The research examines how the banking sector in Zambia faired in the wake of the global financial crisis, and the ensuing global recession that followed. Even prior to the crisis, weaknesses within the Zambian Banking sector were already identified by a World Bank/IMF financial sector assessment. The research therefore aims to gain a better understanding of the potential destabilizing factors to the Zambia Banking sector, and provide key players (Policymakers, Regulators and Banks) with knowledge on how best to manage and overcome these adverse effects, in times of a financial crisis. A Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) is estimated using commonly identified macroeconomic and banking sector indicators from selected Anglophonic African countries that were affected by the crisis at the time. The selected variables include, Return on Assets (ROA); Non-Performing Loans (NPL); Foreign Assets (FA); Interbank Lending Rate (IBLR); Liquidity (LQD); Credit to Private Sector (PRV); Foreign Exchange Rate (FOREX); Inflation (INFL); Copper Price (CU); and a ‘dummy’ variable (CRISIS). The direction of causality between the variables is further established using the VAR Granger Causality Test. Results of the model suggests that although the CRISIS was found to cause the ROA, it had no significant effect on its outcome, implying that overall the crisis had very little effect on the Zambian banking sector’s profitability. It was the liquidity (LQD) variable instead which was found to have a significant effect on the ROA. In times of a financial crisis, it is therefore recommended that policy makers and regulators apply more stringent regulatory and monetary policy instruments. This would counter the adverse effects on the liquidity and profitability of the Banking sector, and thus ensure its stability.

The 2008 financial crisis created new conditions for the listed Swedish property companies and the choice of operational and financial strategy became increasingly important. The purpose of this paper is to identify the listed property companies and their strategies for the period 2002 ‐2011, in order to examine whether these has changed in any direction and if they  were  more  or  less  profitable.  To  accomplish  this,  data  was  collected  from  the companies' annual reports and statistical institutes. This was followed up with interviews with  company  representatives  and  experts  to  further  broadened  the  analytical  basis. Collected data helped to identify each companies strategies year by year. The  analysis  revealed  some  trends  among  companies  regarding  their  operational  and financial strategy. By looking at the Operating strategies we have found that the companies have become more specialized towards either a particular property type or to a geographical region. The companies have also increased their focus on cash flow and reduced their focus on transactions. Financially, the companies have reduced their risks by seeking a more long term capital structure. Alternative sources of funding such as bonds have also become more common among the companies. With  the  exception  of  the  specialization  strategy, the  most  obvious  change in  strategy occurred in connection with the financial crisis of 2008. It was also found that the companies that were most transaction ‐intensive also have been most volatile in a profit perspective. / Finanskrisen 2008 skapade nya förutsättningar för de noterade svenska fastighetsbolagen och valet av operativ och finansiell strategi blev allt mer viktig. Syftet  med  denna  uppsats  är  att  kartlägga  de  noterade  Fastighetsbolagen  och  deras strategier under perioden 2002 ‐2011, för att sedan undersöka huruvida dessa förändrats i någon riktning och om  de varit mer eller mindre gynnsamma. För att genomföra detta samlades data in från bolagens årsredovisningar och statistiska institut. Detta följdes upp med    intervjuer    där    bolagsrepresentanter    och    sakkunniga    ytterligare    breddade analysunderlaget. Insamlad data bidrog till att fastställa de enskilda bolagens strategier år för år. Analysen visade vissa trender bland bolagen gällande deras operativa och finansiella strategi. Operativt har bolagen blivit mer specialiserade mot antingen en viss fastighets typ eller mot en geografisk region. Bolagen har också ökat fokus på kassaflöden/förvaltning och minskat fokus  på  transaktioner.  Finansiellt  har  bolagen  minskat  riskerna genom  att  sträva  efter längre   kapital ‐   och   räntebindning.   Man   har   också   i   större   grad   sökt   alternativa finansieringskällor såsom obligationer. Med undantag för specialiseringsstrategin har de tydligaste förändringarna i strategin skett i samband med finanskrisen 2008. Det visade sig också att de bolag som varit mest transaktionsintensiva också har varit mest volatila i ett resultatperspektiv.

The real estate industry is a sector where the companies generally have a capital structure which is high leveraged. The financing – with the related terms – is therefore specifically of high importance for the companies in the sector. Traditionally, the way of obtain financing is by borrowing from the bank. Lately, due to new bank regulations, the banks have become more restrictive in their lending which have lead to a growth of other financing alternatives. For instance, the corporate bond market has grown rapidly. The development has increased the number who acts as lenders. Institutional investors are for an example an actor which invests in corporate bonds. Furthermore, the credit rating agencies plays indirectly an important role in the financing process since their credit ratings are a part in the process of determining the terms. The terms (such as the interest rate) of the financing are mainly based on the credit risk of the company. Since the topic is of big importance and the financing for real estate companies is changing, the main focus is to create further knowledge and understanding regarding the assessments of the credit risk by each actor.  The present thesis shows the credit risk assessment process by each actor where the banks and the credit rating agencies have the most clear framework. The banks and the agencies do a deep assessment which then is discussed in "committees" internally to reach the final assessment.  The investor’s combines own analyses with evaluating earlier credit analysis done by a credit rating agency or a financial advisor in a corporate bond issue.

