Förtroendekriser
en studie av svenska livförsäkringsbolag
Business studiesCrisis of confidenceCrisis managementTrustChangeLife-insurance businessFöretagsekonomi
Background: The Swedish life-insurance business has been extensively criticised lately due to broken promises to customers as well as due to scandals that some companies within the business have been involved in. The companies within the Swedish life-insurance business find themselves in a so- called crisis of confidence, something that is created in and by media. A company that finds itself in a crisis of confidence somehow have to manage the situation and crises of confidence can also result in different kinds of changes. Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to explore and analyse how individual life- insurance companies manage crises of confidence. As a consequence, the aim is also to investigate in what way crises of confidence are initiators to change. Procedure: The study has been conducted through seven qualitative interviews with individuals holding a managerial position within a Swedish life-insurance company. Findings: Essential for managing crises of confidence is communication and information mainly to media, but also to customers and employees. Further, a higher level of clarity and transparency in products and activities, together with increased control of ethical policies, are aspects that have been shown to be of importance in managing the crisis of confidence within the Swedish life- insurance business. The crisis of confidence has generated changes, but it can not be decided with certainty if these changes have been initiated only by the crisis of confidence, or if the changes would have been carried through anyway. What can be established, is that the crisis of confidence has speeded up already planned changes.