Unidade de Investigação - CARME - Centro de Investigação Aplicada em Gestão e Economia / Center for Applied Research in Management and Economics
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O Centro de Investigação Aplicada em Gestão e Economia (CARME) é uma nova unidade de investigação e desenvolvimento (I&D), que emerge da combinação da vontade e esforços de professores do Departamento de Gestão e Economia do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria (IPLeiria), para desenvolver atividades de I&D nas suas áreas de interesse e conhecimento.
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Browsing Unidade de Investigação - CARME - Centro de Investigação Aplicada em Gestão e Economia / Center for Applied Research in Management and Economics by Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) "08:Trabalho Digno e Crescimento Económico"
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- Alternative heavy tailed models in seismologyPublication . Felgueiras, Miguel; Martins, João; Santos, RuiGreat earthquakes are commonly considered as the ones with moment magnitude (Mw ) above or equal to 8.0. Since these earthquakes can destroy entire communities located near the epicentre, the search of physical laws that explain the energy released by them is an important issue. There is a connection between the radiated energy of an earthquake, its magnitude and its seismic moment (M 0). Thence, when fitting a heavy or an extremely heavy tailed distribution to a seismic moment dataset, we are in fact adjusting a mathematical model which explains the amount of energy released by these great seisms. Therefore, the main goal of this work is to study the more appropriated Pareto based models (the most used family in this field) when explaining the seismic moment of the great earthquakes. With this purpose in mind, we selected two different catalogs that accommodate recent events and are considered more accurate than other catalogs used in previous works. We conclude that the traditional Pareto distribution remains a good choice to deal with this kind of data, but Log-Pareto lead to higher p-values and Location-scale Pareto is better fitted to the biggest events.
- Building Strategic Capabilities in Brazilian FirmsPublication . Fleury, Maria Tereza Leme; Calixto, Cyntia Vilasboas; Frias Pinto, Cláudia Sofia; Fleury, AfonsoIn this chapter, we highlight the strategic capabilities that have enabled six Brazilian companies to achieve competitive advantage. We selected firms from different industries and stages of internationalization in order to show a broad perspective of local and international successful firms. WEG and Fanen developed technological capabilities associated to both world-class manufacturing and product innovation, whereas Stefanini and Integration have consolidated knowledge about servicing emerging markets. Grendene’s production and operations are its key capabilities for international operations through exports, while innovative design and processes support their strategy in the local markets. The key capabilities of Dr.Consulta are entrepreneurship and innovation. In sum, due to highly turbulent institutional and economic environment, Brazilian firms have had to develop some specific capabilities, especially those related to financial management and organizational flexibility.
- O efeito do greenwashing no consumo ético mediado pela confusão verde e pelo ódio à marcaPublication . Santos, Célia; Coelho, Arnaldo; Marques, AlziraO greenwashing verifica-se quando as empresas enganam os consumidores quanto às suas práticas ambientais ou benefícios dos seus produtos/serviços. Esta investigação centra-se nos impactos dessas práticas no consumo ético e analisa como a confusão verde e o ódio à marca atuam como mediadores nessa relação. Baseado em informações recolhidas por meio de questionário aplicado numa amostra de 420 consumidores portugueses, foi realizado estudo confirmatório, quantitativo e transversal (ou de corte único). A análise foi conduzida através de um modelo de equações estruturais com o software SmartPLS. Os resultados sugerem que o greenwashing aumenta a confusão verde entre os consumidores, dificultando a correta interpretação de aspetos ambientais de um produto/serviço. Além disso, o greenwashing gera emoções negativas extremas, como o ódio à marca. Os resultados também demostram que os consumidores, quando percecionam práticas de greenwashing por parte de uma empresa/marca tendem a deixar de comprar os seus produtos/serviços, optando por alternativas mais éticas e responsáveis. Foi estabelecida relação positiva direta e indireta entre greenwashing e consumo ético. Esta investigação avança o estado da arte, que carece de estudos relacionados com as consequências das práticas de greenwashing e elucida as empresas da necessidade de eliminar essas atividades enganadoras e irresponsáveis. Limitações e oportunidades de estudo futuras são abordadas.
