By the end of 2020, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), better known as COVID-19, had produced over 82,357,482 confirmed cases and 1,802,393 related deaths worldwide. The first pandemic many had ever experienced, the call of duty for public health professionals in the United States and globally was strong. While the contributions of doctors, nurses, and first responders are frequently acknowledged in the media and health-related publications, forgotten key players include health education specialists. Because of their critical role in public health preparedness and response, special attention should be given to their work during disasters and public health emergencies. As the Screening Manager of the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) COVID-19 Testing Center located at Bergen Community College, I observed firsthand how COVID-19 made people suffer, but also the resilience among health education specialist responders. Using narrative inquiry to detail my response experience, this dissertation offers the world my story, while highlighting the onset of the pandemic in New Jersey from March to June 2020 and the practice of incorporating relevant health education competencies.

Psychiatric nurse practitioner (NP) turnover is a significant cost to healthcare employers. Psychiatric NP turnover due to private practice creation is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to better understand the transition of Psychiatric NPs as they moved from ambulatory/outpatient employment to private practice. Using a hybrid Grounded Theory approach, 17 Psychiatric NPs in private practice were interviewed from October - December 2023. Facilitating factors to private practice creation were: The COVID-19 pandemic, changes to telehealth regulation during the pandemic, increased demand for psychiatric services and decreased supply of providers, and progress within the NP full practice authority movement. While employed, NPs reported experiencing burnout, high patient load, poor schedule, poor compensation, increased administrative tasks not budgeted within the NP workday, and rampant disrespect of the NP role. NPs reported being managed by inappropriate supervisors from other disciplines, and reported little opportunity for growth. Most participants voiced an initial reluctance to enter private practice, and reported being “pushed” to entrepreneurship out of concern for their long term wellbeing. These factors combined contributed to poor NP job satisfaction and NP turnover. Strategies to improve the job satisfaction of employed psychiatric NPs were recommended.

Problem: In this study, tour operators' perceptions of market changes linked to the pandemic have been investigated. Based on their perceptions, the most effective competition strategies have been described both before and after the pandemic. Aim: The study's intention was to gain an understanding of how Swedish tour operators experience changes in the tourism industry linked to Covid-19 and what competition strategies the companies use before and plan to use after the pandemic. Method: The study uses a qualitative research strategy with an inductive approach and grounded theory as a method. The collected data material has been analyzed mainly by in-depth interviews which were then transcribed and coded from Glaser’s point of view, containing open, selective, and theoretical phase. This resulted in two core categories that expressed the study's main problems: competition strategies and the tourism industry and competition in Sweden. Conclusion: The study results have shown that the most effective competition strategies according to Swedish tour operators are customer orientation, vertical integration, and digitalization. Regarding perceptions of market changes, respondents believe that there have been no major changes in the tour operator market, but the pandemic has affected the tourism industry and competition in general, where market demand and competition between other industries have changed. In addition, the competition strategies used by companies before the pandemic were effective and provide competitive advantages, which results in that these strategies will be largely unchanged after the pandemic. / Problemställning: I denna studie har researrangörernas uppfattningar om marknadsförändringar kopplade till pandemin undersökts. Baserat på deras uppfattningar har de mest effektiva konkurrensstrategierna beskrivits både före och efter pandemin. Syfte: Studiens avsikt var att få förståelse över hur svenska researrangörer upplever förändringar i turistbranschen kopplade till Covid-19 samt vilka konkurrensstrategier företagen använder sig av innan och planerar att använda efter pandemin. Metod: I studien används en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi med induktiv ansats samt grundad teori som metod. Det insamlade datamaterial har analyserats främst med hjälp av djupintervjuer som sedan transkriberades och kodades utifrån Glasers syn, innehållande den öppna, selektiva och teoretiska fasen. Detta resulterade i två kärnkategorier som uttryckte studiens huvudproblematiken: konkurrensstrategier och turistbranschen och konkurrensen i Sverige. Slutsats: Studien resultat har visat att de mest effektiva konkurrensstrategierna enligt svenska researrangörer är kundorientering, vertikal integration och digitalisering. När det gäller uppfattningar om marknadsförändringar anser respondenterna att det inte har skett några större förändringar på researrangörsmarknaden, men pandemin har påverkat turistindustrin och konkurrensen i allmänhet, där marknadens efterfrågan och konkurrens mellan andra industrier har förändrats. Dessutom ansågs de konkurrensstrategier som företag använde före pandemin vara effektiva och ge konkurrensfördelar, vilket resulterar i att dessa strategier kommer i stort sett att vara oförändrade efter pandemin.

