Denna forskningsstudie undersöker de utmaningar som hotell i Sverige har stått inför på grund av Covid-19-pandemin. Närmare bestämt analyserar studien hur dessa hotell reagerade på krisen. Det råder ingen tvekan om att pandemin har drabbat den globala turistsektorn väldigt kraftigt. Miljontals arbetstillfällen har gått förlorade, och länder vars ekonomier som är beroende av turism står inför de värsta ekonomiska lågkonjunkturerna i historien.  Sektorn vänder sig dock i dag till innovation för att stödja återöppnandet och en återgång till lönsamhet. I Sverige har sektorn tagit till sig innovativa lösningar, bland annat genom att öka konkurrenskraften och bygga upp motståndskraft genom strategier som att främja inhemsk och regional turism, ekonomisk diversifiering och underlättandet av en mer gynnsam arbetsmiljö för mikroföretag, små och medelstora företag. Andra strategier som har hjälpt att strategiskt öppna sektorn i denna tid under pandemin är den digitala omvandlingen av hela turismekonomin genom att investera i digital kompetens för arbetstagare som har förlorat sina arbeten och inkomstkälla under pandemin.  Studiens syfte är att analysera de krishanteringsstrategier som svenska hotell implementerade i början av Covid-19-pandemin. För att uppnå studiens syfte används semistrukturerade intervjuer som den primära datainsamlingsmetoden. Det kommer genomföras intervjuer med fem olika hotelldirektörer från Sveriges största hotellkedjor. / This research study explores the challenges that hotels in Sweden have faced due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, it assesses how these organizations responded to the crisis. There is no doubt that the pandemic has hit the global tourism sector very heavily. Indeed, millions of jobs have been lost, with countries whose economies are dependent on tourism facing the worst economic recessions in their collective history.  The sector is today turning to innovation to support its re-opening and a return to profitability. In Sweden, the sector has embraced innovative solutions, including boosting competitiveness and building resilience through strategies such as promoting domestic and regional tourism, economic diversification, and the facilitation of a conducive business environment for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Other strategies that have aided the strategic re-opening of the sector during the pandemic is the digital transformation of the entire tourism economy by promoting investments in digital skills for workers who have lost their jobs and livelihoods during the pandemic.  Against this backdrop, this study’s key objective is to analyze the crisis-management strategies adopted and implemented by Swedish hotels at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. It will deploy semi-structured interviews as the primary data-collection approach to achieve this goal. Five interviews with executives in five of the largest hotel chains in Sweden will be conducted.

Den tidigare forskning som finns inom området gällande medarbetarengagemang vid neddragningar är relativt omfattande och fokuserar främst på sambandet mellan dessa faktorer. Forskningen skildrar neddragningar som en strategisk plan för att undvika försämrad ekonomisk stabilitet hos organisationer. Utformning och implementering av neddragningsprocesser har visats påverka medarbetares engagemang, vilket bland annat inkluderar kommunikation, samspel och involvering. Covid-19-pandemin har inneburit att flertalet organisationer, framför allt inom besöksnäringen, tvingats till ett omfattande omställningsarbete med neddragningar som följd. Dock är området för pandemin relativt outforskat, det saknas forskning med fokus på upplevelsen av hur neddragningar som skett till följd av pandemin har inverkat på kvarvarande medarbetares engagemang baserat på ledningens val av strategier. Den här studien syftar därmed till att få djupare förståelse över organisationers strategiska arbete för att bibehålla kvarvarande medarbetares engagemang vid neddragningar under en pandemi. Studien baseras på en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer med sammanlagt åtta respondenter, vilka utgör representanter från både lednings- och medarbetarnivå. Studien undersöker ett specifikt fall i en organisation med inriktning på rederibranschen inom besöksnäringen och är därmed utformad som en fallstudie. Den insamlade empirin har sammanställts och analyserats genom en tematisk analys. Resultatet från studien visar att pandemins påverkan på organisationens omställningsarbete har bidragit med såväl positiva som negativa effekter på kvarvarande medarbetares engagemang. Kommunikation utgör en viktig grundpelare som bör genomsyra organisationens arbete på samtliga nivåer för att bidra till involvering och förståelse. Studien bidrar även med intressanta och betydelsefulla aspekter inför framtida studier gällande medarbetarengagemang vid neddragningar. Pandemin har även inneburit en samhällsförändring som medfört att ledningens strategier och kvarvarande medarbetares engagemang har påverkats annorlunda vid jämförelse med andra neddragningsprocesser. Det har i sin tur medfört nya arbetssätt som kan bli avgörande inför framtida händelser. / The previous research