Consumer satisfaction with water, wastewater and waste services in Portugal

While the concept of consumer satisfaction is a central topic in modern marketing theory and practice, citizens' satisfaction with public services, and especially water and waste services, is a eld that still remains empirically rather unexplored. The following study aims to contribute to this area by analysing the determinants of user satisfaction in the water, wastewater and waste sector in Portugal, using a unique survey of 1070 consumers undertaken by the Portuguese Water and Waste Regulator ERSAR. I perform an analysis of the relation between overall service satisfaction and attributespeci c service satisfaction with an ordered logit model. I then explore if subjective consumer satisfaction can be re ected by ERSAR's technical performance indicators. The results suggest that overall consumer satisfaction is driven by consumer's satisfaction with speci c service aspects but unrelated to socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Furthermore, I show that there is no monotonic association between ERSAR's technical performance indicators and consumers' levels of satisfaction.

What do broadband consumers want? Design and execution of a questionnaire on demand for bundled services on the Portuguese telecomunications market

The report addresses the question of what are the preferences of broadband consumers on the Portuguese telecommunication market. A triple play bundle is being investigated. The discrete choice analysis, adopted in the study, base on 110 responses, mainly from NOVA students. The data for the analysis was collected via manually designed on-line survey. The results show that the price attribute is relatively the most important one while the television attribute is being overlooked in the decision making process. Main effects examined in the research are robust. In addition, "extras" components are being tested in terms of users' preferences.

`When I'm sixty-four': old age, family values, and private financial transfers

Private financial transfers are becoming more and more important as ageing levels increase in Europe, with elders acting as both givers and receivers. Our study is divided in two main parts. In the first part we analyse the determinants of private financial transfers, using the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). In the second part we analyse the importance of family values for these transfers, combining SHARE with European Values Study. We show that family functions as the main agent of private transfers. We conclude that family values drive financial transfers, mainly gifts provided by elderly individuals. We find that receipts by old-aged people are more related with need cases, such as illness and poorness; moreover, for these particular cases, family network plays a very important role, working as a safety net.

CTT, the mail going public

The main purpose of this case-study is to analyse CTT’s privatisation process, a previously Government-owned firm, which went public in 2013, under the terms of the adjustment program agreed between Portugal, the European institutions (ECB and European Commission) and the IMF. The emphasis will be placed on the IPO process, but also on the company itself (its history, current situation and prospects for its new phase, as a publicly listed company). This piece of work aims to evaluate the different alternatives for the privatisation of the company along with the respective implications, as well as the outcome of the actual decision taken by the Portuguese Government. One key aspect of the case is also to understand the importance that the privatisation of the Royal Mail, which can be seen as a peer of the Portuguese company, in the unfolding of the process and in the choice of the privatisation model. The case intends to show how the British process influenced the subsequent option of the Portuguese entities to sell CTT through an IPO, instead of a trade sale. All in all, the overall objective of this case-study is to analyse CTT’s successful sale process, which created the first Portuguese company with 100% free-float. 3 On the last days of November 2013, Steven Bernstein was staring at the window of his office overlooking downtown Manhattan, not even noticing the intense rain that was pouring down. As senior manager at ABC Fund, a pension fund responsible for managing more than 800 million dollars, his thoughts were focused on a very important decision that ABC Fund would have to make in just a matter of days. The American pension fund was considering whether or not to invest in the upcoming Initial Public Offering of CTT- Correios de Portugal, the Government-owned Portuguese mail company. Is this investment opportunity in accordance with the risk profile of a pension fund? Is it a wise decision to acquire shares in a Portuguese company when the country is at the centre of the European Sovereign debt crisis, going through a very demanding economic adjustment program imposed by its bail-out creditors? Would the creation of Portugal's Postal Bank make CTT a sure bet today when its price does not fully reflect the future benefits from entering financial services? Those were some of the questions that were constantly in Mr. Bernstein’s mind over the last couple of days and he was struggling to find the answers…

