Industrial Management Group

Contents:

• Introduction
• Main Achievements
• Organization of Conferences
• Internationalization
• Future Research

 

Introduction

During the last few years the Industrial Management group was involved in R&D activities that resulted in the development of areas such as: Shop Floor Control Systems, Supply Chain Management, Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement (kaizen) and Work Study Methods.

From these projects, several works and case studies were published and a PhD Thesis was concluded. The main focus of the research carried out was in manufacturing firms as they had a strong impact in the northern economy (Portugal). For the near future the research aims will be wider and include the service sector.

 

Main Achievements

A list of recent publications is also available.

The main achievement was the realization of the 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management that was held at Universidade Lusíada de Vila Nova de Famalicão and resulted in 100 communications, including 3 keynote speakers, from 32 countries. The event was a success that can be measured by the internationalization level and the results achieved, namely: the number of participants; the conference proceedings are listed in the Thomson Reuters ISI Index to Social Sciences & Humanities Proceedings (ISSHP), in the Thomson Reuters ISI Index to Social Sciences & Humanities Proceedings (ISSHP/ISI Proceedings), indexed by the Institution of Engineering and Technology in the UK, and listed in the EBSCO database of Conference Proceedings; the established contacts that resulted in the participations and interchange of researchers; the establishing of links with international references within this field of knowledge. The main research areas are the following:

• Sustainable Tourism - Sustainable Development Index in the Tourism Sector in Portugal -The application of the index each year will provide important data for longitudinal analysis of the development of the sector; The Synergistic Effect of Direct Marketing, Quality and Satisfaction in Developing BTB Relationships: The Case of the Training Sector in Portugal.
  

• Intellectual Capital - The ongoing project aims at raising the awareness and understanding of intangible investments. Measuring and Evaluating Investment in Knowledge in Organizations: The project aims to launch a prospective analysis about knowledge and IC as the engine of social and economic development.

• Several works and case studies were published, in addition to a significant number of MSc theses completed (15). The main focus of the research carried out was industrial firms as they have a strong impact in the northern economy of Portugal.

• Development of best practices in operations scheduling and control;

• Development of a software tool to support shop floor control activities;

• Application of the reference model for supply chain management (SCOR) in two industrial firms (Cerfil and Euronet, Maia);

• Development of a check-list to evaluate working conditions in industrial firms and to integrate the ergonomic issue in work place design;

• Development of a methodological guide to support firms in implementing lean manufacturing philosophy;

• Design and creating of several improvement tools based on the kaizen philosophy.

 

Organization of Conferences

A wide spectrum of events were organized, in addition to the “Encontro de Engenharia e Gestão Industrial”, which takes place every year and is attracting a significant number of delegates. The technical content of the events include management in industry, marketing, quality and human resources.

The following compilation, starting with the most recent, lists the date, title and a brief description for a selection of events organized.

Conference on Management – “Jornadas de Ciências Empresariais”, dedicated to the subject “Angola – Market of opportunities”. This annual conference attracts a significant number of delegates from different origins such as local community, students, local industry and services. Universidade Lusíada, Vila Nova de Famalicão, May 2010.
3th Workshop on Research and Development – this initiative is a forum to promote the discussion and exchange of knowledge and methodologies. This event is targeted to graduate students undergoing research activities. It is promoted in cooperation with the Faculty of Management and Economics, March 2010.

In September, on the 3th and 4th, we have organized the 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management that was held at Universidade Lusíada de Vila Nova de Famalicão and resulted in 100 communications, including 3 keynote speakers, from 32 countries. The event was a success that can be measured by the internationalization level and the results achieved, namely: the number of participants; the conference proceedings are listed in the Thomson Reuters ISI Index to Social Sciences & Humanities Proceedings (ISSHP), in the Thomson Reuters ISI Index to Social Sciences & Humanities Proceedings (ISSHP/ISI Proceedings), indexed by the Institution of Engineering and Technology in the UK, and listed in the EBSCO database of Conference Proceedings; the established contacts that resulted in the participations and interchange of researchers; the establishing of links with international references within this field of knowledge.

Participation in the “IV Workshop de Engenharia Industrial da UMinho – Lean Thinking nas Organizações Portuguesas”, realizado na Universidade do Minho, Guimarães, em Janeiro de 2010. This event was dedicated to the discussion of topics in the field of Engineering and Industrial Management and gathered participants nationally wide.

July, 15th-17th 2009. The International Conference on Managing Services in the Knowledge Economy was held at Universidade Lusíada de Vila Nova de Famalicão and resulted in 63 communications, including 4 keynote speakers, from 104 authors from 26 countries. This event contributed to the internationalization of the Research Centre and its members.

In September representatives of the Research Centre were at the European Conference on Knowledge Management in Vicenza, Italy, to present the following realization of this conference in Portugal in collaboration with Academic Conferences International (ACI), at Universidade Lusíada de Vila Nova de Famalicão in September 2010.

Seminars on Management Sciences were also carried out with a national scope within Universidade Lusíada de Vila Nova de Famalicão.

Seminar on Challenges of MAnaging Services "Desafios na Gestão de Serviços", Dr. Carlos Lattourrette DOCKS group.

Collaboration of our Research Members was given to the event executed at Universidade do Minho in January 2009, entitled ”Lean thinking in Portuguese Organizations”.

