<p>The ongoing financial crisis which has upset the financial markets of the world since the late summer of 2007 has not left Swedish corporations unaffected. Strategies which can be adapted within the firm to improve liquidity and cash flows concern the management of working capital and cash management, areas which are usually neglected in times of favourable business conditions.</p><p>In this study it is examined how companies have adjusted their liquidity strategies before the crisis started to spread worldwide and a year afterwards, in the beginning of the 2009 when economies are in the middle of the turbulence, still feeling the consequences of the financial crisis and not yet started to recover. Research problem consisted of two main questions:</p><p><em>Do active liquidity strategies have a positive effect on company’s profitability in times of financial turbulence/ economic turbulence? </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em>Have the importance of key ratios in the measurement of liquidity changed during the time period?</em></p><p>The primary purpose of the study was to evaluate and compare the use and extent of the liquidity practices in two time points. Furthermore, the aim was to measure if the changing of liquidity strategy is related to the profitability measured by return on assets (ROA).</p><p>Sample consisted of companies listed on Stockholm Stock Exchange’s Small and Mid cap- lists, with some restrictions. The quantitative research strategy was employed and data was collected by using telephone interviews and financial ratios from financial statements. Hypotheses tested different aspects of cash management and liquidity practices. Statistical analysis was conducted by using regression analysis of the change scores and profitability.</p><p>Overall findings suggested that the adaptation of liquidity strategies do not have a significant impact on ROA. Only increased use of liquidity forecasting and short-term financing during financial crisis had a positive impact on ROA. Moreover, it was found that the importance of the key ratios monitoring companies liquidity have not changed between the studied time points. Working capital ratio is the most commonly used liquidity measurement and in addition the use of working capital and DIO metrics has increased most during the crisis.</p><p>More frequent monitoring and forecasting on liquidity levels and making more short-term investments can provide gains in profitability Based on the findings the adjustment of liquidity practices is beneficial for the companies, even though benefits are not always directly measurable in profitability. Furthermore, companies are recommended to maintain their focus on liquidity and working capital management in an economic downturn.</p><p> </p>

<p>This study examines whether the performance of the Black-Scholes model to price stock index options is influenced by the general conditions of the financial markets. For this purpose we calculated the theoretical values of 5814 options (3366 put option price observations and 2448 call option price observations) under the Black-Scholes assumptions. We compared these theoretical values with the real market prices in order to put the degree of deviations in two different time windows built around the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers (September 15th 2008) to the test. We find clear evidences to state that the Black-Scholes model performed differently in the period after Lehman Brothers than in the period before; therefore we are able to blame this event for our findings.</p>

<p>At the time of writing, the business world is currently recovering from a recession that struck globally in the late 2008. The financial crisis brought many consequences, not least in the labor market. In meantime, media is reporting of the increasing trends of companies outsourcing their employment needs, by using staffing companies. Could it be that there is a correlation between the recession and the companies’ choices to do so?</p><p>By revising literature on the topic we have found that the companies need for flexibility seem to be their main reason for using staffing companies. We have also come to review the first reports on the current increase of staffing company use in the US claimed to be caused by the current recession. Regarding the recession, we have come to find that it does have a structural impact on the labor market according to literature. An impact, that many claims is not temporary, but is here to stay.</p><p>We have departed from retroduction with a touch of abduction when investigating our research problem. In practice, we have conducted a study based on surveys where we have asked 37 people in managerial positions at the top 100 largest employers in Sweden about their views on the recession and their attitudes towards the staffing industry. In addition, we have conducted an interview with a manager from a staffing company in Sweden to get another view on the use of staffing companies.</p><p>The findings of this study include; even though several references in this paper forecast rapid growth during times of expansion for the staffing companies, this is not reflected within the responses in our sample. The companies perceive the situation of temporary staff as being better than what some theory suggests. There is reason to suggest that large companies that use staffing companies are moving towards a permanent need of temporary labor, and the respondent of such companies generally perceive staffing companies as a good option for mitigating labor-associated risks.</p><p>It is difficult to draw definite conclusions based on our findings. We have opted to give the reader some insight as to how the companies perceive the staffing industry, and how a manager of a staffing company perceives its current state. We would like to encourage further research to use the questions and suggestions raised in our paper to conduct tests in the area of temporary staffing from a corporate perspective to nourish the debate in the society with a scientific point of view.</p>