into the relationship between a downsizing process and the resulting employee commitment is quite comprehensive. It describes the downsizing process as a strategic plan, necessary to avoid deteriorating economic performance in organizations. The design and implementation of downsizing processes, through communication, teamwork and involvement, has also been shown to influence remaining employees’ commitment. During the Covid-19-pandemic organizations, especially in the hospitality industry, have been forced to carry out extensive changes to working practice including resulting in downsizing. However, the effects of pandemic downsizing are relatively unexplored. Especially lacking is a focus on the remaining employees' experience of the effects of downsizing and their subsequent commitment, arising from management’s choice and modification of strategies. This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of organizations’ strategic work to maintain the commitment of remaining employees during downsizing processes as a result of a pandemic. It is based on a qualitative method using semi-structured interviews, from a total of eight respondents, representing both management and employee levels. The study examines a specific event in an organization in the hospitality industry with focus on the shipping industry and is designed as a case study. The collected empirical data has been compiled and analyzed using a themed analysis. The results from this study show that the pandemic's impact on the organization's working practices has had both positive and negative effects on employee commitment. Communication is an important pillar that should permeate the organization's work at all levels to contribute to involvement and understanding. The study also highlights a number of interesting and significant considerations for future studies regarding downsizing and employee commitment. The pandemic has also resulted in a societal change that has meant that management's strategies and remaining employees’ commitment have been affected differently when compared with other downsizing processes. This in turn has led to new ways of working that can influence future events.

<p>  </p> <p>This dissertation explores multimodal composing strategies enacted by technical and professional communication (TPC) writers during and post-COVID-19 period. The researcher presents an investigation into a course unit project and pedagogical approach framed around the idea of multimodal composition in an upper-division professional writing class with transnational students majoring in management, economics, health science, aviation technology, mathematics, computer engineering, accounting, consumer science, biology, and agronomy in a large research university in the Midwest. This study advocates a multimodal approach to teaching writing in its expanded sense with multimodal career unit project assignments in multiple media and modes, including resumes/CVs, personal statements, LinkedIn profiles, video profiles/resumes, job position analyses, and rhetorical and mode analyses. This project presents implications for instructors of technical and professional communicators who are aiming to develop and update their curricula and teaching pedagogies situated in multiple modes across global audiences, for multiple purposes, and in a variety of media.</p>

The thesis will be centred on the topic of tourism in Canada and the steps the tourism industry took in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. The aim of this thesis will be to examine how Canadian tourism has evolved through time and analyse the way Indigenous tourism has grown despite its limited support. The main research questions addressed will include how has Canadian tourism adapted to the crises of the Covid-19 pandemic? How have the snowbird, Nature and Indigenous tourism groups been impacted by Covid-19 and how can we understand the history of these forms of tourism? What old and new debates were provoked by the Covid pandemic? What strategies were put in place to mitigate effects and how did historical structures of colonialism affect mitigation? The thesis is built using a series of academic texts, newspaper sources, and reports published by tourism and Indigenous tourism associations. The text will be approached through a historical perspective using the postcolonial theory and Adaptive co-management. The case studies analyses of Nature and Indigenous tourism are important as they represent tourism in Canada and illustrate the effects of colonialism stressing the need for reconciliation. The text will conclude with a look forward and a potential path tourism can take, learning from the Covid pandemic, to become more sustainable. / Cette thèse aborde le tourisme au Canada et les étapes que l’industrie du tourisme a pris en réponse à la pandémie du Covid-19. Le but de cette thèse est d’examiner l’évolution du tourisme Canadien et d’analyser la manière dans laquelle le tourisme Indigène a grandi malgré les adversités. La question principale est d’adresser comment le tourisme Canadien s’est adapté face à la crise de la pandémie Covid-19 ? Comment les groupes de tourisme de snowbirds, Nature et Indigène ont subi les influences du