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Publications

Publications by CESE

2021

Quality 4.0: The EFQM 2020 Model and Industry 4.0 Relationships and Implications

Authors
Fonseca, L; Amaral, A; Oliveira, J;

Publication
SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract
The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) 2020 model is a comprehensive and updated business model that encompasses sustainability and shares features with Industry 4.0, emphasizing transformation and improved organizational performance, yet with different theoretical and practical foundations. This research highlights the EFQM 2020 model's novelties and its relationships/implications with the Industry 4.0 paradigm, contributing to the Quality 4.0 body of knowledge. Several linkages between the EFQM 2020 model and Industry 4.0 have been identified, namely, at the criteria level and guidance points, which can support successful digital transformation by combining quality and excellence with Industry 4.0. However, given the model's generic and non-prescriptive nature, there is no specific reference to the nine Industry 4.0 pillars. Additionally, the links between direction and organizational culture and leadership criteria and driving performance and transformation are not evident, which might be a concern for business and technology transformation strategies. Managing knowledge, skills, and capabilities is critical for the successful adoption of Industry 4.0. The EFQM model adds a strategic and technologically unbiased perspective to Industry 4.0, providing an integrated business excellence framework for Quality 4.0. With empirical support of the model application, future research is recommended to develop this subject further.

2021

Team Resilience Model: An Empirical Examination of Information Systems Projects

Authors
Varajao, J; Fernandes, G; Amaral, A; Goncalves, AM;

Publication
RELIABILITY ENGINEERING & SYSTEM SAFETY

Abstract
Organizations need well-prepared teams to perform their projects with efficiency and effectiveness. In such socio-technical systems, project teams' capability to face and surpass difficulties play a critical role for the organizational reliability. Hence the relevance of studying project team resilience, defined here as the team's ability to deal with problems, overcome obstacles, and quickly recover from adverse and possibly harmful situations without collapsing. This paper presents an empirically-tested theoretical model for explaining team resilience. Results show that several factors such as Trust & Solidarity, Focus on results, Commitment, Management & Accountability, Embracing conflicts, Work conditions, and Skills & Behaviors are important contributors for team resilience. The findings discussed here contribute both to a better understanding of how project team resilience can be studied theoretically and improved in practice and to determine the triggers to ensure the proper adjustments to improve the overall organizational resilience and consequent reliability and performance.

2021

Towards the Adoption of Corporate Mobility as a Service (CMaaS): A Case Study

Authors
Amaral, A; Barreto, L; Pereira, T; Baltazar, S;

Publication
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing

Abstract
The increasing level of awareness gained, by citizens in general and companies in particular, around the sustainability issues and of the climate change are producing changes in how organizations are dealing and projecting their future vision. Therefore, new managerial approaches are being embraced towards adopting a set of a strategies fully aligned with the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions. Due to this increase evidence of sensitivity, organizations are embracing their role as stakeholders that need to contribute, throughout its corporate social agenda, to a responsible and smart policy promoting the implementation of strategies that could endeavor the cultural shift of their workers, clients, suppliers, among others, towards effectively contributing to sustainability and social responsibility. The case study of a medium size company reported is related to a structural change in how the organization foresees its mobility behavior and how it intends to follow the concepts of Corporate Mobility as a Service (CMaaS). This case study discloses the strategies that have been implemented and the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) platform that has been developed towards having a broader view about the impacts of the mobility requested by all the organization. In addition, it is presented a group of Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that point the benefits attained with this effort as well as projecting the following steps that will support the CMaaS roadmap implementation in the future. © 2021, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

2021

Mobility as a Service (MaaS): Past and Present Challenges and Future Opportunities

Authors
Amaral, A; Barreto, L; Baltazar, S; Pereira, T;

Publication
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing

Abstract
Recently, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) concept and its main theoretical approaches have been under discussion, to positively influence the future of mobility. Namely, by contextualizing MaaS’s role in modern societies explaining its main functions, characteristics, and attributes, as well as identifying all the stakeholders involved in this comprehensive challenge towards ensuring its widespread implementation. The environmental, societal, technological and cultural changes needed to ensure a sustainable mobility ecosystem are an utmost challenge that requires an intense effort and involvement of all different types of stakeholders within their perspectives, roles, responsibilities and contributions to the mobility system overall behavior and performance. Notwithstanding, the global tendency of digital transformation, also referred as digitization, in society and businesses are upbringing a new technological evolution that will lead to a new mobility paradigm bringing together MaaS and the internet of Mobility (IoM), thus creating what we call the Internet of Mobility as a Service (IoMaaS). The future trends of mobility will have to be ‘human-centric’, to properly balance the amount of technology requested into the ecosystem to ensure the whole system’s universality, to be inclusive, as well as developing the appropriate amount of technology, accordingly to the different users’ technological skills. Furthermore, different types of incentives and penalties need to be included in supporting a broad cultural shift regarding citizen’s mobility routines habits. This will be of great importance to ensure the sustainability of this new mobility paradigm as well as of the ability to attain all its benefits. © 2021, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

2021

Risk Management in Information Systems Projects

Authors
Varajão, J; Amaral, A;

Publication
International Journal of Project Management and Productivity Assessment

Abstract
Information technologies (IT) and information systems (IS) are the backbone of any developed business, and organizations without them cannot compete. In recent decades, many best practices standards, and guides have been made available to project managers and organizations aimed to improve project management. Unfortunately, IS projects continue to show a poor track record, and problems related to project management performance persists. Risk management has a vital role in this context since it can increase the likelihood and impact of positive events, and decrease the likelihood and impact of adverse events in the project. This article presents the results of an international web-based survey, studying if risk management processes are being implemented consistently in IS project management. The obtained results show low levels of risk management processes implementation and reinforce the idea that “it can be risky not to do risk management,” demanding more research in this area.

2021

Preference between Individual Products and Bundles: Effects of Complementary, Price, and Discount Level in Portugal

Authors
Martins, P; Rodrigues, P; Martins, C; Barros, T; Duarte, N; Dong, RK; Liao, YY; Comite, U; Yue, XG;

Publication
JOURNAL OF RISK AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Abstract
This paper aims to (1) compare consumers' preferences between individual products and bundles as well as (2) investigate some of the factors involved in bundle characteristics that may affect consumer's preferences. Those factors are complementarity, price level, and discount level. An online survey developed by means of questionnaires were collected from the Portuguese population. Student's t-tests were used to test the hypothesis formulated and to analyze the consumers' preferences. The findings corroborate that in a scenario where the bundle does not offer any discounts, preference of individual products is higher. When a 20% discount is assigned to bundles, the overall preference for individual products is still superior. By offering a discount level of 45%, the overall preference for bundles becomes higher. The positive effect of complementarity bundles valuation is confirmed. This is the first approach to evaluate the preferences between bundles and individual products in the Portuguese market. The findings contribute to clarify the customer map within a Business Model Canvas. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the bundle complementarity and discount level effects simultaneously.

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