Remote work was already an ongoing trend amongst software developers, but the sudden and unexpected occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic made it normal due to the obligations for many people to stay and work from home.  To go from the safeness of the work office with an always-working Internet connection and colleagues around to exchange ideas with, to working from home can be a big change from one day to another. Without a good structure or adjustment from the organization, this would lead to a decrease in good work results, communication issues and difficulty for managers to keep track of what is done and by whom. To facilitate this, commonly used methods are the Agile Methodologies. Beck et al. (2001) make it significant in the 12 principles of Agile that the most efficient and effective method of conveying information is by face-to-face conversation for the best results. Investigating the work that was done face-to-face previous to the pandemic but is now done remotely from home within agile teams is therefore of much relevance today. This thesis was intended to investigate and learn how the use of agile methodologies has facilitated the sudden transition to remote work from home and affected the aspects of communication and work results within an agile development team. The study was conducted using the qualitative method with interviews consisting of seven open-response and two closed-response questions with respondents in agile teams from a software development company in Sweden. The analysis was made thematically in relation to Bridge’s Transition Model, and in relation to previous research. The study identified three themes to answer the research question based on the theoretical framework; The Change, Communication and Work Results. The results of the study show that the use of Agile Methodologies indeed has simplified the sudden transition to remote work from home, which was called The Change, as many of the agile practices already were done online previous to the pandemic. The study has also concluded that the use of Agile Methodologies has positively affected the aspects of communication and work results in an agile team, as it was found that forms of communication became more creative as they occurred more frequently while working from home, and it ultimately led to more valuable end-results. / Distansarbete var redan en pågående trend bland mjukvaruutvecklare, men den plötsliga och oväntade förekomsten av COVID-19-pandemin gjorde det normalt på grund av restriktionerna för många människor att arbeta hemifrån. Att gå från arbetskontorets säkerhet med en alltid fungerande internetuppkoppling och kollegor runt om för att diskutera idéer med, till att arbeta hemifrån kan vara en stor förändring från en dag till en annan. Utan en bra struktur eller anpassning från organisationen skulle detta leda till en minskning av goda arbetsresultat, dålig kommunikation och svårigheter för chefer att hålla reda på vad som görs och av vem. Vanliga metoder att använda för att underlätta detta är de agila metoderna. Beck et al. (2001) gör det tydligt i de 12 principerna för Agile att den mest effektiva metoden för att förmedla information i ett projekt är genom konversationer face to face, för bästa resultat. Att undersöka det arbete som innan pandemin gjordes face to face men nu görs på distans hemifrån inom agila team är därför av stor relevans idag. Denna studie var avsedd att undersöka och få kunskap om hur användningen av agila metoder har underlättat den plötsliga övergången till distansarbete hemifrån och påverkat aspekterna av kommunikation och arbetsresultat inom ett agilt utvecklingsteam. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av den kvalitativa metoden med intervjuer bestående av sju öppna frågor och två slutna svarfrågor med respondenter i agila team från ett mjukvaruutvecklingsföretag i Sverige. Analysen gjordes tematiskt i förhållande till Bridge’s Transition Model och i förhållande till tidigare forskning. Studien identifierade tre teman för att besvara forskningsfrågan utifrån det teoretiska ramverket; The Change, Communication och Work Results. Resultaten av studien visar att användningen av agila metoder har förenklat den plötsliga övergången till distansarbete hemifrån, eftersom många av de agila aktiviteterna redan gjordes online före pandemin. Studien har också dragit slutsatsen att användningen av agila metoder har påverkat aspekterna kommunikation och arbetsresultat positivt i ett agilt team, eftersom det visade sig att kommunikationsformer blev mer kreativa eftersom kommunikationen blev mer frekvent inträffande när de arbetade hemifrån, och det ledde slutligen till mer värdefulla slutresultat i projekt.