Covid-19 et comment nous comprenons l’histoire de ces formes de tourisme ? Quels débâtes, vieux et neuf, ont été provoqués par la Covid-19 ? Quelles stratégies ont été mises en place pour atténuer ces effets et comment la structure historique du colonialisme a affecté ces atténuations ? Cette thèse est bâtie sur une série de textes académiques, des journaux, et des rapports publiés par des associations touristiques et des associations Indigènes de tourisme. Ce texte sera approché d’un point de vue historique dont une théorie postcoloniale et d’adaptation à la gestion partagée. Les cas analysés de tourisme Indigène et tourisme de nature sont des cas importants car ils représentent le tourisme au Canada, illustrent les effets du colonialisme et soulignent la nécessité d’une réconciliation. Ce texte se termine avec un regard vers le futur et une avenue potentielle que le tourisme pourrait utiliser, en tirant profit des leçons de la pandémie Covid-19, pour devenir plus durable.

We study how individuals' formation of inflation expectations are affected by the stringent containment and economic support measures put in place during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Using the New York Fed Survey of Consumer Expectations (SCE) and the Oxford COVID‐19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), we find that policies aimed at containing the pandemic lead to an increase in individuals' inflation expectations and inflation uncertainty. We also find some heterogeneity in the impact across different demographic groups.

[pt] A presente dissertação Da rua à quarentena: um estudo sobre trabalho sexual de pessoas transexuais no contexto da pandemia da covid-19 tem como objetivo principal analisar o aumento das violências sofridas por pessoas transexuais trabalhadoras do sexo no contexto da pandemia da covid-19. Vislumbrando compreender as condições de trabalho vivenciadas pelas pessoas transexuais e os tipos de violência as quais foram acometidas nesse período de pandemia, principalmente nos meses de recomendação de lockdown, fizemos um recorte temporal compreendido entre 2020 e 2021. Com uma leitura feminista, decolonial e crítica, buscamos na pesquisa documental e bibliográfica, dados para uma maior compreensão da realidade vivenciada por pessoas transexuais trabalhadoras do sexo. Como procedimento metodológico, analisamos os dossiês anuais elaborados pela Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (ANTRA) intitulados “Assassinatos e Violências contra as Pessoas Trans” dos últimos 2 (dois) anos, ou seja, anos de 2020 e 2021. Compreendemos que a análise desse material trouxe dados comparativos para a observação do aumento das violências sofridas por pessoas transexuais no período da pandemia, principalmente entre as trabalhadoras do sexo. A escolha pelos dossiês se deu pela dificuldade de localizarmos dados sobre a população trans, o que revela o quanto essa população não é reconhecida, bem como demonstrou as subnotificações de dados sobre essa população. A pesquisa evidenciou que o aumento da violência sofrida pela população transexual no período da pandemia, principalmente entre as trabalhadoras do sexo, expõe uma relação de condição laboral de extrema precarização, informalidade e desemprego, onde o mundo do trabalho determina quais trabalhadoras exercerão trabalhos formais, informais, precários e as que não terão possibilidade de vender sua força de trabalho. / [en] This dissertation From the street to the quarantine: a study on sex work by transgender people in the context of the covid-19 pandemic has as main objective to analyze he increase in violence suffered by transsexual sex workers in the context of the covid-19 pandemic. Aiming to understand the working conditions experienced by transsexuals and the types of violence they were subjected to during the pandemic period, especially during the months when lockdown was recommended, we used a timeframe between 2020 and 2021. With a feminist, decolonial, and critical reading, we sought data from documentary and bibliographical research for a better understanding of the reality experienced by transsexual sex workers. As a methodological procedure, we analyzed the annual dossiers prepared by the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA) entitled Murders and Violence against Trans People from the last 2 (two) years, that is, the years 2020 and 2021. We understand that the of material brought comparative data for the observation of the increase in violence suffered by transsexual people in the period of the pandemic, especially among sex workers. The choice for the Dossiers was due to the difficulty in locating data about the trans population, which reveals how much this population is denied and invisibilized, as well as demonstrated the underreporting of data about this population. The research showed that the increase in violence suffered by the transgender population in the pandemic period, especially among sex workers, exposes a relationship of labor condition of extreme precariousness, informality and unemployment where the world of work determines which workers will exercise formal, informal, precarious jobs and those who will not have the possibility of selling their labor force.

