The EU Whistleblower Protection Directive came into force on 16 December 2019. Switzerland continues to struggle with this topic: the Swiss National Council (Nationalrat) dismissed a draft law on its introduction on 3 June 2019 and, after the Swiss Council of States (Ständerat) approved the draft law without changes on 16 December 2019, dismissed it again on 5 March 2020.

The article deals with the liability of board members for decisions to minimize business risks resulting from the pandemic. Based on an important decision by the highest German criminal court on a case of the 2008 financial crisis, the article outlines the limits of a safe haven within which managers can make decisions without fear of legal consequences.

Churches have been prompted to rethink the format of preaching and the content of sermons since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent restrictions on church gatherings. What does preaching look like, or what may it look like in times of crisis? These questions arose, specifically considering the content of sermons in the week before and after the national lockdown was announced in South Africa. Using Grounded Theory, the content of sermons delivered during this period was examined in order to identify an emerging theory regarding the homiletical content. From these findings, a homiletic praxis theory is formulated for preaching in times like these. The tension between proximity and distance that is experienced by hearers and proclaimed by preachers is explored. Habits of faith and discernment emerge as core concepts in mitigating this tension and in navigating the thin spaces that are created by liminal times such as these.

The fourth volume of the International Journal of Homiletics opens with an article from South Africa presenting first results of an empirical research on preaching in times of the pandemic. Marileen Steyn, Cas Wepener and Hennie Pieterse, all three from Stellenbosch University, conducted a grounded theory exploration on Preaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa analyzing 24 sermons preached on March 22 and March 29 2020- during the time of the South African lockdown. They convincingly show that in an experience of ‘distance’ (to God and the others) sermons primarily try to present a God who is ‘near.’ The authors explore the ‘hinges’ preachers use to help people on the threshold between near and far. They also point to the role liturgy plays together with the words of the sermon and suggest Holy Saturday/Silent Saturday as a metaphor for the homiletical endeavor of preaching in times of crisis. The article is presented in our volume in an English and an Afrikaans version.

