During the COVID-19 pandemic, customer shopping habits have changed. Some industries experienced an abrupt shift during the pandemic outbreak while others navigate in new normal states. For some merchants, the highly-uncertain new phenomena of COVID-19 expresses as outliers in time series of volume of sales. As forecasting models tend to replicate past behavior of a series, outliers complicates the procedure of forecasting; the abnormal events tend to unreliably replicate in forecasts of the subsequent year(s). In this thesis, we investigate how to forecast volume of sales during the abnormal time period of COVID-19, where the classical ARIMA family of models produce unreliable forecasts. The research revolved around three time series exhibiting three types of outliers: a level shift, a transient change and an additive outlier. Upon detecting the time period of the abnormal behavior in each series, two experiments were carried out as attempts for increasing the predictive accuracy for the three extreme cases. The first experiment was related to imputing the abnormal data in the series and the second was related to using a combined model of a pre-pandemic and a post-abnormal forecast. The results of the experiments pointed at significant improvement of the mean absolute percentage error at significance level alpha=0.05 for the level shift when using a combined model compared to the pre-pandemic best-fit SARIMA model. Also, at significant improvement for the additive outlier when using a linear impute. For the transient change, the results pointed at no significant improvement in the predictive accuracy of the experimental models compared to the pre-pandemic best-fit SARIMA model. For the purpose of generalizing to large-scale conclusions of methods' superiority or feasibility for particular abnormal behaviors, empirical evaluations are required. The proposed experimental models were discussed in terms of reliability, validity and quality. By residual diagnostics, it was argued that the models were valid; however, that further improvements can be made. Also, it was argued that the models fulfilled desired attributes of simplicity, scaleability and flexibility. Due to the uncertain phenomena of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was suggested not to take the outputs as long-term reliable solutions. Rather, as temporary solutions requiring more frequent updating of forecasts. / Under coronapandemin har kundbeteenden och köpvanor förändrats. I vissa branscher upplevdes ett plötsligt skifte vid pandemiutbrottet och i andra navigerar handlare i nya normaltillstånd. För vissa handlare är förändringarna så pass distinkta att de yttrar sig som avvikelser i tidsserier över försäljningsvolym. Dessa avvikelser komplicerar prognosering. Då prognosmodeller tenderar att replikera tidsseriers tidigare beteenden, tenderas det avvikande beteendet att replikeras i försäljningsprognoser för nästkommande år. I detta examensarbete ämnar vi att undersöka tillvägagångssätt för att estimera försäljningsprognoser under den abnorma tidsperioden av COVID-19, då klassiska tidsseriemodeller felprognoserar. Detta arbete kretsade kring tre tidsserier som uttryckte tre avvikelsertyper: en nivåförskjutning, en övergående förändring och en additiv avvikelse. Efter att ha definierat en specifik tidsperiod relaterat till det abnorma beteendet i varje tidsserie, utfördes två experiment med syftet att öka den prediktiva noggrannheten för de tre extremfallen. Det första experimentet handlade om att ersätta den abnorma datan i varje serie och det andra experimentet handlade om att använda en kombinerad pronosmodell av två estimerade prognoser, en pre-pandemisk och en post-abnorm. Resultaten av experimenten pekade på signifikant förbättring av ett absolut procentuellt genomsnittsfel för nivåförskjutningen vid användande av den kombinerade modellen, i jämförelse med den pre-pandemiskt bäst passande SARIMA-modellen. Även, signifikant förbättring för den additiva avvikelsen vid ersättning av abnorm data till ett motsvarande linjärt polynom. För den övergående förändringen pekade resultaten inte på en signifikant förbättring vid användande av de experimentella modellerna. För att generalisera till storskaliga slutsatser giltiga för specifika avvikande beteenden krävs empirisk utvärdering. De föreslagna modellerna diskuterades utifrån tillförlitlighet, validitet och kvalitet. Modellerna uppfyllde önskvärda kvalitativa attribut såsom enkelhet, skalbarhet och flexibilitet. På grund av hög osäkerhet i den nuvarande abnorma tidsperioden av coronapandemin, föreslogs det att inte se prognoserna som långsiktigt pålitliga lösningar, utan snarare som tillfälliga tillvägagångssätt som regelbundet kräver om-prognosering.