[pt] A presente dissertação se propõe a analisar as formas de organização e resistências utilizadas pelos moradores da favela de Rio das Pedras frente ao avanço da pandemia de COVID-19. O estudo possui caráter exploratório de natureza qualitativa, a partir da realização de pesquisa bibliográfica e de campo, que se desenvolveu com entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas junto à lideranças comunitárias, representantes de comunicação comunitária e gestoras de equipamentos públicos. O referencial teórico-metodológico considera a intensificação das desigualdades sociais, raciais e de gênero na pandemia com efeitos no enfrentamento do fenômeno socio-sanitário no Brasil. A partir da perspectiva crítica, refletimos sobre questões pertinentes a concepção de direito à cidade, permeada pela contradição da efetivação das cidades capitalistas e consequentemente das favelas cariocas, com ênfase ao processo de construção e consolidação da favela de Rio das Pedras. Frente ao advento da pandemia da covid-19, a dissertação analisa seu aprofundamento no contexto brasileiro, destacando-se o impacto da pandemia em territórios favelados, que historicamente são marcadas pela insuficiência das intervenções estatais. A favela de Rio das Pedras, que assim como os demais territórios favelados, se viu impactada pelo vírus da COVID-19 e teve que se virar para fazer frente às ameaças não somente sanitárias, mas econômicas, políticas e estruturais. Os principais resultados do trabalho se voltam para a constatação que a pandemia da COVID-19 desvelou ao mundo desigualdades sociais que historicamente impactam a vida de populações mais vulneráveis, dente esses, os moradores de territórios favelados. Frente à insuficiência nas medidas de enfrentamento ao vírus conduzidas pelo poder público, lideranças e coletivos favelados se organizaram em defesa da sobrevivência da população. Nesse contexto, conclui-se a importância de se defender a efetivação de políticas públicas em territórios favelados em diálogo com as potencialidades presentes nesses territórios. / [en] This present dissertation propose to analyze the forms of organization and resistance used by residents of the favela Rio das Pedras against the advance of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study has an exploratory character of a qualitative nature, based on bibliographical and field research, which was developed with semi-structured interviews carried out with community leaders, representatives of community communication and managers of public facilities. The theoretical-methodological framework considers the intensification of social, racial and gender inequalities in the pandemic with effects on the confrontation of the socio-sanitary phenomenon in Brazil. From a critical perspective, we reflect on questions pertinent to the conception of the right to the city, permeated by the contradiction of the realization of capitalist cities and, consequently, of Rio de Janeiro s favelas, with emphasis on the process of construction and consolidation of the favela of Rio das Pedras. Faced with the advent of the covid-19 pandemic, the dissertation analyzes its deepening in the Brazilian context, highlighting the impact of the pandemic in favelas, which historically are marked by the insufficiency of state interventions. The favela of Rio das Pedras, which, like the other favelas, was impacted by the COVID-19 virus and had to to get by to face not only health threats, but also economic, political and structural threats. The main results of the work turn to the realization that the COVID-19 pandemic revealed to the world social inequalities that historically impacted the lives of the most vulnerable populations, among these, the residents of favelas. Faced with the insufficiency of measures taken by the government to combat the virus, favela leaders and collectives organized themselves in defense of the survival of the population. In this context, it is concluded that it is important to defend the implementation of public policies in favela territories in dialogue with the potentialities present in these territories.

