Repositório IC-Online

Institution's Scientific Repository

IC-Online, the Institutional Repository of Scientific Information of the Polytechnic of Leiria (IPLeiria), is part of the RCAAP Project (Open Access Scientific Repositories of Portugal). Its main objectives are to organise, preserve and disseminate the scientific production of the Polytechnic of Leiria (IPLeiria), helping to increase the visibility and impact of the institution's scientific publications.

The IC-Online Repository includes various types of digital documents, such as articles from national and international scientific journals, papers from congresses and conferences, master's dissertations and doctoral theses, among others.

Política Institucional de Acesso Livre do Politécnico de Leiria (Despacho nº 124/2018)
Regras de afiliação do Politécnico de Leiria (Despacho nº 228/2020)
Normas de atribuição de identificadores DOI, ISBN e DL (Despacho nº 257/2024)
Apoio à investigação

Email repositorio@ipleiria.pt

Recent Submissions

Cybersecurity in Industry 5.0

Publication . Santos, Bruno Miguel Bértolo dos; Santos, Leonel Filipe Simões; Costa, Rogério Luís de Carvalho

A Indústria 5.0 representa a próxima fase da evolução industrial, centrando-se na colaboração entre humanos e máquinas, sustentabilidade e nas tecnologias avançadas. Embora estas inovações aumentem a produtividade e promovam a inovação, também alargam o panorama das ameaças cibernéticas, levantando preocupações quanto à segurança, integridade dos dados e privacidade. Os ciberataques nestes ambientes podem afetar ativos industriais, colaboradores e clientes, evidenciando a necessidade de uma cibersegurança robusta. Este estudo explora as implicações da cibersegurança na Indústria 5.0, com o objetivo de normalizar o seu conceito e propor uma framework de alto nível para ajudar a sua implementação. Este trabalho analisa domínios chave da cibersegurança - protocolos de comunicação industrial, inventário de ativos, gestão de vulnerabilidades, inteligência de ameaças, segurança de endpoints, deteção e resposta a incidentes, segmentação de redes, arquitetura Zero Trust e o princípio do menor privilégio — avaliando a sua relevância e as adaptações necessárias no contexto da Indústria 5.0. Os desafios e adaptações são testados através de casos de estudo nos setores de corte de pedra, e alimentar e bebidas. Algumas das conclusões incluem: aumento dos custos com cibersegurança, expansão dos vetores de ameaça e complexidade adicional devido aos objetivos de sustentabilidade e ética centrada no ser humano da Indústria 5.0. A framework criada é testada garantindo que os desafios estão contemplados, e sendo utilizada como estrutura para implementar as tecnologias da Indústria 5.0 presentes nos casos de estudo. A framework desenvolvida passou nos testes, ao contrário de outras que apresentaram lacunas em aspetos essenciais. Este trabalho estabelece uma base para compreender a cibersegurança na Indústria 5.0 e oferece uma abordagem estruturada para a sua implementação. As direções futuras da investigação incluem a aplicação prática da framework e a expansão dos domínios da cibersegurança para incluir testes de penetração e formação dos trabalhadores, de forma a enfrentar riscos emergentes e garantir uma integração segura das tecnologias da Indústria 5.0.

2025-12-03Master thesis

Open access

The power of women on corporate boards and their impact on the company: Corporate performance, Strategic decision-making, Social Responsibility, Challenges and Barriers throughout different industries

Publication . Simões, Antonieta Fenina; Ribeiro, Neuza Manuel Pereira; Geremias, Rosa Helena Lutete

Corporate governance, corporate performance and sustainability have been, in the last few years, the key topics in the debate of gender diversity on corporate boards. Even though the presence of women has increased in the decision-making areas, their impact on corporate performance remains questioned. There are several studies highlighting the positive effects of women in financial and non-financial outcomes such as corporate social responsibility (CSR), while others report inclusive or weak results. This uncertainty reinforces how imperative it is to further examine whether and how women in corporate boards influence organizational performance across industries. To analyze the relationship between gender diversity on corporate boards and corporate performance, this study will focus on financial indicators which includes return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), return on investment (ROI), net profit, and, also, non-financial indicators, including corporate social responsibility (CSR). A quantitative methodology is applied, along with a hypothetical approach by using data obtained from financial statements, annual and sustainability reports from fifteen European multinational companies across different industries throughout a period of ten years (2014-2024). To test whether gender diversity enhances corporate performance, statistical techniques such as regression analysis will be used. It is found that the presence of women on boards is modestly but positively associated with operational efficiency, also a more stable relationship with CSR and sustainability outcomes demonstrates that gender diversity, particularly, women on corporate boards as a significant influence in shaping non-financial dimensions of performance. These findings will contribute to the on-going debate on gender diversity on boards and how corporate performance can be affected.

