During the previous two years, due to the current coronapandemic and constraints, the workplace for students drastically changed over a night. Teaching that in the term of “normal” was usually given and examined in the university now had the new reality of being exclusively provided and tested in digital forms. Previous research presents that distance learning has shown both positive and negative effects on the students effectiveness and productivity. The purpose of the study is to account for how productivity (doing things the right way) and effectiveness (doing the right things) are affected when learning takes place at a distance. In addition, the study aims to identify and clarify which factors have had an impact on the students' productivity and effectiveness in distance learning. Based on the purpose, two research questions have been formulated: “How do distance learning affect students’ productivity and effectiveness?” and “What factors have had an impact on student´s productivity and effectiveness in distance learning?”. Distance learning is defined as a system whereas material that is essential for learning and achieving goals is provided to the student through technical communication due to the difference in location of the student and the teacher. Empirical data was collected through two different surveys that were given to two different selections that consisted of students at Linnaeus university. Both of the survey’s were formed and developed based on the theoretical framework and then the variables were analyzed by using a bivariate and univariate analyzing method. The results of the study shows that the effectiveness of those who have studied at a distance seems to be better than for those who have studied on campus. However, the productivity issue needs further research to be able conduct a clear result since no correlations could be detected in this research. Finally, the study concludes that it is difficult to establish which factors have had a decisive impact on the students' distance learning, but that all factors that have been identified have affected them in some way, either positively or negatively, but to varying degrees. The factors that have had the greatest impact on students are personal characteristics, suitable space in the home, social support, ICT and communication.

Vaccine hesitancy is considered a major threat to global health and social media is playing an increasingly significant role in spreading anti-vaccine sentiments. This study aims to track changes in the proportion of anti-vaccine tweets during a period of the Covid-19 pandemic and explore potential correlations between anti-vaccine stances and various factors of the pandemic situation. In particular, it aims to find which factors can best predict changes in vaccine stances and whether factors in the United States give better predictions than the global average. To gather data on vaccine stances on Twitter, stance detection is used through an implementation of a pre-trained Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) model, fine-tuned using tweets labeled based on vaccine stance. This data is used to perform a correlation analysis between changes in proportion of anti-vaccine tweets over time and various factors of the pandemic situation, including confirmed Covid-19 cases and government policies. The analysis is performed by training linear regression models with variables from the pandemic data as independent variables. The model that performed the best, as measured by having the lowest Root Mean Square Error, was the one trained with the independent variables Vaccination policy (in the United States) and Containment health index (global average). Among the top 20 best performing models the most common variables were index-variables consisting of aggregations of individual indicators, suggesting that aggregated data may give more data for the model to base its predictions on. Vaccination policy and Stay at home requirements for the United States were collectively included in the four best performing models, giving support to the view that factors about the United States are better predictors than the global average. On the other hand, among the top 20 best performing models the majority of the independent variables were of the global average, which gives an opposite impression. In the end there are not enough results to draw any strong conclusion on this issue.

Background The Covid-19 pandemic has been a big influence for everybody since it entered in the spring of 2019. However, no research has been done on how different strategic leadership has influenced the organizational adaptation during this time.   Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the role of strategic leadership in organizational adaptation due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The research is based on a single case study that explores Åhléns AB and its subsidiaries Åhléns Outlet and Designtorget.   Method This is a qualitative study that is performed by using a single case study design, where one organization is examined to fulfill the purpose of the study and aim to develop an in-depth understanding of the research subject.   Conclusion Based on the conducted research that has been done, it can be drawn to the conclusion that the transcendent leadership style has influenced organizational adaptation. The organization has become more transparent as well as more flexible as an organization due to the leadership. By combining a task-oriented approach with a relationship-oriented approach such as, a leader can set up greater structured goals and pursue new initiatives in line with external changes.

