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The dominance of road transport, both on passenger and freight movements, has reached alarming levels in what concerns their negative environmental impacts as well as societal and economic costs. To reverse this trend, a technology-driven approach and a behavioral change attitude need to be pursued. Promising results have been reported in Europe in the reduction of vehicle ownership, due to the introduction of an alternative transport mode known as car sharing. This work evaluates the contribution of car sharing to sustainable transport, based both in a technological shift and a potential behavioral change.

The state of the art on car sharing and policies presents the effects of these systems and how they have been promoted. As those effects can vary according to the geographical area, the users profile, and service characteristics, a worldwide analysis on car sharing systems covering more than 400 cities was performed. Average service indicators were quantified and characterization variables were accounted to those cities’ urban areas. Considering those normalized values, the authors performed an analysis of the car sharing system in Lisbon (Portugal). An initial assessment was made to estimate its current energy and environmental impacts. This outcome was then compared with the environmental and economic effects of using alternative vehicle technologies in car sharing. The results obtained enable a discussion of the more important variables for the success of the system and, consequently, to choose what policy instruments can help car sharing to succeed.

The results of the existing car sharing schemes reveal the positive contribution of car sharing to fill a “mobility gap” in sustainable transport. It works as a complement to other sustainable transport options and it impacts positively both society and car-sharers in terms of mobility costs, environmental, and energy implications. These results are more significant if a technology shift to electric mobility is promoted. Within the case study in Lisbon, the adoption of electric mobility would allow decreases up to 47% and 65% in energy consumption and CO₂ emissions, respectively. Moreover, the present value economic analysis revealed that, these systems will only be economically viable after approximately 7 years. A sensitivity analysis to the economic model was performed showing that the variables having higher influence were cost-related variables (reducing the break-even timeframe from 36% to 57%), such as vehicle purchase cost, insurance, maintenance and tax costs, and fuel cost.

Car sharing systems generally present social benefits to society as it leads to the reduction of car ownership, with all the positive effects that has on a lower demand for parking space, less congestion, reduced local pollutants and emissions. If the technology used by car sharing vehicles shifts from conventional to another type of technology, the effects both for society and car sharers are even more appealing from a social point of view. In the particular case study approached in the chapter, given the small scale of the car sharing network and low usage patterns, the local results have a low social impact at the city scale. A larger promotion of the system either with a more aggressive marketing campaign targeting specific population niches (e.g., environmentally conscious people), larger vehicle and parking availability, or better integration with the city’s public transport system could foster the deployment of the system, similarly to other cities.

Overall, the results obtained from this research work quantify the contribution of car sharing to sustainable transport and highlights the positive effects of promoting a technological shift. These facts reinforce the need for public policies to support the integration of car sharing within the city’s solutions to promote a more sustainable mobility. The successful deployment of car sharing systems can be influenced by policies targeting features such as allocation of parking, the fees and complementarity with public transport, signage and markings, and marketing of social and environmental benefits.

This study aims to examine the characteristics of scientific publications that address the management of higher education institution (HEI) libraries from a sustainability perspective, through a bibliometric analysis, to contribute to the development of knowledge and to identify opportunities for further research.

The knowledge development process-constructivist instrument was used to select a portfolio of 24 articles that are scientifically acknowledged and aligned with the theme “Sustainable Management of Libraries in Higher Education Institutions” and delimited by the authors. This study, guided by a constructivist perspective, was carefully conducted to discern selections that differ from traditional definitions. The analysis followed a qualitative approach and used the following variables: fruitful authors, connection networks between authors and vision of sustainability (the degree of dimensional coverage).

The analysis of the literature highlighted the partnerships of authors from countries belonging to the American continent as the most involved in research on the subject and the evolution from a one-dimensional view – centred on the environment – to a multidimensional view.

The understanding is that library management in HEIs, from a sustainability perspective, is an essential aspect of institutional legitimacy for the stakeholders. Therefore, sustainability should be treated in a multidimensional way and integrated with the institution’s values.

The purpose of this paper is to support the management of organizational knowledge retention through a multi-criteria decision aiding–constructivist model.

This exploratory and descriptive case study presents a decision support model guided by the constructivist approach and proactive in its operationalization.

The objectives and concerns of decision-makers regarding the retention of organizational knowledge are identified and organized into six strategic areas of concern, namely, recognition, knowledge dissemination, organizational culture, succession of professionals, management of vulnerability origins and knowledge management; a multi-criteria model is constructed and operationalized by a cluster of cardinal scales, showing and measuring the status quo of the performance profile, both in a local and global way, to support the management of the organization's knowledge retention; activities are classified into three performance levels (compromising, competitive and excellent), supported by graphical and numerical evidence; and the process to generate actions to improve the performance of critical activities and create the conditions to maximize the results of the organization is illustrated.

Based on the model, decision-makers are now aware of the essential aspects to support knowledge retention management, enabling them to monitor the current situation and proactively respond to ensure that the current knowledge potential is maintained and exploited.

Use of a constructivist approach to support the management of knowledge retention, incorporating into the model the specifics of the context and the values of its managers, and thus giving it legitimacy.

The main aim of this paper is to present a framework to create a better understanding of the context and aid the portfolio management process. The paper seeks to present a case to illustrate the proposed methodology, identifying and measuring the success parameters for a project in a portfolio.

