67 research outputs found
Os desafios do mercado automóvel atual: extensões descendentes de marcas premium e a adoção de veículos elétricos
The automotive sector is one of the most competitive and complex markets in the world. The dynamics of this context push manufacturers into implementing downward brand extensions, blurring the differences between value and premium brands. Through an experimental approach, the main study aimed to understand how consumers evaluate a downward brand line extension in the European premium automotive market. Results indicated that the extension purchase intention is dependent of the consumer’s extension attitude, the extension perceived fit, and the status-seeking behaviour, but not of the parent brand attitude, the ownership status, or the innovativeness.
The second purpose to the study was to investigate the consumer attitudes towards the adoption of electrical vehicles (EVs) and also to analyse the influence of consumer attitudes on EV adoption in an EV secondary market context. The study relied mainly on in-depth interviews of drivers of conventional vehicles, complemented, in the first part, with quantitative data collected by a survey on drivers’ attitudes. Results suggest that the preference between battery charging point types (personal, workplace, public) is important and dependent on the driver context. The existence of a second conventional car and an advanced range management system were also noted as potentially important. A secondary market of EVs was also suggested as potentially viable, if certain conditions are met.O setor automóvel é um dos mercados mais competitivos e complexos no mundo. As forças dinâmicas que caracterizam este contexto levam os fabricantes a implementar extensões descendentes da marca, reduzindo as diferenças entre as marcas massificadas e marcas premium. Através do método experimental, o estudo principal procurou perceber como os consumidores avaliam extensões descendentes de marcas premium no mercado automóvel Europeu. Os resultados indicaram que a intenção de compra de uma extensão é dependente da atitude do consumidor face à extensão, da semelhança percebida da extensão face à marca mãe, e da procura de prestígio por parte do consumidor, mas não é dependente da atitude do consumidor à marca mãe, do efeito de propriedade, ou da innovativeness.
O segundo estudo teve por objetivo investigar as atitudes dos consumidores face à adoção de veículos elétricos, e ainda a aceitação dos consumidores ao mercado secundário de veículos elétricos. O estudo utilizou fundamentalmente entrevistas em profundidade a condutores de veículos convencionais, complementadas, numa primeira parte, com dados quantitativos recolhidos por inquérito sobre as perceções dos consumidores de automóveis. Os resultados sugerem que a preferência entre os tipos de estações de carregamento de baterias (residencial, local de trabalho, pública) é importante e dependente do contexto do consumidor. A existência de um segundo carro convencional e um sistema de gestão de viagem avançado também foram notadas como potencialmente importantes. Foi ainda sugerido que um mercado secundário de veículos elétricos poderá ser viável, caso sejam garantidas certas condições.Programa Doutoral em Marketing e Estratégi
Implementação LEAN: padronização e auditorias numa linha de pintura industrial
O presente relatório centra-se na aplicação de um sistema de padronização numa
célula de pintura industrial. Assim, e como a célula estudada não tinha no momento um
sistema de padronização implementado, a principal motivação deste trabalho prendeu-se
com a obtenção de benefícios que a normalização de boas práticas pode trazer aos processos,
principalmente em indústrias extremamente competitivas, como é o caso do setor em que a
empresa em estudo se insere.
Para sustentar a implementação da padronização na célula de pintura foi
primariamente realizado um estudo teórico sobre a metodologia de base: o LEAN, assim
como sobre algumas das suas principais ferramentas. Em particular, destaca-se o Standard
Work, ou Padronização, e a Auditoria.
Fazendo uso deste levantamento bibliográfico e dos recursos presentes na empresa
de acolhimento, foi assim gerado e implementado um sistema padronizado na célula de
pintura, composto essencialmente por padrões de tarefas e documentação. Estes têm como
principal função criar fundações de base fiável e íntegra, servindo de apoio ao controlo da
qualidade, resolução de problemas, e implementação de melhorias no futuro industrial da
célula visada.
