The Operations and Information Management and Big Data Analytics group is one of the most varied of the eight research areas. These reseachers work in topics that go from information management to operations, technology, innovation and supply chains, all the way to control and robotics.
The group's researchers have authored over 40 publications in scientific journals in the past five years. Their work has been featured in journals of renown, such as Information Systems Research, Management Science, Management Information Systems Quarterly, Research Policy or the Strategic Management Journal.
These researchers have been the recipients of prestigious recognition, including, for example, two Best Track Paper Awards from the Association of Information Systems in 2017 for Miguel Godinho de Matos and Filipa Reis, an honorable mention from Manufacturing & Service Operations Management's Practice-Based Competition for Laura Wagner in 2019. Also in 2019, Miguel Godinho de Matos received the Sandy Slaughter Early Career Award from Informs. Nicolò Bertani has also been the recipient of the DAS Student Paper Award in 2021.
Operations and Information Management and Big Data Analytics research group members are also represented at the most important international conferences of their fields. They have been invited speakers at schools like MIT Sloan, Harvard Business School, Cornell University, Copenhagen Business School or the Rotterdam School of Management. CATÓLICA-LISBON has also hosted its own conferences in this area, including the Open & User Innovation Conference in 2015, and the Digital Economy Workshop in 2019.
The Operations and Information Management and Big Data Analytics group brings together researchers whose work intersects at the forefront of technology and digitization. Although they all have cutting-edge technology and developments at the center of their study, they have different approaches and interests - from firm strategy to consumer behavior or innovative applications.
Some researchers study how digitization changes consumer purchase behaviors and firm distribution strategies, using data science to draw conclusions on creative industries or social media.
Others, on the other hand, looks at firms’ operations and how post-purchase responsibilities affect their business. They study such topics as how companies might increase profits in settings where consumers are able to return products, or how quality and safety issues arising from the sale of counterfeits can be mitigated through inventory, technology adoption and information sharing.
This group also includes the area of control and robotics, with projects including Pedro Encarnação’s takes on the use of robots for inclusion of children with disabilities in the classroom or on guidance and control strategies for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).