The main aim of this Master's thesis is to describe global economic crisis and analyze it's impacts on these car powers -- USA, Germany, Japan and the Czech republic. The Master thesis includes analysis of current trends in the automotive industry -- alternative powertrains, emerging markets, new car segments or cooperation on the joint venture basis. The situation in the czech automotive industry is described focusing on the czech largest car maker Škoda Auto, a.s. One of the aims of this thesis is to point out, if the car maker Škoda Auto came out from the global crisis stronger or weaker and what about facing of Škoda to the current challenges in the automotive industry.

Population projections for sub-Saharan Africa have, over the past decade, been corrected upwards because in a number of countries, the earlier declining trends in fertility stalled around 2000. While most studies so far have focused on economic, political, or other factors around 2000, here we suggest that in addition to those period effects, the phenomenon also matched up with disruptions in the cohort trends of educational attainment of women after the postindependence economic and political turmoil. Disruptions likely resulted in a higher proportion of poorly educated women of childbearing age in the late 1990s and early 2000s than there would have been otherwise. In addition to the direct effects of education on lowering fertility, these less-educated female cohorts were also more vulnerable to adverse period effects around 2000. To explore this hypothesis, we combine individual-level data from Demographic and Health Surveys for 18 African countries with and without fertility stalls, thus creating a pooled dataset of more than two million births to some 670,000 women born from 1950 to 1995 by level of education. Statistical analyses indicate clear discontinuities in the improvement of educational attainment of subsequent cohorts of women and stronger sensitivity of less-educated women to period effects. We assess the magnitude of the effect of educational discontinuity through a comparison of the actual trends with counterfactual trends based on the assumption of no education stalls, resulting in up to half a child per woman less in 2010 and 13 million fewer live births over the 1995-2010 period.

<p>Syfte: Att undersöka vad som utmärker ledarskap i ekonomiska kriser, till följd av den idag aktuella finanskrisen.</p><p>Genomförande: Empirin har insamlats med hjälp av den kvalitativa metoden. Studien innefattar djupintervjuer med semistrukturerade frågor och tio respondenter från två olika företag inom banksektorn. Utifrån empirin har författarna försökt att dra paralleller mellan ledarnas beteenden och de teorier som omfattar olika ledarstilar.</p><p>Slutsatser: Utifrån analysen av empirin framgick det att ledarbeteenden i ekonomiska kriser skiljer sig. Dock kan orsaken till det vara företagens olika förutsättningar och struktur innan den ekonomiska krisen. Beteenden som tydlighet, tillgänglighet, delaktighet, samhörighet och minskat handlingsutrymme blev mer utmärkande. Empirin kunde härledas till angivna ledarstilar i teorin. Den transformativa ledarstilen som är en förändringsledarstil var den som överensstämde bäst med empirin. Dock är det missvisande då den stilen används vid organisationsförändringar vilket studien inte innefattas av. Vidare anses coachande och deltagande/understödjande i situationsanpassat ledarskap och stödjande och deltagande inom path-goal och förekomma som ledarskapsstilar under ekonomiska kriser. Dessa fyra stilar innefattar flexibilitet som är av stor vikt i sådana situationer.</p> / <p>Purpose: To examine the characteristics of leadership in economic crises as consequence of recent financial crisis.</p><p>Research Method: Information was collected using the qualitative method. The study includes interviews with semi-structured questions and ten respondents from two different companies in the banking sector. Based on the information the authors have attempted to draw parallels between the leader’s behaviour and theories involving different leadership styles.</p><p>Conclusions: On the basis of the analysis of the empiric showed that the leadership behaviour in economic crises is changing. However, the reason can be carried out of different conditions and structure before the economic crisis. Behaviours that clarity, access, participation, solidarity and decreased scope for action became more significant. The empiric could be derived to stated leader styles in the theory. The transformative leadership that is one leader style who is used in innovation was agreed best with the empiric. However, it is misleading then that style is used at organizational changes which the study not involves. Furthermore, selling/coaching and participations/supporting in situational leadership and supportive leadership and participative leadership in path-goal are occurring as typical leader styles during economic crises. These four styles include flexibility that is of big weight in such situations.</p>

