designed to be used in Organizational Behavior classes and is appropriate for MBA- and Master’s-level courses in the area of management. It is suggested as a guideline for 60- to 90-minute classes. Participants are invited to discuss the importance of organizational cultures and their fit with the company strategy. Participants are also encouraged to brainstorm about the best approach to face OutSystems’ new stage of growth, specifically the advantages and consequences of growing as a metanational company. Finally, in the conclusion, the most relevant findings taken from the discussions proposed are revisited: The importance of an organizational culture adapted to the market needs and the potential of innovation behind metanational companies. Other considerations are made about: how the case illustrates the importance of leadership, group age, and group size in the process of building a culture; and how OutSystems’ culture solves the apparent contradiction behind adaptable culture.

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.

Welle tecnologia laser internationalization analysis US market

Welle Laser is a Brazilian company that manufactures marking and engraving machines mainly for large-scale industry segments providing solutions that help increase productivity. Welle laser has 60% market share in Brazil and decided to go internationally in 2015, mainly to increase revenues and diversify business risks. Welle opened an office in Switzerland and celebrated a contract with a Mexican company to distribute their machines in Mexico. The next step for Welle is expanding its operation to USA. In my project I accessed the viability and reasons to enter the US market, the region where Welle should start its operation, and the best entry mode strategy.

The enchained potential of the local food market

There is a rising demand for local food which traveled only short distances and is marketed directly by the producer. With growing importance of local food also the amount of literature in this field increased. Yet, literature is lacking to examine the challenges and burdens consumers face while trying to purchase local food. Evidence is shown that a gap exists between the intention of consumers who would like to purchase local food and their actual behavior. However, reasons for this gap are only discovered as byproducts of other research objectives. Consequently, this study investigates the specific reasons for the intention-behavior gap of consumers in the local food market. The study makes use of semi-structured face-to-face interviews with rural and urban respondents. The interviews are analyzed by qualitative content analysis based on Elo and Kyngäs (2008). Revealed key drivers for the intention-behavior gap are (1) the lack of awareness where to purchase local food products, (2) the limited reachability of local food producers, (3) the assortment of the local producer in regard to size and composition and (4) the lack in transparency of the prices of local food. Consequently, it is the producers turn to eliminate the revealed barriers by proactively bringing their products closer to the consumer.

Vehicle-to-anything application (v2anything app) for electric vehicles

This paper presents a mobile information system denominated as Vehicle-to-Anything Application (V2Anything App), and explains its conceptual aspects. This application is aimed at giving relevant information to Full Electric Vehicle (FEV) drivers, by supporting the integration of several sources of data in a mobile application, thus contributing to the deployment of the electric mobility process. The V2Anything App provides recommendations to the drivers about the FEV range autonomy, location of battery charging stations, information of the electricity market, and also a route planner taking into account public transportations and car or bike sharing systems. The main contributions of this application are related with the creation of an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platform, recommender systems, data integration systems, driver profile, and personalized range prediction. Thus, it is possible to deliver relevant information to the FEV drivers related with the electric mobility process, electricity market, public transportation, and the FEV performance.

An investigation of safety design practices of metal machines

BACKGROUND: Machinery safety issues are a challenge facing manufacturers who are supposed to create and provide products in a better and faster way. In spite of their construction and technological advance, they still contribute to many potential hazards for operators and those nearby. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate safety aspects of metal machinery offered for sale on Internet market according to compliance with minimum and fundamental requirements. METHODS: The study was carried out with the application of a checklist prepared on the basis of Directive 2006/42/EC and Directive 2009/104/EC and regulations enforcing them into Polish law. RESULTS: On the basis of the study it was possible to reveal the safety aspects that were not met in practice. It appeared that in the case of minimum requirements the most relevant problems concerned information, signal and control elements, technology and machinery operations, whereas as far as fundamental aspects are concerned it was hard to assure safe work process. CONCLUSIONS: In spite of the fact that more and more legal acts binding in the Member Countries of the European Union are being introduced to alleviate the phenomenon, these regulations are often not fulfilled.

