Development of COVID-19 Crisis Management System of Tehran Municipality: Combined Approach of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and Social Network Analysis (SNA)

Background and objective: The covid-19 pandemic, one of the complex situations with high uncertainty in decision-making, has faced a crisis in socio-economic systems for more than two years. Municipalities are considered as key crisis management organizations due to the wide variety of services they provide to citizens. The current research, by designing a soft system intervention, has developed the crisis management system of the Tehran municipality for the covid-19 pandemic by using the combined approach of soft systems and social network analysis. Method: First, the measures of crisis management of Tehran municipality were investigated and the actors and knowledge axes of crisis management of Tehran municipality were identified. In order to analyze the power position of actors in the cooperation network; The two-dimensional matrix of actors-actions of formation and cooperation network of crisis management was analyzed based on the indicators of degree centrality and betweenness centrality. Next, a combination of actors was selected and based on the design of a soft system intervention, the situation of the problem was analyzed and an rich picture of the problem was drawn. Then, according to Parsons' theory of social systems, the system was analyzed from political and structural, economic, social, cultural, and legal perspectives, and based on the CATWOE analysis, a relatively agreed root definition was considered, and the components of the ideal system according to the analysis The stages of crisis management including the ideal system before the crisis, during the crisis and after the crisis were identified and the development model of the Covid-19 pandemic management system was designed. Findings: In general, the findings indicate that the cooperation network of activists has a high density and cohesion, however, it seems that the position of some activists needs to strengthen the position of power in the crisis management structure. In comparing the current system and the ideal system of pandemic crisis management, the solutions have been presented according to the analysis of crisis management stages, including the targeted activities of developing the system before the crisis, during the crisis and after the crisis agreed upon by the participation of key actors. Conclusion: Considering that the performance of crisis management during a pandemic is highly dependent on the level of preparedness before the crisis, it is expected that according to the components of the ideal system before the crisis and during the pandemic and targeted activities The development of the system on how to prepare and respond to similar crises in the future should be considered by city managers and crisis management policy makers in Tehran. In addition, on the eve of the recovery stage after the corona pandemic crisis, the attention of city managers to maintain a critical and rethinking position of urban management experiences in the covid-19 pandemic is more important than ever.