Introduction:The current economic crisis started in 2007 warned many business pro-fessions how important it is to react to the crisis quickly and properly. Many studies have been conducted on family businesses about their special resources environment, succession, governance etc. There are barely literature has ever mentioned about how family business cope with economic crisis. Thus, the author conducted such a study on this topic to explore more in family business study.Purpose:To enhance the understanding of economic crisis management in fam-ily business, this thesis will analyze the actions of family firms during the economic crisis. This research aims to investigate how unique fam-ily firm resources influence the way they cope with the economic crisis.Method:A qualitative research has been conducted in this study. In-depth inter-views were conducted in two family business firms with the business owners and other high level position staff who have clear picture about the management during economic crisis. Tele-interview was adopted due to the distance limit.Conclusions:During economic crisis, family firms do not use layoff as a major means to cost down. They keep relative stable relationship with their employ-ees as well as other business partners. They seek financial and other help from the family members or in the family network rather than other external resources such as bank etc. The governance also con-cerns more on employee benefits.

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.

Syfte: Att undersöka vad som utmärker ledarskap i ekonomiska kriser, till följd av den idag aktuella finanskrisen. Genomförande: Empirin har insamlats med hjälp av den kvalitativa metoden. Studien innefattar djupintervjuer med semistrukturerade frågor och tio respondenter från två olika företag inom banksektorn. Utifrån empirin har författarna försökt att dra paralleller mellan ledarnas beteenden och de teorier som omfattar olika ledarstilar. Slutsatser: Utifrån analysen av empirin framgick det att ledarbeteenden i ekonomiska kriser skiljer sig. Dock kan orsaken till det vara företagens olika förutsättningar och struktur innan den ekonomiska krisen. Beteenden som tydlighet, tillgänglighet, delaktighet, samhörighet och minskat handlingsutrymme blev mer utmärkande. Empirin kunde härledas till angivna ledarstilar i teorin. Den transformativa ledarstilen som är en förändringsledarstil var den som överensstämde bäst med empirin. Dock är det missvisande då den stilen används vid organisationsförändringar vilket studien inte innefattas av. Vidare anses coachande och deltagande/understödjande i situationsanpassat ledarskap och stödjande och deltagande inom path-goal och förekomma som ledarskapsstilar under ekonomiska kriser. Dessa fyra stilar innefattar flexibilitet som är av stor vikt i sådana situationer. / Purpose: To examine the characteristics of leadership in economic crises as consequence of recent financial crisis. Research Method: Information was collected using the qualitative method. The study includes interviews with semi-structured questions and ten respondents from two different companies in the banking sector. Based on the information the authors have attempted to draw parallels between the leader’s behaviour and theories involving different leadership styles. Conclusions: On the basis of the analysis of the empiric showed that the leadership behaviour in economic crises is changing. However, the reason can be carried out of different conditions and structure before the economic crisis. Behaviours that clarity, access, participation, solidarity and decreased scope for action became more significant. The empiric could be derived to stated leader styles in the theory. The transformative leadership that is one leader style who is used in innovation was agreed best with the empiric. However, it is misleading then that style is used at organizational changes which the study not involves. Furthermore, selling/coaching and participations/supporting in situational leadership and supportive leadership and participative leadership in path-goal are occurring as typical leader styles during economic crises. These four styles include flexibility that is of big weight in such situations.