2025-11-10Master thesis

Open access

Gender Equality and Stock Returns

Publication . Victorio, Anna Luiza Matos Nunes; Oliveira, Célia Patrício Valente de

This dissertation examines the relationship between gender equality in corporate governance and stock market performance in the European context. Motivated by the growing relevance of diversity in corporate boards and its recognition within Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) frameworks, the study explores whether gender equality is associated with superior stock returns. The analysis focuses on publicly listed companies in the STOXX Europe 600 index between 2014 and 2024, a period marked by important regulatory developments, including the European Union Directive on Gender Balance in Corporate Boards. The research adopts a quantitative, explanatory, and correlational design. Firm-level data on board gender composition were collected from LSEG Workspace (LSEG Data & Analytics), while financial data were obtained from Datastream. The empirical analysis employs panel data regressions to estimate the impact of gender equality on both raw returns and risk-adjusted returns, the latter calculated through Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Fama-French three- and five-factor models. Control variables such as firm size, leverage, book-to-market ratio, and beta were included, and robustness checks were conducted to validate the results. The findings indicate that gender equality on boards, measured by the percentage of women directors, does not exert a statistically significant effect on stock returns. Although the coefficients often show a positive direction, the results suggest that gender diversity is not yet perceived by investors as a direct driver of financial market performance in the short term. Instead, stock returns appear to be more strongly influenced by traditional firm-level and market factors. These results align with prior studies reporting neutral or inconclusive effects of gender diversity on financial outcomes, while reinforcing the broader value of gender equality for governance, legitimacy, and long-term sustainability.

2025-12-04Master thesis

Open access

Reproductive toxicity of the endocrine disrupters vinclozolin and bisphenol A in the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber (Latreille, 1804)

Publication . Lemos, M. F. L.; van Gestel, C. A. M.; Soares, A. M. V. M.

Endocrine Disruptor Compounds (EDCs) have been largely studied concerning their effects on vertebrates. Nevertheless, invertebrates as targets for these chemicals have been neglected and few studies are available. Specifically for edaphic invertebrates, data concerning the effects of EDCs is residual. Influences of EDCs on the reproduction systems of these organisms, with consequences at the population level, are expected but have not been confirmed. This work aimed to study the effects of bisphenol A (BPA) and vinclozolin (Vz) on the reproduction of the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber. Isopods were coupled and exposed to increasing concentrations of Vz and BPA and the females' reproductive cycle followed for 56 d. Both compounds elicited reproductive toxicity. Vz and BPA decreased female reproductive allocation. Vz reduced pregnancy duration; increased the abortion percentage; decreased the number of pregnancies; and decreased the number of juveniles per female while BPA increased abortions at the lowest and highest test concentrations. The reproductive endpoints presented in here are indicative of the possible impact that this type of compounds might have on isopod population dynamics, which may eventually lead to population decline.

2010-02Journal article

Restricted access

Estratégia de Fidelização na Indústria da Tatuagem: O Caso da Revolution Needles

Publication . Pão, Alice Lopes do; Conceição, Joaquim Paulo Cordeiro da

No âmbito da Unidade Curricular de Estágio do Mestrado em Marketing Relacional, o presente relatório descreve as atividades desenvolvidas ao longo das 1040 horas de estágio na empresa Piranha Global grupo que atua na indústria da tatuagem, com foco na marca Revolution Needles, especializada na produção de agulhas para tatuagem. As tarefas abrangeram diferentes áreas do marketing e da comunicação, com especial destaque para a gestão de comunidade e produção de conteúdos. A fidelização de clientes profissionais assume particular relevância no setor B2B, sendo cada vez mais valorizadas as relações contínuas entre marca e cliente. Reconhecendo a ausência de uma estratégia relacional formal por parte da Revolution Needles, este trabalho tem como principal objetivo a proposta de uma estratégia centrada na criação de uma comunidade de marca, capaz de fortalecer o envolvimento emocional e profissional dos artistas com a marca. Conclui-se que, através da valorização da proximidade, da personalização e do reconhecimento, é possível reforçar a lealdade e potenciar a diferenciação da marca num mercado altamente competitivo.

2025-11-24Master thesis

Open access