Crisis management in aviation security and culture relationship: Investigation of Ataturk Airport attack in the context of Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory

This study was carried out to determine the impact of culture on the emergence of problems and managing these problems affecting the managerial success of aviation security related crises in Turkey. In this direction, the crisis management process in the Atatürk Airport attack on 28 June 2016 was examined in the context of Hofstede's theory of cultural dimensions, The research data were obtained as a result of document analysis and semi-structured interviews with 14 participants who took part in operational and managerial processes in Atatürk Airport attack. In the analysis process NVivo 12 package program was used. As a result of the analysis, the findings were evaluated under the themes of "Receiving crisis signals", "Crisis preparation and prevention", "Taking the crisis under control ", "Recovery to normal state " and "Learning and evaluation". As a result of the research, it was determined that the high level of uncertainty avoidance, power distance and restraint values that Turkey usually has in the context of Hofstede's theory of cultural dimensions were effective in the emergence of problems affecting the success of crisis management. On the other hand, despite the lack of any findings in Hofstede's work on the dominant values on Turkey's time orientation, it has been determined that problems are experienced in crisis management processes due to the short-term orientation. It has been determined that other cultural values that contribute significantly to the success of crisis management are patriotism awareness specific to collectivist cultures, solidarity and cooperation values that specific to femininity values.