Sustainability of systems interoperability in dynamic business networks

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de ComputadoresCollaborative networked environments emerged with the spread of the internet, contributing to overcome past communication barriers, and identifying interoperability as an essential property to support businesses development. When achieved seamlessly, efficiency is increased in the entire product life cycle support. However, due to the different sources of knowledge, models and semantics, enterprise organisations are experiencing difficulties exchanging critical information, even when they operate in the same business environments. To solve this issue, most of them try to attain interoperability by establishing peer-to-peer mappings with different business partners, or use neutral data and product standards as the core for information sharing, in optimized networks. In current industrial practice, the model mappings that regulate enterprise communications are only defined once, and most of them are hardcoded in the information systems. This solution has been effective and sufficient for static environments, where enterprise and product models are valid for decades. However, more and more enterprise systems are becoming dynamic, adapting and looking forward to meet further requirements; a trend that is causing new interoperability disturbances and efficiency reduction on existing partnerships. Enterprise Interoperability (EI) is a well established area of applied research, studying these problems, and proposing novel approaches and solutions. This PhD work contributes to that research considering enterprises as complex and adaptive systems, swayed to factors that are making interoperability difficult to sustain over time. The analysis of complexity as a neighbouring scientific domain, in which features of interoperability can be identified and evaluated as a benchmark for developing a new foundation of EI, is here proposed. This approach envisages at drawing concepts from complexity science to analyse dynamic enterprise networks and proposes a framework for sustaining systems interoperability, enabling different organisations to evolve at their own pace, answering the upcoming requirements but minimizing the negative impact these changes can have on their business environment

Industrial processes optimization in digital marketplace context: A case study in ornamental stone sector

We are witnessing a transition to a digital economy, popularized by academics and practitioners as the Fourth Industrial Era, also designated as Industry 4.0 (I4.0). Among all the available digital technologies and aiming to optimize the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) supply chain, the Building Information Modelling (BIM) is becoming officially mandatory worldwide. Oriented to a zero-waste, zero-ecological footprint and reduced time to execute the constructions, from the BIM, emerges a new procurement model which will affect many sectors integrating this supply chain, especially those more traditional and fragmented ones, such as the Ornamental Stone sector (OS). Addressing this problem through the Service Science perspective, the objective of this research was to conceptualize an Empirical Framework (EF), to evaluate the impact of the Industry4.0 operations on the Time-to-Deliver the products in a digital marketplace context. By applying this EF to a case study related to the Ornamental Stone in Portugal, it was found a positive impact of Industry 4.0 operations on the delivery time in the digital marketplace context.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

German cultural standards from the Portuguese perspective

JEL Classification: F23 - Multinational Firms; International Business; M12 – Personnel Management.The purpose of this study is to identify the cultural standards of the Germans from the Portuguese perspective. The methodology used is the Cultural Standard Method, an innovative methodology that allows identifying with much more detail and rigor the cultural differences between two cultures. The instrument used is the narrative interview, a kind of open interviews in which interviewees, which are all Portuguese with an extensive working experience in Germany, present, by the order they consider more significant in terms of culture shock, the stories of incidents that occurred during their stay in Germany, which represent critical incidents that may be positive or negative. Critical incidents, analyzed with base on the process "Qualitative Content Analysis" allow to identify, at the end of the process, the relative cultural standards that result from the comparison between two cultures, in this case German and Portuguese culture. These results, only valid when comparing two cultures, do not allow generalizations or extrapolations in the comparison with other cultures. That is, they cannot be used to characterize a culture, as is the case of Germany, in general terms, as it is done in the dimension-based models. The results obtained, relative cultural standards, concerning German culture from the Portuguese perspective, are a contribution to those Portuguese who have to work with Germans and need to better understand the differences between the two cultures. Moreover, this work could be a reflection for all Germans who come to Portugal or that somehow have to deal with the Portuguese, allowing them to reflect on the issues that Portuguese regard as the most significant features of German culture, when compared with the Portuguese one.O objectivo deste estudo consiste em identificar os standards culturais dos alemães na perspectiva dos portugueses. A metodologia utilizada é o Método dos Standards Culturais, uma metodologia inovadora que permite identificar com muito mais detalhe e rigor as diferenças culturais entre duas culturas. O instrumento utilizado é a entrevista narrativa, um tipo de entrevista aberta em que os entrevistados, todos portugueses que tiveram larga experiência de trabalho na Alemanha, apresentam, pela ordem que os marcou mais em termos de choque cultural, as histórias de incidentes que aconteceram durante a sua estadia na Alemanha e que representam incidentes críticos, os quais podem ser positivos os negativos. Os incidentes críticos, analisados com base no processo “Qualitative Content Analysis” permitem identificar, no final do processo, os standards culturais relativos que resultam da comparação entre duas culturas, neste caso a cultura alemã e a Portuguesa. Estes resultados, válidos apenas quando comparamos duas culturas, não permitem generalizações ou extrapolações na comparação com outras culturas. Ou seja, não podem ser utilizados para caracterizar uma cultura, como é o caso da alemã, em termos gerais, tal como é feito nos modelos baseados nas dimensões. Os resultados obtidos, standards culturais relativos, referentes à cultura alemã na perspectiva dos portugueses, é um contributo para todos aqueles portugueses que tenham que trabalhar com alemães e necessitem de compreender melhor as diferenças entre as duas culturas. Por outro lado, este trabalho poderá constituir-se como uma reflexão para todos os alemães que venham a Portugal ou que de alguma forma tenham que lidar com portugueses, pois permite-lhes reflectir nos aspectos que os portugueses consideram como mais marcantes da cultura alemã, quando comparada com a portuguesa

