Management

Objectives

Our Master in Management is designed to develop the necessary skills to foster different ways of thinking, different ways of viewing and understanding organizations in the areas of tourism management, healthcare management and/or marine and maritime management. Simultaneously, it is expected that the Master's program promotes the creation and dissemination of scientific research with national and international recognition in this important area of knowledge. The study program also intends to ensure internships and career opportunities based on established partnerships.

Upon successful completion of this course students should be able to:

• Reinforce both an academic and a professional background in Management in the specialization areas of tourism, healthcare and marine management
• Work as part of a team and to develop independent work using critical thinking and creativity to solve complex business problems in the economy and society
• Acquire the habit of thinking in global terms and lay the foundations of a personal network of contacts
• Acquire communication, interaction and team working skills
• Develop a research project and develop independent and autonomous research

The curriculum is composed of 7 required courses and 3 elective courses. Students will have five required courses in the first semester and two required courses in the second semester together with 3 electives. In the third semester of the program all students will be required to write a dissertation, internship or project report. Detailed syllabus of each course is provided in the subsection "Course Structure" in the menu above.

Curriculum Overview

Required courses

Accounting and Finance: 1. Introduction to Accounting; 1.1. Accounting as a management tool; 1.2. Transactions and accounting equation; 1.3. The balance sheet and the income statement; 1.4. The accounting process. 2. Financial statement analysis – the method; 2.1. Uniperiod and multiperiod analysis; 2.2. Ratio analysis; 2.3. Managing current assets and liabilities – a few examples; 2.4. Measuring economic performance. 3. Introduction to Finance; 3.1. Time Value of Money; 3.2 Capital Budgeting.

Business Strategy: 1. Introduction: general concepts of management and strategy; 2. The organization and the Internal analysis; 3. The environment and the external analysis; 4. Case study (team assignment); 5. Strategic frameworks; 6. Strategy implementation; 7. Business ethics; 8. Case study (team assignment).

Leadership and Organizational Behaviour: I. Organizational Leadership: 1. Distinction between Leadership and Management; 2. Leadership Model in Decision Making. II. Organizational behaviour: 3) Impact of individuals, groups and systems on organizational effectiveness; 4) Engagement and empowerment. Interventions in organizations based on engagement and empowerment; 5) Group phenomena; 6) Motivation, reward and performance evaluation; 7) Organizational structure and performance; 8) Change in organizations; 9) Research on organizational performance.

Marketing Management: I. Understanding marketing management; II. Analysing Consumer Markets; III. Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: creating value; IV. Understanding the Marketplace; V. Shaping the Market Offerings.

Operations Management:  PART I – INTRODUCTION; 1 – The strategic importance of operations; PART II – DESIGN; 2 – Products and services design, process design and layout; 3 – Design of the supply chain; PART III – PLANNING AND CONTROL; 4 – Capacity planning and control; 5 – Inventory management; 6 - Enterprise resources planning; 7 – Project management; PART IV – IMPROVEMENT; 8. Systems of operations evaluation and improvement.

Entrepreneurship: The new trends of the global economy: globalization, reverse globalization, the origins of the second global economy and the new deglobalization. Public entrepreneurship: building from scratch with resources. Their role (active or facilitator?) in the entrepreneurial environment. Processes of idea creation (invention and innovation): the identification of opportunities and the difference between a good idea and a real opportunity. The bureaucratic system, the construction of flexible networks and partnerships. The start-ups, LVT`s, e-commerce, spin-offs business and university. Social entrepreneurship. Financing entrepreneurship and venture capital. The management of an entrepreneurship project.

Research Methods: 1. Research planning and design in Management: 1.1 Research design: quantitative, qualitative and mix methods approaches; 1.2 Data collection techniques: survey, case study, interviews, focus group, delphi panel, nominal group technique, participant observation; 2. Approaches for qualitative analysis: 2.1 Models and steps; 2.2 The multiplicity of analytical approaches; 2.3 The typical phases of qualitative data analysis; 3. Framework analysis: 3.1 Conceptual clarifications; 3.2 The stages of framework; 4. The analytical journey: 4.1 From familiarization to data summary and display; 4.2 Developing categories and mapping linkages; 4.3 Developing explanations; 5. Quantitative Methodologies: 5.1 Complements on Hypotheses Testing; 5.2 Exploratory factor analysis; 5.3 Cluster analysis; 5.4 Chaid analysis; 5.5 Regression Analysis.