- Estimation of prevalence in rare disease using pooled samplesPublication . Martins, J. P.; Santos, R.; Felgueiras, M.The use of pooled samples for screening infected individuals is a known procedure to reduce costs. In an estimation problem, the aim is only to determine how many individuals are infected instead of determining who is infected (classification problem). In that setting, our goal was to compare the performance of using one or two-dimensional arrays. The best performance was established according to one of the following criteria: minimizing the number of individuals or the number of tests required to attain a certain estimate accuracy. It is observed that when we want to minimize the number of individuals used, the two-dimensional procedures have a little advantage over the one-dimensional procedures. However, when the major concern is the cost, the one-dimensional procedures clearly outperform the two-dimensional procedures.
- From Desalination to Governance: A Comparative Study of Water Reuse Strategies in Southern European HospitalityPublication . Santos, EleonoraAs climate change intensified water scarcity in Southern Europe, tourism-dependent regions such as Portugal’s Algarve faced growing pressure to adapt their water management systems. This study investigated how hotel groups in the Algarve have adopted and communicated water reuse technologies—specifically desalination and greywater recycling—under environmental, institutional, and reputational constraints. A comparative qualitative case study was conducted involving three hotel groups—Vila Vita Parc, Pestana Group, and Vila Galé—selected through purposive sampling based on organizational capacity and technology adoption stage. The analysis was supported by a supplementary mini-case from Mallorca, Spain. Publicly accessible documents, including sustainability reports, media coverage, and policy frameworks, were thematically coded using organizational environmental behavior theory and the OECD Principles on Water Governance. The results demonstrated that (1) higher organizational capacity was associated with greater maturity in water reuse implementation; (2) communication transparency increased alongside technological advancement; and (3) early-stage adopters encountered stronger financial, regulatory, and operational barriers. These findings culminated in the development of the Maturity–Communication–Governance (MCG) Framework, which elucidates how internal resources, stakeholder signaling, and institutional alignment influence sustainable infrastructure uptake. This research offered policy recommendations to scale water reuse in tourism through financial incentives, regulatory simplification, and public–private partnerships. The study contributed to the literature on sustainable tourism and decentralized climate adaptation, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals 6.4, 12.6, and 13.
- Nature-Based Solutions for Water Management in Europe: What Works, What Does Not, and What’s Next?Publication . Santos, EleonoraNature-based solutions (NbS) are increasingly recognized as strategic alternatives and complements to grey infrastructure for addressing water-related challenges in the context of climate change, urbanization, and biodiversity decline. This article presents a critical, theory-informed review of the state of NbS implementation in European water management, drawing on a structured synthesis of empirical evidence from regional case studies and policy frameworks. The analysis found that while NbS are effective in reducing surface runoff, mitigating floods, and improving water quality under low- to moderate-intensity events, their performance remains uncertain under extreme climate scenarios. Key gaps identified include the lack of long-term monitoring data, limited assessment of NbS under future climate conditions, and weak integration into mainstream planning and financing systems. Existing evaluation frameworks are critiqued for treating NbS as static interventions, overlooking their ecological dynamics and temporal variability. In response, a dynamic, climate-resilient assessment model is proposed—grounded in systems thinking, backcasting, and participatory scenario planning—to evaluate NbS adaptively. Emerging innovations, such as hybrid green–grey infrastructure, adaptive governance models, and novel financing mechanisms, are highlighted as key enablers for scaling NbS. The article contributes to the scientific literature by bridging theoretical and empirical insights, offering region-specific findings and recommendations based on a comparative analysis across diverse European contexts. These findings provide conceptual and methodological tools to better design, evaluate, and scale NbS for transformative, equitable, and climate-resilient water governance.