Vården av psykisk ohälsa får i regel mindre resurser än den somatiska vården världen över, och den globala covid-19-pandemin har lett till både störningar av psykiatrisk vård och ökad psykisk ohälsa i befolkningen. Denna studie undersöker vilka effekter coronapandemin haft på vården av psykiskt sjuka i fyra länder. Genom kvalitativ tematisk analys av en enkätundersökning på personer som arbetar med vård av psykisk ohälsa (n=41) i Bolivia, Colombia, Etiopien och Japan fann denna studie att pandemins påverkan på den psykiska vården varit omfattande, med ökade symtom hos befintliga patienter och fler med psykiska problem, men att vårdepersonal varit flexibel och gjort vad de kunnat för att möta befolkningens ökade behov av psykisk vård med adekvata insatser trots nya begränsningar i vårdarbetet och minskade resurser. Undersökningen fann också att vårdpersonalen själva fått anpassa sitt privatliv i den pandemiska situationen. / Throughout the world the mental health care is given fewer resources than somatic care, and the global covid-19 pandemic has resulted in both disturbances of psychiatric care and increased mental problems in the population. This survey investigated the impact of the pandemic on mental health care in four countries. Through qualitative thematic analysis of the statements from people working in mental health care (n=41) in Bolivia, Colombia, Ethiopia and Japan this study found the effects of the pandemic to be extensive, with increased symptoms of psychological suffering in existing patients and an increased flow of new patients. Its was also found that mental health staff have tried to handle the increasing need for care with flexibility and appropriate interventions, to make up for diminished resources and increased complications in their work. It was also found that the pandemic had demanded adaptations to the situation for mental health workers in their private lives.

Covid-19 har varit en världsomfattande pandemi som påverkat befolkningen på flera plan. UNICEF varnar nu för de långsiktiga konsekvenser som barn och ungas välbefinnande utsätts för och menar att det kan komma skapa en förlorad covid- generation. Faktorer som påverkar individer och bevisats vara betydelsefulla för en god hälsa är fysisk aktivitet och social gemenskap. Att få röra på sig samt finna en social gemenskap möjliggörs bland annat i föreningsidrotten, varpå deltagandet anses vara ytterst betydelsefullt för hälsan. Därutöver anses deltagande i föreningsverksamhet vara en förutsättning för undervisning och lärande. Med grund i detta och utifrån pandemins effekter, var syftet med studien att belysa hur föreningsledare beskriver att de utvecklat sitt pedagogiska ledarskap för att främja lärande och hälsa för barn och unga under covid-19-pandemin, samt att utforska vad som har motiverat föreningsledare till att vidmakthålla träning för barn och unga. Sociokulturellt lärande och KASAM utgjorde studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt. Datamaterialet erhölls via 11 semistrukturerade intervjuer med föreningsledare inom olika idrotter, vilka sedan analyserades utifrån en konventionell kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet påvisade att föreningsledarnas pedagogiska ledarskap hade utvecklats i form av att vara mer flexibelt och kommunikativt, vilket möjliggjorde förutsättningar att fortsätta bedriva träning och lärande under covid-19-pandemin. Därtill visade det sig att bibehållandet av idrottsutövarnas hälsa samt fortsatt föreningsutveckling var betydelsefulla motivationsfaktorer för föreningsledarnas vidmakthållande av föreningsidrotten. Slutligen skulle det utifrån studiens resultat i relation till tidigare forskning kunna förmodas att föreningsledarnas utvecklade pedagogiska ledarskap genererat goda lärandemiljöer, vilket vidare främjat idrottsutövarnas fysiska, psykiska och sociala hälsa. / Covid-19 has been a worldwide pandemic which has affected the population on several levels. UNICEF is now warning of the long-term consequences for children and young people’s well-being and believes that it could create a lost Covid generation. Factors that affect individuals and have proven to be important for good health are physical activity and social community. Being active in a physical and social community is made possible by club sports, whereupon participation is extremely important for health. In addition, participation in community sports is considered a prerequisite for teaching and learning. Based on this, and on the effects of the pandemic, the purpose of the study was to shed light on how sports coaches describe how they developed their pedagogical leadership to promote learning and health for children and young people during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as exploring what has motivated sports coaches to maintain training for children and youths. The theories applied in the study were socio-cultural learning and SOC. The data material was obtained via 11 semi-structured interviews with coaches in various sports, which were then analyzed based on a conventional qualitative content analysis. The results showed that the sports coaches’ pedagogical leadership had developed in the shape of being more flexible and communicative, which enabled conditions for continuing to conduct training and learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, it turned out that the maintenance of the athlete’s health and continued association development were important motivational factors for the sports coaches maintenance of community sports. Finally, based on the results of the study in relation to previous research, it could be assumed that the sports coaches developed pedagogical leadership generated good learning environments, which further promoted the athletes’ physical, mental, and social health.

