Management consulting labs-Galp loyalty learning experience

The purpose of this project was to analyze Galp’s loyalty approach in the Portuguese fuel market given the industry context, namely the entry of hypermarket and the resulting increase in competitiveness. The team performed analyses based on analytical models, qualitative research and internal interviews in order to assess Galp’s potential in the field of loyalty and consumers’ behavior. The final recommendations were based on incremental improvements to the Galp’s existing loyalty tool and an innovative paradigm change of the approach to loyalty.

A proposta de regulamento relativo a um direito europeu comum da compra e venda e as suas implicações no direito português

We have witnessed in recent years, an obvious effort by the competent European institutions, towards the harmonization of general law applicable to all Member States (MS's). Many developments have been registered in several areas of law, a europeanization process that aims to add value to cross-border transactions and, consequently, the internal market and european trade. This trend manifests itself in general to the private law level, and particularly in contract law. The extension of the field in which market participants - whether professionals or consumers - can act, must imperatively be articulated with a consequent wider protection. After all, the consumer is also a leading European purposes and its level should not be called into question for the sake of promoting trade. The link between the positions of two opposing parties, professionals and consumers, requires commitment and work reinforced by the institutions but only on that basis is consistent legislative production. The proposed Regulation on a Common European Sales Law of the sale, the European Commission, set focus to European contract law and raises questions about the relevance and necessity of such uniformity. An instrument for purposes of harmonization of European contract law, that can be applied to all cross-border consumer contracts, similar in all MS's certainly bring many benefits. However, its applicability and usefulness would depend on the level of protection that would provide, compared to the existing national rights. Would an optional instrument ensure the designs of a common law? Moreover, would a binding instrument be the best alternative in that sense? Keywords:

Control in distribution networks with demand side management

The way in which electricity networks operate is going through a period of significant change. Renewable generation technologies are having a growing presence and increasing penetrations of generation that are being connected at distribution level. Unfortunately, a renewable energy source is most of the time intermittent and needs to be forecasted. Current trends in Smart grids foresee the accommodation of a variety of distributed generation sources including intermittent renewable sources. It is also expected that smart grids will include demand management resources, widespread communications and control technologies required to use demand response are needed to help the maintenance in supply-demand balance in electricity systems. Consequently, smart household appliances with controllable loads will be likely a common presence in our homes. Thus, new control techniques are requested to manage the loads and achieve all the potential energy present in intermittent energy sources. This thesis is focused on the development of a demand side management control method in a distributed network, aiming the creation of greater flexibility in demand and better ease the integration of renewable technologies. In particular, this work presents a novel multi-agent model-based predictive control method to manage distributed energy systems from the demand side, in presence of limited energy sources with fluctuating output and with energy storage in house-hold or car batteries. Specifically, here is presented a solution for thermal comfort which manages a limited shared energy resource via a demand side management perspective, using an integrated approach which also involves a power price auction and an appliance loads allocation scheme. The control is applied individually to a set of Thermal Control Areas, demand units, where the objective is to minimize the energy usage and not exceed the limited and shared energy resource, while simultaneously indoor temperatures are maintained within a comfort frame. Thermal Control Areas are overall thermodynamically connected in the distributed environment and also coupled by energy related constraints. The energy split is performed based on a fixed sequential order established from a previous completed auction wherein the bids are made by each Thermal Control Area, acting as demand side management agents, based on the daily energy price. The developed solutions are explained with algorithms and are applied to different scenarios, being the results explanatory of the benefits of the proposed approaches.

Measuring spillover effects in Euro Area equity and bond markets

Since its inception, the Eurozone has experienced significant financial integration. However, with the recent turbulent period, the dynamics of this integration may have changed. This study analyses the volatility spillovers from the US and aggregate Eurozone markets into ten Euro Area national equity and bond markets, using a regime-switching model with shifting shock sensitivities. The evidence confirms an increased impact of shock spillover intensity after the 2008 crisis in the equity market and a decrease of the same parameters for the bond market. In both markets, the overall impact of the Eurozone is greater when compared to the U.S.

MarketOpolis: A market simulation based on investors decisions

This study aims to replicate Apple’s stock market movement by modeling major investment profiles and investors. The present model recreates a live exchange to forecast any predictability in stock price variation, knowing how investors act when it concerns investment decisions. This methodology is particularly relevant if, just by observing historical prices and knowing the tendencies in other players’ behavior, risk-adjusted profits can be made. Empirical research made in the academia shows that abnormal returns are hardly consistent without a clear idea of who is in the market in a given moment and the correspondent market shares. Therefore, even when knowing investors’ individual investment profiles, it is not clear how they affect aggregate markets.

