João Manuel Pereira

The success of a construction project is a widely discussed topic, even today, and there exists a difference of opinion. The impact of communication and conflict on project success is an important, but least addressed, issue in literature, especially in the case of underdeveloped countries. Miscommunication and conflict not only hinder the success of a project but also may lead to conflicts. The focus of this paper was to examine the impact of communication on project success with the mediating role of conflict. By using SPSS, demographics, descriptive statistics and correlation were determined. Smart PLS version 3.0 was used for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), internal accuracy and validity estimates, hypothesis checking and mediation testing. The results showed that formal communication has a negative impact on the success of a construction project, resulting in conflicts among project team members, whereas informal communication and communication willingness have a positive impact on project success because people tend to know each other, and trust is developed. Task, process and relationship conflicts were used as mediating variables. It was found that task conflict effects the relations positively because project team members suggest different ways to do a certain task, and, hence, project success is achieved. On the contrary, process conflict and relationship conflict have a negative impact on communication and project success. Both of these conflicts lead to miscommunication, and project success is compromised. Hence, it is the responsibility of the project manager to enhance communication among project team members and to reduce the detrimental effects of process and relationship conflict on project success.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a rapid and abrupt transition from presential to online learning in higher education institutions (HEI) around the world. However, the majority of these HEI are not prepared to handle the challenges of this new disruptive digital environment. Students, teachers, and the entire organizational structure of these institutions must learn how to adapt to these new challenges such as teleworking, the use of technology to access and develop virtual classrooms, personal constraints at home, etc. This chapter aims to study this swift transition process and its impact according to the students´ perspective on this matter. Based on an exploratory study and by drawing on the data collected through a questionnaire applied to 1079 Brazilian and Portuguese students, the chapter provides an interesting view on the student's perceptions, their conditions to study at home, the relation with technology, and their expectations regarding the permanent use of online learning (e-learning or b-learning).

While active agents of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, governments can play a crucial role as catalysts of entrepreneurial ambition as they develop modern defense capabilities, and in the process, by focusing on technological innovation and knowledge transfer. The supporting argument to this claim lies in the assumption that by exploiting the potential of these innovative technologies, namely their dual-use capacity and spillover effect, they may prove to have a contagion effect in new business formation. Drawing on secondary data, namely a literature review, this chapter raises the discussion for further research on how governments', as active agents of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, can leverage entrepreneurship while developing superior defence capabilities. By linking the development of these capabilities, through an innovative national technological industrial base (DTIB), to new business formation, the notion that entrepreneurship is far from being rooted in a commercially competitive market setting alone is equally reinforced in the context of the chapter.

Esta investigação pretende identificar os estilos de aprendizagem dos estudantes portugueses de cursos de administração, possibilitando assim identificar formas efetivas de promover o ensino-aprendizagem. O desenvolvimento da pesquisa divide-se em duas partes: abordagem teórica e análise e discussão dos resultados obtidos atendendo à estruturação dos principais estilos de aprendizagem dos estudantes de administração caracterizados a partir do modelo de Felder e Silverman. Os dados foram recolhidos em três instituições de ensino superior portuguesas e procuram contribuir para a implementação de melhorias no processo de aprendizagem destes estudantes, contribuindo para o planejamento adequado de estratégias de aprendizagem que visem o sucesso educativo. A análise estatística dos dados foi realizada através do software SPSS, versão 25.0 para Windows, envolvendo medidas de estatística descritiva e estatística inferencial. Os resultados do estudo são consistentes com os achados na literatura em contextos similares, sugerindo que os estilos de aprendizagem variam em função do indivíduo, e no que concerne ao gênero, variável ainda relativamente pouco estudada, supostamente as alunas utilizam significativamente mais as estratégias cognitivas do que os alunos.

COVID-19 has had a marked impact on the global economy, resulting in uncertainty, pessimism, and adverse effects on financial markets. In light of this event, this paper aims to test whether the evolution of COVID-19 (confirmed cases and deaths) is responsible for the stock market indices in eight European countries, from December 31, 2019 to July 23, 2020. Two key research questions have been raised to determine this causal link: Does the increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths cause shockwaves in Europe's financial markets? If so, does the presence of long memories cause high levels of arbitration? The results show mostly structural breaks in March 2020. In contrast, the VAR Granger Causality/Block Exogeneity Wald Tests model shows that the COVID-19 data series (confirmed cases and deaths) do not cause shocks in Europe's financial markets, which in return does not validate the first research question. The results of the exponents detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) shows significant long memories ranging between 0.61-0.73.

Historically, technology has been the prime catalyst of social, cultural, and economic development. Breakthrough technologies have been found responsible for major disruptive civilizational leaps in time, crafting and reshaping the way we view the world and its infinite boundaries, resolving our common problems and how we interact in pursuit of a communal and cooperative existence. Marketing has constantly reinvented itself in light of the environmental changes caused by these new technologies, and in doing so, has introduced new marketing paradigms and principles. Drawing on key findings from the literature, this chapter discusses the transformational effect of the digital age-related technologies, highlighting major trends and their impact from a marketing perspective. Implicit to these findings and the arguments that follow is the idea that understanding these technologies and how to harness them is of crucial importance.