Part I examines the global rise of both public and private debt and its recent manifestations in the US housing bubble and the financial panic of 2007-8. A review of the most popular theories of the debt crisis is provided, including an explication of securitized banking and economic theory. The underlying condition of increasing ecological and energetic scarcity is accorded central significance in the broad trajectory of world growth and debt, Part II explicates systems theories of social order and the social significance of markets. The theories of Niklas Luhmann, Talcott Parsons, Mario Bunge, Anthony Giddens, and Jürgen Habermas are evaluated with respect to their theories of social order and crisis. A central finding is that, although declining rates of exergy production inhibit the global economic recovery as measured by conventional economic tools, this fact is not likely to be widely recognized. A central theme of Part II is how social systems handle uncertainty, risk, and to what extent complex social systems can be regulated normatively by the public sphere. As global society becomes increasingly interconnected and dependent upon the depletion of material and energy resources, the communication channels that facilitate the self-understanding of modern society at the same time proliferate, becoming increasingly disconnected and self-referential. Luhmann’s systems theory is used to explain why collective recognition and action is at once rendered more necessary and increasingly unlikely given the complexity of global society that Earth’s terrestrial stock of nonrenewable energy resources has engendered.

This study examines whether the performance of the Black-Scholes model to price stock index options is influenced by the general conditions of the financial markets. For this purpose we calculated the theoretical values of 5814 options (3366 put option price observations and 2448 call option price observations) under the Black-Scholes assumptions. We compared these theoretical values with the real market prices in order to put the degree of deviations in two different time windows built around the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers (September 15th 2008) to the test. We find clear evidences to state that the Black-Scholes model performed differently in the period after Lehman Brothers than in the period before; therefore we are able to blame this event for our findings.

Syftet med undersökningen är att få en ökad förståelse för hur de anställdas upplevelser av arbetsmotivation och stress ser ut i arbetet samt att se om finanskrisen har påverkat de anställdas upplevelser av arbetsmotivation och stress. Undersökningen är genomförd på Volvo Aero Corporation i Trollhättan. Uppsatsens teoretiska referensram är uppdelad i fyra huvuddelar: arbetsmotivation, stress, krav/kontroll/stöd och finanskris. Uppsatsens datainsamlingsmetod är en kvalitativ och kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie med enkäter och gruppintervjuer. Totalt har två gruppintervjuer utförts, samt en enkätundersökning med 122 deltagare. Det empiriska materialet delades upp i fyra olika kategorier, samma som i teoriavsnittet. Resultatet visar att de anställda främst motiveras av arbetskamrater och varierande arbetsuppgifter. Motivationen har ökat något till följd av finanskrisen då de anställda stöttar varandra mer och de är även tacksamma att de har ett arbete att gå till. De anställda på Volvo Aero Corporation är stressade endast i viss mån och stressorer är bland annat för hög arbetsbelastning och för lite kontroll över arbetet. Finanskrisen har påverkat de anställdas stressupplevelser på så sätt att de har fått högre arbetsbelastning till följd av uppsägningar på grund av finanskrisen. / The purpose of the study is to obtain a better understanding of employee perceptions of work motivation and stress in the work environment and see if the financial crisis has affected the employees' experiences of work motivation and stress. The survey is conducted at Volvo Aero Corporation in Trollhättan. The theoretical frame of references is divided into four main parts: work motivation, stress, demands/control/support and financial crisis. The method of collecting data is a qualitative and quantitative cross-sectional study with surveys and group interviews. A total of two groupinterviews conducted, and a survey with 122 participants. The empirical material was divided into four different categories, the same as in the theory section. The result shows that employees are motivated primarily by colleagues and varied tasks. Motivation has increased slightly due to financial crisis when employees support each other more. They are also grateful that they have a job to go to. The staff at Volvo Aero Corporation is stressed only to a certain extent and stressors include excessive workload and too little control over work. The financial crisis has affected the employees’ stress experiences so that they have a higher workload because of layoffs due to the financial crisis.

