Smartboard for surfing

The Internet of Things has democratized the use of sports' monitoring devices. The majority of these devices, available on the market, are targeted to the fitness practice creating the necessity of having different solutions for different sports. This work focuses on the development of a low-profile surf monitoring device capable of acquiring the required data for an existing algorithm developed by Fraunhofer Portugal. The resulting system should support long periods inside the water (low-power and waterproofed) without interfering with the athlete's performance (low-profile) and be able of transmitting the acquired data for an external device. Due to project's requirements, some of the technologies were already selected (microcontroller, gyroscope, magnetometer, accelerometer and GNSS module). However other technologies such as: the wireless communication system, storage method and power system needed to be selected. For the first, the system data throughput was estimated and the technology with the best relation throughput vs. power consumption was selected. To select the storage method, a survey was conducted to estimate the relation between each technology's price and data size. To select the power system, two studies were conducted in order to infer the hypothesis of supplying the system with photovoltaic cells, increasing the autonomy during a surf session: a power consumption study to estimate the system's power requirements and a solar irradiance study to predict the required area of photovoltaic cells. In order to determine the impact of having epoxy resin, commonly used to cover surf boards, some tests were conducted by applying this resin over the cells and measuring the output power

Measuring success in the influencer industry

Social Media Influencers are the new celebrities, gaining more relevance amongst younger generations than traditional celebrities. The present study empirically investigated Portuguese consumers perceptions and preferences regarding characteristics and attributes of Social Media Influencers on Instagram. The importance of each attribute and characteristic was collected through different surveys, the data arranged into a multidimensional perceptual map and a conjoint analysis. “Trustworthiness”, “Content quality” and “Authenticity” were the most important characteristics. “Interaction with followers”, “Type of products advertised”, and “Frequency of general posts” the most valued attributes. With these insights influencers can reach their goals: more followers and higher engagement rate. Measuring success in the influencer sector is a difficult endeavor since there are so many variables to consider. Traditionally, indicators such as the number of followers, engagement rates, and brand partnerships were used to assess an influencer's performance. However, the market has developed in recent years, and new measures like as audience demographics, relevance to certain niches, and authenticity have emerged as crucial markers of an influencer's success. Furthermore, the growth of micro-influencers, who have smaller but highly engaged audiences, has called into question the traditional definition of success

Costly reversible disinvestment option in a valuation of renewable energy case

The necessity to improve the company valuation techniques considering the relevant factors of the market and the flexibility of change investment positions during the period lead academics search for new valuation techniques. Also, investors interested in analyzing the financial information to know before invest at the project when he will reimbursed for profits and if the project goes wrong how much is the value of the investment. In this context real options valuation raises as a concept imported from financial markets to evaluate projects and companies as can incorporate the fluctuations of the market and decisions defined by the investor. Santos "et al." (2014) presented a case of renewable energy on a mini-hydro plant where evaluates the project both with traditional methods and real options studding the ability to defer the entry in the project until 5 years. Despite being a surplus to present the two valuation methods, the real options valuation analyzed is quite limited. This project intends to demonstrate that the application of real options with flexibility at disinvestment decision leads to a more accurate decision. To accomplish this purpose, we will revisit the same base case but including dividends and an option to disinvest during the life of the project in a costly reversible situation with the binomial model.A necessidade de melhoria das técnicas de avaliação nas empresas adaptadas aos factores relevantes do mercado, bem como a flexibilidade de alteração de posições de investimento durante um período levaram a que os académicos investigassem novas formas de avaliação. Além disso, também é do interesse do investidor analisar indicadores financeiros como quando é que será reembolsado e qual é o momento em que recupera o seu investimento caso as condições se apresentem como desfavoráveis. Neste contexto, a avaliação de projetos pelo método das opções reais apareceu como um método importado dos mercados financeiros para avaliar projetos de investimento e empresas onde são refletidas as flutuações do mercado e que decisões o investidor pode tomar decorrente do mesmo. Santos "et al." (2014) apresentaram um caso no sector das energias renováveis de uma instalação hidráulica, que procura avaliar o projeto pelos métodos tradicionais e pelo método das opções reais, estudando a possibilidade de adiar a entrada do projeto até ao quinto ano. Embora as diferenças apresentadas sejam uma mais-valia para a apresentação dos diferentes métodos, a sua avaliação efetuada nas opções reais apresentou-se bastante limitada. Este projeto demonstra que a aplicação do método das opções reais com a introdução de flexibilidade na decisão de desinvestimento leva a que a decisão do mesmo se torne mais correta. Assim, será estudado num modelo binomial o mesmo caso base onde é analisado o incremento de dividendos no projeto e uma opção de abandono ou desinvestimento durante a sua vida útil num contexto de não recuperação total do seu investimento

