Gender equality is a much-debated topic today with e.g., EU putting pressure on the labour market through Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulations (SFDR) and the UN through their Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). However, gender equality is not a simple matter of only distributions and setting goals; it also refers to attitudes, norms, values, and ideals that affect the lives of women and men in society. Currently the labour market is implementing policies and taking initiatives for increased diversity however, women are still lagging behind men and women’s hierarchical advancement is experiencing a slowing trend. One industry with a strong male dominance is the investment banking industry, an industry that has been struggling to increase the gender split. Multiple attempts have been taken to recruit more women, but the industry struggles with retention rates and is still a heavily male-dominated sector. To be able to know which policies to implement it is important to understand how the organization is gendered and to understand its willingness to change. What happens within organizations can also be seen in society, politics, and media. Research on gendered organizations provide visibility and nuance on how gender is created by society. This research has studied how the industry investment banking is gendered and the perspective on change. The study has been conducted through a qualitive method using structural interviews with guidance of Sarah Rutherford’s model on excluding factors. The interviewees were employees on a junior level in the hierarchy, at different investment banks in Sweden. The study shows an industry with multiple cultural aspects that can work as excluding towards women; the long-hour culture, language & communication, work ideology and gender awareness. The study found both a denial and unawareness of the existing gendered process. The junior team themselves were a mix of different resistors: open, hidden and neutral. There was also a strong belief that the inequalities would fade over time and that they were heavily dependent on the gender split rather than the terms and conditions at the workplace. / Jämställdhet är idag ett omtalat ämne som engagerar samhällen på alla nivåer, Eu med sin Sustainable Finance Regulation (SFDR) som ämnar sätta press på arbetsmarknaden och FN med deras Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), är bara några exempel på samtida engagemang. Jämställdhet är dock inte så enkelt att det kan reduceras till betraktandet av distributioner och målsättning; det refererar också till attityder, normer, värderingar och ideal som påverkar kvinnor och mäns liv i många delar av samhället. Arbetsmarknaden arbetar aktivt med att implementera policys och ta initiativ för att uppnå jämställdhet. Det pågående arbetet till trots kan vi dessvärre se en negativ och avtagande trend vad gäller kvinnors avancemang i professionella hierarkier och fortsatt hamnar steget efter män i dessa miljöer. En av många mansdominerande branscher är investment banking, en bransch som länge kämpat med en ojämn könsfördelning. Flera försök till att rekrytera kvinnor till branschen har gjorts men dessvärre utan önskat långsiktigt resultat då man bland annat har problem att behålla kvinnorna. För att förstå vilka policyer som ska implementeras är det viktigt att förstå hur en organisation är könsmärkt och dess vilja till förändring. Det som sker i organisationer kan också identifieras i samhället, politiken och media. Forskning på könsmärkta organisationer ger insyn och nyansering till hur kön är skapat i samhället. Denna studie har undersökt hur investment bankindustrin är könsmärkt och hur den ser på förändring. Studien har genomförts med kvalitativa metoder där strukturella intervjuer med Sarah Rutherfords modell om exkludering utgör studiens grund. De valda intervjurespondenterna befinner sig på en junior nivå i branschens hierarkisystem och är eller har varit representerade på olika investmentbanker i Sverige. Studien visar en bransch med flera kulturella aspekter som resulterar i exkludering av kvinnor, dessa var; arbetstider, språk & kommunikation, arbetsideologi och könsmedvetenhet. Vidare påvisar studien en existerande förnekelse och omedvetenhet av den könsmärkta organisationen, där respondenterna visade sig vara en blandning av den öppne, dolda och neutrale jämställdhetsmotståndaren. Det fanns också en stark tro på att en utveckling mot jämställdhet sker av sig själv då problematiken upplevdes vara såväl en generations- som en distributionsfråga och inte en fråga om olika villkor och förutsättningar på arbetsplatsen.