Banco BPI SA financial institutions

Equity research report

Contribution of Mental Health Service User Groups to Mental Health Services and Policy in Ghana : The Case of Mental Health Society of Ghana

RESUMO: Este estudo procurou documentar a perspectiva (s) dos utentes de saúde mental e das associações de prestadores de cuidados sobre a prestação, o papel e a contribuição de serviços de saúde mental da comunidade tal como foram percebidos por um número de informadores-chave, incluindo os utentes do serviço mentais e os próprios prestadores de cuidados. O caso específico da Sociedade Saúde Mental do Gana (MEHSOG) foi o foco deste estudo. O modelo foi o de um estudo de caso, utilizando discussões de grupo e entrevistas com informadores-chave como instrumentos de recolha de dados. Estas ferramentas de colheita de dados foram complementadas por observações dos participantes e pela revisão de documentos da MEHSOG e dos vários grupos de apoio da comunidade de auto-ajuda que compõem a associação nacional. O estudo revelou que os utentes dos serviços de saúde mental e seus prestadores de cuidados constituem um importante grupo de partes interessadas na prestação de serviços de saúde mental da comunidade e no desenvolvimento de políticas que tenham em conta as necessidades e os direitos das pessoas com doença mental ou epilepsia. O envolvimento da MEHSOG promove a mobilização de membros e famílias relacionadas com a doença mental de beneficiar de serviços de tratamento bem organizados com um impacto significativo na melhoria da saúde e da participação dos utentes dos serviços e seus prestadores de cuidados primários em processos de tomada de decisão da família e na comunidade processos de desenvolvimento. Os utentes dos serviços por beneficiarem de tratamento, e os prestadores de cuidados primários, por se tornarem mais livres e menos sobrecarregados com a responsabilidade de cuidar, podem passar a envolver-se mais em atividades que melhoramo seu estado, o de suas famílias e das comunidades. A advocacia dos membros da MEHSOG para conseguir que a “Mental Health Bill” se transforme numa Lei foi também um desenvolvimento significativo resultante da participação ativa dos utentes do serviço em chamar a atenção para uma nova e inclusiva legislação de saúde mental para o Gana. Entre os fatores e oportunidades que permitiram aos utentes dos serviços de saúde mental e aos prestadores de cuidados primários de pessoas com doença mental apoiar activamente a prestação de serviços de saúde mental comunitária e o desenvolvimento de políticas conta-se a contribuição da sociedade civil do Gana, particularmente o movimento da deficiência, e os esforços anteriores de ONGs em saúde mental e dos profissionais de saúde mental para ter uma nova lei em saúde mental. Observámos um certo número de desafios e barreiras que actuam de forma a limitar a influência dos utentes dos serviços de saúde mental na provisão da saúde mental comunitária e no desenvolvimento de políticas. Entre elas o estigma social contra a doença mental e pessoas com doença mental ou epilepsia e seus cuidadores primaries é um factor chave. O estigma tem alterado a percepção e as análises do público em geral, especialmente dos profissionais de saúde e das autoridades políticas afetando a priorização dos problemas de saúde mental nas políticas e programas. Outro desafio foi a deficiente infra-estrutura disponível para apoiar serviços de saúde mentais que assegurem aos utentes permanecerem em bom estado de saúde e bem-estar para serem advogados de si próprios. A recomendação do presente estudo é que os movimentos de utentes dos serviços de saúde mental são importantes e que eles precisam de