NIMS - Dissertações de Mestrado em Gestão da Informação (Information Management)
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- Agile success factors: From strategic differentiators to baseline conditions: A mixed-methods approachPublication . Martins, Vera Barata; Tam Chuem Vai, CarlosThis study seeks to identify and explain the main drivers of agile project success in the software development industry, with a particular focus on how established and emerging factors interact in contemporary, digitally enabled environments. The proposed research model includes six success factors (team capability, customer involvement, leadership style, team autonomy, digital collaboration infrastructure, and mode of collaboration). Addressing limitations in prior research that often examines these factors in isolation, the study adopts a mixed-methods approach to provide a more comprehensive perspective. Quantitative data were collected from 211 software development professionals and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to assess the relationships between variables. This is complemented by qualitative data from eight semi-structured interviews, offering contextual insights into how these factors operate in practice. The study contributes to theory by offering an integrated framework that combines these success factors, and to practitioners by providing actionable guidance for organizations managing agile software projects in increasingly digital and distributed work environments.
- Identifying Rental Stress Zones in Lisbon: A Spatial Rental Stress Index for Housing AffordabilityPublication . Carvalho, Diogo Filipe Ferreira de; Neves, Maria de Fátima dos Santos TrindadeThis study addresses the growing housing affordability crisis in Lisbon, where existing approaches to measuring rental stress often based on simple income-to-rent ratios, fail to reflect the influence of tourism pressure, urban amenities, and socio-spatial inequalities, limiting their usefulness for urban planning and policy-making. By developing a spatially explicit Rental Stress Index (RSI), this research seeks to provide a more comprehensive measure of rental market pressure. t In recent years, rising housing prices driven by tourism, real estate investment, and increased demand have widened the gap between rental costs and household income, intensifying intra-urban inequalities. To overcome the limitations of traditional affordability measures, this research adopts a Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) to create a composite index integrating socioeconomic, housing, and spatial indicators. The RSI is computed at the parish level using multiple open data sources, including census data, rental prices, and geospatial data on short-term rentals and urban amenities. The results reveal a clear center–periphery pattern, with higher rental stress concentrated in central parishes, where elevated prices, tourism pressure, and urban attractiveness converge. Peripheral areas show comparatively lower stress levels. The findings demonstrate that rental stress is multidimensional, emerging from the interaction between housing market dynamics, socioeconomic vulnerability, and territorial characteristics. An interactive Power BI dashboard was developed to support the visualization and interpretation of results, enabling more informed decision-making. This study contributes a replicable, datadriven framework to support housing policy and promote more equitable urban development.
- Evaluating No-Code AI Knowledge Assistants: Vector Database-Driven Chatbots for Digital Transformation in EnterprisesPublication . Nienaltowski, Maciej; Lopes, Nuno Alexandre Moura PintoThis thesis examines whether no-code platforms can support the development of effective knowledge assistants for enterprise environments by designing and evaluating a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) system. The study addresses the problem of information fragmentation, where employees struggle to find reliable guidance across dispersed documents. The prototype integrates workflow orchestration, cloud document monitoring, vector database storage, and language models to automate document ingestion, semantic retrieval while excluding archived content, and response generation with safeguards against unrelated queries. The system was evaluated using 24 UK government policy documents and 21 structured queries covering factual recall, synthesis, negative testing, and document lifecycle scenarios, achieving an average accuracy score of 4.67 out of 5.0 and a relevance score of 5.0 out of 5.0 via LLM-as-judge evaluation. The design includes continuous synchronization between cloud storage and the vector database, metadata-driven document management, a two-stage retrieval process combining vector search with semantic prioritization, and structured error logging, all implemented through visual workflows without custom code. The results indicate that such systems can be implemented using no-code tools under controlled conditions, although limitations remain regarding optical character recognition for scanned documents, role-based access control, and validation in multi-user settings. The study suggests that design choices related to orchestration, metadata structure, and document lifecycle management play an important role in system performance alongside the underlying language models, and it provides a reproducible approach for developing enterprise knowledge systems using visual development tools.