The research method is a qualitative and quantitative mixture and it is presented as a study case. The primary data were obtained using semi‐structured interviews with decision makers. Bibliographic research is used in order to construct the theoretical framework and the intervention instrument adopted is the multicriteria decision aiding methodology – constructivist (MCDA‐C).

The methodology allows the criteria that must be taken into account, according to the decision makers' values and preferences in the project selection and sorting processes, to be visualized. The framework supports the ordinal and cardinal measurement of the project performance, making it possible to compare and rank proposals, as well as providing a process to improve project proposals.

This process has helped in negotiations between stakeholders in a portfolio context and, consequently, has helped the chief project officer (CPO) to select and prioritize strategic projects within the demand for new products.

This paper offers an empirical understanding of the application of performance measurement to portfolio management context and identifies complementary tools in this interdisciplinary area.

The purpose of this paper is to collect data and select a bibliographic portfolio (BP) of the literature on the performance evaluation of business process management (BPM) governance, in order to highlight studies aligned with business process governance, and with scientific recognition and its bibliometric parameters.

The research method is qualitative and the process of identification, selection, and analysis of the articles in the BP took place through evaluation and interpretation by the authors of this research. Regarding data collection, this research used primary data in the selection of the BP, and secondary data when the authors analyzed the articles.

The paper selects a set of 19 articles with scientific recognition and aligned with the research topic, which refers to the performance evaluation of BPM governance. This set is called the BP, and highlights and contains the most often present journals, articles, authors, and keywords found in the search performed by the authors.

This research uses thorough procedures for the selection process that differ from traditional procedures: the selection process is structured in a way that allows checking of each research stage; the research topic is fragmented into many areas of study and the search is carried out simultaneously in all these areas; and the researchers interact with the search process and as they expand their learning they adjust the search direction.

The objective of this paper is to develop a methodology and a framework to assess performance measurement and generate a better understanding of the project context. The paper aims to present an application to illustrate the proposed methodology, to identify and measure the success parameters for a project.

The research method is a mixture of qualitative and quantitative and it is applied to a case study. The primary data were gathered using unstructured interviews with decision makers. Bibliographic research is used in order to construct the theoretical framework and the intervention instrument adopted is the multicriteria decision aiding methodology – constructivist (MCDA‐C).

The methodology makes it possible to visualize the criteria that must be taken into account according to the decision makers' values in the project selection process. The framework supports the ordinal and cardinal measurement of the project performance, making it possible to compare and rank proposals, as well providing a process to improve project proposals.

This process has helped in negotiations between stakeholders in the project, and, consequently, has helped the chief project officer to select and prioritize strategic projects within the demand for new products.

This paper offers an empirical understanding of the application of performance evaluation to project management and identifies a complementary tool in this interdisciplinary area.

This research paper proposes a method for selecting references related to a research topic, and seeks to exemplify it for the case of a study evaluating training programs. The method is designed to identify references with high academic relevance in databases accessed via the internet, using a bibliometric analysis to sift the selected articles.

The study is descriptive, in so far as its goal is to describe a method, and the nature of the paper is theoretical. The study incorporates an inductive logic, and draws on secondary data sources. The study combines qualitative and quantitative methods, and can therefore be described as mixed method. The research involves the application of a technical procedure.

The method employed sifted a large number of potential resources identified in a search of the internet and, after 11 stages in the proposed process, 11 papers were identified as being relevant to the research topic and highly cited. Descriptive statistics are provided of where those articles were published, how extensively the authors of those papers were published, the nature of the journals in which the papers appeared, and scientific recognition (number of citations).

The relevance of this work for HRD research is in the proposal for a structured process for identifying relevant academic articles relating to the research context, in the presentation of 11 highlighted articles in the area of training programs evaluation, in the identification of the main authors of this area of knowledge, and in the identification of the main journals that address the theme of the evaluation of training programs. Thus, practitioners, researchers and students can direct their attention to the articles, authors and journals that are most relevant to the theme of evaluation of training programs.

The aim of this paper is to present a framework to create a better understanding of the context and to aid the environmental disclosure management process. The paper seeks to present a case study illustrating the proposed methodology for assessing environmental disclosure management.

The ProKnow‐C process is used to identify the opportunities in the literature and the MCDA‐C methodology is used in order to build up the environmental disclosure management (MED) model.

First the ProKnow‐C process was used to identify opportunities in the literature about environmental disclosure and later the MCDA‐C methodology was used to discover the opportunities and to show a process for generating actions to promote improvement in environmental disclosure.

The case study allowed the manager to develop an understanding of environmental disclosure, showing that organizational performance is the key factor according to managers' perception. This knowledge allowed the manager to identify what the company needs to improve in its environmental disclosure regarding the following aspects: targets for using water, energy program, management of effluent and waste, biodiversity, adaptation to emergency plans, training and environmental awareness, expanding the coverage of the certification process and increasing operational performance in specific indicators relating to the electricity sector (pruning control, fire and oil spill).

The structured process of the MCDA‐C methodology enabled a model to be built that showed graphically and numerically the systemic diagnosis of environment disclosure, allowing the manager to know the consequences of a decision a priori and to suggest a set of improvement actions.