published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

The 1997-98 Asia financial crisis provides a natural experiment to examine how firms adapt their strategic choices to the changing business environment. In this study, I investigate the evolution of the board and asset structure of the 83 surviving commercial banks in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand around the financial crisis. I find that after the crisis (1) the board practice has been significantly improved. In particular, the percentage of independent directors increased and more banks had the board duality and the chairman/CEO with professional backgrounds and fewer banks had politically-connected chairman/CEO; (2) the asset structure tended to be more liquid and diversified. The commercial and industrial loan reduced and the liquid asset and the consumer loan ratio substantially increased. These results suggest that the Asian banks strived to adapt their board and asset structure to the dynamic regulatory and market environment in the post-crisis period. I also find that the locally controlled banks and the banks in the sample economies with more aggressive market opening policy tended to have more significant changes of board and asset structure in the post-crisis period. / This study sheds light on how firms adapt their strategic choices to the changing business environment by examining the adaptation of the board and asset structures of the Asian commercial banks around the financial crisis. My research results also indicate that the new corporate governance of Asian banks shows convergence towards the Anglo-American model and the adoption of more Western board practices can help improving bank transparency and performance. These findings provide some insights for the Asian regulators in the policy formulations in the future. / To examine whether board and asset structure are related to bank transparency, the results show that bank's transparency is positively related to board independence. However, I do not find strong support that bank transparency is related to its asset structure. For the relations between board and asset structure and performance, I find that bank profitability and interest spreads are positively related to the board size and non-political connection of board. Also, the results indicate that the liquid asset, security-to-total assets and consumer lending ratios are positively associated with bank profitability, interest margin and market-to-book ratio and negatively associated with non-performing loan ratios. The overall evidence suggests that the adaptability to dynamic business environment is critical to the Asian bank's performance. / Fung, Lai Kin Sammy. / "March 2008." / Adviser: Joseph P. H. Fan. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-03, Section: A, page: 0928. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-77). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

本研究从超常规色彩强烈的重大灾害危机处置入手，分析当代中国动员体制在改革时代的变化特征，以此为切入点来考察动员这项“革命制度遗产对当代中国政治的影响。本研究以中国政府在地震领域的危机动员实践作为实证案例，从1949年以后的不同时期选取四场震例进行纵向比较，以此来把握中国政府在危机条件下启动的政治动员在不同的政治发展阶段会呈现出什么样的整体特点。中国在地震领域的危机动员实践能够证明，中国的政治动员体制比传统动员政治研究假定的要更具动态性。兴起于革命时代的政治动员在进入改革时代以后依然能够延续，并没有随着乌托邦意识形态、计划经济乃至全能主义体制的整体瓦解而走向直线衰落。至少作为中国政府独特的公共危机处置手段，政治动员在改革时代呈现出的变化轨迹是复杂的，成形于全能主义时期的动员政治元素在改革时代不仅没有直接衰败，在某些阶段还重新获得了发展动力，能够与改革时代出现和或者强化的动员模式并存。本研究通过观察中国政府跨越不同政治经济发展阶段的地震危机动员实践发现，中国政府涉灾财政能力和行政能力的发展均衡程度，以及中国政治精英对国家在灾害治理领域角色定位的认知变化，能够对中国政府的地震危机动员模式产生重要影响；既包括s新模式兴起和旧模式衰落，也包括新旧模式的共存。而且，尽管国家能力和国家意愿之间没有必然关联，可是一旦两个因素出现比较同步的增强，还能够为这种“革命制度遗产在改革提供新的制度化动力，促成动员模式更进一步的变化。本研究的结论是，只要作为关键动员主体的中共政权在规范和结构上保持相对稳定，政治动员仍将会是中国政府重要的危机管理工具。而且随着中国政府有更强的意愿和能力来承担公共服务供给职责，政治动员形式和内涵都会有所改变。曾经具有很强非正式和应急色彩的政治动员不仅会变得越来越常态化，而且还会成为正规、任务内容更加广泛的中国涉灾公共治理体系的重要组成部分。 / This research investigates the dynamics and resilience of China’s politlical moblization by making hsitrocial comparison of Chinese government’s management of earthquake disasters across four decades. The author selects four major earthquake catastrophesTangshan, Lancang-Gengma, Lijiang, and Wenchuanfrom different historical periods to examine how Chinese government mobilized different types of subjects to contain and control crises under different political, social, and economic conditions. Based upon participatory and non-participatory observation, interviews, and extensive document analyses, this research reveals that China’s political mobilization, at least in the issue area of catastrophe management, has demonstrated a more complicated trajectory of change than predicted by most mainstream politilcal theories, espeically in the post-revolutionary era featured by