Title: Impact of covid 19 Pandemic situation on customers purchasing Behavior: Adoption of online services platforms. Level: Final assignment for Master degree in Business Administration (MBA) Authors: Sheratun Jannat and Sajjad Aslam Toor Supervisor: Dr. Olivia Kang Examiner: Professor Akmal Hyder Date: 2021- January  Aim: The study aims to find the factors that impact consumer purchasing behavior on the Covid-19 pandemic and adaptation of online services platform. Methodology: A qualitative study was applied with the semi-structured online interview conducted with nine respondents from Stockholm and Gävle of Sweden. The collected primary data were transcribed, compared, and thematically analyzed with the literature reviews.  Findings and Conclusion: We conclude that Covid-19 impacts consumer purchase behavior. Besides, consumers adopted online services to purchase different items as per their needs. We have also found that various factors impact consumer online purchase behavior. Furthermore, trustworthiness and transparency is the essential factor that has implications on consumer online purchase behavior.  Contributions of the Thesis: This study suggests that online purchase behavior during Covid-19 significantly impacts the consumer. Besides, consumers face various impacts on online purchase such as product, price and quality, personality and characteristics, psychological, cultural and social, and trustworthiness and transparency. It is recommended for the managers to determine the impacts and develop strategies to maintain online business effectively.  Suggestion for future research: We suggest future research on a similar topic using a larger sample size. We also recommend a comparative study with two or more countries on a similar case to determine the differences and results. Focusing on different issues or services with a larger audience might be done for future research. Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic, Consumer purchase behavior, Online purchase behavior, Adoption of online service platform, and Factors impacting online purchase behavior.

Background: Sustainability is a commonly discussed topic that continues to grow and has become more important in investment decisions. The opinions regarding the relationship between sustainability and financial performance are divided, and research in the field indicates different results. ESG has gained greater focus because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and widespread claims that companies and funds with higher ESG score would have greater resilience have emerged. Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to investigate and analyse a possible relationship between ESG score and financial performance for Swedish listed companies during the Covid-19 pandemic. The sub-purpose of the study is to investigate whether sector divisions affect the ESG's significance for financial performance. Method: In this study, a quantitative method with a deductive approach was used. The data material was obtained from Refinitiv Eikon and comprised data from 306 companies. The examined period of the study refers to the year 2020. The statistical models applied were univariate analysis, bivariate analysis, and multiple regression analysis.  Conclusion: The results indicate a negative relationship between ESG and financial performance during the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a spread regarding financial performance between the sectors, but it is not possible to draw concrete conclusions about the sectors' impact. This study contributes to the literature in the field of sustainability and financial performance by analyzing empirical data during the Covid-19 pandemic. / Bakgrund: Hållbarhet är ett aktuellt ämne som fortsätter att växa och får allt mer betydelse vid investeringsbeslut. Det råder delade meningar kring sambandet mellan hållbarhet och finansiell prestation och forskning inom ämnet visar på olika resultat. ESG har fått större fokus till följd av covid-19-pandemin, och utbredda påståenden om att bolag och fonder med högre ESG-betyg skulle ha större motståndskraft har växt fram. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka och analysera eventuella samband mellan ESG-betyg och finansiell prestation för svenska noterade bolag under covid-19-pandemin. Studiens delsyfte är att undersöka om sektorindelning påverkar ESG:s betydelse för finansiell prestation. Metod: I denna studie användes en kvantitativ metod med en deduktiv ansats. Datamaterialet inhämtades från Refinitiv Eikon och omfattade data från 306 bolag. Studiens undersökningsperiod avser år 2020. De statistiska modellerna som tillämpats är univariat analys, bivariat analys och multipel regressionsanalys. Slutsats: Studiens resultat tyder på ett negativt samband mellan ESG och finansiell prestation under covid-19-pandemin. Det förekommer spridning avseende finansiell prestation mellan sektorerna, men det går däremot inte att dra konkreta slutsatser kring sektorernas påverkan. Denna studie bidrar till litteraturen inom området för hållbarhet och finansiell prestation genom analys av empiriska data under covid-19-pandemin.

