Bakgrund: Coronapandemin präglade under lång tid människors vardag såväl som de finansiella marknaderna. Den kraftiga nedgången i februari - mars år 2020 och den rekordsnabba återhämtningen påverkade privatinvesterare. Dessa investerare stod inför tuffa beslut, och präglades av stress och oro. Under volatila tider sker inte alltid rationella beslut, och denna typ av beslutsmiljö kan påverka investerare att vara mer mottagliga av psykologiska bias. För att undvika att gå i samma fällor, är det av intresse att kartlägga börspsykologiska faktorers påverkan på privatinvesterares agerande och vilken effekt det har på deras diversifiering i aktieportföljen. Eventuella skillnader i agerande under börsnedgångarna visar även om investerarna själva lärde sig någonting från den första börsnedgången och ändrade sitt beteende till den andra börsnedgången. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att kartlägga privatinvesterares agerande på aktiemarknaden under Coronapandemin. Detta för att kunna uttala sig om, privatinvesterares beteende under börsnedgången i februari - mars 2020, samt den andra börsnedgången i oktober samma år. Genom att undersöka två tidsperioder går det att observera skillnader i beteende. Metod: Studien använde sig av en enkätstudie med tvärsnittsdesign för att på generell nivå ha möjlighet till att uttala sig om privatinvesterares agerande under börsnedgångarna. Slutsats: Studien har visat att samtliga undersökta börspsykologiska bias har påverkat privatinvesterare under båda börsnedgångarna men det finns dock skillnader mellan perioderna. Om respondenterna själva får beskriva deras agerande har många angett att de har agerat rationellt under krisen, något som tidigare forskning också konstaterat. Diversifieringen har ökat i aktieportföljen efter börsnedgångarna, jämfört med hur det såg ut vid slutet av 2019. Det är dock inte säkerställt att detta är en effekt av nedgångarna. Slutligen finns det även skillnader i börspsykologiska faktorer och diversifiering mellan demografiska faktorer och erfarenhet från tidigare kriser. / Background: The Corona pandemic has affected people’s everyday life as well as the financial markets. The big decline in the stock market that happened in February-March 2020 and the record fast recovery impacted private investors in a big way. Investors had difficult decisions to make during times of stress and worry, which does not always lead to optimal decisions. The investors could be more affected by biases during times of crisis. To avoid walking into the same traps again it is of investor’s interest to map psychological biases and how they affect the diversification in their stock portfolios. Eventual differences in behavior between the stock market decline in February-Mars and the one in October could be spotted by comparing the two periods. This would show if the respondents themselves learned from the first stock market decline to the second one, hence changing their behavior. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to map private investors’ behavior in the stock market during the Corona pandemic. This will make it possible to discuss private investors’ behavior during the stock market declines in February-March 2020 as well as the one in October the same year. This will make it possible to see differences in behavior. Method: The study used a survey study with cross-sectional design to be able to discuss private investors’ behavior at a general level. Conclusion: The study has shown that all studied psychological biases to affect private investors during the stock market declines, showing there are differences between these periods. If the respondents describe their own actions, then many of say themselves that they acted rational during the crisis, something that previous studies have shown. The diversification has also increased after the stock market declines compared to how it was at the end of 2019, but it is not certain that it is an effect of the stock market declines. There are also differences between demographic factors and experience from previous crises with regards to psychological biases and diversification.

The normative political theory problem of dirty hands (DH) concerns the troubling possibility that political leaders, from a (mostly) consequentialist perspective, might sometimes be morally required to make exceptions from sensitive rules like prohibitions of extremely harmful practices (e.g. torture) in order to avert catastrophic threats and crises, while such rules are still considered so important and such crises so rare that one nonetheless feels inclined to deem dirty exceptions categorically wrong so as to prevent their unnecessary proliferation through a slippery-slope type development.  How can we conceptualize such a problematic necessity? A latent but insufficiently explored idea in the DH literature is that the normatively preferrable approach to such a wicked problem might be to not try to conceptualize it at all, or at least not in our public work as academics. In this thesis, I introduce the straightforward suggestion that if the DH problem cannot be discussed without risking slippery-slope demoralization of the partaking deliberators and/or audience, we seem to be morally required to content ourselves with terming it an unspeakable, taboo subject in non-crisis times, as a meta-level ersatz solution to the core-level political problem conventionally centered in the DH literature.  I also discuss to what extent the mainstream, weak rule utilitarian (WRU) DH literature can themselves be understood as intentionally testing the limits of consequentialist reasoning in a search for a 'higher' moral truth than what their ethical position might entail at first glance.

In an increasingly interconnected, and electricity-reliant world, households are asked to build up their resilience to crises. Local, distributed electricity production within a microgrid with capability to operate disconnected from the larger grid has been shown to be an effective tool for increasing power system resilience in the past. The energy production of local renewable sources is, however, not sufficient in meeting normal household energy demand. This thesis explores whether the forming of communities can be utilised to reduce energy demand and as a result, increase the resiliency of both the community and urban environments. The analysis of household energy use and the subsequently developed toolbox provide insights into energy use both under normal societal function and during a crisis. Through living and cooking together as a community, significant energy-efficiency gains were possible, exceeding those reasonably achieved within each individual household. Community was further determined to be important in the planning and development of more resilient combinations of renewable energy, going beyond solar power. When implemented in theoretical scenarios, energy communities at a building and block level could provide sufficient energy for the households’ most immediate needs without major sacrifices of wellness. The scheme proposed is argued to require not only monetary investments, but also larger societal shifts. Producing sufficient quantities of electricity within urban environments will mean a large change in how cities are experienced. Public understanding and acceptance for such a change is likely to be necessary. Through the implementation, the role of the municipality would go from action-taking to mostly laying the groundwork for the formation of communities, as well as advising these as they achieve higher household resilience. Most critically, however, there is a need for the broader population to embrace working together in communities.

