Search results

This paper aims to develop a model to predict online review ratings from multiple sources, which can be used to detect fraudulent reviews and create proprietary rating indexes, or which can be used as a measure of selection in recommender systems.

This study applies machine learning and natural language processing approaches to combine features derived from the qualitative component of a review with the corresponding quantitative component and, therefore, generate a richer review rating.

Experiments were performed over a collection of hotel online reviews – written in English, Spanish and Portuguese – which shows a significant improvement over the previously reported results, and it not only demonstrates the scientific value of the approach but also strengthens the value of review prediction applications in the business environment.

This study shows the importance of building predictive models for revenue management and the application of the index generated by the model. It also demonstrates that, although difficult and challenging, it is possible to achieve valuable results in the application of text analysis across multiple languages.

This chapter seeks to describe the successive stages in the training and recruitment of economists at the service of the political regime that ruled over Portugal between 1926 and 1974. This chapter presents the main institutional settings for the education and practices of those who served the government in economic functions throughout this period. Its main aim is to show the changes that occurred in the understanding of the problems related with the development of the Portuguese economy, seeking to elucidate the processes of legitimation of an authoritarian regime, but also to show the signs of a critical break with a model of economic and social organization and a political regime that had reached the point of exhaustion.

The main goal of this paper is to study the specific characteristics of the performance of companies in the metallurgical sector, in the northern region of Portugal.

To achieve this aim, the authors have used data from 325 companies manufacturing metal products, except machinery and equipment (CAE Rev.3 25) and 27 companies that manufacture machinery and equipment (CAE Rev. 3 28). The models were estimated by using the panel data methodology for the period between 2011 and 2019. Specifically, the estimation method of the generalized method of moments system (GMM system) proposed by Arellano and Bover (1995) and Blundell and Bond (1998) was used.

The results show that the main decisions on the performance of metallurgical companies in Northern Portugal depend on the dimensions of sales in the domestic market (SDM), sales in the community market (SCM), and sales in the foreign market (SFM) and also highlight that the signal and significance of the specific variables depends on how the different stakeholders understand performance.

As far as the authors know, this is the first study to comparatively analyze the two metallurgical databases in Portugal. Despite the huge difference in the size of the sample, this study’s results show that in an era of paradigm shift about what business objectives should be, stakeholders are still not environmentally aware and the social dimension is only considered by shareholders, but not yet by the manager and the general community.

Gender competence as part of engineering education can better prepare men and women to work on sustainable solutions that benefit entire societies. This chapter describes the framework and lessons learned of a community of practice (CoP) for gender equality facilitated by the Mediterranean Engineering Schools Network. Faculty and students from Mediterranean European, North African and Middle Eastern countries came together in this CoP, which was supported by the TARGET project, to develop a practical plan using a reflexive approach. The transfer of knowledge between generations is achieved by using participatory learning processes, facilitating mindful awareness, widening experiences, deepening understandings and building a gender-sensitive mindset. Students embarked on the journey to become change agents. The process led to the consolidation of gender equality knowledge, competence building and the development of change agents for gender equality. This CoP can inspire other institutions to undertake a participatory path towards gender equality – at local, regional, or global level.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the case of the Valorbio research project, in which students of different high-level programs were involved in the experimental work and in the dissemination of results in collaboration with the research team.

The inclusion in higher education curricula of content related to the sustainable development should be a preferred mechanism for the dissemination of good practices of sustainability. Another equally important way to achieve this is to involve students in research projects that seek solutions to the societal challenges related to sustainable growth. The Valorbio project aims to meet the needs for treating and reusing wastewater and solid waste. Its main goal was the development of modular systems for wastewater treatment based on constructed wetlands, exploring the possibility of the treatment systems being composed of solid waste and by-products from significant industrial sectors.

The students’ contribution to the research work was relevant and simultaneously allowed them to acquire skills on sustainable development. Additionally, the students contributed to the dissemination of the results. The Valorbio project can thus be considered a successful application of the concept of project-based learning (PBL), as a way to include sustainability issues content in the higher education curricula.

The applied experimental work had an original approach regarding the equipment design, the waste materials valuation, as well as the integration of waste treatment processes in the circular economy paradigm. This paper is the first reported PBL experience involving students of short-cycle technical–professional programs in partnership with first and second-level students and a research team.

Competencies are significant predictors of employee outcome. Nowadays, new technologies are changing maintenance processes and workflow. The role of employees and their competencies will therefore undergo decisive changes in the future. Therefore, a well-designed competency model for maintenance departments is important. The purpose of this paper is to develop a maintenance 4.0 competency model applicable to all industrial sectors by adapting it to the specificities of each sector.

The research methods consist of a comprehensive literature review on the main characteristics of the competency model and the individual competencies needed for the maintenance 4.0 employees. Interviews were conducted in order to validate and prioritize the required competencies for maintenance 4.0 employees identified in the literature.

