Álvaro Dias

The essence of this research is to shed light on use and importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in commercial activity. As such, the objective of the present study is to understand the impact of AI tools on the development of business functions and if they can be affirmed as a means of help or as a substitute for these functions. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 commercial managers from technological SMEs. The results indicate that all the participants use AI systems frequently, that these tools assist in developing of their functions, allowing having more time and better preparing to solve the commercial problems. The findings also indicate that the tools used by commercials are still somewhat limited, and companies should focus on their training and development in AI, as well as the training of their commercials. Furthermore, the results show that firms intend to use the data collection and the analytical tool that enable real-time response and customization according to customer needs.

There are scarce results on burnout in such organizations as hostels and how it influences workers’ perceptions of their companies. Therefore, this study aims to analyze burnout of hostel workers and assess how it influences their perceptions of the type of leadership, the kind of support, the existence of feedback sessions, the organizational climate, and the quality of T&D programs. Data were collected from 96 employees of Portuguese hostels; existing validated measures were adapted from relevant literature. A pilot test was conducted to ensure the accuracy of the measures according to the target population. A PLS analysis of survey data provided the following results. Burnout plays a negative role in employees’ overall acknowledgment of the organization and their sense of satisfaction and loyalty toward it. Specifically, the most substantial negative effects of burnout were on feedback quality, manager support, and organizational climate (β = –0.557; –0.549; –0.542, p < 0.001, respectively). Furthermore, the indirect and negative effect of burnout on employee loyalty and employee satisfaction was also verified (β = –0.415; –0.418, p < 0.001, respectively). Therefore, managers can elaborate well-designed and applied practices based on these factors. Finally, this paper also discusses future research recommendations.

Acknowledgment
This study was financially supported by the research unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy (UIDB/04058/2020) + (UIDP/04058/2020), funded by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.