ser apoiados e encorajados a desempenhar o seu papel como pessoas com experiência vivida para contribuir para a organização e prestação de serviços de saúde mental, bem como para a implementação, monitorização e avaliação de políticas e programas. ------------------------------------ ABSTRACT: This study sought to document the perspective(s) of mental health users and care-givers associations in community mental health service provision and their role and contribution as it was perceived by a number of key informants including the mental service users and care-givers themselves. The specific case of the Mental Health Society of Ghana (MEHSOG) was the focus of this study. A case study approach was used to with Focus Group Discussions and Key Informants Interviews being the data collection tools that were used. These data collection tools were complemented by participant observations and review of documents of the MEHSOG and the various community self-help peer support groups that make up the national association. The study revealed that mental health service users and their care-givers constitute an important stakeholder group in community mental health service provision and development of policies that factor in the needs and rights of persons with mental illness or epilepsy. MEHSOG’s involvement in mobilising members and education families to come forward with the relations with mental illness to benefit from treatment services were well made a significant impact in improving the health and participation of service users and their primary carers in family decision-making processes and in community development processes. Service users, on benefiting from treatment, and primary care-givers, on becoming freer and less burdened with the responsibility of care, move on to engage in secure livelihoods activities, which enhanced their status in their families and communities. The advocacy MEHSOG members undertook in getting the mental health Bill become Law was also noted as significant development that was realised as a result of active involvement of service users in calling for a new and inclusive mental health legislation for Ghana. Enabling factors and opportunities that enabled mental health service users and primary care-givers of people with mental illness to actively support community mental health service provision and policy development is with the vibrant civil society presence in Ghana, particularly the disability movement, and earlier efforts by NGOs in mental health in Ghana long-side mental health professionals to have a new law in mental health. A number of challenges were also noted which were found to limit the extent to which mental health service users can be influential in community mental health service provision and policy development. Key among them was the social stigma against mental illness and people with mental illness or epilepsy and their primary carers. Stigma has affected perceptions, analyses of the general public, especially health practitioners and policy authorities that it has affected their prioritisation of mental health issues in policies and programmes. Another challenge was the poor infrastructure available to support enhanced mental health care services that ensure mental health service users remain in a good state of health and wellbeing to advocate for themselves. The recommendation from the study is that mental health service user movements are important and need to be supported and encouraged to play their role as persons with lived experience to inform organisation and provision of mental health services as well as design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programes.

