Abstract
The reliability and safety of industrial machines depends on their timely maintenance. The integration of Cyber Physical Systems within the maintenance process enables both continuous machine monitoring and the application of advanced techniques for predictive and proactive machine maintenance. The building blocks for this revolution-embedded sensors, efficient preprocessing capabilities, ubiquitous connection to the internet, cloud-based analysis of the data, prediction algorithms, and advanced visualization methods-are already in place, but several hurdles have to be overcome to enable their application in real scenarios, namely: the integration with existing machines and existing maintenance processes. Current research and development efforts are building pilots and prototypes to demonstrate the feasibility and the merits of advanced maintenance techniques, and this paper describes a system for the industrial maintenance of sheet metal working machinery and its evolution towards a full proactive maintenance system.

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.

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
Nascent entrepreneurship has long been studied from a variety of perspectives. A major stream of work by psychologists and sociologists suggests that nascent entrepreneurs have distinctive traits and competences. A second focus for research has been studying the environment in which nascent entrepreneurs operates. Recently, the identification and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities has emerged as a third focus. In this paper we will address the following questions: (1) what are the individual characteristics of those individuals who are attracted to becoming an entrepreneur? (2) What are the environmental factors contributing to new venture creation? (3) What are the steps in the creation process? We will attempt to answer these three questions by arguing that the central process of nascent entrepreneurship is centred on opportunity recognition, evaluation and exploitation, and influenced by contextual factors (e.g. external knowledge) and personal characteristics and competences (e.g. internal knowledge).

Abstract
With the collapse of communism, some former communist States of Eastern Europe managed to muddle through their way to a market economy and entered the European Union. This brought about the acceleration of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) among the European economies and accelerated the globalization process. Although there is plenty of research on FDI and trade among countries, the aim of this chapter is to analyze how trade between Portugal and the Czech Republic have evolved over form 2000 until 2015. The chapter seeks to complement previous studies on FDI and trade as Portugal and the Czech Republic are part of the European Union, but have had different historical, cultural, and economic paths. The main conclusion of the chapter is that trade between both countries has grown significantly. The main reason affecting trade between both countries is the economic unrest Portugal has been through since 2008. © 2017 by IGI Global.

Abstract
Although MNEs are important players in the present global world, there has been a debate regarding, on one hand, how MNEs contribute to the development of indigenous firms in host countries, and on the other hand, how indigenous suppliers are able to cope with their international technology demanding clients. This chapter analyzes the patterns of technology acquisition of 40 firms that supply eight multinational firms that belong to four different industries. It is possible to conclude that there are certain differences among foreign and indigenous suppliers as well across the industries they belong to. These differences are the result of a cumulative process over time, which reflect the different performances of the companies and their relationships with the environment.