A harmonização fiscal europeia

With this dissertation we aim to analyze the most relevant aspects of the excise duties harmonized regime, considering Community origins, but having also in attention all legal specifications of its implementation in Portugal. The legal regime of excise duties is presented as an ambitious theme, considering the challenge of different branches of law that influence this subject, such as Tax, Economic and Community laws, the inescapable influence of customs procedures, or regarding environmental objectives. In the European context, the harmonization of excise duties was seen as a condition for the implementation of the internal market, contributing to undo secular tax barriers between Member States and, since so, ensure fair competition and free movement of services and goods. Along with VAT, the excise duties harmonization process could represent a potential European tax system, essential for a full and integrated single market. In this context, it is essential to pay special attention to specific characteristics of excise duties regime, such as ‘duty suspension arrangement’ applicable during the production phase, storage and movement in certain conditions. The growing importance of excise duties, as for revenue or extra-fiscal purposes, recommends new academic studies on this subject, seeking new opportunities and challenges.

A negociação no mercado a prazo do MIBEL

This master thesis has been developed during the internship in the Supervision Department of Supervision of the Intermediation and Market Structures of CMVM. My collaboration in such department was mainly focused on the derivatives market of the Iberian Electricity Market (MIBEL). MIBEL embodies two organized markets – the derivatives market in Portugal and the spot market in Spain The trading activity in the derivatives market of MIBEL is processed through the trading platform of the regulated market managed by OMIP, however, much of the negotiation is over-the-counter. The aim of this work is to describe the market from a legal and economic perspective and to analyse the evolution of the negotiation, namely the impact of OTC in the regulated market trading. To achieve this, I propose to analyse also MiFID and EMIR rules over derivative contracts and the role of central counterparties, as they both are important to the discussion. In parallel, we found that OTC transactions are considerably higher than those traded in the regulated market managed by OMIP, those findings can be justified by the contractual relationships based on trust already established between the partiesarties. Nevertheless, since 2011 this trend changed by an increase of the registered OTC. Thereafter, although the parties continued to trade bilaterally, these transactions were registered in a central counterparty in order to eliminate the inherent risks related to the OTC derivatives transactions. This change in the negotiation pattern may also be influenced by the mandatory reporting of transactions imposed by EMIR, that requires for some classes of derivatives the centralized clearing and for all other requires the implementation of risk mitigation techniques.

Land of the rising soy an internationalization plan for nutre to the Japanese Soy milk market

The present work project studies the next step in the internationalization process of Shoyce, the soy milk products brand of Nutre. In order to select the best target market in the Asia-Pacific for Nutre to export, a sequential screening process was developed using two complementary approaches: preliminary country screening and country ranking, followed by an in-depth analysis of the country ranking first. The analysis revealed Japan as the most attractive country for Shoyce’s international expansion. Potential entry modes in the Japanese soy milk market were then evaluated, whereby direct exporting via a local distributor was found to be the most appropriate.

Portuguese footwear

This case study deals with the reasons why the Portuguese Footwear Cluster evolved from a small industry focused on the Portuguese internal market into a high-tech industry capable of designing and producing some of the best and most expensive shoes in the world. It went from using the low labor costs of an under-developed economy to produce long series of shoes for pre-designated brands in Northern Europe to having the ability to produce some of the highest quality shoes in the world, in small orders, designed and delivered in record timing, while offering a service of excellence. In 1960, when Portugal became a founding member of EFTA, the footwear industry in Portugal was globally irrelevant, producing low quality shoes directed to the puny internal market and its African colonies. The new free trade zone with economies much more developed that itself, led to the transfer of the labor-intensive, low skilled manufacture from the UK and Scandinavian countries to Portugal. Mostly through joint ventures, the industry was able to mechanize itself so it could produce shoes in long series at low prices. It grew based on that model up until the 1990s, when the emergence of the Asian countries meant either a different strategy or extinction. Taking advantage of a clarified leadership of its trade association, it used the European funds made available to it during the 1990s, to modernize its factory floors, so it could become more nimble and flexible, expand its design capabilities and dramatically change its image abroad. The role of the trade association, APICCAPS, was instrumental throughout the process going well beyond what came to be expected of trade associations. It used its privileged position to provide understanding regarding the current situation and competitive landscape, alerting for changes ahead and at the same time providing a strategic vision on how to deal with the challenges. Moreover, it helped companies get the resources they needed by creating a research center in collaboration with a University, by creating a process that allowed companies to learn from each other via the show casing of projects sponsored by the association or by helping industrials traveling to locations where new customers could be found. The case study provides insight on how the trade association leadership, which has no formal authority over its members, was able to guide and motivate an industry through a consistent positive approach. That approach focused on the solutions, on the opportunities and on the success stories of companies in the cluster rather than on what was wrong or needed to be addressed. Based on this case, one could use the leadership role of the trade association to discuss and change leaders’ roles and styles in other sectors or even companies.