Service Monitoring for a Mobile Money System

Mobile applications are gaining more and more market share and virtually everyone today has smartphones. This reality is no different in Africa, where the use of mobile payment systems has grown and allowed people without access to bank accounts to use their phones to perform banking operations. Currently, WIT Software provides these countries with a Mobile Money System solution providing a Backend and Mobile Application, that allows users to make and receive payments, lend money and pay into mortgages, check statements, and transactions’ history. Still, another important aspect is the availability and functionality so that users can use it without interruption. In this way, was proposed to design a monitoring platform that will allow users to perceive the health status of the total system from the users' side, to detect problems either in applications, servers or even in network components that may be running. Prevent the correct functioning of this system that allows millions of people to have their bank account associated with their mobile phone number. This report describes all the work carried out for nine months at the company WIT Software, which involves the design and implementation of a Monitoring Platform for a Mobile Payments System

Determinants of labor productivity in Portugal

De modo a que a economia de um país progrida, é essencial que a produtividade do trabalho cresça de um modo sustentável. Neste sentido, devem conjugar-se uma série de fatores para que se impulsione eficientemente o dinamismo da produtividade do trabalho, de forma a que esta desempenhe um papel fundamental na economia, principalmente em fases de recuperação económica. No entanto, em Portugal, a fraqueza na dinamização deste indicador económico nas últimas décadas, evidenciada pela queda que tem vindo a registar, impossibilita um reforço na sua capacidade natural de se tornar num dos principais impulsionadores da economia. Assim, o objetivo desta dissertação é o de identificar os principais determinantes da produtividade do trabalho em Portugal, cuja análise é fundamental para que se possa traçar um plano de reversão da situação atual. Deste modo, recorre-se a uma análise econométrica de séries cronológicas no período compreendido entre 1977 e 2016. A estimação de uma equação composta por quatro variáveis, PIB, desigualdade do rendimento, salários e financeirização, permitiu assim obter resultados bastante robustos no que diz respeito ao PIB e à desigualdade do rendimento, no entanto, há pouca evidência quanto ao impacto das restantes variáveis na produtividade do trabalho. Os resultados indicam que, no longo prazo, tanto o PIB como a desigualdade do rendimento impactam fortemente a produtividade do trabalho em Portugal, o que permite concluir que esta aumenta (diminui) quando a taxa de crescimento do PIB aumenta (diminui) e quando a desigualdade diminui (aumenta).For a country's economy to progress, it is crucial that labor productivity grows sustainably. For that to happen, plenty of factors must come together to efficiently boost the dynamism of a country's labor productivity, so it would invariably play a fundamental role in the economy, mainly in phases of economic recovery. However, in Portugal, a failure to dynamize this economic indicator over the last decades, evidenced by its steep decline through the years, has prevented the strengthening of its natural capacity to become one of the main drivers of the country's economic performance. For that reason, the purpose of this dissertation is to identify the main determinants of labor productivity in Portugal, as it is critical to draft a plan in order to revert the current situation. Therefore, an econometric analysis of time series was performed for the period comprised between 1977 and 2016. An equation relating four variables, GDP, income inequality, wages, and financialization, was estimated, from which quite robust results were obtained on the impact of GDP and income inequality on labor productivity in Portugal. Nonetheless, inconclusive results were attained for both wages and financialization. Everything considered, it is possible to conclude that, in Portugal, both GDP and income inequality strongly impact labor productivity in the long run, with labor productivity increasing (decreasing) when the GDP growth rate increases (decreases) and when inequality decreases (increases)

Is the stock market influenced by the results of national football teams?