- Determinants of Consumer Satisfaction in E-Commerce: The Roles of Perceived Usefulness and Behavioral IntentionPublication . Pereira, Maria Carlota Martins; Neves, Maria de Fátima dos Santos TrindadeThe rapid growth of e-commerce has increased academic interest in identifying the factors that affect customer satisfaction in online shopping environments. This study investigates the principal factors influencing consumer satisfaction on e-commerce platforms, highlighting the importance of information quality, system quality, service quality, trust, perceived usefulness, and behavioral intention. A conceptual framework, based on the DeLone and McLean Information Systems Success Model, the Technology Acceptance Model, and the Theory of Planned Behavior, was developed and empirically validated using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with data from 219 participants. The findings reveal that perceived usefulness is the strongest predictor of both behavioral intention and consumer satisfaction. Trust significantly enhances perceived usefulness, while service quality and behavioral intention directly influence satisfaction. In contrast, information quality, system quality, and trust do not exhibit a significant direct effect on satisfaction. These results highlight the central role of perceived usefulness as a key mechanism through which trust and service quality translate into satisfaction in data-driven e-commerce environments. The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence from the Portuguese context and by clarifying the relative importance of technological and behavioral factors in shaping consumer satisfaction.
- How can an Interactive Business Intelligence Report Enhance the Communication and Analysis of Humanitarian Security Incident Data?Publication . Wiatr, Maria; Neves, Maria de Fátima dos Santos TrindadeThis thesis explores how an interactive business intelligence (BI) report can enhance the communication and analysis of humanitarian security incident data, using the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD) as its case study. The research addresses the limitations of existing AWSD visualizations, which are largely static and offer limited analytical depth, by designing and implementing a dynamic BI solution through a Design Science Research Methodology. The solution combines a star-schema data model developed according to Kimball’s dimensional modeling principles, structured data transformation guided by Medallion Architecture, and report development in Microsoft Fabric and Power BI. The study includes a literature review, data architecture design, interactive report development, and evaluation through a structured questionnaire completed by the data owner. The resulting artifact provides a BI report for exploring humanitarian security incidents and demonstrates the potential of interactive visualization to support research, advocacy, and communication in humanitarian contexts.
- Digital Transformation and ESG Performance: A Systematic Review and Conceptual FrameworkPublication . Ferreira, Ana Pereira; Neves, Maria de Fátima dos Santos TrindadeEnterprise digital transformation has emerged as a critical enabler of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) integration in modern business strategies, yet the connections between these two agendas remain fragmented in the literature. This study addresses this gap through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) following PRISMA guidelines, analyzing 109 peer-reviewed articles published between 2021 and 2025 from Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, and Sage. A computational text analysis pipeline combining full-text extraction and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling was applied to identify thematic patterns and research trajectories. The analysis revealed eight distinct thematic clusters, ranging from AI adoption and ESG disclosure to green innovation and firm-level ESG performance mechanisms. The results show that digital transformation has a broadly positive, empirically robust effect on ESG performance, primarily through mechanisms such as information transparency, governance strengthening, green innovation, and operational efficiency, with green innovation emerging as the most consistent mediating pathway. The field has evolved from descriptive approaches to more mechanism-based and financially grounded analyses, with AI-driven sustainability and greenwashing governance emerging as key frontier topics. A strong geographic concentration was identified, with approximately 65% of the empirical evidence derived from Chinese listed companies, raising questions about external validity. This study contributes to theory and practice by systematizing the current knowledge landscape and proposing a conceptual framework that explains the digital transformation–ESG relationship as a multi-layered and dynamic process involving mediating mechanisms, contextual moderators, and bidirectional effects.
- Touristic Patterns Across the Azores Archipelago: Segmenting the “Big Two” and the “Seven Forgotten”Publication . Viallelle, João Jean Teles; Neves, Catarina Paisana Pires Costa dasTourism in the Azores is structurally concentrated: São Miguel and Terceira, the "Big Two", account for more than 80% of all recorded guests, while the remaining seven islands remain comparatively underexplored by both researchers and policymakers. This study applies K-Means clustering to 64 island-quarter observations (eight islands × eight quarters, 2023–2024) to examine whether the "Seven Forgotten" form distinct tourism profiles or a single undifferentiated group. From that, three clusters emerge: Stable Air Hubs (São Miguel and Terceira), characterised by year-round demand, high aircraft loads, and low seasonality; Connected Summer Islands (Faial, Pico, São Jorge, and Flores), defined by active maritime connectivity and strong internationalisation in peak season; and Quiet Periphery, marked by predominantly domestic demand, limited connectivity, and structural cost stress (Graciosa and Santa Maria). Another relevant finding is that the dominant axis of variation is territorial, i.e., no peripheral island ever enters the hub cluster, and the structural hierarchy is stable across seasons. Within the periphery, however, seasonal transitions are systematic, the four Central Group islands shift between clusters in summer and winter, confirming that seasonality and island identity are not equivalent dimensions. These findings provide policymakers with an empirical basis for designing differentiated, territorially equitable strategies across the archipelago.