This doctoral thesis investigates the evolution of trust in investment bank(er)-client relationship in mergers and acquisitions by focusing on deals over EUR 1 billion. As sub-areas of research interest, this work explores the reasons responsible for the decline of trust in the research context, and also enquires if trust can be regained. The author’s findings indicate that the investment bank(er)-client relationship cannot exist without trust. The bank(er)-client relationship begins with Performance trust in the introductory phase, evolves to a stronger Experiential Performance trust in the second phase, and reaches at its zenith in the third phase i.e. the last phase of trust evolution. The third phase is quintessentially marked by a situation in which a client is left with the choice of choosing either the investment banker or the bank. The former concludes the evolution of trust in form of Superior Interpersonal trust, while the latter marks the end of the phenomenon with Superior Company trust. Scams, dishonesty and irresponsible behaviour, lack of transparency predictability and performance, can result in termination of trust. The authors’ findings suggest that regaining trust is possible at an organisational level, but not at an interpersonal level.:Chapter I: Introduction Chapter II: The background and motivation 2.1 Trust in investment banks: An overview of the present scenario 2.2 The M&A business, investment banker-client relationship, and trust 2.3 The theoretical view on the research gap, and research questions Chapter III: Literature review 3.1 Defining trust as a concept 3.2 A platform to comprehend the phenomenon of trust 3.2.1 Trust through the lens of transaction cost theory 3.2.2 Trust freedom, and vulnerability – an ethical perspective 3.3 A theoretical framework to study the phenomenon of trust 3.4 Trust vs. time 3.4.1 Relationship life cycle 3.4.2 The model of trust & distrust in relationship building 3.5 Trust and network approach 3.6 Epilogue Chapter IV: Methodology 4.1 Prologue: The choice of qualitative research as a methodological approach 4.1.1 Validity of qualitative research 4.1.2 Reliability, credibility and characteristics of qualitative research 4.2 Phenomenology – studying a phenomenon 4.3 Sampling 4.3.1 Judgement sampling 4.3.2 Snowball sampling 4.4 Questionnaire 4.5 The data 4.6 Epilogue of the methodological approach Chapter V: Analysis 5.1 The coding manual 5.2 Coding technique for the first cycle 5.3 Recoding and categorising – Second cycle 5.4 Post- second cycle coding findings 5.5 Does the research require a third cycle coding? 5.6 Data saturation in qualitative interviews 5.6.1 Factors determining data saturation 5.6.2 Guidelines on the size of the sample Chapter VI: Results 6.1 Prologue 6.1.1 The ‘pre-relationship’ stage in a ‘successful’ bank(er)-client relationship 6.1.2 The constructs of goodwill at the “pre-relationship” phase 6.2 Exordium – The introduction phase 6.3 Incrementum – The growth/build-up phase 6.4 Maturitatem – The maturity phase 6.4.1 Situation 1: Superior interpersonal trust 6.4.2 Situation 2: Superior company trust 6.5 How does trust evolve in an investment bank(er)-client relationship? 6.6 Declino – The decline phase: The sub-areas of research interest 6.6.1 Scams 6.6.2 Living up to the expectations 6.6.3 Issue with additional services 6.6.4 Transparency and predictability 6.6.5 Can trust be regained? – A contextual question Chapter VII: Discussion of results 7.1 A pragmatic approach in relation to the research gap 7.2 Transaction cost theory and a ‘free’ perspective 7.3 Goodwill and resource-based theory 7.4 Stakeholder theory, service/performance quality, and relationship marketing 7.5 The debate on trust and time 7.5.1 The model of trust and distrust in relationship development 7.5.2 Relationship life cycle 7.6 Network approach, recommendation, and 3D negotiation 7.7 Contractual trust and a phase of ‘neutrality’ 7.8 Trust vs. reliance Chapter VIII: Conclusion Publication bibliography Appendices

This paper aims to give an insight into how employees, with foreign backgrounds, at investment banks in Sweden perceive the industry with respect to ethnic diversity. Furthermore, it intends to investigate how employees within investment banks believe ethnic diversity can be improved with a focus on the recruitment process. The study uses grounded theory as a methodological approach to propel this equity, diversity, inclusion (EDI) research beyond the dominant understanding of the organizations. Furthermore, to collect data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine participants, of which seven of them had a foreign background. According to the findings of this paper, the perception of the industry is that there is a lack of ethnic diversity within the Swedish investment banking industry. Furthermore, the study found that the investment banker’s perceptions are that; there is a lack of relatable role models, a lack of relevant educational background among people with a foreign background, inequality regimes in the industry, and prevalent nepotism and network-based recruitment. The latter two reproduce ethnosociality, where the dominant group gets an advantage, and