The 2008 financial crisis created new conditions for the listed Swedish property companies and the choice of operational and financial strategy became increasingly important. The purpose of this paper is to identify the listed property companies and their strategies for the period 2002 ‐2011, in order to examine whether these has changed in any direction and if they were more or less profitable. To accomplish this, data was collected from the companies' annual reports and statistical institutes. This was followed up with interviews with company representatives and experts to further broadened the analytical basis. Collected data helped to identify each companies strategies year by year. The analysis revealed some trends among companies regarding their operational and financial strategy. By looking at the Operating strategies we have found that the companies have become more specialized towards either a particular property type or to a geographical region. The companies have also increased their focus on cash flow and reduced their focus on transactions. Financially, the companies have reduced their risks by seeking a more long term capital structure. Alternative sources of funding such as bonds have also become more common among the companies. With the exception of the specialization strategy, the most obvious change in strategy occurred in connection with the financial crisis of 2008. It was also found that the companies that were most transaction ‐intensive also have been most volatile in a profit perspective. / Finanskrisen 2008 skapade nya förutsättningar för de noterade svenska fastighetsbolagen och valet av operativ och finansiell strategi blev allt mer viktig. Syftet med denna uppsats är att kartlägga de noterade Fastighetsbolagen och deras strategier under perioden 2002 ‐2011, för att sedan undersöka huruvida dessa förändrats i någon riktning och om de varit mer eller mindre gynnsamma. För att genomföra detta samlades data in från bolagens årsredovisningar och statistiska institut. Detta följdes upp med intervjuer där bolagsrepresentanter och sakkunniga ytterligare breddade analysunderlaget. Insamlad data bidrog till att fastställa de enskilda bolagens strategier år för år. Analysen visade vissa trender bland bolagen gällande deras operativa och finansiella strategi. Operativt har bolagen blivit mer specialiserade mot antingen en viss fastighets typ eller mot en geografisk region. Bolagen har också ökat fokus på kassaflöden/förvaltning och minskat fokus på transaktioner. Finansiellt har bolagen minskat riskerna genom att sträva efter längre kapital ‐ och räntebindning. Man har också i större grad sökt alternativa finansieringskällor såsom obligationer. Med undantag för specialiseringsstrategin har de tydligaste förändringarna i strategin skett i samband med finanskrisen 2008. Det visade sig också att de bolag som varit mest transaktionsintensiva också har varit mest volatila i ett resultatperspektiv.

This study aims to identify leading competencies for an economic crisis. Moreover, the studyprovides insights into how those competencies can be developed and deployed in differentstages of a crisis.  Ten pre-recorded interviews with various CEOs from the Financial Crisis 2008/09 andCovid-19 pandemic have been collected to conduct the research. The collection was basedon criteria in accordance with the research question. The interviews have been used to testand modify James and Wooten's (2010) framework. Using an abductive approach and analyzing the data based on the thematic analysis, the studyconcluded that the leading competencies for an economic crisis are communication, trust,creativity, and expertise. This study complements James and Wooten's (2010) model byclaiming that the four mentioned competencies are the building blocks in detecting earlywarning signals of crises; preparing an organization for a crisis; reducing the bad publicityamid a crisis; and returning the business to normal operations while focusing on revenuestream. Furthermore, the study acknowledges the importance of personal health, empathy,and the growing need for reskilling leaders and managers in using their competencies in aremote work environment. The study serves as a guideline for leaders who want to improve their leadershipeffectiveness. The data analysis summary presents the sub-competencies needed to enhancecommunication, trust, creativity, and expertise. Moreover, the framework highlights whichcompetencies are valuable in different stages of the crisis.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is practice that is followed with the controversy of whether is a real management tool or rather is a fad. A good context in order to study this polemic is the current crisis that has affected worldwide, because if CSR practices are kept in this context means that it is not a fad. Spain is the country chosen for focused this report, due to it is one of European countries most affected by economic crisis. So, this thesis seeks to check which polemic part is right as well as observes CSR situation in Spanish companies so far. CSR situation of large companies and SMEs are the main points investigated, in order to do this, it uses a quantitative and qualitative methods. Firstly, using surveys it is examined large companies’ situation, more specifically IBEX 35 companies that are Spanish enterprises that list at the stock market. Secondly, SMEs situation is analyzed qualitatively using gatherings, interviews and the documentary that are conducted by a Spanish awareness camping called “El valor de ser grande”. Moreover, it is reviewed and analyzed the existing literature creating a theoretical framework built on the pillars of CSR. The research allowed us to obtain the main features about Spanish companies both large companies and SMEs regarding CSR. In large companies CSR is root and is perform for years to gain momentum over time, i.e., it is performed as fundamental element in the company. Instead, in SMEs CSR is beginning to gain further strength and is increasingly performed but it still has a long way to go. Therefore, it is said that CSR is in the second phase, the first one was in big companies and now it is up to SMEs. Moreover, it is confirm that the crisis has increased CSR value to society and business provoking a clean effect over bad CSR policies. In conclusion, this research proves that companies have increased CSR actions in the crisis context so far. Therefore CSR is not a fad, although this will not be final result until the crisis is over and then its final effect will be rechecked.