Inledning och Bakgrund: Äldre personer har under Covid – 19 pandemin varit begränsade i sitt aktivitetsutförande, vilket har hindrat dem i deras vardagliga liv. De har till stora delar förpassats till hemmen och inte haft möjlighet att utföra de aktiviteter som de önskat att göra. Syfte: Studien avsåg att belysa de adaptiva strategier som äldre personer har använt sig av för att hantera aktivitetsinskränkningar under Covid-19 pandemin. Metod: Studiens design var en kvalitativ intervjustudie med induktiv ansats där deltagarna rekryterades genom avsiktligt urval via kontakt olika pensionärsföreningar. Data analyserades genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet visar att äldre personer har använt sig av olika former av adaptiva strategier för att hantera Covid -19 pandemin som utmynnat i fem kategorier, förändrade mat och dryckesvanor, anpassad social interaktion, ombildad fysisk aktivitet, anpassat tankesätt och förändrat inköpsmönster. Slutsats: Studien har visat att äldre personer har anpassat sina aktiviteter på olika sätt, dels har de anpassat de aktiviteter de genomförde innan pandemin till den nya kontexten men de har även funnit nya aktiviteter mer anpassade till det rådande läget. / Introduction: Older people have during the Covid 19 pandemic been limited in their activity performance that has hindered them in their everyday life. They have largely been relegated to their homes and have not had the opportunity to perform the activities they wanted to do.  Aim: This study aimed to investigate the adaptive strategies older people have used to cope with occupational limitations during the Covid – 19 pandemics. Method: The design of the study was qualitative interviews with an inductive approach where the participants were recruited purposively through contact with various pensioners associations and the data was analysed by a qualitative content analysis Results: The results show that older people have used various forms of adaptive strategies to manage the Covid -19 pandemic, that has resulted in five categories, changed food and drinking habits, adapted social interactions, reshaped physical activity, adapted thinking and changed purchasing patterns. Conclusions: The study has shown that older people have adapted their activities in different ways, partly they have adapted the activities they carried out before the pandemic to the new context, but they have also found new activities more adapted to the current situation.

This study analyzes how the financial crisis of 2008 compared to the Covid-19 pandemic affectedinflation, measured by the consumer price index, in Sweden. This study aims to give moreprofound knowledge of how two crises affect the consumer price index and therefore preventpotential future economic crises. Data from Statistics Sweden and Statistics Denmark was analyzed by using a quantitative methodto statistically investigate how different periods of crisis vary and their effect on the consumerprice index compared to non-crisis periods of the data. The study observes data from 2000 to2022. The financial crisis had its starting point on the housing market in the US, and the pandemic wascaused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Both crises have and may continue to affect the consumerprice index. Results from previous research are mostly aligned with the results and conclusion from this studyregarding how the financial crisis in 2008 and the Covid-19 pandemic affected the Swedishconsumer price index. In conclusion, both crises affected the consumer price index. During thefinancial crisis, it dropped, increased, and dropped again. Two peaks in the consumer price index,before and after the financial crisis, suppress the visual effect of the high peak at the beginningof the financial crisis. During Covid-19, the consumer price index increased largely, and the peakwas not reached during the period of the collected data.

Date: 1st of June, 2022 Level: Master thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University Authors: Orkhan Aslanov (1998/01/12) Muhammad Faisal Bin Zainal Fitri (1995/09/26) Title: Hidden costs in the managerial practices of remote working and digital transformation in Ericsson Supervisor: Edward Gillmore Keywords: Digital transformation, Remote working, Competences, Managerial practices, Pandemic Research question: What are the hidden costs in the implementation of digital tools for remote working and what kind of competences have managers developed to overcome challenges? Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to expand the horizons of what is currently understood within remote working regarding managerial practices in organizations by analyzing the emerging hidden costs of digital implementation for remote working in a Nordic-based organization as well to contribute to the limited existing research within this area. Method: The study follows qualitative analysis and the data was collected by conducting seven semi-structured online interviews with managers working at Ericsson's headquarters office in Stockholm. The thematic analysis approach is used which resulted in five themes: digital transformation, remote working, implications, competence development, and managerial practices. Conclusion: This study concludes with managers’ perspectives that Ericsson has successfully undertaken the digital transformation and remote working during the pandemic. Identifying hidden costs of the process helped the company to adapt its competence development and managerial practices.

