Strategic communication management in the crisis period and a research on meat industry in Afyonkarahisar

Crisis periods are often regarded as a process that is unpredictable and threatens the assets of businesses. On the contrary, the ability of today's businesses to their assets depends anticipating the crisis, being prepared for the crisis, and thus managing the crisis effectively. Effective governance of the crisis requires the presence of communication mechanisms that can increase the quality and effectiveness of information flow, sharing information and production information both within and outside the organization. In this respect, understanding the strategic importance of the communication processes towards the internal and external environment in the organization and relating the communication with the aims and strategies of the operator is an important step to improve the quality of organizational communication. Because strategic communication also strengthens the learning and renewal capacities of businesses, it can also help them adapt to the outside world and gain the ability to act on time for change and innovation. On the other hand, strategic communication, is important not only for predicting and preventing crises but also for its role in effectively managing crises. Because the activity in crisis management requires the existence of dynamic and well-structured institutional communication mechanisms. In the study, it was assumed that businesses that regulate communication in terms of strategic goals and objectives could be more equipped and stronger in dealing with crises. In this direction, it is aimed to reveal the relationship between management and strategic communication in crisis periods. Appropriately for the purpose of the study, in the first part, crisis management strategies were dealt with after conceptualizing crisis and crisis management issues. In the second part of the study, within the scope of strategic communication during crisis period, strategic communication management, the function of strategic communication in crisis period and various strategic communication models were examined. In the third part of the study, a case study was conducted by analyzing the relationship between crisis management and strategic communication by interviewing semi-structured interview questions in two businesses operating in meat and meat products sector in Afyonkarahisar. Thus, it has been demonstrated how businesses strategically structured communication processes during times of crisis.