The progressive digital transformation of societies has spill over all industrial clusters, allowing to innovate in the way of producing, establishing commercial relations, managing or planning. The development of industry will be increasingly boosted by the disruptive technologies that are driving the fourth industrial revolution. This course aims to present the evolution of the industrial economy to the current concept of industry 4.0, focusing on aspects related to the digitalization of processes and products, management and use of information and strategic behavior in the digital market.
Objectives and expected learning outcomes The objectives of the curricular unit are the following: 1. Introduce students to the basic concepts of industrial economics, forms of market structure in imperfect competition and how these influence the behavior of companies in pursuit of results; 2. To give a historical perspective on industrial evolution, with particular focus on the third and fourth industrial revolution, also known as industry 4.0, boosted by the development of new technologies; 3. Describe the process of dematerialization and digitization of the industry, focusing on the role of change facilitators and their impacts in driving digital innovation in products, processes and business models; 4. Understand the importance of knowledge management, in a context of on-demand economy, in order to enable the intelligent development of production infrastructures, logistics processes and distribution and productive factors, increasing the efficiency of the production process; 5. Realize the need for permanent adaptation to change, due to the rapid evolution of markets, conditioning strategic behavior to a highly competitive business environment. With the body of knowledge acquired, the student should be able to prepare business structures for the disruption of the fourth industrial revolution and perceive the moments of change in order to quickly adjust the behavior to the market environment.
Competences to be developed With the curricular unit students should acquire the ability to: 1. Understand the organization of markets at every moment, in a context of permanent updating of the paradigm associated to the new industrial economy; 2. To recognize the importance of the history of industrial evolution, especially after the digital revolution, as the basis for the development of new operational models based on the interaction of physical, digital and biological domains; 3. Identify the main drivers of dissemination of digital transformation and information technology, which facilitate industrial evolution to the context of industry 4.0; 4. Understand the potentialities of a networked economy, how knowledge should be managed, especially regarding its use and protection, and the conjunction of human intelligence and artificial intelligence; 5. Define business strategies to seize the opportunities and challenges of the fourth industrial revolution by preparing companies to take full advantage of the benefits of this transformation process.
Programme
The organization of the Curricular Unit is arranged as follows:
1. Introduction to the Industrial Economy 1.1 Basic concepts 1.2 Market structures 1.3 Evolution of the Structure-Behavior-Results paradigm 2. The Industrial Revolution 2.1 Historical Context 2.2 The Third Industrial Revolution 2.3 Industry 4.0 3. Industry Digitization 3.1 Trends and impacts 3.2 Digital Industrial Platforms 3.3 New Business Models and Customization 3.4 Digital Innovation and Standardization 3.5 Internet of Things and Smart Development 4. Management of Knowledge 4.1 Collection, processing and management of data 4.2 Cybersecurity and trust in the network 4.3 Future of Human Capital 4.4 Artificial Intelligence 5. Strategic Behavior in the Digital Market 5.1 Market entry 5.2 Interaction and Competitiveness 5.3 Mergers and Acquisitions 5.4 Opportunities and Challenges 6. Case Studies
Demonstration of the syllabus coherence with the curricular unit's learning objectives
The first objective "Introduce students to the basic concepts of industrial economics" is addressed in chapter 1 of the program, which identifies the organization imperfect competition markets, considering the paradigm¿s evolution of the new industrial economy.
The second objective "To give a historical perspective of industrial evolution" is developed in the 2nd chapter, which characterizes the most important aspects of the preparation for the fourth industrial revolution, based on the previous revolutions. The third objective "Describe the process of dematerialization and digitization of industry" is reached in the 3rd chapter of the program that focuses on the technological drivers of industrial transformation. The fourth objective "Understanding the importance of knowledge management" is addressed in chapter 4, which highlights the importance of resource and information management and use, based on new computing technologies. Finally, the fifth objective "Realize the need for permanent adaptation to change" is developed in the 5th and 6th chapters, which shows the need for constant adaptation of the strategic behavior of companies, reflecting on some practical cases.The last 3 objectives are developed throughout the program.
Main literature
Marques, A., Macedo, D., Pereira, D., Leal, P. & Neves, S.;Economia Industrial: teoria e prática, Edições Almedina, 2018. ISBN: 978-972-40-7483-2
Varum, C., Valente, H., Resende, J., Pinho, M., Sarmento, P. & Jorge, S.;Economia Industrial - Teoria e Exercícios Práticos (2ª Edição), Edições Sílabo, 2018. ISBN: 978-972-618-933-6
Meffert, J. & Mendonça, P.;Digital Scale, Planeta Manuscrito, 2017. ISBN: 978-989-777-012-8
Learning Methods
The contents of this curricular unit will be exposed mainly in theoretical-practical classes, which combine the theoretical exposition with the discussion of practical cases supported in the visualization of multimedia contents and, occasionally, the participation of invited speakers. For this purpose, means of computer support, namely Microsoft Powerpoint software, will be used to present the programmatic contents. In the course of classes, students will always be encouraged to take a proactive stance of critical participation on the exposed contents and present current issues for discussion.
Assessment Components
Avaliação distribuída com exame final
Assessment Components
Description
Type
Time (hours)
Conclusion Date
Attendance (estimated)
Lessons
30
Individual assessement
Teste/Exame
3
Group work
Projectos
20
Autonomous study
Study
54
Total:
107
Continuous Assessment
Continuous assessment with three assessment moments:
- Two individual written tests with a weighting of 30 per cent each. - Carrying out applied research in working groups on business cases of digital transformation, weighted at 25%. - Presentation and discussion of group work, weighted at 15%.
Under the terms of the General Regulation:
1. The students' attendance in classes will be recorded and, if the number of absences per student exceeds 30% of the total number of lessons scheduled for each course unit, the student will be automatically transferred to the final evaluation (regular season). 2. In the written tests and other assessment elements mentioned in paragraph 2 of Art. 39 it is necessary to obtain a minimum grade of 7.5 (seven point five) points. 3. If the student misses a test or receives a grade lower than 7.5 points in the tests or in another assessment element mentioned in the previous number, the student will be automatically transferred to the final evaluation (regular season). 4. If the student misses or obtains less than 7.5 in the second written test, held in the same date of the final exam in the regular season, they may apply for further evaluation in the Appeal season. 5. All written academic work provided for in the assessment (reports, case studies, etc.) must be submitted to the Turnitin database, available on the ISAG E-Learning platform, with a similarity rate up to 30% acceptable.
Final Exam
The final assessment will be a written test with a weighting of 100 per cent.
Practical or theoretical-practical work (in accordance with Article 39(2)(b)) may be considered, with a weighting corresponding to half of that considered in the context of continuous assessment, provided that the student communicates this intention to the teacher by filling in the appropriate form to be made available at the time of the written test. In this situation, the final assessment will be weighted as follows:
- Written test (80%); - Group work (20%).
Demonstration of the coherence between the teaching methodologies and the learning outcomes
The first objective presupposes the use of the Microsoft Powerpoint program to present theoretical contents. The other objectives combine the theoretical presentation of slides from the same software, with the visualization of multimedia contents and discussion of practical cases applied to the industrial sector, also aiming the preparation of the scientific posters to present in the classroom.