Studien undersöker hur olika personlighetsdrag samvarierar med andelen stress vi upplever under Covid-19 pandemin, samt hur dessa personlighetsdrag samvarierar med copingstrategier och hur väl restriktionerna efterföljs. Urvalet bestod av 105 vuxna svenska personer. Formuläret bestod av Ten Item Personality Inventory, Perceived stress scale 10, sex frågor hämtade från Brief cope samt fyra frågor gällande deltagarnas compliance gällande Covid-19 pandemin som konstruerades utifrån Asselmann et al. (2020).Multipla regressioner utfördes för att undersöka det dubbelriktade sambandet mellan personlighetsdrag, stress och coping. Även de demografiska faktorerna ålder, kön, samt boendesituation undersöktes. Analyser av compliance resulterade i takeffekter, vilket gjorde att variabeln uteslöts från multipla regressioner. Resultaten av variabeln compliance var genomgående höga, vilket indikerar att samtliga deltagare, oavsett personlighetsdrag anser sig följa restriktionerna i hög utsträckning. Resultaten från de multipla regressionerna visade ett moderat negativt samband mellan PSS-10 och emotionell stabilitet (β=.53). Även ett svagt positivt samband mellan agreeableness och coping hittades (β=.24). Ett ytterligare fynd var ett svagt positivt samband mellan coping och boendesituation (β=.21), vilket indikerar att personer som bor ihop med andra använder sig av en mer funktionell coping, samt tillämpar dysfunktionella copingstrategier i lägre grad. Fortsatt forskning inom området behövs för att undersöka kopplingar mellan personlighetsdrag, stress, compliance och copingstrategier i relation till Covid-19 pandemin. / The present study investigates the relationship between personality traits, the amount of stress we experience due to the Covid-19 pandemic and how different personality traits covariates with coping strategies as well as compliance to the announced restrictions. The sample consisted of 105 Swedish participants over the age of 18. The questionnaire consisted of Ten Item Personality Inventory, Perceived stress scale 10, six questions were taken from Brief cope and four questions regarding the participants compliance concerning the Covid-19 pandemic which was constructed based on Asselmann et al. (2020). Multiple regressions were performed to investigate the bidirectional relationship between personality traits and stress, and coping. The demographic variables age, gender and housing situations were examined. The analyses of compliance resulted in roof effects, which excluded the variable from multiple regressions. The results of the variable compliance were consistently high, which indicates that all participants, regardless of personality traits, considered themselves to follow the restrictions to a large extent. The results from the multiple regressions showed a moderate negative relationship between PSS-10 and emotional stability (β=.53). A weak positive relationship between agreeableness and coping was also found (β=.24). A further finding was a weak positive relationship between coping and housing situations (β=.21), which implies that people in shared households have more functional coping and tend to use dysfunctional coping to a lower degree. Further research in this area is needed to investigate links between personality traits, stress, compliance and coping strategies in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Titel: CSR i tider av Covid-19-pandemin - En kvantitativ studie om Covid19-pandemins påverkan på svenska börsbolags CSR-aktiviteter Författare: Ellinor Gustafsson och Joel Mattsson Handledare: Torbjörn Tagesson Nyckelord: Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, Covid-19-pandemin,innehållsanalys Bakgrund: Covid-19-pandemin hade sin startpunkt år 2020 och är en kris som påverkat enskilda individer, samhällen och företag. I tidigare studierges ingen entydig indikation om hur företags CSR-aktiviteter påverkasav oförutsedda, ej företagsspecifika kriser. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka om och hur omfattningen av svenskabörsbolags CSR-aktiviteter har förändrats under den pågående Covid19-pandemin; således mellan åren 2019–2020. Forskningsfråga: Har svenska börsbolags omfattning av CSR-aktiviteter minskat/ökat eller inte påverkats under Covid-19-pandemi-året 2020 i jämförelsemed 2019? Metod: Studien har en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi och har en explorativoch explanativ forskningsansats med ett deduktivt angreppssätt. Studiens syfte uppfylls genom att utföra en innehållsanalys avsekundärdata i form av årsredovisningar och hållbarhetsrapporter från företag noterade på Stockholmsbörsen. Resultat: Studien visar att svenska börsbolags omfattning av CSR-aktiviteterdelvis ökat under Covid-19-pandemin. Omfattningen av CSRaktiviteter kopplade till den miljömässiga och den socialadimensionen av CSR visade sig öka under Covid-19-pandemin. Däremot visade sig omfattningen av totala CSR-aktiviteter samt CSRaktiviteter kopplade till den ekonomiska CSR-dimensionen varaopåverkade under Covid-19-pandemin. Kunskapsbidrag: Studien bidrar till ökad kunskap om hur Covid-19-pandemin påverkat omfattningen av svenska börsbolags CSR-aktiviteter. Detta kan ökaförståelsen för vilken effekt en oförutsedd, ej företagsspecifik krispåverkar företags arbete med CSR. / Title: CSR in times of the Covid-19 pandemic - A quantitative study of theimpact of the Covid-19 pandemic on CSR activities at companieslisted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange Authors: Ellinor Gustafsson och Joel Mattsson Supervisor Torbjörn Tagesson: Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, Covid-19-pandemic, contentanalysis Background: The Covid-19 pandemic had its starting point in 2020 and is a crisisthat has affected individuals, societies, and companies. There havebeen no one-sided indications of how companies' CSR activities areaffected by unpredictable and non-company-specific crises in earlierstudies. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate whether and how the extentof Swedish listed companies' CSR activities has changed during theongoing Covid-19 pandemic; between the years 2019–2020. Research question: Has the extent of Swedish listed companies' CSR activities decreased /increased or not been affected during the Covid-19 pandemic year2020 in comparison with 2019? Method: The study has a quantitative research strategy and has an exploratoryand explanatory research method with a deductive approach. Thepurpose of the study is fulfilled by performing a content analysis ofsecondary data in the form of annual reports and sustainabilityreports from companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Result: The study shows that Swedish listed companies' extent of CSRactivities partially increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. The studyfound CSR activities linked to CSR's environmental and socialdimension increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, theextent of total CSR activities, as well as CSR activities linked to theeconomic CSR dimension, were found to be unaffected during theCovid-19 pandemic. Contribution: The study contributes to increased knowledge of the effect that theCovid-19-pandemic has had on Swedish listed companies' CSRactivities. This study can increase the understanding of what impactan unpredictable, non-company-specific crisis may have oncompanies' work with CSR.