11th/25th March 2006; 1st/29th April 2006 – “Qualidade”. Set of talks about Quality, including Implementing ISO 9001:2000 and Quality Management Systems, and Management Responsibility and Managing Resources.

18th/25th November 2005; 5th/12th December 2005 – “Qualidade”. Set of talks about Quality given by a consulter and representatives of the following companies: Q9000, SGS Portugal and BVQI Portugal, which was the first insurance company certified in Portugal.

24th May 2005 - Conference: "A Nova Cultura Empresarial". Keynote lectures towards a new culture in companies were presented.

07th May 2005 - Workshop: “A Qualidade nos Serviços”. This event addressed the issue of Quality in Services, including Certifying Industry and Services.

12th January 2005 - “Competitividade da Economia Portuguesa”. Talk given by Luís Mira Amaral, former Associate Professor with the Faculty of Economics, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (1983-2004), former Ministry of Work and Social Security (1985-1987) and Ministry of Industry and Energy (1987-1995), and member of the “Competitiveness Advisory Group” of the European Union.

14th May 2004 - VI Encontro de Engenharia e Gestão Industrial “O Sucesso Empresarial Através das Pessoas: Princípios e Práticas de uma Gestão por Valores”. A very successful conference about the importance of human resources towards successful companies.

30th April 2004 – Marketing Seminar “Gerir a Informação: O novo Desafio da Indústria Têxtil e do Vestuário”. This seminar addressed issues related to managing information for the textile industry.

 

Internationalization

One of the latest initiatives, that covers a wide form o collaboration involving researchers and students follows the SOCRATES/Erasmus program, and was attained with the Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences in Finland. This follows others such as the protocols celebrated with: University of Bath, UK; University of Leeds, UK; and Universidade de Cranfield, UK.

Other forms of international collaboration and internationalization are listed as follow:

• Organization of the International Conference on Managing Services in the Knowledge Economy, Jully 2009.

• 
  Sampaio, P. Member of the scientific commission “World Conference on Quality and Improvement”, organized by the American Society for Quality, St. Louis, Missouri, EUA, 2010.

• 
  Reis, R. Reviewer da 43.ª Academy of Marketing Conference - Marketing Fields Forever, hosted by University of Liverpool Management School (ULMS), from 5 to 7 July 2011.

• 
  Tomé, Member of the Editorial Board of the following journals: Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management; Journal of European Industrial Training; Business Excellence Journal; International Journal of Knowledge-Based Organizations (IJKBO).

• 
  Sampaio, P. Reviewer of the following journals: The TQM Journal, Emerald; Journal of Operations Management, Elsevier; Quality Management Journal, American Society for Quality; Management Research News, Emerald; TMQ Qualidade; International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, Emerald; Journal of Operations and Logistics, I4E2.

• 
  Real, E. Member of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Managing Services in The Knowledge Economy (MSKE); Member of the University Forum for Human Resource Development.

• As part of a self-assessment process, we have invited international experts to evaluate the course of our research, these were:  Professor Gary McLean (Management), Texas University, USA; Professor Robert Reuben (Mechanical Engineering), Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, UK; Professor Hartmut Spliethoff (Mechanical Engineering), Institute for Energy Systems, Technische Universität München (TUM), Germany; and, Professor Javier Ballester (Mechanical Engineering), Zaragoza University, Spain.

• Reviewer to Knowledge Management Review and Practice, Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management.

• Member of the Editorial Board of the Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management.

• Reviewer of the Academy of Marketing Conference – Coventry University Business School, UK, 6-8 July 2009

• Organization of the International Conference on Managing Services in the Knowledge Economy, July 2009

• External examiner for a doctoral thesis “Strategic knowledge management: structural factors, antecedent role of organizational culture, and effect on performance”. Author: Carolina López Nicolás, University of Murcia, Spain.

• International project involving 19 European organizations. ETIV – EMAS Technological Implementation and Verification. Financed by the Leonardo da Vinci program. AGREEMENT n° 2002 - P/02/B/F/PP-125531 duration of 30 months. From 2002 to 2005.

 

Future Research

Under the previous designation, this group aims to carry out several R&D and Innovation projects in order to contribute to the development of the Academic and the Enterprise Community.

With this purpose, this group will carry out several projects to investigate and develop new approaches to operations management in the industrial and service sector. The service sector will be a preferable target since its importance is increasing and new challenges are arising. Innovation practices in the operations management will also take place as the members of this initiative are members of design departments in several firms.

Under the theme “operations management”, the topic “supply chain management” will receive special attention due to its strategic impact in every organization’s success.

The subject “lean management” will be further developed and integrated with the operations management theme in order to create a holistic approach to enterprise management. Once again, the main focus will be placed on the service sector.

R&D initiatives will also take place in organizations that are part of the social economy sector (ex. non-profit organizations, non-governmental organizations, social care institutions and similar). The knowledge and the expertise gained with the operations management and lean thinking R&D efforts will be transferred to firms belonging to these economic sector.

Research to be undertaken in the following fields:
- Sustainable Development Index in the Tourism Sector in Portugal;

- The Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Brand Image – Best Practices and Cases in Portugal;

- The Synergistic Effect of Direct Marketing, Quality and Satisfaction in Developing BTB Relationships: The Case of the Training Sector in Portugal.