Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2012-01-09"
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- Price discrimination in-store, in mobility and in real-timePublication . Braga, Vitor Damião de Sousa; Amaral, Paulo Cardoso doThis dissertation focuses on the concepts of Mobility, Real-time Marketing and Price Discrimination, analyzing why it makes sense to study them together. Boosted by the success of personalized offers in the e-commerce, the goal of this research is to understand if the market is prepared for real-time price discrimination by using smartphones. A survey was conducted in order to gain some empirical knowledge, and the collected data was characterized regarding the research question and by using some descriptive statistics and cross tabulations. The results showed that in the observed sample, customers are willing to use the mobile channel through a product barcode scanning process in order to get a discount. These findings contribute with further insights into understanding how the mobile channel can be used by retail stores in order to bring additional sales for companies by reaching the most price sensitive customers.
- Queijo Saloio : the woman who stared at goatsPublication . Câmara, João Miguel Andion Boullosa Perry da; Guedes, NunoFounded in 1968 by Vitório Alves and built upon the belief that “good milk makes a good cheese”, Queijo Saloio was Portugal’s most innovative cheese company. Under the supervision of Clara Moura Guedes, the organization conquered its place as leader in the cheese specialties segment. Such accomplishment was made through the creation of a diversified portfolio and strong positioning in the goat cheese market. Despite having reached 26 million Euros in revenues in 2008, Queijo Saloio’s sales progressively decreased until 2011. In three years, the third largest organization in the Portuguese cheese market was being threatened by the macro-‐environment and the empowerment of large retailers’ private labels. In face of adversity, Clara Moura Guedes was weighing the hypothesis of expanding to Angola, an option that had been previously looked into in 2009. Saloio’s path is an interesting subject of discussion, as it includes topics of product differentiation, positioning, the private labels phenomenon and internationalization. In this sense it may be analyzed in any marketing or strategy course, supported by the theoretical concepts proposed in a literature review. The proposed reflection focuses mainly on the drawing of potential solutions to Queijo Saloio’s problems, assessing the viability of the expansion to Angola.
- The roles of leadership in the development of dynamic capabilities in the case of Mazoni, S.A.Publication . Santos, Joana Cristina Rodrigues dos; Cardeal, NunoThis dissertation aims to answer the research question: What is the role of the leaders in the development of a company’s dynamic capabilities. In order to have a better understanding of the problem, the study is applied to a practical case – the shoe company Mazoni, S.A. Before focusing on this issue, defining the concept of dynamic capabilities turned out to be crucial. Therefore, several authors were considered, along with their various designations. A pattern was drawn from what was and was not agreement upon. Firstly, two frameworks were combined in order to best assess the object of this study. The microfoundations of dynamic capabilities by Teece (2007); and the leadership agenda*, developed by Dos and Kosonen (2010), which evaluates the leaders’ roles in what they called “strategic agility” of business model renewal. Then, we analyze the case of Mazoni, S.A. In order to better understand the company in question, we studied the footwear industry in Europe and then zoom in on Portugal’s footwear industry. Finally, we dissect Mazoni from its foundation to our current days. The step before assessing the leader’s capabilities was to define what Mazoni’s dynamic capabilities were. In their opinion, they provide product and service quality both with relative low cost. With this they mean that they do not sell the cheapest shoes, but taking their medium/high quality into account, they represent one of the best options in market. Finally, the assessment of the leader’s roles was performed. A table that combined the two previously addressed frameworks was filled out with quotes from several interviews with members of Mazoni. This encoded information enabled us to realize which were the competencies that the leaders possessed when managing the Mazoni shoe company.
- What is the role of perseverance in the development of dynamic capabilities? : Abreus case studyPublication . Ildefonso, João Miguel Vieira; Cardeal, NunoThe research problem involved in this dissertation relates to the role of perseverance in the development of dynamic capabilities. The issue considers the importance of top management’s persistence and resilience in creating and maintaining competitive advantages over time. Beforehand it is addressed how companies can develop the capacity to restructure, adapt and create a new resource base needed to guarantee a sustainable competitive advantage as the business landscape evolves. Dynamic capabilities’ theory is explored to illustrate how this capacity can be attained and developed considering the specific case of ABREUS. The research problem in this project is associated to how a company present in a moderate industry that has suffered a radical change, represented by a new market and client profile, was able to develop the necessary capabilities in order to yield from a competitive advantage position. After identifying the capabilities that have enabled the company this advantage position recent dynamic capabilities’ literature was considered to explain how and in what stage the manager’s perseverance was important in its creation. The role of the leader in delineating the firm’s strategy and the new business model, recognizing both the internal and market opportunities, but more specifically how he was able to address challenges and face clear impediments while pursuing his vision, is discussed.
