SLab Seminar "Benchmarking for a competitive advantage"

18h00 – 18h40
Per Agrell – Benchmarking as a managerial tool - international experiences

18h40 – 19h10
Maria Silva - Innovative benchmarking in retail: Applications in Portugal

19h10 – 19h30
Discussion and closure 

Per J. Agrell, Ph.D. Linköping University (Sweden), Dean of the Faculty, Louvain School of Management at UC Louvain, full professor in Operation Management, permanent and visiting positions in universities in Austria (IIASA), Denmark (University of Copenhagen), Sweden (Linköping University), Norway (Norwegian School of Economics) and the U.S. (University of Georgia, Terry College of Business), Consultancy projects with European competition authorities, Saab Automobiles, Ericsson, SCA and other multinational firms.  Past co-director for the Center of Operations Research and Econometrics, and Chairman for the Doctoral Commission in Economics and Management Science, he served as Academic Director for the International Executive MBA 2013-2015.   Prof. Agrell is an expert in supply chain coordination, efficiency analysis, incentive design and infrastructure regulation. He is frequently advising regulatory authorities in some 18 countries in Europe on strategy and cost estimations for energy network regulation. 

Maria Silva is Full Professor at the Católica Porto Business School (CPBS), and president of the Scientific Council of the CPBS. She has got a MSc degree in Management Science and Operational Research from Warwick University in the U.K and a PhD degree in Management Science from Aston University, UK. She has co-authored over 30 refereed academic publications in the efficiency and productivity analysis area, including chapters in international books. She has applied the DEA technique in various fields including schools, bank branches, water companies, retail outlets, and primary health care General Practice units. She has also been the leading researcher of 3 projects financed by the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology, who resulted in the development of benchmarking websites for secondary schools and hospitals in Portugal. She has been also involved in consultancy work and acts as Associate Editor of the Journal of Productivity Analysis and is a former associate editor of Omega. She has been the director of the Management Masters at CPBS and has had some team coordination roles in CEGE – The economics and Management Research group of CPBS.