Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2020-01-28"
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- Estudo sobre a garantia autónoma : em concreto, os meios de defesa do garantePublication . Marques, Ana Paula Reis; Guedes, António Agostinho Cardoso ConceiçãoNo presente trabalho dedicámo-nos ao estudo da figura da garantia autónoma, mais precisamente aos meios de defesa do garante, sendo nosso objetivo perceber se, e em caso de resposta afirmativa, em que casos, o garante se pode recusar a cumprir com a sua obrigação de pagamento da quantia acordada ao beneficiário. Para tal, principiámos por compreender em que consiste a autonomia desta garantia, característica que tanto a distingue das restantes. De facto, é em virtude da referida autonomia que se levanta a questão de saber se o garante pode lançar mão de meios de defesa para se recusar a cumprir com a sua obrigação de pagamento da quantia acordada ao credor. Compreendida a garantia em análise, analisámos a possibilidade de o garante se poder recusar a cumprir com a sua obrigação tendo em conta três níveis de relações jurídicas: a relação beneficiário-garante (contrato de garantia), a relação garantido-garante e a relação beneficiário-garantido (contrato base). Após um longo caminho percorrido, sempre com recurso à doutrina e à jurisprudência portuguesas, foi-nos possível chegar às nossas próprias conclusões. De facto, é nosso entendimento que o princípio da inoponibilidade de meios de defesa por parte do garante ao beneficiário contende exceções, não sendo absoluta a autonomia da garantia. Assim, apesar de a sua obrigação ser autónoma da obrigação que visa garantir, o garante pode recusar-se a cumprir com a sua obrigação de pagamento da quantia acordada tendo por base fundamentos decorrentes da relação beneficiário-garante e da relação beneficiário-garantido.
- The effect of different types of online reviews on Instagram regarding users’ choice of a restaurantPublication . Stoitzner, Nicola Mirjam Ursula; Souto, Daniela Langaro da Silva doThe digital transformation in the hospitality and tourism industry has led to a multitude of upheavals and the development of new communication channels. Social media platforms have been widely used for the purpose of sharing information between consumers about products and services. More users share their experiences with restaurants with an online audience that goes far beyond their personal contacts. Online reviews provide valuable information for potential customers to facilitate their purchase decision. Additionally, restaurant managers benefit from feedback systems, as they are able to assess strengths and weaknesses of their services. Previous studies have shown that electronic Word-of-Mouth has had a significant effect on consumers’ decision-making process in the hospitality industry. The restaurant sector in particular is one of the most strongly influenced by social media platforms such as Instagram. This research study focuses on the effect of different types of online reviews on Instagram regarding users’ choice of a restaurant. An empirical approach was chosen to evaluate the effects of reviews on Instagram on consumer behavior in the restaurant sector. A survey designed to gain insights into user`s responses to relevant Instagram content collected 316 valid responses. The results show that content showcasing food quality, service quality and restaurant atmosphere has a significant and positive impact on trust, customer perceived value and thereby, purchase intention. This study provides valuable information to restaurants, identifies areas of research that can help them understand the power of Instagram and take advantage of online reviews on Instagram as a new marketing tool.
- Analysis of the effect of cloud computing on the productivity of firms in the portuguese marketPublication . Jonas, Max Florian; Matos, Miguel Maria Castro Melo Godinho deCloud Computing services enable firms to access powerful computing resources and boost the efficiency of workflows. We investigate whether the usage of Cloud Computing increases the productivity of firms in the Portuguese market. Using detailed survey data on the usage of technologies in firms in the Portuguese market, we observe a representative sample of firms using Cloud Computing in 2014, 2016, and 2017. We apply the Cobb-Douglas production function to measure the productivity gains associated with Cloud Computing. The econometric analysis is conducted in R using Ordinary Least Squares and Multiple Group Fixed Effects as estimation methods. Our study presents empirical evidence that Cloud Computing contributes positively to productivity of firms in the Portuguese market, provided that firms operate in industries with above average Cloud usage. Moreover, we show that the IT intensity and Internet infrastructure of firms do not significantly impact the effect of Cloud Computing on productivity. We find that firm size influences the realization of productivity gains through Cloud Computing. Also, our results indicate that early adopters of Cloud Computing tend to perceive greater productivity benefits than late adopters. Further, we find that, on average, firms perform better in sales when they use Cloud Computing. The study contributes to literature by focusing on the isolated impact of Cloud use on productivity in firms. The results lend important support in managerial decision-making related to Cloud Computing usage.