increasing socio-economic pluralization and political liberalization. Insitutional elements promoting mass particpation and self-sufficience thriving in the revolutionary stage not only continue to function in the reform era, but also coexist with newly emerged mobilizational elements featured by increased state dominance, formal legal procedures, and professional expertise. Based on systematic historical comparison, the author argues that two important factors, besides macro socio-economic transformation, shape the unlinear changing trajectory of politilcal mobilization in the specific area of disaster management: degree of assertiveness of the (central) state and state capacity. This research concludes that as long as the key mobilizing agent, the ruling Communist party, remains normatively and structurally stable, political mobilization would continue to be an important instrument for the Chinese authorities to cope with natural disasters, although its populist and ad hoc nature would give way to higher degree of professionalization and routinization. More importantly, politilcal mobilization will not only promote but also become an integrated part of a more formal and comprehensive component of China’s risk governance, as the regime is getting more willing and capable to shoulder the responsibility to deliver more and better public good. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 彭林. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 174-204). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Peng Lin. / Chapter 第1章 --- 导论 --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- 当代中国动员政治的变化：文献回顾 --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2 --- 如何界定动员 --- p.9 / Chapter 1.3 --- 动员模式及其变化 --- p.11 / Chapter 1.4 --- 如何解释动员模式变化 --- p.16 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- 发展水平 --- p.17 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- 国家角色定位 --- p.18 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- 国家能力 --- p.19 / Chapter 1.5 --- 对研究方法的一些说明 --- p.21 / Chapter 1.6 --- 文章结构 --- p.23 / Chapter 第2章 --- 唐山地震：大众动员的巅峰与转折 --- p.29 / Chapter 2.1 --- 1949年以后中国的大众动员抗灾体制 --- p.29 / Chapter 2.2 --- 从邢台到海城：动员型抗震体制的形成 --- p.32 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- 邢台地震：新中国第一场抗震救灾及其制度遗产 --- p.32 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- “69号文件与海城地震：主动动员模式的确立 --- p.40 / Chapter 2.3 --- 唐山地震 --- p.43 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- “漏报：主动动员模式弱点暴露 --- p.43 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- 城市灾害对大众动员模式的整体挑战 --- p.46 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- “跨时代的动员：中国抗灾动员政治的延续与变化 --- p.50 / Chapter 第3章 --- 澜沧-耿马地震：专业化动员的崛起于大众动员的延续 --- p.53 / Chapter 3.1 --- 大众动员模式在地震领域的不均衡衰落 --- p.53 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- 地震工作转型与主动动员模式的变 --- p.54 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- 农村经济改革对灾后重建的冲击 --- p.56 / Chapter 3.2 --- 澜沧-耿马地震 --- p.58 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- 备灾动员的变化：从“群测群防到“内松外紧 --- p.58 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- 应急预案与应急动员理性化 --- p.59 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- 震后重建：筹资压力与大众动员的延续 --- p.61 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- 新资源的出现于国家动员的延伸 --- p.64 / Chapter 第4章 --- 丽江地震：1990年代大众动员模式“重新强势 --- p.70 / Chapter 4.1 --- 综合减灾能力建设与专业化动员的发展局限 --- p.71 / Chapter 4.2 --- 国家后撤对动员型抗灾体制的冲击 --- p.74 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- 救灾分级挂你了与动员主体层次下沉 --- p.75 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- 开放式民间自我保障机制的扩张及其影响 --- p.78 / Chapter 4.3 --- 丽江地震 --- p.80 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- 主动备灾动员进一步正规化与衰落 --- p.80 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- 震后重建：外部动员与灾区就地动员 --- p.82 / Chapter 第5章 --- 汶川地震：复合型动员模式成型 --- p.95 / Chapter 5.1 --- 从“生产自救到“国家主导：中国救灾员模式转变 --- p.96 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- “非典与危机“管理的出现 --- p.97 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- 中国灾害治理“社会转向 --- p.99 / Chapter 5.2 --- “重新动员社会及其影响 --- p.102 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- “向钱看：社会捐赠动员体系的发展 --- p.102 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- 新的人力动员：从农村转向城市 --- p.105 / Chapter 5.3 --- 汶川地震 --- p.107 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- 震后应急与专业化动员的发展 --- p.108 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- 汶川重建与对口支援的新变化 --- p.110 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- 国家动员与社会动员的互动 --- p.120 / Chapter 5.4 --- 汶川地震与抗灾动员新模式 --- p.127 / Chapter 第6章 --- 跨越四十年的抗震动员：比较与讨论 --- p.136 / Chapter 6.1 --- 跨越四十年的地震灾害治理和抗震动员 --- p.137 / Chapter 6.2 --- 