Global catastrophes such as the COVID-19 crisis raise individual and collective anxiety among faith communities. Fears about the well-being of loved ones, grief over the hiatus of corporate worship services, and uncertainty about the sustainability of local churches loom large. A significant challenge surrounding preaching during a pandemic is the need to speak a word to and for this anxiety. But psychotherapists know an important thing about anxiety: it contains no information. It is no more than “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal,” to use St Paul’s words. To reassure it away from the pulpit is tantamount to colluding with it. What if instead of attempting to soothe away anxiety in troubling times like these, the preacher and the congregation collide head-on with the feeling that resides on the other side of the anxiety? What comes into view then? This paper will bring the central tenets of dynamic psychotherapy to bear on the task of preaching amidst global catastrophe. By relying on how therapists move past anxiety to directly address the deep feelings of patients, we raise ideas for preaching sermons that go past anxiety, fear, and helplessness and steer into the storm of emotions stirring among the faith community.

This research investigates brand equity’s role in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19, a complex crisis, on firms’ stock performance. It also compares a high brand equity stock (HBES) portfolio with the overall market during three periods of the crisis (downturn, upturn, and total disturbance). To delineate brand equity’s influences across different periods of the COVID-19 crisis, I distinguish between three market periods: (1) market downturn; (2) market upturn; (3) total disturbance. Furthermore, the excess returns of the HBES portfolio with the overall market, containing all the firms listed collectively on the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP), NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ, are compared. The Fama-French (FF; Fama and French, 1993) method is used to examine the brand equity’s effects on stock return and risk factors, namely volatility and beta. Using the Behavioral Portfolio Theory (BPT), this research shows brand equity insulates firm performance during the COVID-19 crisis by improving stock return and mitigating risks. However, brand equity effects vary across the three market periods, improving stock return and reducing volatility in the downturn. Nevertheless, brand equity does not buffer stock return in the upturn. Overall, during the total disturbance period, brand equity protects stock return and diminishes risk. The comparative findings indicate brand equity is a strong protector of stock return in the downturn, while it is more effective in reducing risk in the upturn. The findings advance research by providing evidence pertaining to brand’s role in mitigating the impact of unpredictable market shocks and crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, on stock performance. While brands are mostly viewed as drivers of sustained competitive advantage and profitability, their protective role in times of crisis is noteworthy. The findings can potentially help marketing and brand managers justify marketing spending and aid them in crafting strategies to enhance firm performance during crises similar to the COVID-19. The marketing-finance interface can benefit from insights offered by the COVID-19 pandemic, as such crises are becoming prevalent and are capable of damaging various stakeholder’s outcomes (firms, investors, customers).

Over the past 2 years, numerous empirical studies in the fields of human resource management, organizational behavior, and industrial, work, and organizational psychology have investigated employee experiences and behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this paper is to take a step back and to outline several theoretical and methodological considerations when researching employee experiences and behavior in times of crisis more generally. These insights may be useful when developing conceptual models, designing empirical studies, and managing people in the context of future crises. We first review theoretical approaches that could be applied to explain changes in employee experiences and behavior in times of crisis, including stress theories, theories of adjustment to work-related changes, career construction theory, event system theory, transition-adaptation theories, the crisis management and resilience framework, and the social identity model of identity change. Second, we outline methodological considerations and best practices regarding the research design of quantitative empirical studies, sampling, measurement, and analytic strategies. Throughout, we highlight empirical studies on employee experiences and behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic that have adopted these theoretical approaches and methodological best practices. We conclude with several suggestions for future theory development and empirical studies on employee experiences and behavior as well as human resource management in times of crisis.

The Covid-19 crisis disrupted consumer behaviour in many ways and created financial challenges for the majority of people. This led to increased levels of financial anxiety, especially among young adults. The purpose of this study was to explain the influence of Covid-19 induced financial anxiety on the saving intentions of millennials. This study was based on the Theory of PlannedBehaviour, which we extended with an additional variable – financial anxiety. Additionally, the aim was to compare how this financial anxiety manifests in terms of saving intention in two different countries, Sweden and Serbia. A quantitative study was conducted, using an online survey. Data collection was carried out between April and May 2021. The non-probabilistic, snowball sampling method was utilized together with posting the survey on different Facebook groups, which resulted in 150 usable responses in Serbia and 131 in Sweden. The findings of this study suggest that financial anxiety negatively influences saving intentions in both countries. Moreover, financial anxiety had a negative impact on three out of four components (attitude to saving, perceived behavioural control to saving, personal saving intention) of the Theory of planned Behavior. Attitude towards saving is found to be the strongest predictor for the intention to save followed by perceived behavioural control. Subjective norms had the least predictive power, especially in Serbia where they failed to predict personal saving intention.

iv Abstract This diploma thesis examines the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the bank credit risk in the European Union. The analysis is performed using two sets of panel data. The first set contains data at the bank-level between 2012 and 2018 and is obtained from BankFocus batabase and the second set of data is obtained from the EBA Risk dashboard and contains data at the country-level between 2014 and 2020. Both datasets contain bank-specific variables and macroeconomic variables. We use the variables Cost of risk, Total capital ratio, Tier 1 ratio and NPE ratio as dependent variables. As representatives of the COVID-19 shock, we use the number of people infected with this disease, the number of deaths from this disease and the Stringency Index. We employ the GMM system for our analysis and test 5 hypotheses. We did not reject 3 hypotheses, namely that Cost of risk is a key determinant of credit risk and that the crisis caused by COVID-19 affects the variables Capitalo ratio and NPE ratio. We further concluded that the variables representing COVID-19 do not have a negative effect on credit risk, mainly due to the interventions of the ECB and the IASB. JEL Classification C12, C33, G01, G21 Keywords bank, COVID-19 crisis, credit risk management, Stringency index Title Author's e-mail Supervisor's e-mail...

