Capacity Building of the Bangkok Metropolitan District Offices in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis
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Abstract
This article aimed to study how district offices of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration managed their capacity building during COVID-19. We conducted qualitative research using concepts of capacity building in a framework for fighting pandemic crises, emphasizing the public management perspective. With a focus on the experiences of street-level bureaucrats, we used a semi-structured questionnaire and a focus group to collect data from 25 samples comprising executives, managers, and practitioners. We analyzed the data using content analysis and wrote a narrative to describe it. The research results were found as follows: The network of networks helped to build governance capacity; furthermore, they also created analytical, coordinating, and service-delivering capacity during turbulent times. At the end of our discussion, we presented the model of organizational capacity building for responding to pandemic crises to contribute to future knowledge and practices of pandemic crisis management.
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