The purpose of this study was to explore what it means to be farming in Saskatchewan today. Naturalistic inquiry using open-ended interviews provided the framework for four farmers narratives. The goal was to gain insight into farmers lives, to expand the understanding of farmers experiences, and to explore potential stressors of farming life. The farmers interviews revealed the heart, soul, and spirit of farming today. Although they said they were losing hope in farming, they demonstrated characteristics of determination, perseverance and tenacity that keep them farming. The insights learned from this sample of Saskatchewan farmers are relevant not only to farm families but also to new entrants into farming, professionals who work with farmers in challenging times, and government policy makers. This study may help to provide information, develop understanding of farmers needs, and raise questions that contribute to knowledge and meaning about how it is to farm in Saskatchewan today. Implications for practise and research conclude the study.

The purpose of this study was to explore what it means to be farming in Saskatchewan today. Naturalistic inquiry using open-ended interviews provided the framework for four farmers narratives. The goal was to gain insight into farmers lives, to expand the understanding of farmers experiences, and to explore potential stressors of farming life. The farmers interviews revealed the heart, soul, and spirit of farming today. Although they said they were losing hope in farming, they demonstrated characteristics of determination, perseverance and tenacity that keep them farming. The insights learned from this sample of Saskatchewan farmers are relevant not only to farm families but also to new entrants into farming, professionals who work with farmers in challenging times, and government policy makers. This study may help to provide information, develop understanding of farmers needs, and raise questions that contribute to knowledge and meaning about how it is to farm in Saskatchewan today. Implications for practise and research conclude the study.

Anno 2013 Europe resides in a severe economic crisis that has been lasting for five years. Companies are struggling to deal with the influences of this crisis and require strategic insights to maintain performance. According to theory entrepreneurship and innovation are central mechanisms in the creation of wealth in the capitalist system and an entrepreneurial strategy could provide relatively much benefit in a crisis period. This study focuses on the central question:  How does an entrepreneurial orientation affect the performance of companies in the economic crisis? To answer this question a variety of theories on entrepreneurship, innovation and the creation of wealth in capitalism were examined. On many occasions quantitative research has been performed to measure the relationship between an entrepreneurial orientation and performance. This study provides an extra dimension by using archival financial data of companies during and before the crisis to draw comparisons and examine developments in performance in relation to an entrepreneurial orientation. Data on the entrepreneurial orientation was collected with an online survey which was sent to companies. The results of the survey indicated the degree of entrepreneurial orientation of the companies in separate categories; innovativeness, proactiveness and risk taking. The results were linked to their financial performance which was obtained from a database. Comparisons between the performance before and during the crisis in relation to the scores on entrepreneurship were made, and the development of their financial performance since the crisis was examined. The results of this study indicate that an entrepreneurial orientation has a relatively more positive influence on performance during the crisis. However the relationship between an entrepreneurial orientation and performance is highly dependent on the company and type of industry so no unilateral positive correlations with performance were found. For a set of industrial, manufacturing, chemical and service companies the development of the financial performance since the crisis is highly positively correlated with innovativeness and proactiveness. For a set of other company types including foundations, (public) utility companies, (public) real estate companies, construction companies, trade and investment firms no correlations were found. The findings in this study indicate that depending on the type of company and industry, an entrepreneurial orientation can have a strong positive effect on the development of financial performance in the crisis.

Leading up to the time just before the economic and global meltdown of 2008, economist and theorist forecasted as early as 2005 about and impending financial crisis that would affect every sector of the business and financial community. As we discover in more dramatic detail that family firms are occupying a big percentage in small to medium size enterprises, we wondered how they would be affected by such a high degree of uncertainty and volatility in the financial markets during the economic crisis. With these factors in mind, we would like to see it in a more day–to–day, practical application within family firms. In the supply chain or procurement life-cycle, firms need to receive products and services from the supplier and the supplier will in turn offer those same services to the customer. The firm will tend to structure this tradeoff with a contractual structure to guarantee achievement of mutual benefit and economic objectives of the firm. On the other hand, family firms are famous for being distinguish from non-family firms in their non-economic objective they persuade along their businesses. Considering these two different logics that affects the decision of the firm in structuring contractual governance with the exchanging party. We ask the following questions in our purpose.