Purpose: The study aims to provide an overall picture of how the staff in housing with special services experience the loneliness of its clients in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic. Method: The empirical study is based on semi-structured interviews in connection with eight assistant nurses who work both at LSS accommodation and outside as accommodation support in their own homes. The study has been examined with thematic analysis within three themes as: the staff´s experiences of the client’s loneliness, the impact of the temporary restrictions on the client’s everyday life and the staff’s opportunities and challenges to counteract/meet loneliness during the pandemic. The study´s empirical data has been interpreted with the support of attachment theory and KASAM.  Results: The results shows that loneliness increased for the clients at the LSS accommodation. Especially in the beginning of the pandemic they found the mandated restrictions to be difficult. The staff found the situation to be challenging, even though no one was proven to be infected by the virus. Only a few had milder symptoms that have led to isolation. The staff experienced that they had a good resource situation and was able to cope with the challenges during the Corona pandemic. There was clear structures and open communications among the staff group. / Syfte: Studien syftar till att ge en samlad bild av hur personalen inom bostäder med särskild service för vuxna upplever ensamheten hos dess klienter i samband med Covid-19 pandemin. Metod: Studiens empiri är baserad på semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta undersköterskor som arbetar både på LSS-boende samt ute som boendestödjare i det egna hemmet. Studien har granskats med tematisk analys inom tre teman som: personalens upplevelser av klienternas ensamhet, de tillfälliga restriktionernas påverkan på klienternas vardag och personalens möjligheter och utmaningar att motverka/bemöta ensamhet under pandemin. Studiens empiri har tolkats med stöd av anknytningsteorin och KASAM.  Resultat: Resultatet visar att ensamheten har ökat för klienterna på LSS-boendet. Speciellt i början av pandemin upplevde de att det var tufft på grund av bland annat de införda restriktionerna. Personalen tyckte situationen var en utmaning, även om ingen av klienterna hade någon bekräftad smitta utan endast hade symptom av mildare karaktär som ledde till isolering. I slutändan tyckte personalen att de hade haft tillräckliga resurser och har kunnat ta sig an utmaningarna som har tillkommit i samband med pandemin. De upplevde att det fanns tydliga strukturer och öppen kommunikation inom personalgruppen.