Improving blue economy through industry 4.0: a service science perspective

Desenvolver a Economia Azul pela Indústria 4.0: Uma Perspetiva Service Science O objetivo desta dissertação é a avaliação do impacto das tecnologias digitais “Indústria 4.0” (I4.0), na competitividade da Economia Azul (BE) na União Europeia (EU). Nos Relatórios de 2018 e 2018 sobre Economia Azul a Comissão Europeia apresentou os desafios e o potencial da BE, propondo diretrizes para políticas e, identificou os facilitadores da competitividade nos diferentes sectores da BE no espaço Europeu. Da revisão sistemática da literatura efetuada, verificou-se que a Service Science (S-S), é uma área científica emergente e interdisciplinar que combina a organização dos sistemas, o conhecimento tecnológico com a Sustentabilidade do Planeta, permitindo suportar cientificamente novas abordagens à criação de valor. Ainda da revisão de literatura, foram identificadas diferentes tecnologias digitais, designadas por tecnologias Indústria 4.0. Orientada pelo paradigma pragmatista e utilizando uma metodologia mista de convergência paralela, nesta investigação foi conceptualizado um modelo empírico. Da aplicação deste modelo a onze casos-de-estudo da BE, conclui-se que o impacto na competitividade setorial da BE Europeia poderá ser de 26,5%. Conclui-se ainda, nesta investigação, que as tecnologias I4.0 poderão representar uma oportunidade as empresas da BE, sendo por isso mesmo, recomendável a sua adoção

Social and Health Care Management Student in three countries compare ideal and reality in care services

Explore existence of a common basis for management education in the Czech Republic, Finland, and Portugal. The research task is: a) To explore the differences between the perceptions of students regarding the ideal and real-world situation in care (values vs. practices) that characterize the SH sector Methodology: Exploratory qualitative research In-depth focus group interviews: social and/or health care students (29) in three countries (Czech Republic, Finland, Portugal) Conclusions: The common basis for education are common underlying ideals stemming from two cultures - culture of management and culture of care; Socio-cultural differences were found in general trust, attitude towards rules, regulations and authority, and managing time and future; International focus group was a fruitful source of reflection for students’ experiences in care practice; The discrepancy what is learned in management education and actual practice should be clearly addressed in future education. CareMan project can be seen an example of a strategy for supporting critical thinking and reflective learning in intercultural management issues