Mestrado em FinançasEste estudo analisa o efeito do humor dos investidores no mercado bolsista. Nos últimos anos muitos autores encontraram uma relação entre desporto e humor e, tendo por base essas descobertas, decidimos utilizar os resultados dos jogos das selecções nacionais de futebol como variável de humor. Concluímos que a média dos retornos diários após dias de jogo é inferior à que se verifica nos dias subsequentes a dias em que não foram disputados jogos e que as derrotas têm um impacto estatisticamente significativo nos retornos após dias de jogo.This study analyzes the effect of investors' mood in the stock market. In the past years many authors found a relationship between sports and mood and, motivated by those findings, in our study we use international football as a variable of mood. We conclude that the daily mean returns after game days are lower than the ones after no game days and that losses have a statistical significant impact in the returns that follows a game day

An analysis of the ACS / Dragados merger

JEL Classification System G14 - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies G34 – Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate GovernanceThis dissertation analyses the merger between ACS, Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. (“ACS”) and Dragados, S.A. (“Dragados”), which occurred between 2002 and 2003. ACS, one of the leading construction companies in Spain, growing through acquisitions since mid 1980’s, acquired in April 19, 2002, Santander Central Hispano’s stake in the competitor Dragados (23.5% of share capital). In the following year, ACS acquired, in the market, another 10% of Dragados share capital (as of March 21, 2003) and, later in that year (as of December 15, 2003), a merger between the two companies was completed and full integration was initiated. This dissertation characterizes both companies, goes through the mains events of the merger process, looks at the operation rationale, and tries to determine if the premiums paid by ACS versus Dragados’ closing price at (i) the date of Santander Central Hispano stake acquisition (59% premium), (ii) nine months later, at the date of the acquisition of the further 10% (36% premium) and (iii) implicit in the final merger conditions (1% premium) were, as of December 2003, positively outbalanced with stock price evolution until the merger was concluded and with future synergies to be achieved after full integration of the two companies. The final outcome is that, as of December 31, 2003, the merger had a strong rationale and, despite the referred premiums paid by ACS, globally created value to ACS shareholders, mainly due to both stock price evolution and the future synergies to be achieved: tax savings on goodwill amortization, headcount reduction and economies of scale in cost structure. Also, I present a brief event study to show that Dragados shareholders benefited from positive speculative movements around the target stock price at the day of the first acquisition announcement (April 19, 2002). Final Note – This dissertation contains information and forward-looking statements of the time of the merger process, with respect to ACS, Dragados and to ACS / Dragados new group (“New ACS”) compiled from different sources. Therefore, market evolution of both companies and actual results may differ materially from the information and results presented in this dissertation.Esta dissertação analisa a fusão entre a ACS e a Dragados, a qual ocorreu entre 2002 e 2003. ACS, uma das empresas espanholas de construção líderes em Espanha, a crescer via aquisições desde meados da década de 80, adquiriu, a 18 de Abril de 2002, a participação que o Banco Santander Central Hispano detinha na concorrente Dragados (23.5% do capital da empresa).No ano seguinte, a ACS adquiriu, em bolsa, outros 10% do capital da Dragados (concretizada a 21 de Março de 2003) e, mais tarde nesse ano (concretizado a 15 de Dezembro de 2003), a fusão entre as duas empresas foi concluída e deu-se início à integração total das duas empresas. Esta dissertação caracteriza ambas as empresas, descreve os principais eventos do processo de fusão, olha em detalhe para o racional da operação e procura determinar se os prémios pagos pela ACS versus a cotação de fecho das acções da Dragados: (i) na data da aquisição da participação do Santander Central Hispano (prémio de 59%), (ii) nove meses depois, na data da aquisição dos 10% adicionais (prémio de 36%) e (iii) implícito nas condições finais da fusão (prémio de 1%) foram, a Dezembro de 2003, contrabalançados positivamente pela evolução da cotação da acções da ACS e da Dragados até à data da conclusão da fusão e pelas sinergias futuras a serem alcançadas com a integração total das duas empresas. As conclusões obtidas com a dissertação indicam que, à data de 31 de Dezembro de 2003, a fusão possuía um forte racional e, apesar dos prémios pagos pela ACS, criou valor para os accionistas, principalmente devido à evolução da cotação de ambas as acções e às futuras sinergias a obter, nomeadamente poupanças fiscais com a amortização do goodwill, reduções na estrutura de pessoal e economias de escala na estrutura de custos. Adicionalmente, é apresentado nesta dissertação um breve event study que demonstra o benefício obtido pelos accionistas da ACS devido a variações especulativas positivas na cotação das suas acções, no dia do anúncio da aquisição da participação do Santander Central Hispano (19 de Abril de 2002). Nota Final – Esta dissertação contém informações e projecções da ACS, Dragados e New ACS, compiladas de diferentes fontes de informação, que se reportam ao período em que decorreu o processo de fusão. Assim, a evolução de mercado de ambas as empresas e os resultados actuais podem diferir materialmente da informação e resultados alcançados nesta dissertação

