António Fernandes

Strategic problem-solving is a relevant skill in business, widely used to identify problems and find inherent solutions to stop, avoid, or mitigate such problems. The literature revolving around problem-solving has been enriched over the years with several theories and approaches. Problem-solving is critical in helping maintain a successful business and looking at problems as objectively and modestly as possible. This systematic literature review aims to summarize the current state of the art on the topic of strategic problem-solving. To this end, a bibliometric analysis based on data retrieved from the Web of Science database is performed, and results are reported in this article. The analysis allowed us to identify five different clusters on the theme of problem-solving, namely, product development and open innovation, organization and firm-customer relationship, creative process and resilience, learning, skills, and work environment, and partnership negotiation/cooperation and the role of supply chain and quality management. These clusters are distinct yet complementary to each other, a trait that was possible to observe when common top papers from each cluster were selected for further discussion. Finally, a shift in the topics of research from past to present was observed which might be related to the emergence of new theories and the turnover of authors. The growing number of recent publications reveals the value of this article and suggests that problem-solving will always have room for improvement.

The hypertension is a well know problem and associated with a high salt consuming is one of the commonest chronic diseases.To measure the impact of this consuming it has been applied the methodology provided by the Business Case tool (BC Tool), in a Portuguese foundation for elderly, in order to contribute for Intervention Plan for the reduction of hypertension which aims to reduce salt consumption in the Portuguese population and to improve the control of Hypertension through a phased reduction in salt consumption.This objective has been achieved by changing the availability of foods with lower salt contents and by decreasing the addition of salt in cooking. The results of these measures provided a substantial benefit in terms of Benefits Measurements and Cost Analysis besides the results of SROI measurement in order to obtain the social benefits of this initiative of the Intervention plan to reduce hypertension. Along these results it has been collected the suggestions for improvements that would allow the Sarah Beirão Foundation's response to the needs of its users to be improved

Knowledge is a crucial asset for any organization nowadays. Despite the temporary nature of projects, proper knowledge management can improve outcomes and benefit future endeavors. However, an effective knowledge management system has to be tailored to each organization. Therefore, it is extremely important to assess the stage of knowledge management (KM) maturity of an organization. The present study analyzed the general maturity level of European project-based organizations. The analysis was performed to understand the maturity of the knowledge management cycle’s phases and it was possible to distinguish which phases were more developed and what are the main steps to create effective organizational learning in a project-based organization. Overall, European-based project-oriented organizations are halfway through the implementation of KM systems. While the need for a proper system has already been acknowledged, the infrastructure to support it still needs to be developed so proper measures can be put in practice.