The covid-19 pandemic has resulted in millions of lost lives, hundreds of millions ill, and an unwelcome interruption in our lives and in the world order. During the pandemic, we have been fed with massive amounts of information and regulations on how to act to reduce the spread of the virus. To properly make use of the information we receive, health literacy is needed. Health literacy is the basic reading and writing skills that enable us to obtain health-related information. However, the information we are given often requires advanced reading skills, contextual knowledge, and capabilities to process and adapt the information to personal situations. These are requirements that can prove challenging for individuals with little or no previous education. This study seeks to answer how health literacy impacts the capability to access and process information, and how accessible information regarding the covid-19 pandemic is. The study focuses on refugees, with little or no education studying at Swedish For Immigrants (SFI) track 1. Refugees are relevant to study as refugees are more socio-economically vulnerable, have been seen to be disproportionately affected by the covid-19 pandemic, and can be argued to face greater challenges in accessing information. The study is done through a small number of interviews with individuals from the focus group. The results indicate that the respondents have good knowledge of common symptoms and measures to avoid spreading the virus. However, the findings do show that the information material available on the Swedish authorities’ websites is too difficult to understand for someone with limited reading skills. This also applies to material that is claimed to be easy to read. Yet, the respondents do grasp the overall content due to pictures and illustrations. The findings are compared to a survey of information during the pandemic among non-fluent Swedish speakers conducted by MSB. The comparison shows support for certain findings from the interviews.

This thesis focuses on eight Swedish museums, who collected intangible and tangible memories of how everyday life was affected during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020-2021. These contemporary collecting projects were conducted by Eskilstuna stadsmuseum, Jönköpings läns museum, Klostret i Ystad, Nordiska museet, Skellefteå museum, Stockholms läns museum, Värmlands museum and Västerbottens museum. Through semi-structured qualitative interviews with the museum professionals responsible for the collecting process, the aim was to collect data on how the projects were organised and which collecting methods that were used. Further, the aim was to discuss and analyse the contemporary collecting projects from the theoretical perspectives of cultural memory studies and participatory memory practices. The results of the study show that the museums started the collecting projects in haste when the pandemic broke out and that the main collecting method being used was questionnaires. Other collecting methods, such as interviews, field studies and collecting of photographs, diaries, social media posts and tangible objects, were used as a complement. The museum’s purpose was to reach out as wide as possible with the collecting projects, to collect memories from different social groups in society. In conclusion, the collected materials, the intangible and tangible memories collected from participating individuals, will together take place in cultural memory side by side with documentations of historical events and be of use for future generations. Memories were collected all over Sweden, from people of different age and gender. The projects would not have been possible to conduct without the voluntary participation of people sharing their memories of how everyday life was affected during the coronavirus pandemic. This is a two years master’s thesis in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies.

The global tourism and hospitality industry has benefitted from years of consecutive growth over recent times. However, the health crisis of Covid-19 in 2020 wiped trillions in USD off the industry’s economy taking it back to 1990 levels. Travel restrictions have been implemented across 100% of the world’s destinations at some point since the start of the pandemic, leaving many tourism organisations fighting for economic survival. The impacts to both the demand (travellers) and supply (hotels) to tourism destinations and organisations has resulted in loss of revenue and jobs globally, impacting individuals, families, tourism organisations and countries. With little or no tourism demand, the hospitality industry has been one of the biggest sectors impacted by Covid-19, with hotels bearing the brunt of the economic impacts. This paper looks to discuss if the economic impacts of crises in hotels can be limited by implementing certain strategies or crisis management techniques (CMTs). The paper contributes to the tourism and hospitality industry’s knowledge of crises and the impacts on 4-star hotels specifically, comparing two destinations in Europe, London and Stockholm, to identify if CMTs can be implemented to limit the economic impacts for future crises. This in turn will allow hotel senior managers (HSMs) to implement CMTs to reduce the economic impacts of crises in their hotels. Research is gathered from academic sources, media outlets and primary sources, offering a holistic analysis of Covid-19’s economic impacts in hotels, looking past just financial impacts but wider. A cross comparison of city hotels looks to assess differences in CMTs, gathering primary research and data from HSMs who are in the middle of the crisis and its impacts. Results determine that crises impact destinations differently and thus CMTs will alter depending upon the crisis impacts to a specific hotel or destination. However, there are many strategies that can be implemented to reduce the economic impacts, with the empirical results alluding to many successful CMTs, although these must be relevant and specific to the crisis, hotel and destination.