Career path in consultancy: challenges for the near future

Careers have been evolving over the years, as a result of changes in the labor market and individuals’ perspectives. Until 21st century, careers were relatively stable, and individuals usually had only one job experience throughout their life. Nowadays, looking for different working experiences and development opportunities within diverse companies is quite common, and individuals are more concerned about their career movements. In this context, organizations were pushed to adapt their employee value proposition and place a higher focus on individuals’ career needs, which lead to new career management approaches. In the consultancy sector, due to its specificities, career management can be much more complex and difficult to manage. Since consultants’ roles and responsibilities can quickly change, according to their project, establishing career progression requirements might be a tough task for organizations. Some companies decide to offer career progression opportunities according to employees’ seniority and experience, while others focus on performance assessments that can give them information to decide who should be promoted. This investigation aimed to understand how consultants, from different hierarchical levels and companies, see the relation between career management, seniority and performance. The investigation was based on data collected from 92 responses to an online survey, addressed to current or former consultants within the Portuguese consultancy market. The results and conclusions comprise information regarding the current correlation between seniority and career management, consultants’ preferences about seniority or performance for career progression and consultants’ points of view concerning a possible performance appraisal system that guides career management decisions.O conceito de carreira tem evoluído ao longo dos anos, em função das mudanças no mercado de trabalho e nas perspetivas dos indivíduos. Até ao início do século 21, as carreiras eram relativamente estáveis e os indivíduos tinham apenas uma experiência laboral durante a sua vida. Atualmente, a procura por diferentes experiências e oportunidades de desenvolvimento é bastante comum e existe uma maior preocupação com decisões de carreira. As organizações necessitaram de adaptar a sua proposta de valor laboral e reforçar a importância dada aos objetivos de carreira dos seus trabalhadores. Quanto ao setor de consultoria, face às suas especificidades, esta temática pode relevarse mais complexa. As responsabilidades e tarefas de um consultor podem facilmente variar, pelo que estabelecer requisitos de progressão de carreira não é uma tarefa simples. Algumas organizações decidem progressões com base na antiguidade e experiência dos seus trabalhadores, enquanto outras utilizam sistemas de avaliação de desempenho como suporte à tomada de decisão. A presente investigação teve como objetivo perceber de que forma os consultores percecionam a relação entre gestão de carreiras, antiguidade e desempenho. Esta investigação baseou-se em dados recolhidos de 92 respostas, através de um inquérito online a consultores que trabalham ou já trabalharam em consultoras. Os resultados e conclusões agregam informações relativamente à atual correlação entre antiguidade e nível hierárquico dos consultores, às suas preferências sobre antiguidade ou desempenho enquanto variáveis de progressão de carreira e pontos de vista sobre um possível sistema de avaliação de desempenho associado à gestão de carreiras

Financialisation and the slowdown of labour productivity in Portugal: A post-Keynesian approach

The aim of this paper is to conduct a time series econometric analysis in order to empirically evaluate the role of financialisation in the slowdown of labour productivity in Portugal during the period from 1980 to 2017. During that time, the Portuguese economy faced a financialisation phenomenon due to the European integration process and the corresponding imposition of a strong wave of privatisation, liberalisation and deregulation of the Portuguese financial system. At the same time, Portuguese labour productivity exhibited a sustained downward trend, which seems to contradict the well-entrenched mainstream hypothesis on the finance–productivity nexus. Based on the post-Keynesian literature, we identify four channels through which the phenomenon of financialisation has impaired labour productivity, namely weak economic performance, the fall in labour’s share of income, the rise of inequality in personal income and an intensification of the degree of financialisation. The paper finds that lagged labour productivity, economic performance and labour income share positively impact labour productivity in Portugal, while personal income inequality and the degree of financialisation negatively impact labour productivity in Portugal. The paper also finds that the main triggers for the slowdown of labour productivity in Portugal are the degree of financialisation and personal income inequality over the last decades