Covid-19 brought various challenges that the world that was not fully prepared to face since 2019. The pandemic came with both health and economic repercussions, and various organizations had to adapt their Organization Design to confront these new challenges posed by this Black Swan event. Since the pandemic is still recent, most of the research related to Organization Design and Covid-19 has focused on the changes during the pandemic. What has been missing in the research is a perspective on the evolution of Organization Design over time. Two research questions were addressed. The first question explored how individuals from different positions perceived changes in Organization Design during the pandemic using Jay Galbraith's Star Model. The findings revealed variations in perceptions across positions, particularly regarding hiring growth, structure, communication, rewards, and the hiring process. The second research question uses a combination of Path Dependence Theory and Jay Galbraith's Star Model to compare the short-term and long-term effects of contingencies on Organization Design within a Medical Manufacturing Company. Some changes, like temporary Covid-19 protocols and rewards, were phased out, while others, including remote work, digital transformation, hybrid work models, and certain structural changes, became permanent. The thesis contributes to the understanding of how Black Swan events impact Organization Design in the Medical Manufacturing Industry, providing practical recommendations for decision-making during crises and emphasizing the significance of organizational resilience and change management. The study's theoretical contributions include exploring path dependence in crisis-induced transformations, highlighting the dynamic nature of organizational responses, and suggesting future research avenues. Overall, this research enhances knowledge of Organization Design dynamics and offers guidance for organizations in crisis response and resilience-building. / Covid-19 förde med sig olika utmaningar och konsevenser såväl ekonomiskt som hälsomässigt. Pandemin kan ses som ett exempel på en svart svan-händelse, dvs. en osannolik händelse med omfattande konsekvenser. Organisationer var tvungna att anpassa sig för att möta utmaningarna som denna svarta svan-händelse medförde, i synnerhet när det gäller organisationsdesign. Eftersom pandemin fortfarande ligger relativt nära i tiden, har en stor del av forskningen kring organisationsdesign och Covid-19 fokuserat på förändringarna under pandemin. Det som har saknats i forskningen är ett perspektiv på utvecklingen av organisationsdesign över tid. Denna uppsats bidrar till att fylla detta kunskapsgap genom en fallstudie av ett medicinskt tillverkningsföretag. Två forskningsfrågor behandlas, den första frågan fokuserar på hur individer på olika positioner i företaget uppfattade förändringar i organisationsdesign under pandemin. Med utgångspunkt i Jay Galbraiths Star Model visar uppsatsen att uppfattningar om förändringar skiljer sig åt mellan olika positioner, särskilt med avseende på personaltillväxt, struktur, kommunikation, belöningar och rekryteringsprocesser. Den andra forskningsfrågan behandlar hur organisationsdesignen utvecklats i ett stigberoende perspektiv.Vissa förändringar, som rutiner för hantering av Covid-19 och specifika belöningsmodeller, fasades ut, medan andra, som distansarbete, digitalisering, hybridarbetsmodeller och vissa strukturella förändringar, förblev permanenta. Uppsatsen bidrar till en ny förståelse för hur en svarta svan-händelse kan påverka organisationsdesign inom ett företag och ger rekommendationer för beslutsfattande under kriser samt betonar betydelsen av organisationsresiliens och förändringshantering. Studiens teoretiska bidrag ligger i kombinationen av stigberoendeteori och omvandling under en extern kris av svart svan-typ.

This project aims to analyze the risk measures Value-at-Risk and Conditional-Value-at-Risk for three stock portfolios with the purpose of evaluating each method's accuracy in modelling Black Swan events. This is achieved by utilizing a parametric approach in the form of a modified (C)VaR with a Cornish-Fisher expansion, a historic approach with a time series spanning ten years and a Markov Monte Carlo simulation modeled with a Brownian motion. From this, it is revealed that the parametric approach at the 99\%-level generates the most favorable results for a 30-day-(C)VaR estimation for each portfolio, followed by the historic approach and, lastly, the Markov Monte Carlo simulation. As such, it is concluded that the parametric approach may serve as a method of evaluating a portfolio's exposure to Black Swan events. / Denna rapport syftar till att analysera riskmåtten Value-at-Risk och Conditional-Value-at-Risk för tre aktieportföljer med målet att utvärdera respektive metods precision i att modellera Black Swan-händelser. Detta uppnås genom att utnyttja en parametrisk metod som tar formen av en modifierad (C)VaR med en Cornish-Fisher-utveckling, en historisk metod med en tidsserie som sträcker sig tio år, och en Markov Monte Carlo-simulering modellerat med en Brownian Motion. Från detta påvisas det att den parametriska metoden vid en 99\%-ig nivå genererar de mest rättvisande resultaten för en 30-dagars-(C)VaR-estimering för respektive portfölj, följt av den historiska metoden och, till sist, Monte Carlo-simulering. På så sätt dras slutsatsen att den parametriska metoden skulle kunna tjäna som en metod för att utvärdera en aktieportföljs exponering till Black Swan-händelser.