The maintenance 4.0 competency model combines the required competencies in maintenance 4.0 and crosses the three hierarchical levels: managers, engineers and technicians. These competencies are organized in terms of four categories: technical, personal, social and methodological. In addition, a degree of importance for each competency is assigned as very important, moderately important and slightly important. As a result, this study identified the essential competencies for maintenance 4.0 stakeholders, where 12 competencies are considered very important for maintenance 4.0 technicians, 19 for engineers and 18 for managers.

This work has some limitations. First, although the articles related to competencies and their classification were selected very carefully, it is difficult to eliminate the probability of overlooking publications. Second, the limitation of the study is based on the difficulty of implementing the model in a case study, given that a minority of industrial companies have implemented maintenance 4.0 technologies in Morocco.

This work has practical implications for both individuals and institutions (companies and academies) to cope with new competency requirements in maintenance 4.0. Organizations can use the model in the recruitment process and for the identification of training needs. The results of the research will also contribute to identifying the scope of competencies of the maintenance 4.0 actors (engineer, manager and technician), which, in practice, contributes to the creation of requirements for the candidates applying for a job in the maintenance department. Additionally, educational institutions should make the necessary changes to their curricula to suitably prepare students for the required maintenance 4.0 competencies.

The social implications of the article result from the contribution to the development of maintenance competencies. Individuals can use this model for their own personal development. Furthermore, companies can use this model to define job profiles for vacancies in M4.0. Therefore, using the model for training program implementation has a positive effect on employee job satisfaction and employees ’morale.

This research develops a novel maintenance 4.0 competency model by categorizing the maintenance workforce into three hierarchical levels: managers, engineers and technicians. In addition, the competency requirement is prioritized to three degrees: very important, moderately important and slightly important. According to the previous studies conducted on maintenance 4.0 and employees' competencies, this study revealed that no research has developed a competency model for maintenance 4.0. Hence, this model is unique, generic and integrative since it presents the most relevant competencies for the three hierarchical levels. Moreover, this work combines the results of the literature review and the experts' returns. This model can be useful in the recruitment of new maintenance employees, the evaluation of their performance and the identification of training needs to cope with new changes in maintenance competencies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of ownership of community pharmacies on the perception of organizational identity and its relationships with organizational performance.

A survey was carried out on a sample of pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Portugal. The sample comprised 1,369 pharmacists, of whom 51 percent were owner-managers. Measures of pharmacies’ normative (community health oriented) and utilitarian (business oriented) identities, identity strength (clear and unifying), substantive (stockholder focused) and symbolic (society focused) performance were included.

Both owners and employed pharmacists rated the normative identity of pharmacies higher than the utilitarian identity. Compared with employed pharmacists, owners perceive a lower level of utilitarian identity, the same level of normative identity, and higher levels of identity strength. Normative identity and identity strength predicted symbolic performance. Normative and utilitarian identities and identity strength predicted substantive performance. The relationship between utilitarian identity and substantive performance was significant among owner pharmacists but not among employed pharmacists.

The limitations include the use of perceptive measures and the focus on the individual level of analysis.

In order to improve pharmacies’ performance, pharmacists who manage community pharmacies are challenged to reconcile tensions arising from the co-existence of business and community health identities and from their own agency (self-serving) and stewardship (altruistic) motives.

This study draws on institutional, identity and stewardship theories to understand how pharmacists, owners and employees, view the identity of community pharmacies and how identity relates to organizational performance.

Design thinking (DT) is still a relatively new methodology in the context of entrepreneurial education, which presents itself as an important tool for the development of entrepreneurial skills when inserted into the educational system. This research aimed to analyze studies about DT related to the entrepreneurial mindset in international journals over a period of ten years (2009–2019). Entrepreneurial education has been a constant in academic debates as well as practices and methodologies to apply this education, and such context has moved educational institutions to adopt practices and initiatives focused on the theme.

The tool used in the present study was the bibliometric database of the Web of Science through the words “Design Thinking” (DT) and “Entrepreneurial Education”. The research is characterized as descriptive and quantitative, and 146 publications were investigated in the period from 2009 to 2019, in the respective database.

The study also highlighted the new generation of young students forcing a change in education with an approach centered on the individual. Speech does not prevail in the teachers but in the students, and the teacher educator starts to collaborate for this new educational demand with didactics relevant to the world in this way preparing these young people and delivering society to critical, proactive and participatory individuals.

In the course of the study, we observed practices and examples of schools and universities that have adapted ways to allow new interactions in the school environment by promoting and encouraging innovative education.

This paper focuses on the issue of global competitive advantage of nations, based on the dimensions analyzed by the World Economic Forum in assessing the economic competitiveness of a large sample of countries. From the different stages of development of the countries, this study aims to help us to recognize what variables better explain the global competitive advantage of economies.

Following quantitative analysis, results based on PLS show what dimensions within each economic development stage best explain the global competitive advantage of economies.

Beyond the institutions, infrastructure and regulation of the markets, higher education and training, the technological readiness, the business sophistication and innovation contribute greatly to explain the competitive advantage of economies.

Understanding the drivers of global competitive advantage of nations, this study may help academics to conduct new studies, as well as politicians to define intervention priorities.