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Publications

Publications by Eric Macieira Costa

2016

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED BY APPLYING SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS TO THE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY INDUSTRY RELATIONS?

Authors
Romero, F; Costa, E;

Publication
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 3RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PROJECT EVALUATION (ICOPEV 2016)

Abstract
The aim of this work is to give an overview on the development of theoretical concepts and methodological approaches to investigate innovation networks, in particular the use of social network analysis in the study of university industry relations. The structure of networks can be analysed through the lens of Social Network Analysis. This methodological approach is described and its fundamental concepts are presented. The paper then reviews the applications of this approach on the study of university industry relations. These relations can be considered as an innovation network, in the sense that the interactions established by its participants have more or less defined innovation goals. Different structures in the relations may result in different innovation outcomes, and the use of SNA may be particularly useful to understand differential outcomes. It is thus important to take stock of the knowledge concerning the efforts that have been made to probe the complex phenomena of university industry relations and, in particular, how approaches based on social network analysis have been used to understand it. This work is based on a review of available literature on the topics. The paper aims at systematizing the information and knowledge related to the application of SNA on university industry networks, highlighting the main research pathways, the main conclusions and pointing possible future research questions.

2016

Situating Case Studies Within the Design Science Research Paradigm: An Instantiation for Collaborative Networks

Authors
Costa, E; Soares, AL; de Sousa, JP;

Publication
COLLABORATION IN A HYPERCONNECTED WORLD

Abstract
A rigorous evaluation of an artifact is one of the fundamental aspects to be considered in Design Science Research projects. This evaluation part becomes even more difficult when a large variety of artifacts must be designed for a project. This can be a challenge for the field of Collaborative Networks, which involves knowledge from several scientific disciplines. Case studies are one of the evaluation methods in Design Science Research that are used for an ex-post evaluation of artifacts. However, we argue that this method can also be used for the ex-ante evaluation, mainly when multidisciplinary research is being carried out. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to present and discuss a multidisciplinary project of Collaborative Networks using case studies before and after the design of the artifacts. On top of the Design Science Research guidelines, this research is supported by knowledge from Business and Management Studies on how to effectively design and perform Case Study Research for artifact evaluation.

2017

Institutional networks for supporting the internationalisation of SMEs: the case of industrial business associations

Authors
Costa, E; Soares, AL; de Sousa, JP;

Publication
JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & INDUSTRIAL MARKETING

Abstract
Purpose - This paper aims to study and explore the activities and the use of institutional network resources by industrial business associations (IBAs) to support and facilitate internationalisation processes of small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Other goals are to understand the internationalisation follow-up process and the future vision of IBAs to improve this internationalisation support. Design/methodology/approach - Based on empirical evidence and following an abductive approach, this paper presents a qualitative exploratory field research, providing insights from interviews performed with 20 IBAs based in Portugal. Findings - The findings suggest that the current institutional network support to internationalisation is mainly provided through promotional activities; counselling, training and technical and legal support; information sharing; and cooperation with other institutional entities. Each support category is explored and explained and a new conceptual model is developed to represent these findings. Regarding the internationalisation follow-up, IBAs provide a continuous support for the international operations by using some instruments and mechanisms to assist SMEs after an internationalisation initiative. Finally, collaboration and the use of new information technology are the main aspects to improve IBAs' support in a near future. Research limitations/implications - The qualitative methodological approach adopted in this work can imply a larger difficulty to obtain a generalisation of the findings. Another limitation is that the participating IBAs are based in only one country. Practical implications - Findings can help SMEs to understand the functioning and the benefits of using the institutional network resources of IBAs in overcoming their lack of resources to operate in international markets. IBAs can also understand their current position in terms of internationalisation support and think about new ways for improving this support. Originality/value - This paper contributes to a better understanding of the influence of institutional networks in SME internationalisation by exploring the specific role of one of the institutional actors rather than focusing on the institutional network as a whole. Therefore, this study details the current activities and uncovers other types of support provided by IBAs that are not based on export promotion programmes. New knowledge is also obtained about the specific information content, information sources and means and channels of information sharing used by IBAs for supporting SME internationalisation.

