Crisis management in local governments during the COVID 19 pandemic: The case of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality

With the globalization period, the possibility of organizations to be affected by crises has also increased. The most striking example of this is the global epidemic of the 21st century, Covid-19. This epidemic, which managed to affect the world in a short period of time, caused organizations to reconsider their crisis management mechanisms. At the same time, the importance of local governments in this process was once again revealed. In this study, crisis management was analyzed by considering the Covid-19 pandemic. In our study, primarily, the literature was searched and the information and opinions of different sources and authors were consulted on crisis, crisis management and what needs to be done. Then, the findings obtained as a result of the studies carried out in our province during the crisis management process, Balıkesir Metropolitan Activity Reports, its official website, social media platforms and field studies with the relevant institutions were compiled and analyzed by adapting them to the crisis management. BBB has carried out various activities in this process by fulfilling the majority of the tasks specified in the Pandemic Influenza Preparation Plan. As a result of the field work and interviews, it was revealed that it was carried out by all institutions and organizations in this process, although it had some disadvantages as it was the first time such an epidemic crisis was encountered.