Abstract
Purpose - Hospital centres (HCs) are the result of a horizontal integration of two or more hospital units. The benefits of this integration have been presented in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to define the hospital performance dimensions most valued by HC internal stakeholders, and to evaluate if the importance given to each dimension is different when comparing professional groups. Design/methodology/approach - An in-depth HC case study using a quantitative survey based on the Parsons' social system action theory to achieve this goal was conducted which embraces the four major models of organizational performance. In the final version of the survey, 37 items were retained for analysis. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted for a final sample of 365 participants, through principal component analysis, with oblique rotation and the Kaiser criterion. Findings - Four factors were retained: "Human resources development and Internal Processes", "Attractiveness/Openness", "Public service mission" and "Interpersonal relationships". The means factor scores only reveal statistical differences between the attractiveness/openness factor and the remaining three factors. A shared view was found in this study among the three groups of internal stakeholders: physicians, caregivers and administrative staff. Originality/value - The results of this study suggest that the HC performance concept should be expanded and performance measurement frameworks with a greater scope should be used. Interpersonal relationships, the human resources development and the public service are considered important dimensions for the performance measurement of the HC. Additionally, a consensual view regarding the most valued performance dimension could contribute to a beneficial and healthy working environment and improvements in HC performance.

Abstract
Hybrid simulation is nowadays a valid alternative for studying complex manufacturing environments. Some challenges exist in this context, as the ambiguous use of terms and definitions in the literature; and the demanding skills required for developing hybrid models. A structured literature review provides an overview of the use of hybrid simulation in manufacturing business performance and its most important advantages and drawbacks. A classification scheme for the 51 analysed papers is presented, including interfaced, sequential, enrichment, and integrated taxonomies. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Abstract
130In the majority of European countries, the evaluation of schools is at the heart of the educational system as a means to guarantee the quality of education. Every year, in most countries around the world, students perform national exams. Their results are analyzed by several stakeholders, including governmental agencies, the media, and researchers on educational issues. At present, advances in information and communication technology (ICT) and data analysis techniques allow schools to make use of massive amounts of data in their daily management. This chapter focuses in particular on the use of students’? data to benchmark schools. It illustrates the potential contribution of the information gathered and analyzed through data analytics to promote the continuous improvement of schools’? educational processes. © 2018 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Abstract
Nowadays, mobile phones are ubiquitous systems of our society. Nevertheless, the adoption of this technology to perform mobile payments, namely in public transport, was only implemented in a few number of transport networks. Thus, this paper aims to understand which are the main factors that may influence the adoption of mobile payments in public transport. For this purpose, a survey was applied to different groups of population. The study was conducted on the public transport networks of a medium-sized metropolitan area (Oporto-Portugal) and of a big-sized metropolitan area (Beijing-China). The evaluation results of the current services of purchase and validation of public transport tickets almost never show significant statistical differences (p>0.05) for the traditional variables used by the literature. This is particularly true for age. Nevertheless, some mobility factors can sometimes play an important role in the assessment of ticketing systems. Moreover, although the high differences between the ticketing systems in both cities, Chinese and Portuguese have a similar opinion about the systems implemented in their cities. Still, Chinese reveal a higher motivation to adopt the new ticketing system. In general, such system is greatly accepted by the respondents and the potential market is expected to be high (30-68%). Although this technology cannot replace the traditional systems, it can contribute to increasing the overall efficiency of the transport networks. The improvement of the passengers' appraisal, the reduction of operational and the maintenance costs of transport operators are the network impacts most expected. Convenience and time saving are the main advantages mentioned while questions about privacy, interaction and reliability are stated as the main concerns to adopt it. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Abstract
The proliferation of new technologies is revolutionizing the public transport sector, allowing Operators to replace complex and expensive infrastructures by travellers' mobile devices and online management channels and platforms. This paper aims to present the Seamless Mobility platform, a disruptive solution based on these new channels, which main goal is to facilitate and promote public transport usage for travellers, as well as reducing operational costs for public transport companies. The Seamless Mobility platform integrates three main components: (i) mobile payments, (ii) route planner, and (iii) social network. The payment component is based on the pay-as-you-go concept with check-in and check-out requiring the reading of the corresponding QR Code station. The route planner combines information from published schedules with real-time information to identify the nearest stops, the next departures, or the best route for a scheduled trip. The social network component allows real time sharing among travellers of public transport information, related to several aspects of the service (e.g. noise, skilfulness of drivers). To test the concept, a mobile application, called OneRide, was developed. This application was tested by users in real environment, in the city of Porto, Portugal. The results show that users considered the system extremely useful, since it is more convenient than traditional systems. It was also clear that users valued the integration of additional and complementary services with mobile payments, such as information about their journey, maps and schedules. Regarding the social component some users found it difficult to understand the concept, but once they understood they considered it very useful. The use of the QR Codes to perform the payment has shown to be one of the main challenges to be addressed, since lighting conditions, position and distance to the QR Code influences the reading process. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Abstract
Supply chains are ubiquitous in any commercial delivery systems. The exchange of goods and services, from different supply points to distinct destinations scattered along a given geographical area, requires the management of stocks and vehicles fleets in order to minimize costs while maintaining good quality services. Even if the operating conditions remain constant over a given time horizon, managing a supply chain is a very complex task. Its complexity increases exponentially with both the number of network nodes and the dynamical operational changes. Moreover, the management system must be adaptive in order to easily cope with several disturbances such as machinery and vehicles breakdowns or changes in demand. This work proposes the use of a model predictive control paradigm in order to tackle the above referred issues. The obtained simulation results suggest that this strategy promotes an easy tasks rescheduling in case of disturbances or anticipated changes in operating conditions. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017.