Restriktioner som har förelegat under Covid-19 pandemin har påverkat stora delar av våra samhällen. I Sverige har invånarna blivit uppmanade att hålla sig hemma i fullaste mån, arbeta hemifrån och minska sina sociala kontakter. I sin tur har vanliga beteendemönster till och från arbeten ändrats och relationer till offentliga rummet har påverkats. Detta arbete reder ut hur Covid-19 pandemin har påverkat användandet av offentliga platser med hjälp av en enkätstudie. Arbetet undersöker om det finns skillnader bland olika könsgrupper i användandet av offentliga platser under pandemin samt vilka platser som varit mest attraktiva under pandemin. Studien innefattar även kvalitativa inslag för mer djupgående analyser. I studien visar det sig att grönområden har varit mer uppskattade än offentliga platser som torg, där våra sociala umgängen tidigare ägt rum. Skillnaderna mellan könen är i stort väldigt små men det finns lite olikheter i brukbarheten av offentliga platser. Troligtvis kommer vanor som har skapats under Covid-19 pandemin fortgå och vi behöver se över våra offentliga platser så dessa är brukbara även under pandemier.

Background & aims: Prior research has, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting supply chain (SC) disruptions, increased the level of investigations in the field of SC resilience strategies. Even though many studies have been conducted within the field, little is known about the effectiveness and efficiency of those strategies. As food SC’s (FSC’s) are among the most important SC’s in our societies, their conservation is of great importance. As the operational purchasing process within the FSC was one of the areas within the SC that was strongly affected by the pandemic, this process will be the focus of the paper. This study seeks to identify the most applied SC resilience strategies for operational purchasing activities in FSC’s for various SC disruptions from a SME food retailers perspective. Furthermore, a framework of how to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of those strategies will be developed. Method: To collect relevant empirical data to answer the purpose of the study a qualitative multiple-interview study is conducted based on semi-structured interviews with respondents of the three different case companies. The case companies were selected and four interviews with one to two respondents per company were conducted. European SME food retailers of long shelf life goods are used as case companies to investigate the research gaps. Results: The study found out that the application of theory revealed the five most applied SC resilience strategies (SC flexibility, inventory management, end-to-end (E2E) SC visibility (SCV), information technology (IT) tools and SC cooperation) in operational purchasing, differences between SME food retailers according to their company size and maturity level. The KPIs identified to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of these SC resilience strategies were found to be applied. The KPIs provided are the basis for measurement opportunities that should be adapted and expanded depending on the business model and complexity of the company as part of the SC design. Contributions: The study adds value through theoretical and practical contributions of the most applied SC resilience strategies within operational purchasing from a SME food retailer perspective and their performance measurement system for measuring efficiency and effectiveness. Limitation & future research: The study is limited to the Covid-19 pandemic as a major reason for the triggering of the investigated SC disruptions. Further limitations can be seen within the selection of the case companies. Future research should investigate the differences between SME within their application of SC resilience strategies for their operational purchasing activities, just like the differences between strategic and operational purchasing. Key words: supply chain resilience strategy, supply chain disruption, Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain effectiveness, supply chain efficiency, performance measurements, key performance indicator, food supply chain, food retailers, purchasing process, operational purchasing