Browsing by Author "Borges, Ana"
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- Barriers to volunteering in the field of intellectual disability: a cluster analysisPublication . Cruz, Soraia; Ferreira, Marisa Roriz; Borges, Ana; Casais, BeatrizThis paper aims to characterise the profiles of individuals likely to feel discouraged to volunteer in the field of intellectual disability. The socio-emotional contours of intellectual disability hinder the involvement of volunteers in this field. There is evidence of the particular barriers to volunteering in activities involving intellectually disabled people, but there is a dearth of research on the characteristics of individuals that mention such barriers. A survey applied to 197 individuals allowed, through latent classes, to identify three clusters of individuals—assuming volunteering as having a negative impact; unawareness of the reality of intellectual disability; and no barriers to volunteering; and three groups of barriers to volunteering in the field of intellectual disability—characteristics of intellectually disabled people; awareness; introversion. Based on the characteristics of the clusters identified, the study addresses possible strategies to overcome the constraints, aiming at involving volunteers in activities targeting individuals with intellectual impairments and to better target the recruitment of volunteering actions in this field. The continuous understanding of barriers to donate time can allow institutions to minimise constraints and overcome hurdles by emphasising the value of experiences that meet the motivations of volunteers.
- Barriers to volunteering in the field of intellectual disability: a cluster analysisPublication . Cruz, Soraia; Ferreira, Marisa Roriz; Borges, Ana; Casais, BeatrizThis paper aims to characterise the profiles of individuals likely to feel discouraged to volunteer in the field of intellectual disability. The socio-emotional contours of intellectual disability hinder the involvement of volunteers in this field. There is evidence of the particular barriers to volunteering in activities involving intellectually disabled people, but there is a dearth of research on the characteristics of individuals that mention such barriers. A survey applied to 197 individuals allowed, through latent classes, to identify three clusters of individuals—assuming volunteering as having a negative impact; unawareness of the reality of intellectual disability; and no barriers to volunteering; and three groups of barriers to volunteering in the field of intellectual disability—characteristics of intellectually disabled people; awareness; introversion. Based on the characteristics of the clusters identified, the study addresses possible strategies to overcome the constraints, aiming at involving volunteers in activities targeting individuals with intellectual impairments and to better target the recruitment of volunteering actions in this field. The continuous understanding of barriers to donate time can allow institutions to minimise constraints and overcome hurdles by emphasising the value of experiences that meet the motivations of volunteers.
- A Case Study on Scheduling of Repairs in an Automobile ShopPublication . Pilar, M. Fátima; Costa e Silva, Eliana; Borges, AnaThe classical combinatorial problem of scheduling is extensively studied and arises in several economic domains. However, there are few studies in the automobile sector, particularly in scheduling vehicle repair tasks and using real instances. This paper intends to contribute to fill this gap, focusing on the scheduling of the repairs of the mechanical section of a Portuguese firm in the automobile sector. A mathematical model is presented that will assist the shop manager on the scheduling of the repairs, taking into account: the mechanics and other resources that are available, the mechanical interventions to be performed on each vehicle and its expected processing time. The aim is to reduce the time of inactivity of the vehicles between interventions, as well as, the downtime of mechanics, and therefore improve productivity. The results, from real instances extracted from the data provided by the firm, show that the interventions are scheduled in a suitable form, and there is a reduction of the downtimes.
- Impact of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League on Financial Sustainability—Case Study of Two Small Football Portuguese TeamsPublication . Dantas, Florbela; Borges, Ana; Silva, RuiQualifying for European competitions allows football clubs to have access to the two most important football competitions played in Europe, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. Thereby, participation in these important competitions has both direct (participation prizes) and indirect (player transactions, television rights, box office, advertising, sponsorship) impacts on the sustainability of European football clubs’ accounts. The current competition model, which now includes more football teams, has become more attractive for small clubs. In this context, this research aims to analyze the impact of qualification for European competitions on the sustainability of a strong economic and financial structure of small clubs through a case study analysis of two small Portuguese clubs. The quantitative analysis is also supported by a comparative analysis, which was reinforced with nonparametric statistical analysis. The results show that the economic and financial impact on small clubs was not immediate, but was beneficial if it was managed efficiently. This research contributes to increasing knowledge of the decision-making agents of clubs that are participating for the first time in European competitions, or, if recurrent, are seeking answers and guidelines for the effective management of football teams
- Intervenção sistémica em famílias multidesafiadas: Revisão sistemática da literaturaPublication . Serrão, Carla; Borges, Ana; Santos, Ana; Monteiro, FilipaAs famílias multidesafiadas encontram-se expostas a diversos e concorrentes fatores de risco que, de certa forma, bloquearam o processo desenvolvimental do sistema familiar (Alarcão, 2000). É neste sentido que se perspetiva que toda a intervenção deve ter por base uma abordagem sistémica, com vista ao reforço das potencialidades e à estimulação dos recursos do próprio sistema e dos seus fatores de proteção. A identificação e valorização dos fatores positivos do sistema, ainda que o mesmo esteja submerso na obscuridade dos diversos desafios, permite o avanço para uma intervenção orientada para um olhar mais benigno sobre as famílias e assente na participação e corresponsabilização, bem como no comprometimento dos indivíduos (Almeida, Ferreira, Souza, & Serrão, 2016). A tónica deverá centrar-se em auxiliar o sistema a resolver as suas crises (normativas/não normativas), pelo incitamento dos processos de resiliência, contornando a vulnerabilidade e a tendência para a reprodução de situações de risco. O envolvimento e a participação ativos dos diferentes elementos do sistema familiar são os ingredientes fulcrais na intervenção sociofamiliar de abordagem sistémica (Serrão, 2016).