the minority gets excluded, in this case, people with a foreign background. Furthermore, when the interviewees were asked what may be done to increase ethnic diversity, they came up with ten different solutions, some of which contradicted one other and some concurring. This paper concludes that companies need to play an active role and take responsibility and put as much focus on ethnic diversity as gender diversity. / Denna uppsats syftar till att ge en inblick i hur anställda, med utländsk bakgrund, i investmentbanker i Sverige, uppfattar branschen med avseende på etnisk mångfald. Dessutom avser den att undersöka hur anställda inom investmentbanker tror att etnisk mångfald kan förbättras med ett fokus på rekryteringsprocessen. Studien använde grounded theory som ett metodologiskt tillvägagångssätt för att driva denna forskning om mångfald, rättvisa och inkludering bortom organisationernas dominant och rådande uppfattning. För att samla in data genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med nio deltagare, varav sju hade en utländsk bakgrund. Enligt resultaten i denna uppsats är uppfattningen av branschen att det saknas etnisk mångfald inom investmentbankerna i Sverige. Dessutom fann studien att anställdas uppfattning är att; det saknas relaterbara förebilder, det är brist på relevant utbildningsbakgrund bland människor med utländsk bakgrund, det finns ojämlikhetsregimer i branschen och det finns en utbredd nepotism och nätverksbaserad rekrytering. De två sistnämnda anses reproducerar etnosocialitet, där den dominerande gruppen får en fördel och minoritetsgruppen utesluts, i detta fall människor med utländsk bakgrund. När intervjuobjekten tillfrågades om vad som kan göras för att förbättra etnisk mångfald, kom de fram till 10 olika förslag, både motstridiga och överensstämmande. Denna uppsats drar slutsatsen att företag måste spela en aktiv roll, ta ansvar och fokusera lika mycket på etnisk mångfald som på jämställdhet.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: PSG Investment Bank started out of the PSG Group in 1998. It was a successful enterprise that was rated highly by the public, institutions and employees. Through 1999, there was a struggle on executive level over the strategy that PSG Investment Bank should follow. The struggle culminated in 2000 with the resignation of the founder of PSG Investment Bank. The remaining executives put their strategy in action during 2000 and 2001. External factors made the environment difficult during late 2001 and 2002 and PSG Investment Bank was not able to respond in such a way that it could ensure its own survival. PSG Investment Bank was sold to Absa in August 2002, resulting in PSG Investment Bank's closure and delisting in 2003. This study examines the strategy of PSG Investment Bank through its life according to a model for strategic management put forward by Burger (2000). The vision of PSG Investment Bank, the external environment that influenced PSG Investment Bank and the internal environment of PSG Investment Bank are analysed as well as the strategic issues and options utilised by PSG Investment Bank. The conclusion of the study is that PSG Investment Bank faced a tough external environment that needed a strong internal environment to be able to survive. By not managing the most important internal resources, the employees, correctly, management lost the ability to ride out the storm brought about by the external circumstances and were left with few strategic options but to sell PSG Investment Bank. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: PSG Beleggingsbank is in 1998 uit die PSG Groep gebore. Dit was 'n hoogs suksesvolle onderneming wat deur die publiek, institusies en werknemers gerespekteer is. Deur die loop van 1999 was daar 'n stryd op topbestuursvlak oor die strategie wat PSG Beleggingsbank moes volg. Hierdie stryd het in 2000 die bedanking van die stigter van PSG Beleggingsbank tot gevolg gehad. Die oorblywende bestuurders het hulle strategie gedurende 2000 en 2001 in werking geplaas. Eksterne faktore het die omgewing moeilik gemaak gedurende laat 2001 en 2002 en PSG Beleggingsbank kon nie daarin slaag om sodanig op te treë om sy eie oorlewing te verseker nie. PSG Beleggingsbank is in Augustus 2002 aan Absa verkoop wat veroorsaak het dat PSG Beleggingsbank gedenoteer is en sy deure tydens 2003 gesluit is. Hierdie studie ondersoek die strategie van PSG Beleggingsbank deur die loop van die onderneming se lewe aan die hand van 'n model vir strategiese bestuur soos voorgestel deur Burger (2000). Die visie van PSG Beleggingsbank, die eksterne omgewing wat PSG Beleggingsbank beïnvloed het en die interne omgewing binne PSG Beleggingsbank sowel as die strategiese kwessies en keuses wat PSG Beleggingsbank uitgevoer het, word bestudeer. Die slotsom van die studie is dat PSG Beleggingsbank 'n moeilike eksterne omgewing ondervind het wat 'n sterk interne omgewing benodig het om in te oorleef. Deur nie sy belangrikste interne hulpbron, sy werknemers, reg te bestuur nie, het die bestuur die vermoë verloor om die storm wat deur eksterne faktore veroorsaak is, uit te sit en het met min strategiese opsies oorgebly anders as om PSG Beleggingsbank te verkoop.