At the time of writing, the business world is currently recovering from a recession that struck globally in the late 2008. The financial crisis brought many consequences, not least in the labor market. In meantime, media is reporting of the increasing trends of companies outsourcing their employment needs, by using staffing companies. Could it be that there is a correlation between the recession and the companies’ choices to do so? By revising literature on the topic we have found that the companies need for flexibility seem to be their main reason for using staffing companies. We have also come to review the first reports on the current increase of staffing company use in the US claimed to be caused by the current recession. Regarding the recession, we have come to find that it does have a structural impact on the labor market according to literature. An impact, that many claims is not temporary, but is here to stay. We have departed from retroduction with a touch of abduction when investigating our research problem. In practice, we have conducted a study based on surveys where we have asked 37 people in managerial positions at the top 100 largest employers in Sweden about their views on the recession and their attitudes towards the staffing industry. In addition, we have conducted an interview with a manager from a staffing company in Sweden to get another view on the use of staffing companies. The findings of this study include; even though several references in this paper forecast rapid growth during times of expansion for the staffing companies, this is not reflected within the responses in our sample. The companies perceive the situation of temporary staff as being better than what some theory suggests. There is reason to suggest that large companies that use staffing companies are moving towards a permanent need of temporary labor, and the respondent of such companies generally perceive staffing companies as a good option for mitigating labor-associated risks. It is difficult to draw definite conclusions based on our findings. We have opted to give the reader some insight as to how the companies perceive the staffing industry, and how a manager of a staffing company perceives its current state. We would like to encourage further research to use the questions and suggestions raised in our paper to conduct tests in the area of temporary staffing from a corporate perspective to nourish the debate in the society with a scientific point of view.

South Korea experienced a financial crisis in 1997 after more than 30 years of fast eco-nomic growth. During the crisis its gross domestic product (GDP) decreased sharply and many enterprises went bankrupt. The stated-owned banks in South Korea suffered huge losses and investors lost confidence in investing in the South Korean financial market. One result of the crisis reveals the weakness of the South Korean economy- government intervention in the banking sector. This paper provides the reason for the financial crisis in 1997 in the introduction sec-tion. The following section is a theoretical framework, in which we have presented two macroeconomic models: the Solow model-growth accounting formula and the Ricardo-Viner model. With empirical findings, we show how the South Korean government re-sponded after the crisis with three approaches to banking reform. We include the two macroeconomic models in the analysis of how the three approaches affected the eco-nomic growth in South Korea during the reform process in the analysis section. Finally, we conclude that the South Korean banking sector reform has provided a success and briefly discuss how China should implement the South Korean useful experiences into its ongoing process of banking sector reform.

Many economists and politicians have blamed fixed exchange rate regimes for several crises taking place in developing countries after the 1980s. According to them, since the beginning of the 2000s, widespread implementation of flexible exchange rate regimes and high international reserves have prevented developing countries from experiencing similar catastrophic experiences. This interpretation seems to be misleading. We believe that even flexible exchange rate regimes with high international reserves do not have a magic to prevent a financial crisis. Although flexible exchange rate regimes and high international reserves might have played some positive roles in the relatively calm period of 2001-2008 / the main reason behind the calmness of this period is the fact that developing countries did not face a strong financial shock during this period. In the presence of &ldquo / safe havens&rdquo / , which implies existence of safe developed countries for financial capital to move into, flexible exchange rate regimes and the accumulated large reserves may not be adequate when a wave of financial shocks, as in the form of sudden stops and capital reversals, hit developing countries. Indeed, the absence of safe heavens and very low yields in developed countries eased the pressure on developing countries during the recent financial crisis of 2008-2009. If developed economies get their safe haven status back, developing countries might face new financial shocks. In this sense developing countries would experience new financial crises in this new period. We will elaborate on the possible conditions of these prospective financial crises in this thesis.

Problem: Business world has met uncertainty, which settled everywhere: from global financial markets and national economies, to organizations and employees’ minds. As every crisis, this situation came unexpectedly, almost out of a clear blue sky. Sweden, being highly dependent on international development, has faced negative effects in all aspects of business life. SMEs have emerged as an engine of economic and social development throughout the world.  As well as more than 99 percent of all enterprises in Sweden are classified as SMEs, the impact of economic crisis may be more than significant. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of the current economic crisis and recession on the Small and Medium Enterprises in Sweden. Method: In order to fulfill our purpose we combined both techniques – qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches. We used a quantitative analysis tool – survey to collect primary data from the SMEs. In its turn, qualitative analysis was implemented to see how the data from earlier studies and our findings can be interconnected. Results: It was found, that companies are facing mostly negative effects. The perception of currently facing economic challenges can be assessed as anxious, which means that companies see the further development in a tough way. Damaged business confidence can be also recognized in pessimistic forecasts for profitability in 2009. However, the crisis can be considered as a driver for change. On the positive way, every downturn and faced challenge, e.g. stressful situation, stimulate organisations to analyze, look for new effective solutions and make decisions in the way they would never thought about. It was found out that importance of crisis planning is distinctly risisng during current times of uncertainty. Futhermore, companies tend to react on the faced challenges by designing, following crisis plans and creating special crisis teams. Our research may help the businesses to understand what difficulties the majority is facing, and thus not only to prevent same risks but also turn them into opportunities.