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In many companies in the automotive industry there are challenges in some key processes in their logistic departments, mainly in internal logistics. These challenges happen due to poorly defined rules for the transportation of goods, resulting in a great cost associated with the time lost in the process. Also, the optimization of these processes, incrementing the efficiency of internal logistics can bring competitive advantages to the companies. For that matter, this study was developed at a major tire manufacturing company and proposes a model for the optimization of in-bound logistics, viewed as an online vehicle routing problem with soft deadlines (OVRPSD), using multiple depots. The main goal of this study is the increase of efficiency in logistic, optimizing the number of vehicles to supply the machines in order to reduce the stopping time of machines due to the lack of tires to consume. © 2019, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.

Abstract
The Hospitality industry is one of the main sectors of tourism activity, being important to assess the performance of the hotel companies. The aim of the present paper is to study the financial performance of 570 companies operating hotel units in Portugal, in 2017, allowing for comparison among companies with similar stars rating and market orientation to explore the question of branded and non-branded affiliation. This issue is studied using a methodology based on Data Envelopment Analysis to assess the overall performance for each company. The hotel company performance is assessed through the aggregation of multiple financial indicators using the composite indicator derived from the DEA model. The empirical results show that the hotel branded companies have, on average, significantly, higher overall financial performance than hotel non-branded companies. Although, the best practices are observed in hotel branded and non-branded companies. This analysis can support the strategic decision process of the hotel companies in choosing to operate independently or selecting a brand affiliation.

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The European Union (EU) has been promoting an integrated approach to climate protection and energy policy, through a set of key objectives for 2020, 2030 and 2050, linking Europe’s green agenda with its need for energy security and competitiveness. This paper aims to evaluate the environmental efficiency of European Countries from 2010 to 2015 towards 2020 targets, through a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. The DEA model assesses the ability of each country in minimizing current resources while maximizing the gross domestic product (GDP) and minimizing undesirable outputs, such as GhG emissions. The DEA model is based on Directional Distance Function (DDF), imposing weak disposability for the undesirable output (UO). Results obtained show that globally, in the period under analysis, the EU has increased its environmental efficiency which is consistent with the analysis of the indicators of the 2020 climate and energy package. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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This study presents an assessment of the main research problems addressed in the literature on New Product Development (NPD) and its methodologies, for the pharmaceutical industry. The work is particularly focused on the establishment of an evolutionary perspective of the relevant modelling approaches, and on identifying the main current research challenges, considering the fast-changing business context of the industry. Main findings suggest a generalized misalignment of recent studies with today's technological and market trends, highlighting the need for new modelling strategies.

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