解释动员模式的变化 --- p.141 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- 发展水平提升带来的复杂影响 --- p.141 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- 国家角色定位的变化 --- p.144 / Chapter 6.2.3 --- 灾害治理能力的多变性 --- p.148 / Chapter 6.3 --- 抗震动员模式变化的复杂性 --- p.151 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- 震前备灾动员模式的变化 --- p.153 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- 震后应急动员模式的变化 --- p.154 / Chapter 6.3.3 --- 重建动员模式的变化 --- p.156 / Chapter 6.4 --- 分析与发现 --- p.159 / Chapter 第7章 --- 结语 --- p.167 / Chapter 7.1 --- 政治动员的连贯性与非线性变迁 --- p.167 / Chapter 7.2 --- 中国动员型危机治理模式的独特性与横向比较的可能性 --- p.169 / 参考书目 --- p.174 / Chapter 附录1 --- 访谈 --- p.205 / Chapter 附录2 --- 档案 --- p.207 / Chapter 附录3 --- 年鉴、公报、地方志和专业志 --- p.209 / Chapter 附录4 --- 过往报纸和期刊 --- p.212 / Chapter 附录5 --- 开放数据库 --- p.212 / Chapter 附录6 --- 中国灾情数据 --- p.213

Ghana has experienced an unprecedented failure of microfinance institutions. Within a period of 8 years from 2011 to 2019, the Bank of Ghana has revoked the license of over 489 microfinance institutions. The purpose of the exploratory multiple case study was to explore strategies that microfinance managers apply to mitigate the effects of crisis to remain sustainable. The targeted population was composed of owner-managers from 6 microfinance companies in Ghana and 6 consultants who overcame the microfinance crisis and remained in practice. The situational crisis communication theory and the team leadership model were the conceptual frameworks for this study. Methodological triangulation was used to support the review and analysis of data from structured interviews, focus group discussions, and relevant company documents. Data were analyzed using NVivo to provide alphanumeric coding, and thematic analysis was used to support the identification of themes and subthemes, which were organized and linked to the crisis phenomenon to identify the 5 emerged themes: governance, communication, fundraising, cost reduction, and business model strategies. The study findings may contribute to social change by building confidence in the financial system, making microfinance services available to the lower end market. There may be more historical crisis effect mitigation strategies and evidence available to practitioners, entrepreneurs leading to job creation and sustainable businesses globally. These findings could provide insights for business leaders, owners-managers, the board of directors, practitioners and regulatory bodies to develop strategies to help their institutions survive in crises.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a worldwide economic effect, and it seems to have produced a challenging economic climate for startups to work in. Thus, the aim of this degree project is to investigate how startups survived the financial and organizational crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and what was the role of their employees during the crisis. The objective is to look at how early-stage startups in Greece are dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, whether they can utilize crisis management models, and how the crisis encourages creative destruction. Schumpeterian innovation theory has been merged with crisis management theories to achieve this goal. The thesis employs a qualitative methodology and uses a multiple case study design where cases are the individual startups interviewed. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with a top-management representative of each company.  The results indicate that the startups under discussion are experiencing significant changes. At the beginning of the crisis, they faced a threatening disengagement and demotivation of their employees, which they managed to overcome by focusing on their wellbeing, coaching them, and guiding them through the crisis. The Caplanian model was utilized to analyze their approach. Based on the companies’ core competencies, they are actively pivoting to emerging business models and new markets. These companies are discovering new possibilities and innovating in a number of areas, following both the Schumpeterian evolutionary theories of creative destruction and creative accumulation. Overall, the findings suggest that in responding to the crisis, startups modified and strengthened their strategies. The shift in customer purchasing behavior was a major reason why businesses needed to develop their strategies. The modified consumer behavior was the outcome of actions taken by the Greek government and the Public Health Agency to avoid the spread of the virus such as social distancing, travel bans, and closed borders.