A política fiscal da União Europeia: diagnóstico e desafios: o caso da Taxa sobre Transações Financeiras (TTF)

Trabalho de projeto de mestrado em Políticas Comunitárias e Cooperação Territorial

Ischemic heart disease. Hospitalization, length of stay and expenses in Brazil from 1993 to 1997

OBJECTIVE: To identify characteristics of the hospitalizations due to ischemic heart disease (IHD) made by the Single Health System -- "Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) in Brazil from 1993 to 1997. METHODS: The information used came from records of permissions for hospitalization due to IHD (diseases codified from 410 to 414 by the International Disease Classification -- 9th Revision) furnished by the data bank DATASUS. The material studied was classified according to age, sex and length of hospitalization of the patients, and expenses to the system for IHD. RESULTS: IHD represents 1.0% of total hospitalizations. Angina pectoris was the most frequent type, occurring in 53.3% of the cases, followed by acute myocardial infarct (26.6%). This later was more frequent in men and angina in women . The majority of patients with IHD stayed hospitalized from 5 to 8 days. In the years of 1997 the expenses due to hospital treatment for IHD reach to 0.01% of Brazil's Gross Internal Product. In the studied period (1993-1997), IHD was responsible by 1.0% of hospitalizations, however it was 3.3% of the expenses of SUS. CONCLUSION: IHD is an important cause of hospitalization by the SUS; it has a rather high cost, indicating the need for preventive measures aimed at reducing exposure to risk factors and to decrease the incidence of this group of diseases in the nation.

Electronic tongue: a versatile tool for mineral and fruit-flavored waters recognition

Natural mineral waters (still), effervescent natural mineral waters (sparkling) and aromatized waters with fruit-flavors (still or sparkling) are an emerging market. In this work, the capability of a potentiometric electronic tongue, comprised with lipid polymeric membranes, to quantitatively estimate routinely quality physicochemical parameters (pH and conductivity) as well as to qualitatively classify water samples according to the type of water was evaluated. The study showed that a linear discriminant model, based on 21 sensors selected by the simulated annealing algorithm, could correctly classify 100 % of the water samples (leave-one out cross-validation). This potential was further demonstrated by applying a repeated K-fold cross-validation (guaranteeing that at least 15 % of independent samples were only used for internal-validation) for which 96 % of correct classifications were attained. The satisfactory recognition performance of the E-tongue could be attributed to the pH, conductivity, sugars and organic acids contents of the studied waters, which turned out in significant differences of sweetness perception indexes and total acid flavor. Moreover, the E-tongue combined with multivariate linear regression models, based on sub-sets of sensors selected by the simulated annealing algorithm, could accurately estimate waters pH (25 sensors: R 2 equal to 0.99 and 0.97 for leave-one-out or repeated K-folds cross-validation) and conductivity (23 sensors: R 2 equal to 0.997 and 0.99 for leave-one-out or repeated K-folds cross-validation). So, the overall satisfactory results achieved, allow envisaging a potential future application of electronic tongue devices for bottled water analysis and classification.

A comunicação e a imagem do Gabinete de Apoio a Projectos: um estudo de caso

Dissertação de mestrado em Ciências da Comunicação (área de especialização em Publicidade e Relações Públicas)

The importance and accuracy of wind power forecasts

Due to the global crisis o f climate change many countries throughout the world are installing the renewable energy o f wind power into their electricity system. Wind energy causes complications when it is being integrated into the electricity system due its intermittent nature. Additionally winds intennittency can result in penalties being enforced due to the deregulation in the electricity market. Wind power forecasting can play a pivotal role to ease the integration o f wind energy. Wind power forecasts at 24 and 48 hours ahead of time are deemed the most crucial for determining an appropriate balance on the power system. In the electricity market wind power forecasts can also assist market participants in terms o f applying a suitable bidding strategy, unit commitment or have an impact on the value o f the spot price. For these reasons this study investigates the importance o f wind power forecasts for such players as the Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Investigation in this study is also conducted into the impacts that wind power forecasts can have on the electricity market in relation to bidding strategies, spot price and unit commitment by examining various case studies. The results o f these case studies portray a clear and insightful indication o f the significance o f availing from the information available from wind power forecasts. The accuracy o f a particular wind power forecast is also explored. Data from a wind power forecast is examined in the circumstances o f both 24 and 48 hour forecasts. The accuracy o f the wind power forecasts are displayed through a variety o f statistical approaches. The results o f the investigation can assist market participants taking part in the electricity pool and also provides a platform that can be applied to any forecast when attempting to define its accuracy. This study contributes significantly to the knowledge in the area o f wind power forecasts by explaining the importance o f wind power forecasting within the energy sector. It innovativeness and uniqueness lies in determining the accuracy o f a particular wind power forecast that was previously unknown.

Security prices and market transparency: the role of prior information

This paper analyzes the role of traders' priors (proper versus improper) on the implications of market transparency by comparing a pre-trade transparent market with an opaque market in a set-up based on Madhavan (1996). We show that prices may be more informative in the opaque market, regardless of how priors are modelled. In contrast, the comparison of market liquidity and volatility in the two market structures are affected by prior specification. Key words: Market microstructure, Transparency, Prior information