Elective courses

• TOURISM MANAGEMENT

Tourism Operations Management: 1. Operation management in tour operators and travel agencies: a) Tour operators. History, Concepts and Development; b) The package. Concepts and Elements; c) Travel Agencies. 2. Operations in Transport Management Enterprises: a) Transports and Tourism; b) The importance of air transport to tourism development; c) Airports and regional development.

Tourism Services Marketing:1. Introduction; 1.1. From Services to experiences; 1.2. Definition of tourist service; 1.3. Specific characteristics of tourism services; 2 Strategic Approach; 2.1 Analysis of the environment; 2.2 Mission and objectives; 2.3 Segmentation, targeting and positioning; 3 Marketing mix of tourist services; 3.1 Product; 3.2 Price; 3.3 Place; 3.4 Communication; 3.5 People; 3.6 Processes; 3.7 Physical Support; 4 Tourism Experience; 4.1 Dimensions; 4.2 Design and planning; 4.3 Monitoring; 5 The quality of the tourism experience.

Revenue Management and Cost Accounting in Tourism: 1. Revenue Management in Tourism Units; 1.1. Aims of Revenue Management; 1.2. Pricing in Tourism Units; 1.3. Relationship between Value, Quality and Price; 2. Management Accounting in Tourism Units; 2.1. Fundamental cost concepts and classifications; 2.2. The Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI); 2.3. Cost calculation in Tourism Units; 2.4. Budgeting.

• HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT

Health Economics: 1. Introduction to Health Economics; 2. The demand for health and for health care; 3. The supply of health care and the heath care provider; 4. The financing of health care activities; 5. The economic assessment of health programs and technologies; 6. Equity and inequalities in accessing the health services.

Quality Management and Performance Improvement in Healthcare: 1. Healthcare Quality Management: 1.1. Introduction to quality management: definitions of quality, importance of quality, TQM, ISO 9000 and Six Sigma; 1.2. Service quality: dimensions, gaps, SERVQUAL, SERVPERF; 1.3. Quality control and statistical quality control; 1.4. Quality improvement; 1.5. Process improvement and quality tools; 2. Performance assessment and improvement of healthcare organizations: 2.1. The relevance of assessing and managing organizational performance, 2.2. Performance assessment indicators; 2.3. Methods and techniques for performance assessment and improvement; 2.4. The continuous improvement process; 2.5. Challenges in assessing and improving organizational performance.

Seminars in Healthcare Management: 8 seminars presenting public and private healthcare organizations of the Algarve region.

• MARINE AND MARITIME MANAGEMENT

Marine and Maritime Economy: Introductory Notions to Institutional Geography and Spatial Location; Markets in Space and Place; Innovation in Space and Place; Regional Innovation Systems and Cluster Dynamics; Resilience of Territorial Socio-technical Systems; Networks in Space and Place; The Role of Cities in the Economy; Blue growth and Smart Specialisation; Maritime economy, clusters and policy; Examples of Geographical-based Analysis: Multivariate Statistics, Econometrics, Network Analysis.

Coastal Zone Management: Concepts of Waves, Tides and Change in Mean Sea Level. Coastal sediment dynamics. The sandy shores and its variability, barrier islands and bars tide. The rocky shores. Deltas and estuaries. Main threats in coastal areas: storms, coastal erosion, ocean overtopping, flooding. Notions of Risk and their quantification. Concepts of Integrated Coastal Zone Management. Environmental, social and economic aspects of Integrated Coastal Zone Management. Participation and Implementation of ICZM plans. Consequences of global warming and sea level in the coastal zones. Coastal Zone Management in Portugal. Overview of coastal erosion on the Portuguese coast. National Integrated Management of Coastal Zones and main mechanisms of coastal management. Case studies.

Management and Conservation:1. The situation of the world fisheries resources; 2. Historical evolution of fisheries management; 3. Stock assessment and fisheries management; 4. Changes in the structure of a population and evolutionary pressures; 5. Changes in ecological balance; 6. Fisheries and marine biodiversity; 7. Marine Protected areas in the context of fisheries management; 8. Artificial Reefs; 9. Restocking and stock enhancement; 10. Ecosystem-based management (EBM); 11. Integrated coastal management (ICM); 12. The socio-economic dimension of fisheries; 13. Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing; 14. Consumer needs/demands and interaction with resource management; 15. Ethical issues in fisheries; 16. Conciliating exploitation and conservation of marine resources.