HOW TO MANAGE REPUTATİON DURİNG CRISIS: AN ANALYSİS OF TURKİSH WHİTE MEAT SECTOR DURİNG THE AVIAN INFLUENZA (BİRD FLU) CRİSİS

Abstract

One of the most unique specifications of this century is the rapid change and the ambiguities rooted at this atmosphere of change. Change and ambiguities force individuals, organizations and even societies to take precautions for crisis and to manage it. Handled in institutional means, the most valuable asset of an institution is its reputation which is related to an institution’s image, institutional culture, the personal images of its workers, its communication activities, brand images of its products and services. Though reputation seems to be an abstract concept, it can be efficiently managed by the administrative level of an institution. Reputation is not a result that comes out in natural process; it’s a value which can be developed through effective management and it should be protected. Both components of a crisis, threats and opportunities are of vital importance in a crisis in sense of losing and re-gaining the reputation during and after the problematic period. In this paper, the importance of reputation management in crisis periods will be questioned through the analysis of how the crisis which was the most important ever in Turkish white meat sector was managed, how the reputation of sector and its producers was restored with the efforts of Turkish Government, media, sector representatives and public opinion leaders.