Risk acceptance in the furniture sector: Analysis of acceptance level and relevant influence factors

Risk acceptance has been broadly discussed in relation to hazardous risk activities and/or technologies. A better understanding of risk acceptance in occupational settings is also important; however, studies on this topic are scarce. It seems important to understand the level of risk that stakeholders consider sufficiently low, how stakeholders form their opinion about risk, and why they adopt a certain attitude toward risk. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to examine risk acceptance in regard to occupational accidents in furniture industries. The safety climate analysis was conducted through the application of the Safety Climate in Wood Industries questionnaire. Judgments about risk acceptance, trust, risk perception, benefit perception, emotions, and moral values were measured. Several models were tested to explain occupational risk acceptance. The results showed that the level of risk acceptance decreased as the risk level increased. High-risk and death scenarios were assessed as unacceptable. Risk perception, emotions, and trust had an important influence on risk acceptance. Safety climate was correlated with risk acceptance and other variables that influence risk acceptance. These results are important for the risk assessment process in terms of defining risk acceptance criteria and strategies to reduce risks.

Avaliação do desempenho de fundos de investimento de ouro nos EUA: influência dos diferentes regimes de mercado na seletividade e market-timing

Dissertação de mestrado em Finanças

A trust model for cloud computing environment

This paper presents a proposal for a management model based on reliability requirements concerning Cloud Computing (CC). The proposal was based on a literature review focused on the problems, challenges and underway studies related to the safety and reliability of Information Systems (IS) in this technological environment. This literature review examined the existing obstacles and challenges from the point of view of respected authors on the subject. The main issues are addressed and structured as a model, called "Trust Model for Cloud Computing environment". This is a proactive proposal that purposes to organize and discuss management solutions for the CC environment, aiming improved reliability of the IS applications operation, for both providers and their customers. On the other hand and central to trust, one of the CC challenges is the development of models for mutual audit management agreements, so that a formal relationship can be established involving the relevant legal responsibilities. To establish and control the appropriate contractual requirements, it is necessary to adopt technologies that can collect the data needed to inform risk decisions, such as access usage, security controls, location and other references related to the use of the service. In this process, the cloud service providers and consumers themselves must have metrics and controls to support cloud-use management in compliance with the SLAs agreed between the parties. The organization of these studies and its dissemination in the market as a conceptual model that is able to establish parameters to regulate a reliable relation between provider and user of IT services in CC environment is an interesting instrument to guide providers, developers and users in order to provide services and secure and reliable applications.

Grupos de facto enquanto fenómeno organizativo plurissocietário: (in)admissibilidade da aplicação analógica dos artigos 501º e 502º do CSC aos grupos de facto qualificados

Dissertação de mestrado em Direito dos Contratos e das Empresas

Instrumentos de políticas públicas do turismo: uma análise empírica dos municípios portugueses

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da Administração

Biochemical and physical surface functionalization of polycaprolactone as a key mediator of osteogenic differentiation and vascularized tissue morphogenesis

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia de Tecidos, Medicina Regenerativa e Células Estaminais.

A mensuração do Capital Humano nas organizações: estudo de caso da empresa Tuacar, SA

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Contabilidade

Exploring female mice interstrain differences relevant for models of depression

Depression is an extremely heterogeneous disorder. Diverse molecular mechanisms have been suggested to underlie its etiology. To understand the molecular mechanisms responsible for this complex disorder, researchers have been using animal models extensively, namely mice from various genetic backgrounds and harboring distinct genetic modifications. The use of numerous mouse models has contributed to enrich our knowledge on depression. However, accumulating data also revealed that the intrinsic characteristics of each mouse strain might influence the experimental outcomes, which may justify some conflicting evidence reported in the literature. To further understand the impact of the genetic background, we performed a multimodal comparative study encompassing the most relevant parameters commonly addressed in depression, in three of the most widely used mouse strains: Balb/c, C57BL/6, and CD-1. Moreover, female mice were selected for this study taken into account the higher prevalence of depression in women and the fewer animal studies using this gender. Our results show that Balb/c mice have a more pronounced anxious-like behavior than CD-1 and C57BL/6 mice, whereas C57BL/6 animals present the strongest depressive-like trait. Furthermore, C57BL/6 mice display the highest rate of proliferating cells and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) expression levels in the hippocampus, while hippocampal dentate granular neurons of Balb/c mice show smaller dendritic lengths and fewer ramifications. Of notice, the expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNos) predict 39.5% of the depressive-like behavior index, which suggests a key role of hippocampal iNOS in depression. Overall, this study reveals important interstrain differences in several behavioral dimensions and molecular and cellular parameters that should be considered when preparing and analyzing experiments addressing depression using mouse models. It further contributes to the literature by revealing the predictive value of hippocampal iNos expression levels in depressive-like behavior, irrespectively of the mouse strain.