AbstractsEconomics

<strong>Final Thesis, Master of Business Administration & Economic Program, Field of Research: Management, School of Business & Economics at Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden, 4FE10E, Spring 2015.</strong> <strong>Author:</strong> David Häggberg <strong>Supervisor:</strong> Richard Nakamura (Daniel Ericsson) <strong>Title:</strong> Ground-Breaking Contingency Planning with Risk- & Disaster Management <strong>Subtitle:</strong> A Case Study at Höganäs Japan K.K. <strong>Background:</strong> On the 11th of March 2011, Japan was hit with one of the largestearthquakes in modern history at a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale. Thiscaused wide spreading and lasting delays in production in large parts of the worlddue to organizations supply chain being connected to Japan. Subsequently RiskManagement has received renewed and increasing attention, both in Japan and therest of the world. The proactive concept of Risk Management primary builds itsmodels around probability and utilizes this concept as a basis for determining whichrisks that should be mitigated through countermeasures and financial investments.Though when faced with an environment filled with uncertainty and an additionallevel of indirect risk exposure due to the potential domino effect of natural disasterssuch as earthquakes, can Risk Management really handle that, a world whereprobability fails? The reactive approach used by Disaster Management mightcontain clues for making Risk Management more flexible. <strong>Research Question:</strong> How can a transnational corporation adapt their RiskManagement strategy and plan for contingencies in a country with an unstablenatural environment? <strong>Purpose:</strong> This thesis seeks to investigate how a strategy for Risk Management canbe created and adapted with the regard to uncertainties such as an unstableenvironmental situation. The goal is further to highlight how traditional RiskManagement can be combined with other related areas such as DisasterManagement, in order to make a more complete strategy and a more flexible plan foraction. An adaption to the Risk Management strategy that would be made in order tomake the strategy applicable on a global level and including areas with unstableenvironmental situations. <strong>Method:</strong> This study has utilized a multi-strategy approach and the main source ofdata for this case study has come from semi-structured interviews and acomplementary survey. The author has found it necessary to adopt a pragmaticstandpoint with a qualitative focus in order to explore the research question andunderstand the collected data to its fullest extent. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> Adopting the local practices and mindset that strives to constantlysecure the supply chain and fulfill customer obligations by creating contingenciesthe risk exposure can be mitigated. Utilizing a quickly adaptable approach instead oflong-term planning in combination with concepts such as a Disaster Recovery Planthe Risk Management…