One Size Does Not Fit All - A study on crisis management within a Swedish university during the COVID-19 pandemic

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the current field of research on crisis management within higher education. More precisely, this thesis aims to increase the understanding of the scope and dimensions to be considered by universities when preparing and planning for a potential crisis. A qualitative study with abductive reasoning has been conducted to fulfill the purpose of this thesis. A multiple case study was selected with a focus on two faculties within a Swedish university. The empirical data used in this study was collected through 13 semi-structured interviews with both academic and managers at each faculty. Conclusion: The aspects to be considered when planning for a crisis, in the context of higher education, have not been sufficiently discussed in previous research. Hence, this study aimed to emphasize not only the importance of individualized and unique crisis management for each faculty, but also the importance of generic planning which can facilitate the handling of unexpected crisis events, highlighting the main aspects to be prioritized when establishing a plan. Additionally, by exploring the Swedish context, the results further increased the understanding of the interconnectedness between the university and the state in which it operates.