2015

Waste identification diagrams

Authors
Dinis Carvalho, J; Moreira, F; Braganca, S; Costa, E; Alves, A; Sousa, R;

Publication
PRODUCTION PLANNING & CONTROL

Abstract
Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a very popular tool in lean environments to represent production flows, mapping value stream of a product or family of products, and helps to identify some types of waste. Although very popular, this tool has some limitations as already described in many publications, especially in terms of restrictions in showing most types of waste as well as in its inability to represent various production routes. The purpose of this study is to introduce the waste identification diagram (WID), a new tool to represent production units with its different forms of waste, which overcomes some VSM limitations. The originality of WID comes from the use of its symbols' dimensions to convey, in a visual and immediate way, relevant information about a production unit. In this paper, WID is applied on a production unit of a lift manufacturer, for testing its performance and comparing it to VSM. The main findings are that WID is in general more effective than VSM in terms of representation of complex production units and in terms of identification of more forms of waste. WID must however overcome some of its limitations such as the lack of information-flow representation and the links to suppliers and clients.

2015

AN APPLICATION OF THE LEAN PRODUCTION TOOL STANDARD WORK

Authors
Braganca, S; Costa, E;

Publication
JURNAL TEKNOLOGI

Abstract
Standard Work is a very useful tool of the Lean Production paradigm to specify standards and to establish the best methods and sequences for each process and for each worker, helping to reduce wastes. Despite its usefulness, this tool is often underused, neglected and misunderstood. Apart from that, there is a lack of literature about Standard Work. It is possible to find many papers on Lean Production in general and on some Lean tools, but there are few that focus on or describe in detail this particular tool. The main purpose of this paper is to prove the validity and show the importance and the applicability of Standard Work. The main aspects and ideas to understand this tool are described, as well as the benefits of applying it in a real world manufacturing environment. In this paper, an application example is given on a production unit of an elevators company, following the Action-Research methodology. The main findings are that Standard Work is effectively a good tool to normalize work procedures, allowing increased flexibility and production, and decreased wastes and assembly errors.

2016

Analysing the correlation between social network analysis measures and performance of students in social network-based engineering education

Authors
Putnik, G; Costa, E; Alves, C; Castro, H; Varela, L; Shah, V;

Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN EDUCATION

Abstract
Social network-based engineering education (SNEE) is designed and implemented as a model of Education 3.0 paradigm. SNEE represents a new learning methodology, which is based on the concept of social networks and represents an extended model of project-led education. The concept of social networks was applied in the real-life experiment, considering two different dimensions: (1) to organize the education process as a social network-based process; and (2) to analyze the students' interactions in the context of evaluation of the students learning performance. The objective of this paper is to present a new model for students evaluation based on their behavior during the course and its validation in comparison with the traditional model of students' evaluation. The validation of the new evaluation model is made through an analysis of the correlation between social network analysis measures (degree centrality, closeness centrality, betweenness centrality, eigenvector centrality, and average tie strength) and the grades obtained by students (grades for quality of work, grades for volume of work, grades for diversity of work, and final grades) in a social network-based engineering education. The main finding is that the obtained correlation results can be used to make the process of the students' performance evaluation based on students interactions (behavior) analysis, to make the evaluation partially automatic, increasing the objectivity and productivity of teachers and allowing a more scalable process of evaluation. The results also contribute to the behavioural theory of learning performance evaluation. More specific findings related to the correlation analysis are: (1) the more different interactions a student had (degree centrality) and the more frequently the student was between the interaction paths of other students (betweenness centrality), the better was the quality of the work; (2) all five social network measures had a positive and strong correlation with the grade for volume of work and with the final grades; and (3) a student with high average tie strength had a higher grade for diversity of work than those with low ties.

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