Trace Elements in the Human Milk

Human breast milk is considered to be the perfect food for infants, specifically adapted to their needs. Before birth, the mother transfers all the nutrients and bioactive components to the fetus through the placenta. After birth, these substances have to be transferred through colostrum and milk. In particular, human breast milk is supposed to provide all the essential trace elements that are required by the normal term newborn infant. Therefore, the composition of human breast milk and its changes during lactation is a topic of major importance and has been the subject for intensive research. Conversely, human milk can also be a transfer medium of undesirable (toxic) elements from the mother to the infant. An extensive review of the most recent literature was carried out focusing on the current trace elements levels and their changes during lactation. For several elements, there is a consistent knowledge of their characteristic concentrations throughout the various stages of lactation, their dependence on maternal nutritional status, inter-individual and geographical variability, metabolic pathways, inter-elemental relationships, and effects on child development. For many other elements, this knowledge does not exist or is quite limited

Formação em Enfermagem baseada em competências

TITULO: Formação em enfermagem baseada em competências TEMA: Estratégias de ensino-aprendizagem INTRODUÇÃO: A formação baseada em competências revela ser um desafio para uma educação em enfermagem mais eficaz. Neste artigo analisam-se a diversidade de estratégias utilizadas neste processo ensino aprendizagem em função das diversas etapas do mesmo e que são estruturantes: a construção curricular as metodologias de ensino e as estratégias de avaliação. OBJETIVOS: Caracterizar produção científica sobre modelos e estratégias educacionais para educação em enfermagem baseada em competências; Identificar resultados da implementação de modelo/estratégias educacionais; Discutir aspetos convergentes e divergentes sobre uso dos modelos/estratégias educacionais. METODOLOGIA: Realizou-se uma pesquisa do tipo exploratório tendo por base uma revisão de literatura em bases de dados eletrónicas. A pesquisa foi realizada em novembro de 2010, nas bases da Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) utilizando os seguintes descritores: Educação baseada em competências, Educação em enfermagem e Ensino Superior, sendo selecionado um. Na EBSCO, utilizando os mesmos descritores em língua inglesa (Competency-Based Education; Education, Nursing; Education, Higher), igual período de tempo, encontaram-se 36 artigos e foram seleccionados 9. Os critérios de inclusão foram: artigos de pesquisas publicados no período 2005 a 2010, estar disponível on-line como texto completo, estar nos idiomas português, inglês ou espanhol e focalizar objeto de estudo. Excluíram-se artigos de opinião, editoriais e teses. RESULTADOS: As experiências relatadas enfatizam os métodos de ensino, o desenho curricular e a avaliação e demonstraram a sua utilidade e benefícios para o processo de ensino e de aprendizagem. A utilização de modelos predefinidos como é o caso dos modelos COPA e QSEN, têm vantagens claras como recomendação para futuras experiências. Os resultados apontam modelos educacionais de carácter interativo que promovam as capacidades de análise e de reflexão, e sejam promotoras da tomada de decisão

Intelligent decision support in beds management and hospital planning

Worldwide, due to the constant overcrowding experienced in hospitals, hospital beds are one of the most needed resources, proving to be an extremely important feature in hospitalization planning and management, since the main purpose is to optimize their occupancy rate. This study aims to predict the future flow of patients after admission to a particular inpatient specialty to allow a more assertive planning based on demographic data. All data sources were made available by the Centro Hospitalar do Tâmega e Sousa (CHTS) and are relative to a 5-year period, 2017 to 2021. From the results achieved with the Machine Learning (ML) models developed was possible to conclude that these can prove to be an asset for the hospital, since being known the flow of patients allows a more informed and careful management of the management of beds.The work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020

Service Innovation | A Service Blueprinting for Industry4.0

This research aims to conceptualize a service blueprinting framework to map the digital interaction and shared access to service system resources in Industry 4.0 operations. From the literature review we found that in Industry 4.0 operations, customer and provider are value co-creators, and thus, mapping the service process using such service blueprinting becomes useful to boost new dynamics generating positive and measurable innovation outcomes using either quantitative or qualitative indicators, indexed to the different stakeholders’ concerns. As recommended by the of Service Science, wealth comes from service innovation among service systems, so, it is necessary to know at the outset which resources are involved in value propositions along the service process. With this research, we have conceptualized an innovative service blueprinting framework for the digital innovation to visualize the bridge between the physical world and the virtual world in Industry 4.0 operations