- PrefacePublication . Moreira, António Carrizo; Dantas, José Guilherme LeitãoEntrepreneurship is far from being a novel concept. To find its roots we have to go back to the 18th century and to the original authors of the concept, namely Richard Cantillon and Jean-Baptiste Say. Nevertheless, despite the multiple authors who have successively addressed this issue over the many decades, entrepreneurship only earned “citizenship rights” in the economy from the 1970s/80s onwards, given the evidence that SMEs were critical regarding wealth and jobs creation, the reduction of regional asymmetries, and being more effective than larger firms in terms of innovation (particularly in the early stages of the innovation process).
- PrefacePublication . Dantas, José Guilherme Leitão; Carvalho, Luísa CagicaOver the last years we have witnessed the enormous success of quite demanding ventures all over the world. We are particularly talking about technology-based projects which, in some cases, have revolutionized the way we live. Their impact on the national and international level has been unequivocal concerning jobs and wealth creation, the new solutions their development have enabled, etc. That kind of ventures, regardless of their outstanding relevance, is the exception rather than the norm, i.e., they are only the visible tip of the iceberg, in that they only account for a very small percentage of the entrepreneurial activity. Nevertheless, they belong to the so-called mainstream entrepreneurship, are the dream of every economy, and deserve the attention of many researchers. (...) In short, the book starts by covering a set of activities upstream of the entrepreneurial activity, and then addresses a significant, though not exhaustive, set of different types of entrepreneurship, often paving the way for more in-depth investigations which will allow us to continue expanding such a relevant theme for our collective future.
- The reference method influence on the sensitivity of the Clostridium difficile enzyme immunoassays: A meta analysisPublication . Martins, João Paulo; Felgueiras, Miguel; Santos, RuiThe use of enzyme immunoassays to screen for toxins A and B produced by Clostridium difficile is a common procedure in algorithms designed for its detection. Moreover, the absence of a unique test capable of providing reliable results at low cost motivates a great discussion about which algorithm is the best. Thus, several studies have evaluated the performance of these enzyme immunoassays. However, all fail to provide sufficient explanations for the different behaviours observed in different studies that evaluate the same index test against a common reference method. Our main goal was to find out which factors affect the sensitivity of these assays, since the specificity is very close to 1. In this research, we verified that sensitivity increases with the prevalence rate and with the proportion of reported cases of onset diarrhea. Therefore, its use is advisable for high prevalence rates (e.g. in an epidemic setting). As far as reference methods are concerned, nucleic acid amplification tests can be used as a reference method, with a performance similar to the well-accepted toxigenic culture. The method chosen for toxigenicity screening in a toxigenic culture also seems to affect the evaluation performance of tests and should be better studied in the future.
- Sustainable Scaling in Forest-Based Circular ModelsPublication . Santos, EleonoraThe transition to a circular economy is essential for enhancing sustainability and resource efficiency, particularly in forestry-dependent regions. This study examines circular economy business models (CEBMs) in Kouvola, Finland, focusing on the utilization of forestry by-products. It compares two case studies: Keltakangas Waste Station, which processes wood waste into biogas, and Koumet, a forestry company producing biochar. Using a comparative case study approach, this research integrates financial analysis (2020–2023), interviews with managers, and policy reviews to assess economic performance, scalability, and environmental impact. Additionally, this study introduces a generalizable framework—Scalability Path Dependency (SPD)—which theorizes how early strategic decisions shape the long-term growth trajectories of circular business models. The findings reveal that Keltakangas follows a capital-intensive model with declining profit margins, while Koumet operates a resource-efficient model with stable but low profitability. Their scaling strategies diverge: Keltakangas relies on external financing for expansion, whereas Koumet emphasizes cost efficiency and market diversification. Despite ongoing challenges related to infrastructure, regulation, and financial viability, both models contribute meaningfully to circularity. This study offers actionable insights for policymakers and businesses aiming to support sustainable forestry practices.