The financial leverage of large Portuguese Firms in the European context

The Financial Leverage of Large Portuguese Firms in the European Context This paper studies the leverage, cost of debt servicing ability and structure of debt maturity of large Portuguese firms, over the pre-crisis (2006-2009) and post-crisis (2010-2013) periods through a comparative analysis with other European peers. We document that large Portuguese firms have been reducing their leverage since the end of 2009. We find that this decrease in leverage is not a consequence higher Equity levels but rather a result of asset’s downsizing. We also document that Portuguese firms are still more leveraged than their European peers, even though this difference has decreased over time. High corporate debt levels are transversal across industries.

Reinvigorating and redesigning early intervention in psychosis services for young people in Auckland

RESUMO: Auckland tem sido pioneira na implementação de modelos de Intervenção Precoce em Psicose. No entanto, esta organização do serviço não mudou nos últimos 19 anos. Segundo os dados obtidos da utilização do serviço, no período de 1996 -2012 foram atendidos 997 doentes, que tinham um número médio de 89 contactos (IQR: 36-184), com uma duração média de 62 horas de contactos (IQR: 24-136). Estes doentes passaram um número médio de 338 dias (IQR: 93-757) em contacto com o programa. 517 doentes (52%) não necessitaram de internamento no hospital, e os que foram internados, ficaram uma mediana de 124 dias no hospital (IQR: 40-380). Os doentes asiáticos tiveram um aumento de 50% de probabilidade de serem internados no hospital. Este relatório inclui 15 recomendações para orientar as reformas para o serviço e, nomeadamente, delinear a importância de uma visão organizacional e dos seus componentes-chave. As recomendações incluem o reforço da gestão e da liderança numa estrutura de equipe mais integrada, com recursos dedicados a melhorar a consciencialização da comunidade, a educação e deteção precoce, bem como a capacidade de receber referenciações diretas. Os Indicadores Chave de Desempenho devem ser estabelecidos, mas os Exames de Estado Mental em risco, devem ser removidos. Auckland deve manter a faixa etária alvo atual. A duração do serviço deve ser aumentada para um mínimo de três anos, com a opção de aumentá-la para cinco anos. A proporção de gestor de cuidados para os doentes deve ser preconizada em 1:15, enquanto o pessoal de apoio não-clínico deve ser aumentado. Os psiquiatras devem ter uma carga de trabalho de cerca de 80 doentes por equivalente de tempo completo. Um serviço local de prestação de cuidados deve ser desenvolvido com, nomeadamente, intervenções culturais para responder às necessidades da população multicultural de Auckland. A capacidade de investigação deve ser incorporada no Serviço de Intervenção Precoce em Psicoses. Qualquer alteração deverá envolver contacto com todas as partes interessadas, e a Administração Regional de Saúde deve comprometer-se em tempo, recursos humanos e políticos para apoiar e facilitar a mudança do sistema, investindo de forma significativa para melhor servir a comunidade Auckland.----------------------------------- ABSTRACT: Auckland has been pioneering in the adoption of Early Intervention in Psychosis models but the design of the service has not changed in 19 years. In service utilisation data from 997 patients seen from 1996 -2012, patients had a median number of 89 contacts (IQR: 36-184), with a median duration of 62 hours of contact (IQR: 24-136). Patients spent a median number of 338 days (IQR: 93-757) in contact with the program. 517 patients (52%) did not require admission to hospital, and those who did spent a median of 124 days in hospital (IQR: 40-380). Asian patients had a 50% increased chance of being admitted to hospital. This report includes 15 recommendations to guide reforms to the service, including outlining the importance of vision and key components. It recommends strengthened managerial leadership and a more integrated team structure with dedicated resources for improved community awareness, education and early detection as well as the capacity to take direct referrals. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should be established but At Risk Mental States should be excluded. Auckland should maintain the current target age range. The duration of service should be increased to a minimum of three years, with the option to extend this to five years. The ratio of care co-ordinator to patients should be capped at 1:15 whilst non-clinical supporting staff should be increased. Psychiatrists should have a caseload of about 80 per FTE. A local Service Delivery framework should be developed, as should cultural interventions to meet the needs of the multicultural population of Auckland. Research capacity should be incorporated into the fabric of Early Intervention in Psychosis Services. Any changes should involve consultation with all stakeholders, and the DHB should commit to investing time, human and political resources to support and facilitate meaningful system change to best serve the Auckland community.

Definition, implementation and management of m.commerce apps and services

This report aims to analyse the Definition, Implementation and Management of Vodafone Portugal’s Apps and Services, so that possible ways of improvement can be suggested. To do so, Vodafone’s strategy regarding the development/ implementation of specific Apps and Services, as well as the strategy of its competitors are going to be analysed. This analysis is going to be complemented with insights from some key-persons of Vodafone’s Consumer Business Unit team in Portugal. Findings suggest that Vodafone is ahead of its competitors when it comes to developing the most innovative Apps and Services, but there is always room for improvements, especially when it comes to communication.

Transparency in financial reporting by European Foundations

The increasing role of the European Foundations, urges for more transparency. The prevalent accounting frameworks in which they operate and report their activities are mostly based on national laws. This lack of harmonization, limits comparison between European foundations. Thus, this Work Project analyzes the current financial reporting by European foundations, and evaluates the similarities, differences and data availability between countries. The research provides evidence about little information available, deficiency in the financial reporting, within and between countries. The research recommends the need to ensure uniformity by providing a clear definition for public-benefit purpose, harmonization of laws and financial reporting.