- When Agile Work Becomes Exhausting: Burnout and the Use of Agile Practices in Project TeamsPublication . Custódio, Patrícia Isabel de Silvério; Monteiro, António José Vieira Póvoa; Tam Chuem Vai, CarlosAgile methodologies are widely used to manage software and digital projects, yet their demanding work conditions may create psychological strain for project team members. Despite extensive research on agile implementation, limited attention has been given to the individual factors explaining why employees adopt agile work practices. This study examines how employees’ beliefs and emotional exhaustion influence the use of agile practices in project environments. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the model explains how attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control shape intention and behavior, while emotional exhaustion acts as a background factor influencing these beliefs. Data from 293 employees working in agile project teams show that positive attitudes strongly influence intention to use agile practices, while perceived capability plays a central role in their actual use. Emotional exhaustion weakens these belief structures. The findings highlight the importance of employee well-being for sustaining agile project work.
- Resilience in London’s Housing Pipeline: Planning-System Performance Under Workload ShocksPublication . Antunes, José Miguel Martins Campião; Neves, Maria de Fátima dos Santos TrindadeHousing supply constraints in London are increasingly shaped not only by market conditions but also by the capacity of planning systems to process applications under pressure, an operational dimension that remains underexplored. This thesis examines how borough-level planning decision activity in London responds to workload shocks and how resilience varies across local planning authorities. Using administrative records from the Planning London Datahub (PLD), a borough-month panel was constructed for the period 2019–2025, covering decision volume, median decision time, and approval rate. The empirical strategy combines descriptive analysis, borough-specific shock identification, construction of a comparative Resilience Index, and predictive modelling. Shocks are defined as borough-months in which decision volume exceeds a borough-specific upper-tail threshold, while resilience is measured as the extent to which planning performance deteriorates relative to borough-specific baseline conditions under such pressure. The results show that workload shocks are concentrated rather than evenly distributed across London, with a marked clustering in 2021 and a higher frequency in a limited group of boroughs, particularly the more central ones. Boroughs also differ materially in resilience, indicating that exposure to pressure and deterioration under pressure are distinct phenomena. Median decision time emerges as the most fragile dimension of planning-system performance, while approval rate remains comparatively stable throughout the sample. In the predictive exercise, nonlinear models provide modest gains over persistence for median decision time, whereas approval rate is best explained by temporal persistence alone. Exploratory evidence further suggests that resilience differences across boroughs are not fully explained by shock exposure alone, although the thesis does not provide a formal causal account of the underlying institutional or contextual drivers. Overall, the thesis advances a comparative and operational framework for analysing resilience in the planning stage of London’s housing pipeline, demonstrating that vulnerability is unevenly distributed across boroughs and manifests primarily through slower decisionmaking rather than approval outcomes.
- Gamification in Corporate Learning Systems: A Generational Perspective on Net BenefitsPublication . Oliveira, Ana Rita Barroso de; Costa, Maria Manuela Simões Aparício daGamification has increasingly been adopted in corporate Learning and Development (L&D) systems as a strategy to enhance user engagement, motivation, and performance. However, limited empirical research explores how different gamification design elements contribute to perceived system value, particularly across generational groups. This study aims to examine how key gamification features, namely rewards, rapid and visible feedback, and freedom to experiment, influence perceived enjoyment and perceived net benefits within corporate learning systems. Additionally, it investigates whether generational differences, specifically between Generation Z and Non-Generation Z users, lead to differences in these relationships. A quantitative research approach was employed, using survey data collected from users of gamified learning platforms. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the proposed hypotheses and assess both direct and indirect effects. The results indicate that gamification elements significantly enhance perceived enjoyment, which in turn positively influences perceived net benefits. Some direct effects on net benefits were also observed. However, the multigroup analysis reveals limited differences between generational groups, suggesting that the effectiveness of gamification may be broadly consistent across age segments, with minor variations. This study contributes to the Information Systems and L&D literature by providing empirical evidence on the value of gamification in corporate contexts and offering practical insights for designing more effective digital learning environments.