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Publications

Publications by CESE

2016

ERP Selection using an AHP-based Decision Support System

Authors
Cruz Cunha, MM; Silva, JP; Goncalves, JJ; Fernandes, JA; Avila, PS;

Publication
INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT JOURNAL

Abstract
Selecting the best desirable Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) system has been a critical problem for organizations for a long time, as the failure on the selection process may have a highly negative impact in terms of costs and market share of a company. It is one of the most important decision making issues covering both qualitative and quantitative factors for organization. Multiple-criteria decision-making has been proved to be a useful approach to analyze these conflicting qualitative and quantitative factors. Literature offers proposals and approaches to handle this kind of problem; Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been applied successfully in most cases of software packages selection problems. This paper proposes an AHP model for the selection of an ERP system. The model's set of criteria was extracted from the literature review and validated by Portuguese organizations. This model can be applied in the ERP system selection using a software application that is under development. This software application eases the application of the AHP process to the selection of ERP packages and will provide input from real-world cases that will allow updating and refining the model.

2016

Integration of process planning and scheduling using mobile-agent based approach in a networked manufacturing environment

Authors
Manupati, VK; Putnik, GD; Tiwari, MK; Avila, P; Cruz Cunha, MM;

Publication
COMPUTERS & INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

Abstract
Effective and efficient implementation of intelligent and/or recently emerged networked manufacturing systems require an enterprise level integration. The networked manufacturing offers several advantages in the current competitive atmosphere by way to reduce, by shortening manufacturing cycle time and maintaining the production flexibility thereby achieving several feasible process plans. The first step in this direction is to integrate manufacturing functions such as process planning and scheduling for multi jobs in a network based manufacturing system. It is difficult to determine a proper plan that meets conflicting objectives simultaneously. This paper describes a mobile-agent based negotiation approach to integrate manufacturing functions in a distributed manner; and its fundamental framework and functions are presented. Moreover, ontology has been constructed by using the Protege software which possesses the flexibility to convert knowledge into Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema of Web Ontology Language (OWL) documents. The generated XML schemas have been used to transfer information throughout the manufacturing network for the intelligent interoperable integration of product data models and manufacturing resources. To validate the feasibility of the proposed approach, an illustrative example along with varied production environments that includes production demand fluctuations is presented and compared the proposed approach performance and its effectiveness with evolutionary algorithm based Hybrid Dynamic-DNA (HD-DNA) algorithm. The results show that the proposed scheme is very effective and reasonably acceptable for integration of manufacturing functions.

2016

Determinants of Consumer Intention to Use Online Gambling Services: An Empirical Study of the Portuguese Market

Authors
Fortes, N; Moreira, AC; Saraiva, J;

Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF E-BUSINESS RESEARCH

Abstract
Online gambling has skyrocketed in recent years. As such, knowing the determinants of consumer usage behavior is crucial in understanding online gambling services. This study has as main objective the construction of an explanatory model of the online gambling services usage behavior, based on the incorporation of perceived risk in the conceptual framework of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2). The empirical validation of the model was performed by conducting an online survey to a convenience sample of 212 Portuguese online players. Data were processed using the PLS-SEM methodology. The results evidence that performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivations, price value, habits, as well as perceived risk influence the intention to use online gambling services.

2016

Differences between stayers, switchers, and heavy switchers A study in the telecommunications service market

Authors
Moreira, AC; Silva, PM; Moutinho, VF;

Publication
MARKETING INTELLIGENCE & PLANNING

Abstract
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify and compare different groups of customers' perceptions (i.e. stayers, switchers, and heavy switchers) of several loyalty antecedents such as satisfaction, trust, service quality, switching costs, marketing communication, and loyalty itself. Design/methodology/approach - This study was carried out based on data collected through a questionnaire from 353 telecommunication services users in Portugal and using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and analysis of variance. Findings - The three types of customers - stayers, switchers, and heavy switchers - clearly differ among themselves. Stayers differ from switchers regarding their communication efforts perceptions, and from heavy switchers in their loyalty, satisfaction, and trust levels. Switchers differ from heavy switchers in their loyalty levels. Research limitations/implications - Future research should examine differences between customers taking into account the impact of their personality, price sensitiveness, and orientation toward the adoption of new technologies. Practical implications - As there are several differences among stayers, switchers, and heavy switchers, companies should not only recognize the heterogeneity of their customer base, but also target their marketing efforts accordingly. Originality/value - This study is one of the few identifying groups of customers perception's toward service providers. It also complements previous research by splitting them intro three different groups and by analyzing their behaviors across a set of previously unexamined marketing variables.

2016

Car safety: A statistical analysis for marketing management

Authors
Moreira, AC; Gouveia, M; Macedo, P;

Publication
Handbook of Research on Intelligent Techniques and Modeling Applications in Marketing Analytics

Abstract
Car safety is an essential feature of marketing strategies for automobile companies. In this work, a statistical analysis on crash tests is conducted based on data available from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP). The research work developed in this chapter presents a statistical analysis of the information produced by Euro NCAP, using the SPSS and MATLAB software, and seeks to answer the following research questions: - are there statistically significant differences on adult occupant safety in the six years under study? - are there statistically significant differences among the best-selling car classes regarding safety in frontal collisions? - are electric and hybrid automobiles less secure than their traditional counterparts with respect to frontal collisions?

2016

Virtual Atmosphere, Emotions, Attitudes and Real Use

Authors
Moreira, AC; Ferreira, MM; Macedo, P;

Publication
Advances in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and E-Services - Managing Public Relations and Brand Image through Social Media

Abstract
This study involves several theories, namely: the theory of reasoned action, the technology acceptance model, the theory of planned behavior and the internet banking acceptance model. It aims to understand the relationships between the virtual atmosphere and emotional states, how the individual characteristics (social identity, altruism and telepresence) and emotional states influence attitudes, and how attitudes, past experience and trust influence actual use of a site. To this end, the authors developed three conceptual models explaining the relationships among the above-mentioned variables. Methodologically, descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and the generalized maximum entropy estimator are used to test the three models in a wedding site. Of the eight hypotheses proposed, one can only partially validate hypotheses h1, h2, h3 and h6, while hypothesis h7 is accepted and the remaining are rejected.

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