A Managerial Evaluation of Syrian Civil War on Turkish Firms: Crisis Management Practices

Abstract

The Syrian Civil War has transformed the Middle-East firms drastically in many ways. As the number of dead people and refugees increased, Syrian economy was torn apart, regional economic ties broke down, and surrounding businesses slumped: The first economic effect on the bordering cities, such as Hatay stems from the decrease of bilateral transactions between Syria and Turkey; Secondly, the unstoppable flow of Syrian refugees pouring into Turkey, particularly into neighboring cities became a ticking economic time bomb. The aim of the present study is to explore crisis management practices of the firms in Hatay, a Syrian bordering city in Turkey, during Syrian Civil War and to observe the responses and reactions of the firms to the economic impacts of this crisis by analyzing the underlying dimensions of the choice of crisis management styles and strategies. Subsequently, the study discusses managerial and theoretical implications for “crisis management” literature which could be useful for policy-makers. Since recent research on crisis management has established a number of empirical studies, the present study aims to contribute to the related literature by using a qualitative methodology, including in-depth interviews with top executives of firms operating in Hatay, observations, and documents/archival records.