Cette thèse est composée de trois chapitres distincts. Le premier chapitre montre que les dirigeants réagissent de façon excessive face aux risques qui frappent l'attention. Après un ouragan, le choc produit par la catastrophe sur le risque de liquidité perçu conduit les entreprises situées dans le voisinage de la zone sinistrée à augmenter temporairement leur détention de liquidités alors que le risque réel n'a pas changé. Le deuxième chapitre montre que les dirigeants influencent de façon stratégique l'attention des investisseurs aux annonces de résultats en les prévenant plus ou moins tardivement de la date de l'événement. Cette stratégie leur permet de lisser dans le temps l'impact de mauvais résultats sur leur cours de bourse. Le troisième chapitre étudie l'effet des league tables dans les activités de fusions-acquisitions. Les league tables classent les banques d'investissement. Le rang d'une banque dans la league table prédit sa capacité à engendrer des affaires nouvelles dans le futur, ce qui incite les banques à manipuler leur classement. / This dissertation is made of three distinct chapters. The first chapter shows that managers overreact to salient risks. They respond to the occurrence of a hurricane event when their firms are located in the neighborhood of the disaster area. The sudden shock to the perceived liquidity risk leads them to temporarily increase the amount of corporate cash holdings, even though the real liquidity risk remains unchanged. The second chapter examines earnings announcements by US firms, and how far in advance notice of the event is given (the "advance notice period"). Such advance notice period affects how much investors pay attention to earning news. This variation in investors' attention affects short-run and long-run stock prices, thereby creating incentives for firms to strategically reduce the advance notice period when they plan to disclose bad news. The third chapter studies M&A league tables, which provide rankings of investment banks. The rank of a bank in the league table predicts its future deal flow. This creates strong incentives for banks to manage their ranks in the league table.

This doctoral thesis contains three empirical research papers that center on the topics of private equity and the role of advisors in mergers and acquisitions. "Your Former Employees Matter: Private Equity Firms and Their Financial Advisors” is a study of how social networks that are formed by previous employment relations affect private equity firms’choice of financial advisors. A financial advisor is more likely to advice on a transaction if a former employee is one of the private equity professionals who constitute the deal team for the particular transaction. In turn, information and deals are sourced to private equity firms from sell-side financial advisors within the previous employment network. "Dual Role Advisors and Conflicts of Interest” focuses on the potential conflicts of interest that may arise when an advisor to a firm targeted in a merger or acquisition is simultaneously involved in financing the bidder. Overall, the results suggest that investment banks in these situations may not have fulfilled their obligation of obtaining the highest possible price on behalf of the seller. "Private Equity Firms and Quick Flip Sales” examines the particulars of quick flip investments and three hypotheses that may explain their prevalence. Private equity firms typically are long term investors, but occasionally exits take place in less than 18 months. Results point to that such quick flips may partly be due to conflicting interests between the limited and general partners. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2010. Sammanfattning jämte 3 uppsatser</p>

The financial industry is and have been going through a transformation due to digitalisation and globalization, recently breaching the long unaffected investment banking sector. Together with the implementation of the MiFID II regulation, which has been a catalyst for investment banks, this has led to increasing competition in the sector.  Evidence suggests, through a cross-discipline consensus, that the traditional comprehension of competitive advantage is no longer sufficient, and that innovation is instead a key strategic issue in order to sustain a competitive position and to potentially strengthen it during change.  This study empirically investigates how investment banks can utilize a job-centric approach to innovation based on causality, i.e. the cause and effect mechanisms that cause customers to make the choices they do in given circumstances. The empirical data consists of interviews with existing and prospective clients to the case-company with regards to the service of commissioned research. A theoretical framework based on the literature is created and used to analyse the qualitative empirical data.  