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In times of the pandemic, Facebook has become a virtual space that through e.g.“coronavirus support groups” (Harris, 2020), partially substitutes social interactions and allows its users to better cope with the isolation and social distancing. A public Facebook group “Lappis” established in 2006 is a space facilitating communication for the local community of the biggest student housing in Stockholm “Stora Lappkärrsberget”. Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, Covid-related postings started to emerge in the group’s forum. The study examines Covid-related content in order to define the function of the group through describing the forms of communication around the pandemic, i.e. the themes, the scope and the ways the content is conveyed. In doing so, the model combining the uses and gratifications theory and the theory of affordances is applied, allowing to investigate the motivations and interactivity of the members through Facebook group affordances. In order to encompass the puzzle from multiple angles, an adaptive approach of mixed methods is used by combining: qualitative content analysis and survey. Key finding of the research is that the Covid-related content is a minor part of the content shared in the group, yet that it provokes extensive discussions among the members with both “aggressive” and “unaggressive” responses. Furthermore, it is argued that the group has potential to be a coronavirus support group (Harris, 2020) and a substitute for interpersonal communication (Papacharissi & Mendelson, 2011). Finally, the study identifies possibilities for future research in the further examination of local Facebook groups in the context of pandemic, in order to map the possible changes in Facebook affordances that would lead to higher reliability of those groups as spaces for sharing Covid-related content.

Revision har förekommit under tusentals år och professionen har utvecklats mycket under tiden som gått även om grundläggande drag förblivit det samma. Revision handlar om att granska finansiella rapporter och har därför en viktig roll i samhället, vilket medfört krav på trovärdighet och oberoende i revisionsarbetet. Samtidigt som grunderna måste hållas konstanta så påverkas revisionen av olika omvärldsfaktorer. En av dessa omvärldsfaktorer är digitalisering som är en världstrend som även spridit sig till revision. Tidskrävande och monotona moment ersätts med digitala verktyg för att effektivisera och höja kvalitén på revisionen. Digitaliseringen av revision gör det även möjligt att arbeta på distans, vilket blev aktuellt under våren 2020 då Covid-19 pandemin drabbade världen. Covid-19 pandemin skapade en global kris som bland annat påverkade revisionsbranschen. Syftet med denna studie är att skapa förståelse för revisionsbyråers och revisorers uppfattningar av Covid-19 krisens inverkan på digitaliseringen inom revisionen i Sverige. Studien har utgått från institutionell teori och Unified Theory of Acceptance and use of Technology och har med hjälp av tidigare forskning inom digitalisering av revision kunnat identifiera fem olika digitaliseringsområden Artificiell intelligens, Big data, Teleworking, datainsamling & kundutveckling och alternativa medel för kontrollinventering. Dessa har satts i förhållande till studiens empiri för att skapa förståelse om hur covid-19 krisen påverkat digitaliseringen inom revisionen i Sverige. Studiens empiri utgörs av tre semistrukturerade intervjuer med revisorer och en dokumentstudie där årsredovisningar för 2018/2019 och 2019/2020 studerats från fem revisionsbyråer i Sverige. Studiens slutsatser är att ett institutionellt tryck lett till att digitalisering inom revision ökat främst med anledning av ökat på grund av de regleringar och restriktioner som förelegat. Dessa förändringar är bland annat teleworking som har såväl negativa som positiva upplevelser, nya granskningssätt vid inventering som också har blandade upplevelser, övergång till digitala möten, vilket upplevs som positivt. Samt en ökad möjlighet att använda analysverktyg vilket upplevs som positivt.

Background:Sweden is known for having a good infrastructure in health care that enables the medical profession to provide effective patient care. The pandemic struck the world in March 2019 and has since then shown transparency, strengths and weaknesses in the system. Transit zones, modern solutions, and overworked staff have been noticed. The medical teams have been affected and the medical leaders with the right leadership skills have therefore been more important than ever.   Problem statement:The management and leadership structure are interconnected in health care, but there are some distinguishments, like personnel administration and budgeting within management, and vision and inspiration within the leadership concept. Physician leadership is provided in medical teams on wards and this person has two job responsibilities, as a leader and as a specialist. Their job has been greatly challenged these two years with an overloaded system and overworked staff. It has therefore been of great interest to provide good leadership.   Research purpose:The purpose of this thesis is to examine how Swedish physician leaders maintain good managerial power in a complex system and elaborate on the situational theory in health care. This is investigated by interviews with medical professions in different specialties. The findings are expected to contribute additional insights to the previous theoretical framework on contingent leadership. Method:This study has used a qualitative research design by conducting 8 semi-structured interviews. An interpretive paradigm was applied, and the data was supported by the theory which allowed subjectivity from the interviewed. The judgment sampling presented medical professionals that have worked during the pandemic on different wards, but with different amounts and different kinds of experience in health care. A thematic analysis was used for data analysis, providing the research with reflection regarding the professions’ experience of a medical team and the effect the crisis had on it.   Results:The work cycle is coherent for all professions, yet complex and changeable throughout the day. The physician leader is responsible for patient rounds and patient care and must be situational since the job comes with different challenges and work. Communication is deeply important in providing a good environment for team members’ competency improvement, as well as making them feel empowered. The team must have a hierarchy in emergencies and in crises, but it must be neglected in other situations, for example during consultations between a nurse and a physician. Subjective perception of the balance between these two must be present from a leader’s point of view, and health care lacks education on this perspective today. At the same time, the follower must be aware of the team structure in the room and not overestimate their own legitimacy. The professional designated color of the badge is there for the reason; to maintain order.