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This report was the result of a study conducted in Stockholm County in Sweden. This study aimed to gain further understanding of how social workers working with domestic violence issues perceived how the COVID-19 pandemic affected women who are victims of domestic violence in Sweden. Three social workers working with victims of domestic violence were interviewed using semi structured questions. The sample consisted of two respondents from social services and one respondent from a women'sshelter. Their clients are women from the age of 18 and above with different cultural backgrounds. The results generated from the interview were analysed using feminist theory and earlier research conducted on domestic violence. Though domestic violence against women has been a social problem before the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings revealed the different factors that led to more cases of domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic such as economic dependency on the perpetrator, depression,alcohol abuse, and social isolation due to the partial lockdown. These factors cause the women (victims) to be more vulnerable to the crime perpetrated by their partners, and due to partial lockdown and the stay-at-home order by the government to combat the spread of COVID-19 virus in Sweden, the social workers believed that the women (the victims) were stuck with their perpetrators and unable to come out to seek the help needed and this made their situation more vulnerable resulting to long life effects like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD), suicidal thoughts and even death.

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The global tourism and hotel industry have been among the fastest-growing sectors for years. However, the global pandemic of COVID-19 caused extreme disruption and changed the situation all around the globe. The global COVID-19 pandemic did not only leave an imprint on economic sectors all over the world but also caused changes in the everyday lives of people. Implemented travel restrictions and self-isolation have resulted in workforce reductions in all economic sectors and job losses impacting individuals, organizations, and countries globally. With regard to the hotel industry, the crisis has led to an immense number of cancellations and a loss of foreign clientele. The situation has altered and the behavior of guests has changed accordingly. This research aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on guest behavior and its consequences. To achieve this aim, a mixed methods research approach consisting of 2 stages of empirical study is employed. The qualitative method in the form of email interviews was aimed at the hotel staff of 5 chosen health spa hotels in Slovakia where 9 employees were asked questions about the impact of COVID-19 on the hotel industry and guest behavior from a hotel employee’s perspective. The collected data were analyzed by using thematic analysis. The quantitative method was used to investigate the impact of the global pandemic from hotel guests’ points of view themselves. The second part of the research therefore involves 100 participants of an online survey about guest behavior during the pandemic, change in values and behavior patterns. The findings proved that there is a significant change in guest behavior induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. Furthermore, the aftermath of adopted behaviors has been identified, including the change in the booking process, difficulties in rules compliance, and main differences in hotel stays before and during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major transformations in education, workplaces, and work-life balance. Though most restrictions have been lifted in Sweden, some processes will likely remain online. This master thesis research collected quantitative data from a sample of university students at Halmstad University regarding the effects the pandemic had on their lives and their personal work preferences. Despite the pandemic leading to major changes both personally and professionally, the results of the study conclude that the pandemic primarily had both good and bad effects on education and did not have a major effect on university students’ outlook on their future in the labor market. Regarding preferences, this study found that there is no consensus. Several of the results are likely the effect of the culture and policies of the Nordic welfare states, which shape and surround this sample. This research contributes to the field of health and lifestyle as it identifies and analyzes potential factors which have strengthened and weakened the sample in focus.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have faced unprecedented challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. This dissertation draws on the comparative case study design to examine the institutional response to the Covid-19 pandemic across seventeen HEIs in three urban contexts: Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and New York. Due to the limited knowledge base about the novel coronavirus and its rapid spread, the institutional response to the Covid-19 pandemic was premised on uncertainty and presented a unique challenge to decision-makers. This study is informed by the systems approach in the three strands of literature I draw from – disaster studies, sociology of risk, and higher education governance. The evidence from this study supports the conceptualization of the Covid-19 response as a by-product of social design and socially constructed events. I take a qualitative approach to study the institutional response through semi-structured interviews, documents, and recruitment survey responses. Guided by organized risk sensemaking, I put forth the following research questions: (1) What policies, if any, have been adopted to mitigate the risk of Covid-19? (2) What decision-making structures, if any, have been mobilized to mitigate the risk of Covid-19? (3) How, if at all, institutional managers have rationalized the decisions adopted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic? and (4) How, if at all, has the external environment impacted the institutional response to Covid-19? In the first findings chapter, I examine the Covid-19 policies adopted during the pandemic and conclude that the measures taken to mitigate risks associated with the pandemic have counter-intuitive consequences. The Covid-19 response has strengthened HEIs’ place-based identity and underscored the role universities and colleges play in their immediate communities as anchor institutions. The second analytical chapter shows how decision-making structures were established and mobilized during the Covid-19 pandemic within different HEIs. It typifies decision making structures by their focus (general vs. specific) and temporality (permanent vs. temporary). This chapter discusses the challenges and benefits of different decision-making approaches, including the involvement of faculty and staff, the elimination of organizational silos, and the funneling of decisions to higher levels of authority. Furthermore, I interrogate the institutional managers’ rationalizations of challenges and ethical dilemmas brought on by the pandemic. In this chapter, I present the four emerging attitudes toward the Covid-19 pandemic as a sensemaking framework, illuminating the institutional response as a temporally dynamic phenomenon. Lastly, I focus on the external environment and specifically, the non-state sectoral actors that have played a crucial role in informing and shaping HEIs' responses. The relationships with these actors serve advisory, brokerage, coordination, data collection, material support, lobbying, and translation functions for HEIs. The study contributes to the literature on comparative education by providing empirical evidence on the role of non-state sectoral actors, the decision-making processes of HEIs, and the impact of Covid-19 on higher education. It also highlights the importance of universities and colleges as anchor institutions within their communities.