De modo complementar, foi também produzido um conjunto de propostas de
implementações de novos métodos, incidindo principalmente na melhoria da qualidade de
execução das operações de setup
Implementação do LEAN no setor FOOD&Beverage na indústria hoteleira
A indústria turística é um setor de elevada importância na economia nacional,
sendo alvo de bastantes estudos e investigações. Com base no estado da arte atual, é
possível verificar, no entanto, uma lacuna nos métodos aplicados nestas atividades em
relação à prevenção de desperdício e manutenção da qualidade por padronização. Tal
implica que não exista uma ligação preparada e conhecida entre os conceitos de Lean e a
indústria turística atual, em especial no setor Food and Beverages (F&B), deixando
margem para potenciais vantagens futuras trazidas para a indústria.
Este trabalho procura criar bases assentes na metodologia Lean, aplicadas ao setor
F&B da indústria hoteleira, promovendo uma primeira análise e descrição de técnicas
adaptadas à realidade abordada. Após uma aquisição de conhecimento de base
bibliográfica sobre o tema Lean e o tema F&B, foi realizada a abordagem de um caso de
estudo no setor F&B do Hotel Palace de Monte Real.
Como resultados deste estudo são apresentadas diversas propostas de
aplicabilidade direta do Lean ao setor F&B, assim como um conjunto de sugestões
direcionadas à gestão da organização e aos seus colaboradores, no que toca à
aplicabilidade, implementação e definição estratégica de projetos Lean no seu setor de
responsabilidade
As motivações de compra de marcas de luxo pelos consumidores portugueses
O mercado do luxo encontra-se atualmente numa fase de crescimento e metamorfose,
recebendo atenção especial pelas suas indústrias, marcas e investigadores. Para o sucesso de
uma marca de luxo é necessária uma compreensão extensa e completa de todas as fações que
levam à aquisição dos seus itens disponíveis, sendo uma das mais relevantes as motivações
do consumidor. Através da utilização de um modelo de regressão linear múltipla sobre os
dados obtidos de uma amostra de 165 inquiridos concluiu-se que a intenção de compra de
marcas de luxo é influenciada positivamente pelas motivações de utilitarismo, desejo de
qualidade, necessidade de singularidade e materialismo. Não foram observadas relações
estatisticamente significativas entre a intenção de compra de marcas de luxo e as motivações
de hedonismo, congruência pessoal e influência social. No final são apresentadas
recomendações estratégicas baseadas nos resultados deste estudo com o objetivo de manter
e fomentar a intenção de compra de marcas de luxo nos consumidores do mercado nacional,
assim como linhas de investigação futuras
Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates
Aim: To investigate the geographic patterns and ecological correlates in the geographic distribution of the most common tree dispersal modes in Amazonia (endozoochory, synzoochory, anemochory and hydrochory). We examined if the proportional abundance of these dispersal modes could be explained by the availability of dispersal agents (disperser-availability hypothesis) and/or the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits (resource-availability hypothesis).
Time period: Tree-inventory plots established between 1934 and 2019.
Major taxa studied: Trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 9.55 cm.
Location: Amazonia, here defined as the lowland rain forests of the Amazon River basin and the Guiana Shield.
Methods: We assigned dispersal modes to a total of 5433 species and morphospecies within 1877 tree-inventory plots across terra-firme, seasonally flooded, and permanently flooded forests. We investigated geographic patterns in the proportional abundance of dispersal modes. We performed an abundance-weighted mean pairwise distance (MPD) test and fit generalized linear models (GLMs) to explain the geographic distribution of dispersal modes.
Results: Anemochory was significantly, positively associated with mean annual wind speed, and hydrochory was significantly higher in flooded forests. Dispersal modes did not consistently show significant associations with the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits. A lower dissimilarity in dispersal modes, resulting from a higher dominance of endozoochory, occurred in terra-firme forests (excluding podzols) compared to flooded forests.