When crises develop, people are confronted with difficulties beyond those experienced in normal everyday activities.  Due to the perceived threats inherent to such situations, familiar behaviors may prove ineffective, and such attempts can pose dangerous and unpredictable risks. Crises are extreme situations, occurring at the very edges of human experience. Oral communication in such situations cannot be casual; the seriousness of the situation demands exceptional communicative performance on the part of the participants. Therefore, certainties about everyday communication conventions are called into question. The following work examines conversations during which the participants were involved in an extreme situation. In this particular crisis, a politically motivated kidnapping, the personal involvement of the interlocutors is substantial. A clear and present fear of the situation escalating and the possibility of a failure to anticipate the resulting reactions from the other party(ies) characterize the communicative acts of those involved. Recorded telephone calls during the occupation of the West German Embassy in Stockholm by members of the Red Army Faction (RAF) on April 24, 1975 comprise the basis for this analysis. One of the occupiers speaks with various interlocutors located in an adjacent embassy building. These interlocutors are relatives of the hostages, the Swedish Minister of Justice, and a German official charged with leading the negotiations. In this study, the communicative processes of the crisis are reconstructed. In order to show how the interlocutors attempt to reach their goals in this tense situation with the resources available to them, as well as what they in fact achieve, ethnographic methods of analysis have been employed. This study shows how, despite strong conflicting interests and motives, a shared reality is built through the actions of the interlocutors. The interaction between two key figures in the early stages of the crisis can even be characterized as a form of coalition building. An explanation as to why this collaboration is not retained in the subsequent course of the events, however, leading to an escalation of the situation, is also presented. Furthermore, the following work sets forth qualities needed to interactively build a coalition in a precarious crisis situation, which has arisen between parties characterized by diametrically opposed aims.

Syftet med denna magisteruppsats har varit att utforska hur Covid-19 pandemin har påverkat ledarskapet och organisationens riktning.    Covid-19 pandemin har påverkar olika delar av ledarskapet. Resultaten visar tydligt att chefer känner sig överbelastade eftersom de måste hantera många administrativa uppgifter och alternerande möten. På grund av brist på tid och balans mellan arbete och privatliv har förmågan att ha en helhetssyn, tolka och ta in perspektiv utifrån och in och inifrån och ut varit en utmaning för ledarna. Resultatet indikerar även på behovet av tydliga kommunikationskanaler mellan ledarna, de anställda och deras kunder om vilka åtgärder som krävs för att anpassa sig till den nya situationen som pandemin har medfört.   Under pandemin har organisationerna tvingats att vidta snabba åtgärder baserat på föreskrifterna och begränsningarna från Folkhälsomyndigheten och regeringen. Etablerade digitala kanaler har använts men nya digitala kanaler har behövts identifieras för att skapa interaktion och relationer inom organisationen samt med kunderna.   Den snabba omvandlingen till den digitala världen har påverkat organisationens riktning att tänka annorlunda, vara mer flexibel och anpassningsbar till nya oväntade förändringar, såsom pandemin. Organisationerna har använt nyckelindikatorer för att identifiera och få en tydlig bild av hur pandemin har påverkat organisationens riktning internt och externt gentemot sina kunder. Denna nya digitala omvandling har också tvingat kunderna att gå in på nya digitala plattformar och interagera online med organisationerna. Den nya digitala medvetenheten från kunderna har framkallat nya digitala krav och tjänster som i sin tur har resulterat i behov av nya digitala självservice tjänster och en högre och starkare digital kompetens från organisationens kundtjänst.   En bidragande diskussion till organisationerna och samhället är att hänvisa till begreppet lönsamhet som en värdeskapande effekt som är hållbar över tid, kopplad till tre element: ledarskap, organisationens riktning och kundbehov. / The purpose of this thesis has been to explore how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the leadership and the direction of the organization.   The Covid-19 pandemic has affected various parts of the leadership. The results clearly indicate that managers feel overloaded since they have to handle a lot of administrative tasks and alternating meetings. Due to lack of time and balance between work and private life, the ability to have a holistic view, interpret and take in perspectives from outside-in and inside-out has been a challenge for the leaders. The results also indicated the need for clear communication between the leaders and the employees and their customers about what actions are required in order to adapt to the new situation that the pandemic has imposed.   During the pandemic the organizations were forced to take fast action based on the regulations and restrictions from the Public Health Agency and the government. Established digital channels were used but new digital channels had to be identified to create interaction and relations within the organization and with the customers.  The fast transformation to the digital world has affected the direction of the organization to think differently and be more flexible and adaptable to new unexpected changes, such as the pandemic. The organizations have used key indicators to identify and get a clear picture of how the pandemic has affected the direction of the organization internally and externally towards its customers. This new digital transformational shift has also forced the customers to enter new digital platforms and interact online with the organizations. The new digital awareness from the customers has induced new digital requirements and services which in turn have resulted in the need for new digital self-services and a higher and stronger digital competence from the organizations customer service.   A contributing discussion to the organizations and to the society is to refer to the concept of profitability as a value-creating effect sustainable over time, connected by three elements: leadership, direction of the organization and customer need. / <p>2021-06-06</p>