Denna studie syftade till att analysera hur krisen med pandemin Covid-19 har hanterats inom fastighetsbolaget AMF Fastigheter samt att utvärdera hur väl krishanteringsplanen har implementerats under krisens gång. Studien var av kvalitativ form där intervjuer genomfördes med personer som är i ledande positioner på AMF Fastigheter. Resultaten visade på att AMF Fastigheter har gynnats av att ha följt en förutbestämd krishanteringsplan som innehåller information om vad som ska göras och kommuniceras under krisen. Däremot har viss improvisation skett under tidens gång på grund av att de ibland ställdes inför nya främmande situationer, varför det går att argumentera för att företag bör vara öppna för viss improvisation. Vidare visade även resultaten på att personliga karaktärsdrag och tidigare erfarenhet från kriser hos medarbetarna har varit värdefullt. Dock visade resultaten på att det ibland har varit för många medarbetare inblandade i beslutprocesser, samt att det ibland togs förhastade beslut som i vissa fall även behövde förtydligas. / This study aimed to analyze how the crisis with the pandemic Covid-19 has been handled within the real estate company AMF Fastigheter and to evaluate how well the crisis management plan has been implemented during the crisis. The study was of a qualitative form where interviews were conducted with people who are in leading positions at AMF Fastigheter. The results showed that AMF Fastigheter has benefited from following a predetermined crisis management plan that contains information on what is to be done and communicated during the crisis. On the other hand, some improvisation has taken place over time since they were sometimes faced with new foreign situations, which is why it can be argued that companies should be open to certain improvisation. Furthermore, the results also showed that personal characteristics and previous experience from crises among employees have been valuable. However, the results showed that there have sometimes been too many employees involved in decision-making processes, and that hasty decisions were sometimes made, which in some cases also needed to be clarified.

Purpose: The pursuance of the sustainable development goals, introduced by the United Nations in2015, is of absolute necessity to build a sustainable future. Resilience-based crisis management helps tosustain an organisation and pursue its goal during crises. The aim of this research was to explore thestatus quo of resilience-based crisis management within public primary- and secondary schools in theNetherlands during school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the aim was todiscover which measures were in place to safeguard the provision of SDG 4. The exploration took placeto observe the adaptation capabilities within the educational sector, which could safeguard the provisionof SDG 4. Methodology: The aim was pursued by a qualitative approach. 17 semi-structured interviews with 18people were conducted during the time of the immediate Coronavirus crisis. All interviewees heldpositions within the crisis management of primary- and secondary schools in the Netherlands. Theinterviews were then analysed by the two researchers using thematic content analysis. Results: The results suggest that:(a) Crisis management structures in the schools foster resilience, yet, leave room for improvement;(b) Crisis management processes to foster resilience are present in the schools, however, the extentvaries and especially the pre-crisis actions were limited;(c) The sustainable development goals, especially the content of SDG 4, are little known in the schools;(d) Actions and measures to provide equitable and qualitative education during the temporary schoolclosures are in place. Implications: This research adds to the young field of crisis management within schools during schoolclosures as well as the provision of SDG 4 during crises through resilience-based crisis management.Since this research is of exploratory nature, many future research opportunities derive from this research.Furthermore, it discovered the strengths and challenges of the Dutch primary and secondary educationsector and gives room for development through education on SDG 4 and resilience-based crisismanagement.

The absence of adequate crisis management strategies in small firms could result in a premature small business closure. A qualitative multiple-case study was used to explore the crisis management strategies that 3 small business owners have used to survive an unexpected operational interruption. The small business owners in this study were from different industries in the southeast region of the United States and each owner owned a business for more than 5 years and had survived at least a single crisis. The theory of crisis management and crisis intervention theory were the conceptual frameworks for this study. Data collection occurred through semistructured face-to-face interviews with small business owners; observations; and a review of company documents comprised of business plans, insurance policies, floor plans, and emergency exit routes. Data were thematically analyzed and then triangulated to ensure trustworthiness of interpretations. The findings included 3 emergent themes: the importance of developing survival strategies; transparency, open communication, and relationship building; and creative thinking as a survival strategy. Recommendations for action include securing adequate insurance coverage, investing in a worker's compensation policy, and maintaining transparent and fluent communications with vendors and consumers. Small business owners who implement survival strategies may contribute to positive social change by continuing to create employment opportunities that improve economic conditions in local communities.

