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AI Integration in Organisational Workflows: A Case Study on Job Reconfiguration, Efficiency, and Workforce Adaptation
2025-09-03 - Oliveira, Pedro; Carvalho, João M. S.; Faria, Sílvia
This study investigates how the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) transforms job practices within a leading European infrastructure company. Grounded in the Feeling Economy framework, the research explores the shift in task composition following AI implementation, focusing on the emergence of new roles, required competencies, and the ongoing reconfiguration of work. Using a qualitative, single-case study methodology, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with ten employees and company documentation. Thematic analysis revealed five key dimensions: the reconfiguration of job tasks, the improvement of efficiency and quality, psychological and adaptation challenges, the need for AI-related competencies, and concerns about dehumanisation. Findings show that AI systems increasingly assume repetitive and analytical tasks, enabling workers to focus on strategic, empathetic, and creative responsibilities. However, psychological resistance, fears of job displacement, and a perceived erosion of human interaction present implementation barriers. The study provides theoretical contributions by empirically extending the Feeling Economy and task modularisation frameworks. It also offers managerial insights into workforce adaptation, training needs, and the importance of ethical and emotionally intelligent AI integration. Additionally, this study highlights that the Feeling Economy must address AI’s epistemic risks, emphasising fairness, transparency, and participatory governance as essential for trustworthy, emotionally intelligent, and sustainable AI systems.
Acculturation and adaptation of international students at Portuguese universities
2025-06-27 - Neto, Joana Sequeira; Neto, Félix
The importance of understanding the adaptation of international students is particularly relevant to the expansion of the internationalization of higher education. This paper examines various psychosocial features with regard to the intercultural relations of international students (IS) in Portugal. This country is receiving an increasing number of IS. Two key components of intercultural relations are acculturation and adaptation. As regards the acculturation process, we examine studies on cultural identity, acculturation strategies, and perceived discrimination. As regards psychological adaptation, we examine studies on several indicators of subjective well-being (overall well-being, satisfaction with life, satisfaction with academic life, satisfaction with migration life), and loneliness. Finally, it is reviewed research on sociocultural adaptation. This set of reviewed studies on international students is consonant with the perspective that most migrant people adapt well in the society of settlement, notwithstanding the difficulties found across the intercultural contact. A relevant contribution to the acculturation field was the demonstration that sociocultural adaptation difficulty fully mediated the relationships of perceived discrimination and two indicators of psychological adaptation, satisfaction with life and loneliness. This underlying relationship of perceived discrimination with psychological adaptation means that programs to decrease sociocultural adaptation difficulties among international students may help to improve their psychological adaptation. Several other practical recommendations can be drawn from this set of studies.
Experienced saudade in times of COVID-19 pandemic
2025-07-14 - Neto, Félix; Neto, Joana Sequeira; Mullet, Etienne
Saudade is a Lusophone concept concerning psychological reactions to situations related to the deprivation of loved ones and/or familiar places. It can be assessed empirically using the Experience of Saudade Scale (ESS), which comprises three factors: Lack of loved ones, Lack of intimacy, and Longing for the past. The aim of the study was to obtain further evidence concerning the psychometric properties of this scale and its relationship with psychological well-being and COVID-19-related concepts. Two hundred and nineteen participants, aged 18 to 80, completed the ESS and eight other scales measuring life satisfaction, life purpose, optimism, altruism, coronavirus anxiety, fear of COVID-19, empathy, and experiences related to COVID-19. The fit of the three-factor ESS model to the data was good, and reliability was adequate. All scores related to psychological well-being and COVID-19 concepts correlated with experienced saudade in the expected direction. The COVID-19 scores were able to be related to saudade factors over and above well-being measures.