Fuel switching

The present Master dissertation is a project whose main objective is to identify value creation opportunities through fuel switching in the Portuguese industry, services, agriculture and fishing sectors. Fuel switching opportunities are characterized by type of fuel transition, type of technology transition, economy subsectors prone to have fuel switching and value created through fuel shift. Results suggest tomato concentrate, dairy, beer manufacturing and sugar refining subsectors is where prevalence of fuel oil steam boilers is high, for such cases conversion to natural gas steam boilers should result in operations having a ratio of NPV over CAPEX larger than ten and a payback period just under one year. Results further suggest food, beverages, textile, chemicals and wood subsectors currently operate between ten and twenty cogeneration Diesel engines that can be either modified to operate with natural gas or replaced by new natural gas cogeneration systems. Financial modeling indicates that both options have great value creation potential. The current analysis aims to be used by natural gas suppliers and energy project promoters to identify new potential deals as well as by heavy energy consumers to mitigate their energy related costs.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding, as we know it today, is a very recent activity that was born almost accidentally in the end of the 90’s decade. Due to the advent of the internet and the social networks, entrepreneurs are now able to promote their projects to a very large community. Whether it is composed by family, friends, acquaintances or simply people that are interested in the same topic or share the passion, the community is able to fund new ventures by individually investing modest amounts of money. In return, the entrepreneur can offer symbolic rewards, shares or other financial returns. New crowdfunding platforms are born almost every day all over the world, offering a new way of raising capital for their projects or a new way to invest their money in innovative ventures. Although crowdfunding is still finding its place in the financial services, successful cases such as Kickstarter demonstrate the power of the crowd in boosting creativity and productivity, financing thousands of projects by raising millions of dollars from thousands of investors. Due to regulatory restrictions, the most prominent model for now is reward-based crowdfunding, where the investors are prized with symbolic returns or privileged access to the products or services offered by the entrepreneurs. Other models such as peer-to-peer lending are also surging, allowing borrowers access to capital at a lower cost compared to so-called traditional financial institutions, and offering lenders a higher rate of return. But when it comes to offering shares to investors, i.e. using equity-based crowdfunding, entrepreneurs face regulatory obstacles in almost every country, where legislation was passed decades ago with the objective of promoting financially-capable ventures and protecting investors. Access to capital has become more difficult after the global economic recession of 2008, and for most countries it will not get easier in the near future, leaving start-ups and small enterprises with few options to start or expand their operations. In this study we attempt to answer the following research questions: how has equity-based crowdfunding evolved since its creation? Where and how has equity-based crowdfunding been implemented so far? What are the constraints and opportunities for implementing equity-crowdfunding in the world, and more particularly in Portugal? Finally, we will discuss the risks of crowdfunding and reflect on the future of this industry.

Innovative medicines in the portuguese private health sector

The present dissertation aims at contributing to a strategic view over the use of innovative medicines in the portuguese private health sector, as a way of being complementary to public system that nowadays finances most of the innovative medicines. With the rationalization of expenses in the public health sector, pharmaceutical companies tend to look for opportunities of expansion to the private sector. The creation of innovative financial models for the private sector to cover innovative treatments is the proposed way of surpassing the restriction on the NHS sales of innovative medicines. This can be both for differentiating private health providers from the NHS or for the creation of premium services that can be differentiated from other private providers of the portuguese market.

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.

Digital interconnectivity as a driver for port and logistics competitiveness

Creating an innovative tool that takes advantage of digital interconnectivity between shipping agencies and husbandry services suppliers was the starting point. But the main purpose of this paper is to figure out if that represents a business opportunity. It describes the preliminary stages undertaken, as the connections with the main potential providers of the husbandry services. This was carried out as a qualitative research, based on interviews given by shipping agencies that contributed as a source of data about their activities but also to survey their acceptance of the concept that could change the way of doing business in this area.At the same time, inquiries have been made to build financial scenarios that show the costs and revenue streams allocated to this project. Considering the data collected from the main players in husbandry services and the different outcomes, the feasibility of this project is assessed. Even though the paradigm was well received by all the firms contacted, the development costs turn out to be the main threat to the project so further steps are advised.