Bakgrund: Psykisk hälsa är grundläggande för människors förmåga att tänka, interagera med varandra, fungera i samhället samt uppleva en meningsfull vardag. Covid-19 var en bekräftad pandemi den 11 mars 2020. En pandemi innebär att ett virus sprids över världen under samma tidsperiod. Graviditet kan beskriva som en process, ett ansvarstagande, ett mirakel, bildande av familj eller som det mest värdefulla i livet. Under en graviditet ändras kropp och hormoner vilket leder till att gravida kvinnor ofta känner sig mer känslosamma. Roys adaptionsmodell handlar om att anpassa sig till en miljö som ständigt förändrar sig. Psykisk ohälsa hos den gravida kvinnan kan ge allvarliga konsekvenser hos mamman. Syfte: var att beskriva hur covid-19 påverkat gravida kvinnors psykiska hälsa. Metod: Studien genomfördes som en allmän litteraturstudie och identifierades genom tio artiklar från två olika databaser till resultatet. Resultat: Resultaten från artiklarna kategoriserades i en tabell med teman som inkluderade; oro, stress nedstämdhet och psykisk hälsa. Covid-19 pandemin påverkade de gravida kvinnorna negativt under pandemin. Konklusion: Denna studie kan ge en inblick över hur sårbara grupper prioriterades bort under en tid av ovisshet och bör beaktas i liknande situationer i framtiden. / Background: Mental health is fundamental for people's ability to think, interact witheach other, function in society and experience a meaningful everyday life. Covid-19was a confirmed pandemic on March 11, 2020. A pandemic means that a virusspreads across the world during the same timeperiod. Pregnancy can be described as aprocess, a responsibility, a miracle, family formation or as the most valuable thing inlife. During a pregnancy, the body and hormones change, which leads to pregnantwomen often feeling more emotional. Roy's adaptation model is about adapting to anenvironment that is constantly changing. Pregnant woman with mental illness canlead to serious consequences for the woman. Aim: Describe how covid-19 affectedthe mental health of pregnant women. Method: The study was conducted as a generalliterature study and a total of ten studies from two different databases were used forthe results. Results: The results were categorized in a table, the themes were anxiety,stress, depression and mental health. Conclusion: The Covid-19 pandemic negativelyaffected the mental health of pregnant women. This study can provide an insight intohow vulnerable groups were unpriotized during a time of uncertainty and should beconsidered in similar situations in the future.

The pandemic is not only a crisis itself but has created multiple crises for the vulnerable population as well. Worldwide, they encountered multiple challenges to assistance and protection, but due to the pandemic, their needs might have increased. As the number of refugees, migrants, and asylum-seeker is rising, all the health risks and the challenges that this group is exposed to, demonstrates the need for increased support, protection, and assistance. This scoping review aims to investigate if the arisen challenges faced by vulnerable children and their families have exacerbated in the context of COVID-19, in the published research literature. In this scoping review, information was collected on multiple databases between January and February 2021. Seven empirical studies were analysed in order to examine which are the new challenges that have arisen due to COVID-19 and explore if they worsened in this context. Seven areas emerged due to the pandemic: hygiene measures, food insecurity, child labour, child marriage, freedom of movement, access to education, access to services and sources of information, while five areas have worsened: economic, psychological, violence, discrimination and overcrowding. The findings are showing that COVID-19’s disease burden is higher in vulnerable contexts, due to the living conditions, high risks jobs, and poor access to services. The outcomes of these challenges are likely to be long-standing, as they breached into the processes and structures of the family system Although efforts to control the virus’s spread remain critical, the negative effects on vulnerables, must be addressed and identified to avoid the risk of more challenges getting exacerbated, and reduce the parental stress that will lead to the well-being of the future generations. Limitations, practical implications and future research are discussed.

This thesis aims to explore the topic of wisdom and its effect on coping in sample of young adults in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. First, the theoretical part provides an overview of important theories of wisdom, which are dominant in the contemporary psychological research. Afterwards, it introduces theories of coping and coping strategies, it presents existing research concerning the relationship between wisdom and coping and finally, it describes the situation of the COVID-19 outbreak as a potential source of stress. The practical part includes an exploratory and confirmatory part. The exploratory part presents results of detailed mapping of subjective experiences and responses of xoung adults to situation of pandemic. Results show that young adults perceive negative influence of the pandemic on different spheres of their lifes - the most commonly on finances, job and their psychological state. The level of fear of COVID-19 seems to be lower in the Czech samble than in the Iranian or Italian sample. Results of the confirmatory part present relationship between ways of coping and particular wisdom dimensions. Regression analysis revealed that wisdom, coping and perceived control are significant predictors of perceived stress during the pandemic. KEYWORDS Wisdom, Three-Dimensional Wisdom...

“A time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Eccl 3:7b) Preaching and keeping silent in times of the COVID19-pandemic