The findings of this thesis suggest that investment banks indeed can develop their services by incorporating a job centric approach in order to stay competitive during an industrial transformation. The passive data obtained as a result of the analysis can be utilized for development and innovation purposes. To competently use the results requires an adaptation to a certain culture of innovative thinking, one that focuses on the job to be done rather than internal processes. / Finansbranschen har genomgått en omvandling på grund av digitalisering och globalisering, som nyligen nått den länge opåverkade investment bank-sektorn som tillsammans med implementationen av MiFID II, som har varit en katalysator för investment banker, har lett till ökad konkurrens inom sektorn.  Bevis antyder, genom vetenskapligt samförstånd, att den traditionella förståelsen av konkurrensfördel inte längre är tillräcklig, och att innovation istället är en nyckelstrategisk fråga för att upprätthålla en konkurrenskraftig position och potentiellt stärka den i förändringstider.  Denna studie undersöker empiriskt hur investeringsbanker kan använda ett jobbcentriskt synsätt på innovation baserat på kausalitet, dvs de orsaks- och effektmekanismerna som får kunderna att göra de val de gör under givna omständigheter. Det empiriska materialet består av intervjuer med befintliga och potentiella kunder till uppdragsgivaren beträffande tjänsten uppdragsanalys. Ett teoretiskt ramverk baserat på litteraturen skapas och används för att analysera de kvalitativa empiriska uppgifterna.  Resultatet av denna studie tyder på att investeringsbanker verkligen kan utveckla sina tjänster genom att integrera en jobbcentrisk strategi för att förbli konkurrenskraftig under en industriell omvandling. Den passiva data som erhållits som ett resultat av analysen kan användas för utvecklings- och innovationsändamål. Att kompetent använda resultaten är dock beroende av att anta en viss kultur för innovativt tänkande, en som fokuserar på jobbet som ska göras snarare än interna processer.

The work seeks to analyze the causes and impacts of the current financial crisis. It deals with the theoretical view and definition of financial crisis, along with a brief historical excursion. A significant part of the work is devoted to describe the financial crisis in the United States and in selected, economically important, countries. In the context of the causes of and solutions to the current crisis period are remembered views of different economic schools, which are very different. A significant part is devoted to the description of institutional architecture and function of the financial system. Important part is the description of the functioning of lending money (such interest and regulatory policy), because the author sees in it a long series of "unhealthy" factors, which helped the emergence of a financial crisis. The aim of this work is to give a komplete, non-ideological coloring, look at the biggest financial crisis in modern history.

The main task of the diploma thesis is an analysis of financial performance and position of Morgan Stanley during several successive periods before and during the subprime financial crisis. Through the analysis of trends in key items, it also demonstrates strong cyclicality of financial performance and position of the investment bank. The first chapter deals with history and key divisions of the Company. The following chapter generally discusses selected phenomena, which, as per the author's view, significantly influenced industry-wide record-breaking performance during the period before the subprime crisis, and which substantially determined Morgan Stanley's risk profile and performance's corrections later during the Crisis. The core part of the Thesis is conceived as an analysis of financial performance and position of Morgan Stanley during the selected periods. The analysis of pre-crisis period until 2006 in the third chapter demonstrates growth of activities lying behind the unprecedented profitability of the Institution. The following fourth chapter analyzes deteriorating financial performance during the subprime crisis and indicates crucial strategy changes, implemented by the Company at the end of 2008. Effects of the strategic changes and challenges of the future development of the Institution are discussed in the last chapter. Additionally, the Thesis includes annexes, which further deal with selected topics and their general relations to investments banks and two annexes which compare Morgan Stanley with its nearest peers during specific periods.

This research explores the relationship between the organisational culture and financial performance of a South African investment bank by means of quantitative research. The Denison Organizational Culture Survey was used to measure the organisational culture of the investment bank and was administered to a sample of 327 employees. Income statement ratio analysis was selected as a means to assess the financial performance. The results indicate that very few of the financial measures selected could be shown to be correlated with the organisational cultural traits or subscales. Correlations between the cultural dimensions of team orientation, agreement, customer focus and vision were found with certain financial measures. Although these correlations were above the 0.50 level, the levels of significance were not sufficient in all cases to draw conclusions with confidence. The only cultural trait that was found to be correlated with financial measures was the consistency trait. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)