- Equity valuation Ramada Investimentos e IndustriaPublication . Silva, Inês Correia dos Santos Pereira da; Martins, José Carlos TudelaThe object of this dissertation is to provide a general valuation of Ramada Investimentos e Indústria, a company that has served as a paragon of good business at the national level, able to diversify its business portfolio while staying focused on its core businesses in the steel industry. For our purposes, two distinct methods were relied upon throughout this paper – Discounted Cash Flow valuation and Relative valuation. Through the application of the former, Ramada Investimentos e Indústria’s returned a yield and equity valuation of €148,8 million. The application of Relative valuation was then used to gain insight into current market valuations of similar companies, rather simply as a support for investment recommendations. Finally, the results of our work were compared and found to be concurrent to JB Capital Market’s recommendation dated August 2019, despite different valuation results.
- Artificial intelligence in customer service : how chatbots reshape customer service strategies : a guidance for an AI-based chatbot integrationPublication . Schmitt, Charlotte Rosa Maria; Rajsingh, PeterThe extensive use of e-business interfaces has significantly changed the domain of customer service. Expectations regarding speed, scope and availability of customer service are forcing companies to revise outdated costly and resource intensive customer service strategies. AI-based chatbots, therefore, are gaining significant traction. These virtual assistants promise to serve large numbers of customers individually and efficiently, while being cheaper compared to human agents and scalable. Despite rapid development of the technology, there is limited literature addressing the integration processes of AI-based chatbots. This creates uncertainties for companies endeavoring to implement chatbots. Two research questions animate this thesis: What concrete benefits do chatbots represent for customer service? And how is this technology best integrated to maximize value for companies and customers? Using qualitative and quantitative data collection, this study seeks to determine optimal strategies for chatbot integration. This requires precise understandings of the capabilities and limitations of AI. A company’s customer values, combined with its attitudes towards time-intensive data preparation and agent training, also bear upon strategy optimization. Hybrid human-chatbot models are another iteration shown to generate value. Building upon research, this dissertation proposes strategies for integrating chatbots into existing customer service. The integration process will be divided into four phases and each phase will be evaluated separately with respect to different conditions and obstacles.
- What value do stock analysts bring with their recommendations? : evidence from the US and the brazilian marketsPublication . Medeiros, Raphael Rique Uchôa de; Kalogirou, FaniThis paper investigates the impact of changes in analysts’ recommendations on stock market prices over the 2006 – 2018 period, for two distinct markets. I find that, for the US market, both upgrades and downgrades generate abnormal returns on the day of the recommendation revision, with downgrades producing larger absolute returns. Surprisingly, no-change on the recommendation also generate abnormal returns. Considering the Brazilian market, I find evidence which confirms the existence of abnormal returns, although not as significant as in the US. Extending the event window to 5 days, I find that upgrades and downgrades from the US market are also significant for all models, generating even more returns at this extended period. On the other hand, in the he Brazilian market I find no significant results for most portfolios, with the exception of the ones with the smallest changes in recommendations. When comparing by market value, smaller firms generate larger returns than larger firms on the NYSE market for all portfolios. Meanwhile for the BOVESPA market, only for the largest changes in recommendations, the smaller market value firms produce larger returns. Overall, the analysts’ recommendations for the US market are more impactful to stock prices than the recommendations for the Brazilian market.
- Relatório de estágio : intervenção de conservação e restauro em colcha adamascada do século XVIII, do acervo da Venerável Ordem Terceira de São Francisco do PortoPublication . Rebelo, Sara Maria Guedes; Sousa, Gonçalo de Vasconcelos e; Morais, Rita Machado Maltieira de AlmeidaO presente relatório descreve o trabalho realizado em estágio curricular, na Venerável Ordem Terceirade São Francisco do Porto, que contemplou a intervenção numa colcha do séc. XVIII, pertencente à coleção de paramentaria da instituição; o acondicionamento da referida coleção; o estudo do registo termohigrométrico de um possível local para a exposição na vertical da obra estudada e intervencionada; a formação dos colaboradores da entidade acolhedora, no que respeita ao manuseamento e acondicionamento de têxteis. A colcha em seda adamascada e espolinada a fio de prata dourada, encontrava-se em um estado de degradação avançado, devido à decomposição dos materiais constituintes e das condições de armazenamento desfavoráveis. Estes fatores provocaram na peça as seguintes patologias: desidratação das fibras, rutura do suporte, lacunas, quebras de união, marcas de humidade e descoloração, assim como oxidação dos elementos metálicos e o seu destacamento. A intervenção foi precedida de uma análise prévia do estado de conservação da colcha, levantamento de patologias, planificação do restauro e aquisição dos materiais necessários ao mesmo. O processo de restauro é aqui descrito em todas as suas fases, de acordo com as necessidades da peça, e explicitados os procedimentos adotados. O acondicionamento da peça e da coleção têxtil e respetiva metodologia adotada são também descritos e devidamente ilustrados. Foi também efetuada uma formação de sensibilização à equipa da Venerável Ordem Terceira de São Francisco do Porto, para os adequados acondicionamento e manuseamento da coleção de paramentaria.