The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions of student affairs administrators, working in both public and private higher education institutions, regarding how they learned to use technology and gain insight into how their work would evolve in the future. While the COVID-19 pandemic affected everyone in the higher education landscape—academic faculty, students, and student administrative professionals—this research focused specifically on a segment of administrative professionals within higher education institutions: student affairs professionals. The results of the study provide recommendations to higher education institutions and student affair professionals and how to work in a technologically evolving workplace. The researcher based the study on the three assumptions: (1) informal and incidental learning are key factors in growing the skills to learn the evolving technologies in the workplace; (2) higher-order thinking skills exist in student affairs professionals who went beyond transferring the in-person modality to online; (3) organizational competencies or ethical competencies in digital leadership skills existed in student affairs professionals who went beyond demonstrating technological competencies skills The study population were student affairs professionals who worked during COVID-19. Data sources were primarily through 12 individual interviews, all conducted via Zoom, critical incident reports, and documents. Key findings of the study revealed: (1) A strong majority of participants described the use of technology as having a significant communication platform; (2) A majority of participants indicated that the lack of user engagement was a challenge while using technology; (3) An overwhelming majority learn to overcome the challenge of using technology through peer conversation; and (4) A majority of participants stated that having a supportive leader influenced the use of technology. The main recommendations of the study were the following: (1) Higher education institutions should think of creating the space and opportunities for student affairs professionals to engage in conversation with one another to overcome the challenges of using technology. To develop the space, higher education climate and organizational culture around the perception of technology must be considered. Additionally, higher education institutions should invest in developing supportive leaders who have a positive perception of technology in the workplace; and (2) Student affairs professionals should not only learn to be open about using technology in the workplace, but also develop the inter-personal skills that is critical to overcoming the use of technology. For seasoned student affairs professionals who hope to become a leader within the institution, developing the leadership skills to become a supportive leader who has the technological and inter-personal skills is critical to better manage and lead their team.

Yes / A global response to Covid‐19 pandemic has triggered issues related to stress and social restrictions; thus, mental health is seen as a particular area of concern for social well‐being for both policymakers and corporate regulators/companies. Given that mental health intersects with most, if not all, of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), this research brought to light issues surrounding employment of people with mental disabilities (PWMDs) and the financial merits of employing them. An online survey was administered to PWMDs to elicit what possible flexible opportunities could enable them to gain or stay at work. Interviews were also conducted with human resource managers and financial managers. Our results show that there are currently no flexible working opportunities available for PWMDs, which could enable them work effectively to improve both self and general economic growth.

Yes / Purpose - The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions to global supply chains (SCs), affecting the production, distribution, and transportation of goods and ser- vices. To mitigate these disruptions, it is essential to identify the barriers that have im- peded the seamless operation of SCs. This study identifies these barriers and assesses their impact on supply chain network (SCN). Design/methodology/approach - To determine the relative importance of different bar- riers and rank the affected industries, a hybrid approach was employed, combining the best-worst method (BWM) and the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS). To accommodate the inherent uncertainties associated with the pan- demic, a triangular fuzzy TOPSIS was used to represent the linguistic variable ratings provided by decision-makers. Findings - The study found that the airlines and hospitality industry was the most affected by the barriers, accounting for 46% of the total, followed by the healthcare industry (23%), the manufacturing industry (19%), and finally the consumer and retail industry (17%). Research limitation/implications - This study is limited to the four critical industries and nine identified barriers. Other industries and barriers may have different weights and rankings. Nevertheless, the findings offer valuable insights for decision-makers in SC management, aiding them in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on their operations and enhancing their resilience against future disruptions. Originality/value - This study enhances our understanding of COVID-19’s impact on SCN and provides a framework for assessing disruptions using multi-criteria decision-making processes. The hybrid approach of BWM and TOPSIS in a fuzzy environment is unique and offers potential applicability in various evaluation contexts.