- Users as developers and entrepreneurs of medical treatments/devices : the case of patients and their families and friendsPublication . Shcherbatiuk, Viktoriia; Oliveira, PedroThe health care industry has experienced a proliferation of innovations aimed at enhancing life expectancy, quality of life, diagnostic and treatment options. Previous research has shown that users themselves innovate with respect to services they selfprovide. In this study, we look at sources of health care innovations, in particular the role of users in the development of those innovations. We build our study upon previous work by Oliveira, von Hippel and DeMonaco (2011) and Oliveira (2012) and will empirically explore the role of patients and their families and friends (i.e. users) in developing new medical treatments and devices for themselves. We focus on chronic diseases, including respiratory diseases (Cystic Fibrosis, Asthma and Sleep Apnea), Cancer, Diabetes and medical devices and treatment for general purposes. For each of these chronic diseases we developed a sample of treatments and devices and show that patients with those diseases (or their families and friends) have developed a significant proportion of treatments and devices. Despite some sampling limitations we found that the majority (54%) of new medical treatment and devices for those diseases were developed by patients or their families and friends. Moreover, 53% of such patients who are user innovators have become entrepreneurs and created their own firms to produce their inventions. Our empirical findings have important policy and managerial implications for health care management and entrepreneurship.
- ZON Multimedia towards the future : when it is all a matter of ‘fiber’ : a business strategy case sudyPublication . Nascimento, Filipa Avilez de Bilbao do; Guedes, Nuno Magalhães2008, one year after the spin-off from its mother company, ZON Multimedia was facing a new challenge: whether or not to deploy the Next Generation Network (NGN), fiber-to-the-home (FTTH). The exponential growing demand for higher capacity networks, competitive pressure, regulation and government pressure, as well as lower operational costs were the main drivers for the eventual deployment. However, the current ZON Multimedia’s technology had yet a high competitive capacity that promised to continue in the next years. The decision to move towards the adoption of FTTH or not is then widely discussed in this Thesis. Besides the Case Study, this Thesis includes a Literature Review section in which a theoretical basis is laid down for the analysis presented in the Teaching Note section. From the Case Study analysis it will be possible to understand ZON Multimedia current network technology’s advantages and disadvantages as well as the inherent strategic risks associated with the FTTH deployment. Moreover, it will be possible to understand that the high likelihood of ZON Multimedia main competitor moving to FTTH and the marketing strength of the term ‘fiber’, due to its superior characteristics and its lower operational costs, were undoubtedly food for thought at the time of the decision.
- The influence of knowledge management in the development of firms' Dynamic Capabilities : the case of Calafe and the development of the capabilities that allowed it to have competitive advantagePublication . Pipa, Manuel Maria Ferreira Coelho Loureiro; Cardeal, Nuno César de Jesus GuerraThe research problem involved in this Dissertation mainly aims to discuss and draw some conclusions about the influence of Knowledge Management in companies’ development of their own Dynamic Capabilities. The research question is: What is the role of Knowledge Management in the development of firms’ Dynamic Capabilities that generate their competitive advantage? The Dynamic Capabilities theory, as well as Knowledge Management, has gained a distinctive position in the strategic management field. Literature about both subjects has been evolving considerably so far. However, there are not many applications of such concepts to real examples, which turn them still somewhat vague and difficult for companies to apply consciously and methodologically. For each one of the subjects, it was developed a framework which allow having better understanding of their tangible application. The Micro-foundations of Dynamic Capabilities allow having a clearer perspective of how companies may prevent and react to change, aligning its resources in order to develop crucial capabilities. The SECI Model gives a pretty reasonable idea of how Knowledge may be created, developed and managed within companies. Nevertheless, literature has been having difficulties in further explore the application of both frameworks to real and tangible examples and facts. Choosing a Portuguese footwear producer, CALAFE, helped to meet the goal of this Dissertation. Through a combination of two models of two different subjects, it was possible not only to conclude about the influence of Knowledge Management in the development of Dynamic Capabilities, but also to apply the models to a concrete case, relating them.
- ZON : facing new challenges in the home entertainment marketPublication . Filipe, Cláudia Paixão Simões Mendes; Celeste, PedroZON is the market leader in PayTV market. Their offering includes Cable TV, with possibility of subscribing premium channels, and access to a Video-On-Demand system via television and more recently via computers too. At the same time, they are responsible for buying and selling contents (possessing the rights to broadcast movies and series, for example) and they are the main player on the Portuguese motion picture industry, being the main DVD distributor for sale and rental. However, the company is in a process of changing. Over the last years, the DVD market has been decreasing in value and the losses that ZON is suffering are not being compensated by investment and adoption of new services (like the referred Video On Demand). After the enormous success that the physical rental has conquered on the past decades, this is a business that is condemned to disappear on medium term. Plus, the growth of internet and possibility to have access to free content (even though these actions are, most of the times, illegal) and development of new technologies have changed consumers’ thoughts and actions towards the motion pictures industry. This case is particularly interesting for professors and students to discuss how a market leader company can, suddenly, be facing important changes on their business structure that might lead to adoption of new strategies in order to keep the leadership position. The dissertation covers the steps that are needed in order to evaluate the market, first by analyzing the industry to check for new trends, consumers’ perceptions and attitudes and what companies are doing worldwide, and second by testing hypothesis on a sample taken from the domestic market in which the company is operating. In the end of the case suggestions, limitations and hypothesis for future research can be found. Even though in the end there are some suggestions on conclusions and teaching notes that provide some hints on how the case can be approached in class, any suggestions or other solutions that professors find convenient can also suit the case.