- Cotton City Lisbon : growth strategy and business plan for the next five yearsPublication . Agoas, Joana Silva; Lino, Rute Sofia Barbosa XavierTourism has become an important and growing sector for the Portuguese economy. In 2018, 22.8 million tourists visited Portugal, 7.5% more than in the previous year, resulting in 16.6 billion euros in revenues for the Portuguese balance of payments. While traveling, one of tourists’ main activities is shopping, especially for souvenir purchases. To leverage on this growing sector, Cotton City Lisbon was launched in May 2019, offering high quality t-shirts about Portugal, that serve as gifts and reminders of people’s stay in the country. The company is proud to be a fully made in Portugal brand, from design to production, and even the stores that sell its t-shirts promote Portuguese products, brands and heritage. This dissertation aims to elaborate a five-year business plan and underlying recommendations for the company’s offline and online businesses, and its evolving financial structure. To address the offline business, an assessment of 57 stores for Cotton City Lisbon to partner with was conducted, resulting on 12 stores with a good fit with the brand. For the online business, a benchmark of 61 similar companies’ social media presence and interviews with comparable start-ups were made to understand the potential from online channels and “Mercado da Saudade”. The results showed that, although online sales are important and could represent up to 35% of total revenues, “Mercado da Saudade” does not have a significant impact. Lastly, through a breakeven analysis, and considering the current cost structure, the number of t-shirts sold required to keep the business profitable was estimated.
- Internationalization strategies of state-owned enterprises : between business and politicsPublication . Metz, Julien Andre; Leglise, LaureIn times in which firms owned by the state increasingly seek international markets, research on this topic needs to be further developed in order to find the linkage and dependencies between politics and business. The purpose of this thesis is to study how state ownership affects a firm’s internationalization strategy. In order to answer this question, a qualitative single-case study was conducted on Munich Airport International, a subsidiary of Flughafen München GmbH, owned by the Federal Republic of Germany, the Free State of Bavaria and the city of Munich. The findings suggest that a state-owned enterprise that is driven by and dependent on external market opportunities less likely faces the typical issues of state ownership such as a political mandate. Hence, its internationalization strategy is not politically driven. Even for unlisted, wholly state-owned enterprises, the internationalization strategy converges with those of private companies. However, due to multilayered governance structures and discrepancies in risk appetite, state ownership can cause internal inefficiencies and consequently constrains the strategy implementation. Those constraints can result in a learning experience which influences further strategy development.
- Case study : Facebook in face of crisisPublication . Duarte, Raquel Pita Guerreiro Marcelino; Souto, Daniela Langaro da Silva doCreated to connect people in a limited academic environment, Facebook rapidly became the world’s largest social media network, containing numerous, and highly valued features. Despite its rapid growth and outstanding performance, Facebook has seen better days. In March 2018, the giant was caught up in a large-scale data breach scandal, in which the British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica acquired the personal data of around 87 million users without their consent and used it for political purposes, namely in the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections but also in the Brexit Vote Leave campaign. The scandal caused Facebook to face the wrath of all those affected by the privacy breach but also of those who were indirectly, in some way, concerned by what happened. Several challenges confronted the company afterwards, such as legal actions for the lack of users’ privacy protection. Nevertheless, even if Facebook put in place several measures to prevent such an event from happening again, the biggest challenge was definitely to regain stakeholder’s trust and to rebuild the organization’s reputation. The crisis response strategies adopted by Facebook were considered not enough to reassure users and all those troubled by the breach. This case study provides appropriate data that allows students to assess the crisis situation and to put themselves in a position of Facebook’s CMO, in order to come up with crisis management path suggestions, through the combination of theories and real-life facts.