Världen ställdes 2020 inför en helt oväntad pandemi som pågick fram till 2022. Under pandemins gång tillkom flertalet olika lagar, stöd och begränsningar för både personer och företag. Vissa av dessa åtgärder var så extrema att ingen hade kunnat förutse att något sådant skulle ske. Eftersom detta hände hastigt uppstod en politisk osäkerhet där ingen riktigt visste vad som skulle hända i framtiden. Tidigare forskning har visat på att hastiga och oförutsedda förändringar angående politik, ekonomi eller lagar leder till en politisk osäkerhet och att denna osäkerhet i sin tur leder till en påverkan på företags användning av earnings management. Mycket tidigare forskning har gjorts inom ämnet earnings management men det finns inte många studier på covid-19 pandemins påverkan. Den forskning som finns är gjord på företag som ligger i andra länder än Sverige och har visat på en påverkan. Syftet med den här studien är därmed att se om även svenska företag har ökat sin användning av earnings management under pandemiåren 2021-2022. Studien utgår från en kvantitativ metod, med en deduktiv ansats och är en studie baserad på paneldata för åren 2018-2019 och 2021-2022. För att undersöka om earnings management har förekommit används den modifierade Jonesmodellen för att beräkna de diskretionära periodiseringarna som svenska börsnoterade företagen gjort. Urvalet bestod av 160 bolag som är listade på Large-, Mid- och Small cap-listorna på Stockholmsbörsen. Resultatet visar på att det finns en signifikant ökning i användningen av earnings management efter pandemins utbrott jämfört med före pandemin började. Vidare visar regressionsanalysen att pandemin hade en påverkan på förändringen. Men påverkan var liten och det finns en möjlighet att en annan variabel är den kausala variabeln. Uppsatsens språk i resterande del är svenska. / In 2020 the world faced an unexpected pandemic that continued until 2022. During the course of the pandemic numerous laws, subsidies and restrictions, both for private individuals and companies were implemented. Some of these measures were so extreme that no one could have predicted them in advance. Because this happened suddenly, political uncertainty arose whereby no one knew what was going to happen in the future. Previous research has shown that sudden and unpredicted changes regarding politics, economics or laws lead to political uncertainty and this in turn affects companies´ use of earnings management. There has been plenty of studies regarding earnings management conducted in the past, but very few exist that regards the effect of the covid-19 pandemic. The research that does exist, is about companies in other countries than Sweden and there the pandemic has had an effect on the use of earnings management. The purpose of this essay is to study whether Swedish companies have increased their use of earnings management during the pandemic years 2021-2022 as well. This study is a quantitative study with a deductive approach based on panel data for the years 2018-2019 and 2021-2022. To examine whether earnings management has occurred, the modified Jones model is used to calculate the discretionary accruals for the public Swedish companies. The sample consists of 160 Large, Mid and Small-cap companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The results show an increase in the use of earnings management after the start of the pandemic in comparison with the years before the pandemic. Furthermore, the regression analysis shows that the pandemic had an impact on this change. However, the impact was small and there is a possibility that some other variable was the causal variable. The rest of this thesis is written in Swedish.

In the light of a post-pandemic world, the concept of hybrid work environments has become significantly more important since the way of working has changed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Not being dependent upon a set office spot to conduct one´s work-related tasks has created both positive and negative consequences for both the individuals and the organizations. In conjunctions with the increased importance of hybrid workplaces, we have seen an improved academic attention towards the area since scholars claim that the hybrid way of working is the future. Even though there has been an abundance of research conducted investigating the post-pandemic hybrid work environments, this thesis contributes to an area that according to us have been sparsely investigated through focusing on the effects on remote and/or hybrid workplaces and its employees due to the abruptness of the Covid-19 pandemic through the following research question:  “How has the abruptness of the Covid-19 pandemic affected remote and/or hybrid workplaces and employees?”  The research purpose of this study is to investigate how the abruptness of the Covid-19 pandemic has affected hybrid and/or remote workplace solutions and its employees. We deem to broaden the existing research whilst concurrently develop new theoretical knowledge and expand the overall understanding of the investigated area. The purpose of this study was fulfilled through conducting a qualitative study with seven semi-structured interviews with people that have worked within the same organization before, during, and after the pandemic to obtain their own personal experience regarding the effects of the implementation of hybrid work environments. Through applying a qualitative thematic analysis, the empirical findings were categorized into three overarching themes with following sub-themes that were identified as adequate and relevant to highlight.  The result of this thesis indicates that the abruptness of the Covid-19 pandemic affected the organizations and the employees in both a positive and negative way since the changes were perceived to be needed and appreciated but at the same time implemented in an abrupt fashion which worked as an epiphanic force for several cultural and psychosocial related issues for the employees. Lastly, our findings indicates that there is a need for further research within the investigated area to hopefully facilitate and aid the future organizations, managers, and employees who are planning of or are currently in the process of implementing hybrid work environments.