This study explores the impact of ESG Scores on firm performance and seeks to establish whether the impact increased since the 2008 financial crisis. This is done by performing regressions on ESG Scores, and the respective pillars of Environmental, Social, and Governance, and firm performance, measured as both accounting-based performance, using ROA, and market-based performance, using Tobin’s Q. The study adopts a quantitative approach, utilising a random-effects model to analyse panel data across two sample periods - a pre-crisis period, from 2003-2006, and a post-crisis period, from 2010-2019. In addition, t-tests were performed to see if the impact changed significantly from the pre-crisis to post-crisis period. The study analyses data from 218 firms from the STOXX Europe 600 index, with four smaller sub-samples. The results indicate that ESG Scores have a positive impact on firm performance, with market-based firm performance being significantly correlated both before and after the crisis. Accounting-based performance, however, was only significantly correlated with ESG Scores before the crisis. In addition, the Environmental pillar was positively correlated with both measures of performance before and after the crisis, and the same was true for the Social pillar, except for with post-crisis accounting-based performance. Interestingly, the Governance pillar was not significantly correlated with performance in any of the regressions. Finally, while the average ESG Score among the observed companies increased in the post-crisis period, the impact of ESG performance on firm performance did not change significantly. The results of this study are supportive of the stakeholder theory perspective over the principal-agent theory, and show that ESG performance does indeed positively impact firm performance. Future research could explore whether other events have played a significant role in the rising importance of ESG, or if the results of the present study can be replicated across different time periods and geographical regions.

The efficient market hypothesis states that stock prices fully reflect availablei nformation and that stocks thereby always are priced correctly. Hence, it should be impossible to predict future prices in the stock market, and investors will gain no benefits from engaging themselves into historical analyzes. This is a quantitative study which aim to investigate if there is any difference in market efficiency in Nordic stock markets during and after the financial crisis of 2008. By applying various statistical methods, such as unitroot tests, autocorrelation tests and runs test on the returns from each country’s leading market index, the study tries to find evidence for or against the weak form of market efficiency. The study finds evidence both for and against weak form market efficiency but concludes that there is no distinct difference in market efficiency during and after the financial crisis.

The thesis deals with the influence of the global financial crisis on the employment and specific effects on the labour market in the Czech Republic. The emphasis is based mainly on employees and unemloyed people involved by this problem. In general, the reader is introduced genesis and development of the financial crisis in 2008 in the U.S. and the "spillover" to the mortgage bubble arend the world and EU and its theoretical basis was outlined in the theory of financial crisis. Other theoretical bases of human capital theory as explaining citizen's attitudes to education and social dealing theory, which follow up the nature and reasons of social dealing and theory of human potential. The thesis submitted to the fundamental facts about employment in the analysis in the years 2008 - 2011. Based on the negative economic development and in response to the financial crisis, was adopted in employment in the EU and Czech Republic some support, but also restrictive measures with which the reader is present. More space is devoted to the attitudes of employers and employees in companies that are in crisis and are forced to adopt anti-crisis measures and, if measures are not effective, companies must find ways to address the serious financial crisis, such as consolidation, merger, rehabilitation,...

The aim of this thesis is to introduce the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and describe the relevance of corporate social responsibility activities. Due to the fact that, one of the basic characteristics of Corporate Social Responsibility, is long-term in character, which requires a dedication to CSR activities, even in times of financial difficulties when company does not have the optimal results, this thesis shows how selected companies fulfill the concept of CSR. The theoretical part is divided into two parts - the first is the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, which focuses on the development, pillars, benefits and concepts associated with this concept. I deal with crisis and describe financial crisis, economic crisis, its development, causes and consequences in the next part. The empirical part of this thesis is based on the methodological triangulation - expert interviews, documented examination and comparison. This thesis sampled five selected companies and shows how these companies perceive CSR, what activities they have implemented, how to cope with the crisis that affected them and how it affected the implementation of CSR activities. Another benefit of this thesis is to expand knowledge about values of companies around the city of Kolín. The results of this...