Examensarbete, Civilekonomprogrammet, Ekonomihögskolan vid Linnéuniversitetet, VT 2021 Författare: Emil Johansson och Hanna Landén Handledare: Sven-Olof Yrjö Collin Examinator: Andreas Jansson Titel: Hur pratar du med din klient? - En studie om hur revisorn interagerar med sin klient Bakgrund: Coronapandemins inträde i samhället har inneburit att människor förväntas dra ner på sina fysiska kontakter med andra människor. Eftersom revisionsbranschen å ena sidan kommit långt i digitaliseringen är det möjligt att den inte påverkas i större utsträckning, men å andra sidan är fysiska kontakter viktiga för att upprätthålla en god relation med klienten. Hur interaktionen sker kan påverka relationen som i sin tur kan påverka revisionskvalitén. Studien undersöker därför dessa interaktioner genom att studera val av interaktionsteknik mellan revisor och klient. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att kartlägga och förklara hur revisorn interagerar med klienten i revisionens olika delar. Metod: Utifrån en teoretisk referensram sammanställs och kategoriseras de interaktionstekniker som används mellan revisor och klient i en typologi. Vidare genomförs en flermetodsforskning som inleds med en kvalitativ förstudie där dennatypologi prövas och som induktivt fångar sådant tidigare studier inte utforskat. Den teoretiska referensramen och förstudien ligger sedan till grund för den kvantitativa huvudstudiens utformning som har för avsikt att beskriva användandet av interaktionsteknikerna i revisionens olika delar. Slutsats: Studien kartlägger och förklarar varför en interaktionsteknik väljs i respektive del av revisionen genom att i en typologi och empirisk studie beskriva interaktionsteknikerna. Studien finner tre faktorer som påverkar valet av teknik; grad av digitalisering, teknikens tidsåtgång samt hur avancerad tekniken är. Studien påvisar även substitutionseffekter mellan några av interaktionsteknikerna. Denna kartläggning av interaktionstekniker möjliggör också framtida forskning på ämnet. Nyckelord: Interaktionsteknik, Revision, Relation, Klient, Kommunikation, Revisionsprocess, Pandemi / Master Thesis in Business Administration, School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University, VT 2021 Authors: Emil Johansson and Hanna Landén Supervisor: Sven-Olof Yrjö Collin Examiner: Andreas Jansson Title: How do you approach your client? - A study of how the auditor interacts with their client Background: The coronavirus pandemic’s entry into society has meant that people are expected to reduce their physical contacts with other people. As the auditing industry has come a long way in digitalization, it is possible that it is not affected to a greater extent. But on the other hand, physical contacts are important for maintaining a good relationship with the client. How the interaction takes place can affect the relationship, which in turn can affect the audit quality. The study therefore examines these interactions by studying the choice of interaction technique between auditor and client. Purpose: The aim of the study is to map and explain how the auditor interacts with the client in the various parts of the audit. Method: Based on a theoretical framework, the interaction techniques used between auditor and client are compiled and categorized in a typology. Furthermore, a multi-method research is carried out which begins with a qualitative pilot study where the typology is tested. The pilot study also inductively captures what previous studies have not explored. The theoretical framework and the pilot study then form the basis for the design of the quantitative main study, which intends to explain the choice of interaction technique in the various parts of the audit. Conclusion: The study maps and explains why an interaction technique is chosen in each part of the audit in a typology and empirical study by describing the interaction techniques. The study finds three factors that influence the choice of technique; level of digitalization, the time required and how advanced the technique is. The study also discovers substitution effects between some of the interaction techniques. This mapping of interaction techniques also enables further research on the subject. Keywords: Interaction technique, Auditing, Relationship, Client, Communication, Auditing process, Pandemic