國內壽險公司面臨資金不斷累積與同業間激烈競爭，加上全球經濟動盪不安，國際金融偶有黑天鵝事件發生，尤以2008年金融海嘯重創全球產業為最，壽險業亦難以倖免，肇致壽險業者經營益顯艱困。因此，為維繫公司永續經營，規劃長期財務穩健性至關重要。是故，如何訂定投資策略與妥適資產配置，並兼顧風險管理，為當前壽險公司重要課題。 本研究分析郵政壽險資產配置行為，歸納影響公司資產配置之內、外在因素，例如流動性風險、利率風險、信用風險、資本適足率、匯率風險及法令規範等因素，皆影響資產配置策略。另為建構最佳資產配置，提升獲利，逐步改善財務結構，在現行法令限制下，運用Markowitz之投資組合理論為分析工具，導出效率前緣線，再運用夏普指標績效分析，來建立最佳投資組合。 另外分析壽險公司必須正視未來「國際會計準則」（International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRS）IFRS 4第二階段適用公平價值評估負債，利差損問題會更加嚴重，對業務發展與負債評價將產生巨大衝擊。尤其我國壽險業發行商品大都以長年期終身險為主，若壽險商品負債評價與資產不一致時，其缺口將因利率變化影響損益波動。 / Abstract Domestic life insurers are in a challenging environment with increasing asset size to manage and fierce competition within the industry. Moreover, the world economy is going down a bumpy path. Every now and then in the global financial system, we encounter a black swan event. Among them, the financial tsunami of 2008 hit global industries most severely. The financial tsunami of 2008 also left life insurers having an increasingly difficult time running the business. It is crucial to have sound long-term financial plans in order to ensure business sustainability. Therefore, how to form an investment strategy, determine asset allocation and manage risks at the same time becomes a critical issue for life insurers. The research studies the asset allocation behavior of Chunghwa Post insurance sector and lists both the internal and the external factors affecting asset allocation. Factors like liquidity risk, interest rate risk, credit risk, capital adequacy, currency risk and regulations all have some influence on the asset allocation strategy. Meanwhile, the research constructs efficient frontier with Markowitz Portfolio Theory and adopts Sharpe ratio as the performance measure to build an optimal portfolio under current regulations with the goal of optimizing asset allocation, boosting profits and gradually improving the financial structure. The research also studies the tremendous impact of IFRS 4 on business development and liability valuation of life insurance companies. The implementation of IFRS 4 Phase II will require fair value measurement of liabilities, which will exacerbate the negative interest spread problem. When the liability valuation approach of insurance products is not in line with asset valuation, the gap will intensify the income fluctuations from interest rate movements, especially for domestic life insurers whose main products are long-term whole life policies.

The diploma thesis deals with seven novels by the contemporary British novelist David Mitchell. Using textual analysis, it traces the ways in which the novels are connected, most visibly expressed through reappering characters and realities, and provides an overview of Mitchell's biblioverse. The work also notes the differences between the fictional and the real, which Mitchell's novels examine, and leads to a broader reflection on the meaning of storytelling or the meaning of a cultural encyclopedia.

This study uses the Tibetan mandala, a Buddhist meditation aid and sacred artform, as a secular critical model by which to analyse the complete fictions of author David Mitchell. Discussing his novels, short stories and libretti, this study maps the author's fictions as an interconnected world-system whose re-evaluation of secular belief in galvanising compassionate ethical action is revealed by a critical comparison with the mandala's methods of world-building. Using the mandala as an interpretive tool to critique the author's Buddhist influences, this thesis reads the mandala as a metaphysical map, a fitting medium for mapping the author's ethical worldview. The introduction evaluates critical structures already suggested to describe the author's worlds, and introduces the mandala as an alternative which more fully addresses Mitchell's fictional terrain. Chapter I investigates the mandala's cartographic properties, mapping Mitchell's short stories as integral islandic narratives within his fictional world which, combined, re-evaluate the role of secular belief in galvanising positive ethical action. Chapter II discusses the Tibetan sand mandala in diaspora as a form of performance when created for unfamiliar audiences, reading its cross-cultural deployment in parallel with the regenerative approaches to tragedy in the author's libretti Wake and Sunken Garden. Chapter III identifies Mitchell's use of reincarnation as a form of non-linear temporality that advocates future-facing ethical action in the face of humanitarian crises, reading the reincarnated Marinus as a form of secular bodhisattva. Chapter IV deconstructs the mandala to address its theoretical limitations, identifying the panopticon as its sinister counterpart, and analysing its effects in number9dream. Chapter V shifts this study's use of the mandala from interpretive tool to emerging category, identifying the transferrable traits that form the emerging category of mandalic literature within other post-secular contemporary fictions, discussing works by Michael Ondaatje, Ali Smith, Yann Martel, Will Self, and Margaret Atwood.