Crisis management has become one of the most important public policy areas in recent decades with greater numbers of manmade and natural disasters. History showed that well-implemented crisis management policies can save lives and reduce costs in a disaster. Literature offered various suggestions for more effective crisis management policies with different techniques utilizing different theoretical frameworks. Informal relationships among crisis management employees were suggested to have a positive impact on crisis management effectiveness. Yet it was not demonstrated with advanced statistical tools if there is such a relationship. This study considers crisis management effort as a network effort and employs complex adaptive systems theory in order to understand factors influencing effectiveness of crisis management networks. Complex adaptive systems theory presents that more open communication lines in a given network or an organization would increase effectiveness of it since inner processes of the network or organization would obtain more information from the chaotic environment. Quality of informal relationships (casual relationships, social capital etc.) was hypothesized as a tool to open more communication lines within an agency which would eventually increase effectiveness of the network constructed by the organization. Based on the theoretical framework, adaptiveness capacity of the agencies was also tested in order to understand a correlation between adaptation and effectiveness of crisis management networks. Multiple case-study method was employed to identify incidents that can represent crisis management in full perspective. Terrorist attacks carried upon by the same terrorist network hit New York in 2001, Istanbul in 2003, Madrid in 2004, and London in 2005 were selected. First response phase of crisis management and policy changes after and before the attacks were discussed. Public administration processes and other social-economical conditions of countries were examined in terms of crisis management structure. Names of key agencies of selected crisis management systems were suggested by a social network analysis tool-UCINET. Six key agencies per incident were targeted for surveys. Surveys included a nine-item-quality of informal relationships, four-item-adaptiveness capability, and ten-item-perceived effectiveness of crisis management networks-scales. Respondents were asked to fill in online surveys where they could refer to their colleagues in the same incidents. 230 respondents were aimed and 246 survey responses were obtained as a result. Surveys formed a structural equation model representing 23 observed factors and 2 latent constructs. Confirmatory factor analysis was utilized to validate hypothesis-driven conceptual models. Quality of informal relationships was found to have a significant positive impact on perceived crisis management network effectiveness (Standardized regression coefficient = .39). Two of the adaptiveness variables, openness to change and intra-organizational training were also positively correlated with the dependent variable of the study (Standardized regression coefficient = .40 and .26 respectively). Turkish and American groups' differences suggested a social-economical difference in societies. Majority of the respondents were some type of managers which made it possible to generalize the results for all phases of crisis management. Discussions suggested improved informal relationships among crisis management employees to provide a better crisis management during an extreme event. Collaborative social events were offered to improve crisis management effectiveness. An agency's openness to change proposed that a crisis management organization should be flexible in rules and structure to gain more efficacy. The other adaptiveness variable, intra-organizational training efforts were proposed to have certain influence on effectiveness of crisis management network. Factors built latent construct of perceived crisis management effectiveness were also found out to be important on crisis management, which of some are ability to carry out generic crisis management functions, mobilize personnel and resources efficiently, process information adequately, blend emergent and established entities, provide appropriate reports for news media etc. Study contributed to the complex adaptive system theory since the fundamentals of the theory were tested with an advanced quantitative method. Non-linear relationships within a system were tested in order to reveal a correlation as the theory suggested, where the results were convincingly positive. Crisis management networks' effectiveness was demonstrated to be validated by a ten-item-scale successfully. Future research might utilize more disaster cases both natural and manmade, search for impact of different communication tools within a system, and look at the relationships among members of crisis management networks instead looking within an organization.

In the year 2019 the virus Covid-19 began to spread all over the world. in conjunction with the start of the spreading of Covid-19 in the world in 2019, a collaboration between the Swedish government and The public Health Agency of Sweden was established. They took action to minimize the impact of the virus in Sweden. This process to reduce the spread of infection among the Swedish populatino with the help of restirections and guidelines is studied here from the perspective of Crisis Management theory and the implementation theory. The spread of the infection started to escalate, and the Swedish government delegated the Public Health Agency the tash to secure and increase the safety with stricter restrictions for reducing the spread of this infection. in a short time, the restrictions and guidelines came at short notice which resulted in the time fot follow-ups om the results being excluded. The Swedish government and the public health authority came together and started the corona commission, which would evaluate how operations had used the submitted restrictions.