Main conclusions: The disperser-availability hypothesis was well supported for abiotic dispersal modes (anemochory and hydrochory). The availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits seems an unlikely explanation for the distribution of dispersal modes in Amazonia. The association between frugivores and the proportional abundance of zoochory requires further research, as tree recruitment not only depends on dispersal vectors but also on conditions that favour or limit seedling recruitment across forest types
Geography and ecology shape the phylogenetic composition of Amazonian tree communities
AimAmazonia hosts more tree species from numerous evolutionary lineages, both young and ancient, than any other biogeographic region. Previous studies have shown that tree lineages colonized multiple edaphic environments and dispersed widely across Amazonia, leading to a hypothesis, which we test, that lineages should not be strongly associated with either geographic regions or edaphic forest types.LocationAmazonia.TaxonAngiosperms (Magnoliids; Monocots; Eudicots).MethodsData for the abundance of 5082 tree species in 1989 plots were combined with a mega-phylogeny. We applied evolutionary ordination to assess how phylogenetic composition varies across Amazonia. We used variation partitioning and Moran's eigenvector maps (MEM) to test and quantify the separate and joint contributions of spatial and environmental variables to explain the phylogenetic composition of plots. We tested the indicator value of lineages for geographic regions and edaphic forest types and mapped associations onto the phylogeny.ResultsIn the terra firme and várzea forest types, the phylogenetic composition varies by geographic region, but the igapó and white-sand forest types retain a unique evolutionary signature regardless of region. Overall, we find that soil chemistry, climate and topography explain 24% of the variation in phylogenetic composition, with 79% of that variation being spatially structured (R2 = 19% overall for combined spatial/environmental effects). The phylogenetic composition also shows substantial spatial patterns not related to the environmental variables we quantified (R2 = 28%). A greater number of lineages were significant indicators of geographic regions than forest types.Main ConclusionNumerous tree lineages, including some ancient ones (>66 Ma), show strong associations with geographic regions and edaphic forest types of Amazonia. This shows that specialization in specific edaphic environments has played a long-standing role in the evolutionary assembly of Amazonian forests. Furthermore, many lineages, even those that have dispersed across Amazonia, dominate within a specific region, likely because of phylogenetically conserved niches for environmental conditions that are prevalent within regions
Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research
Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4
While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge
of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In
the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of
Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus
crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced
environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian
Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by
2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status,
much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Geography and ecology shape the phylogenetic composition of Amazonian tree communities
Aim: Amazonia hosts more tree species from numerous evolutionary lineages, both young and ancient, than any other biogeographic region. Previous studies have shown that tree lineages colonized multiple edaphic environments and dispersed widely across Amazonia, leading to a hypothesis, which we test, that lineages should not be strongly associated with either geographic regions or edaphic forest types.
Location: Amazonia.
Taxon: Angiosperms (Magnoliids; Monocots; Eudicots).
Methods: Data for the abundance of 5082 tree species in 1989 plots were combined with a mega-phylogeny. We applied evolutionary ordination to assess how phylogenetic composition varies across Amazonia. We used variation partitioning and Moran\u27s eigenvector maps (MEM) to test and quantify the separate and joint contributions of spatial and environmental variables to explain the phylogenetic composition of plots. We tested the indicator value of lineages for geographic regions and edaphic forest types and mapped associations onto the phylogeny.
Results: In the terra firme and várzea forest types, the phylogenetic composition varies by geographic region, but the igapó and white-sand forest types retain a unique evolutionary signature regardless of region. Overall, we find that soil chemistry, climate and topography explain 24% of the variation in phylogenetic composition, with 79% of that variation being spatially structured (R = 19% overall for combined spatial/environmental effects). The phylogenetic composition also shows substantial spatial patterns not related to the environmental variables we quantified (R = 28%). A greater number of lineages were significant indicators of geographic regions than forest types.
Main Conclusion: Numerous tree lineages, including some ancient ones (>66 Ma), show strong associations with geographic regions and edaphic forest types of Amazonia. This shows that specialization in specific edaphic environments has played a long-standing role in the evolutionary assembly of Amazonian forests. Furthermore, many lineages, even those that have dispersed across Amazonia, dominate within a specific region, likely because of phylogenetically conserved niches for environmental conditions that are prevalent within regions
Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora
Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution
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