Carla Pereira

Abstract
The Portuguese footwear industry is aware that success in the value chain is directly tied to information sharing and the development of collaborative networks, which are consequences of the constant rapid market changes. In this paper a state-of-the-art of the Portuguese footwear sector is presented, giving special focus to the cluster of Felgueiras and the good practices that are applied to it. Next, B2B and eCommerce domains will be discussed, as well as the good practices and information systems that support them. Afterwards, a list of functional and non-functional requirements, which have been validated and prioritized using a case studies approach, will be presented. Finally, it will be presented a non-functional prototype for an eC-B2B platform for the footwear sector.

Abstract
In a collaborative conceptualisation process, the existence of several solutions for a given domain is a very common problem. Given this, specialists must reach a consensus on the concepts that will encompass the final solution. Therefore, this work aims to provide a tool for the integration of conceptual models in order to help specialists during the negotiation phase of developing the final shared model. This approach analyses the concepts of two models and shows the similar concepts to the specialists. The semantic similarity is obtained after three stages, namely: normalization, syntax analysis and semantic analysis. To evaluate the proposed approach, the values of precision and recall measures were calculated in two practical application scenarios. The obtained results proved to be better when compared to the existing tools when applied to semi-formal models (conceptual maps), and very close to the best tools focused on formal models (ontologies) integration. © Springer International Publishing AG 2017.

Abstract
Globalization and the rapid market changes increased the perception in the Portuguese footwear industry that success in the value chain is closely tied to information sharing, the creation and development of collaborative networks, and the management of the knowledge of the various partners. Business to Business (B2B) and e- Commerce (eC) are a key opportunity, and at the same time, a challenge for contemporary companies. We believe that the insights provided in this paper allow theory and practice to better understand the reasons for the success of the Portuguese footwear industry and of its key cluster of Felgueiras. Based on the research conducted, we argue that there is a lack of B2B-eC initiatives in the footwear industry and the existing ones are still incipient. Furthermore, the existence of only one platform that to some extent addresses B2B-eC, also indicates that there is a need for greater research and development of approaches/technology allowing companies to explore opportunities to collaborate and negotiate among themselves.

Abstract
Purpose: In collaborative settings, such as research and development projects, obtaining the maximum benefit from knowledge management systems depends on the ability of the different partners to understand the conceptualisation underlying the system’s knowledge organisation. This paper aims to show how information/knowledge organisation in a multi-organisation project can be made more effective if the domain experts are involved in the specification of the systems semantic structure. A particular aspect is further studied: the role of conceptual relations in the process of collaborative development of such structures. Design/methodology/approach: An action-research approach was adopted, framed by a socio-semantic stance. A collaborative conceptual modelling platform was used to support the members of a research and development project in the process of developing a lightweight ontology aiming at reorganising all the project information in a wiki system. Data collection was carried out by means of participant observation, interviews and a questionnaire. Findings: The approach to solve the content organisation problem revealed to be effective both in the result and the process. It resulted in a better-organised system, enabling more efficient project information retrieval. The collaborative development of the lightweight ontology embodied, in fact, a learning process, leading to a shared conceptualisation. The research results point to the importance of the elicitation of conceptual relations for structuring the project’s knowledge. These results are important for the design of methods and tools to support the collaborative development of conceptual models. Originality/value: This paper studies the social process leading to a shared conceptualisation, a subject that has not been sufficiently researched. This case study provides evidence about the importance of the early phases of the construction of ontologies, mainly if domain experts are deeply involved, supported by appropriated tools and guided by well-structured processes. © 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Abstract
Personnel scheduling problems are widely studied both by the scientific community and by the human resource managers of the companies. The financial impact of the decisions, the welfare of the employees, or more subjective concepts like "fairness" and "balance", turn this case into much more than just a routine problem. When it comes to medical personnel scheduling, additional difficulties can be found, such as uninterrupted work (24 hours per day, 7 days per week), or the quality of service that has to be ensured. The work presented in this paper was based on the rules defined in INRCII - Second International Nurse Rostering Competition - but always with the vision of creating the necessary basis for the future development of an automatic and optimized generic personnel scheduling software.