- Longitudinal analysis of tumor marker CEA of breast cancer patients from Braga's hospitalPublication . Borges, Ana; Sousa, Inês; Castro, LuisAllied to an epidemiological study of population of the Senology Unit of Braga’s Hospital that have been diagnosed with malignant breast cancer, we describe the progression in time of repeated measurements of tumor marker Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Our main purpose is to describe the progression of this tumor marker as a function of possible risk factors and, hence, to understand how these risk factors influences that progression. The response variable, values of CEA, was analyzed making use of longitudinal models, testing for different correlation structures. The same covariates used in a previous survival analysis were considered in the longitudinal model. The reference time used was time from diagnose until death from breast cancer. For diagnostic of the models fitted we have used empirical and theoretical variograms. To evaluate the fixed term of the longitudinal model we have tested for a changing point on the effect of time on the tumor marker progression. A longitudinal model was also fitted only to the subset of patients that died from breast cancer, using the reference time as time from date of death until blood test.
- A Strategy to Assess Water Meter PerformancePublication . Cordeiro, Clara; Borges, Ana; Ramos, M. RosárioApparent water losses can be problematic to water companies’ revenues. This type of loss is very difficult to detect and quantify and is often associated with water meter anomalies. This study was motivated by a water company’s challenge that links a decrease in water consumption to water meters’ malfunction. The aim is to develop a strategy to detect decreasing water usage patterns, contributing to meter performance assessment. The basis of the approach is a combination of statistical methods. First, the time series of billed water consumption is decomposed using Seasonal-Trend decomposition based on Loess. Next, breakpoint analysis is performed on the seasonally adjusted time series. After that, the Mann–Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimator are used to analyze periods of progressive decrease changes in water consumption, defined by breakpoints. A quantitative indicator of this change is proposed. The strategy was successfully applied to eight-time series of water consumption from the Algarve, Portugal.
- The Dynamics between Structural Conditions and Entrepreneurship in Europe: Feature Extraction and System GMM ApproachesPublication . Borges, Ana; Correia, Aldina; Costa e Silva, Eliana; Carvalho, GlóriaStructural conditions and population characteristics of countries have been identified in the literature as factors for an individual to become, or to have intentions of becoming, an entrepreneur. However, this is still a subject under research, which has become increasingly relevant and could be crucial in the current challenges of European countries. In this work, the factors for entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurship activity are studied. More precisely, the structural conditions of European countries, which has changed over the last two decades, is analysed. The aim is to describe this behaviour and to state the main conditions for developing entrepreneurship activities and the intentions to become an entrepreneur. To achieve this purpose, feature extraction, namely, principal component analysis and dynamic longitudinal approaches are used. In particular, we propose that the system-generalised method of moments (GMM) model is adequate in this situation. The results suggest that the structure of the European framework conditions for entrepreneurship, obtained using the Factor Analysis year by year, is quite diversified until 2008, while after 2008, it is more stable. Moreover, it is concluded that the conditions associated with entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial activity differ between these two time periods. Hence, the dynamic aspect of the structural conditions that affect entrepreneurial activities or intentions should be acknowledged.
- The Perception of Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Flourishing: Cultural Diversity as an Underlying MechanismPublication . Mendes, Telma; Silva, Pamela; Ferreira, Marisa; Proença, Teresa; Borges, AnaCorporate social responsibility (CSR) has been a field of interest over the past couple of decades. The challenges posed by rapidly evolving technology and frequently changing market conditions along with well-informed customers, have compelled firms to pay greater attention to their stakeholders and address social, economic, and environmental issues. This heightened focus on CSR reflects a growing perception that success transcends financial gains and encompasses broader benefits to communities and society. Moreover, there is growing recognition of the impact of internal CSR practices, which not only enhance a firm’s reputation, assets, and customer retention but also significantly influence the well-being, engagement, and satisfaction of their workforce. Currently, for some firms, particularly multinational corporations (MNCs), promoting internal CSR practices becomes particularly complex amidst diverse workforces encompassing varied languages and cultures. This study, thus, explores the relationship between perceived CSR practices and workplace outcomes, including the mediating role of cultural diversity. Based on data collected from 211 employees in 19 different countries, the results reveal that perceived CSR effects on employee well-being, satisfaction, and engagement are driven by diversified cultural settings. Accordingly, these findings reinforce the urgency to delve deeper into the implications of cultural diversity within CSR frameworks.
- Unveiling the Dynamics of the European Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions over the Last Two Decades: A Cluster AnalysisPublication . Costa e Silva, Eliana; Correia, Aldina; Borges, Ana