Borrowing theories in humanitarian supply chain management

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tunca Tabaklar ◽  
Árni Halldórsson ◽  
Gyöngyi Kovács ◽  
Karen Spens
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain Management

Purpose – Within the emerging research field of humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) the use of existing theoretical concepts and frameworks to provide explanation and understanding of the phenomena under scrutiny is not yet well understood. There is still a lack of research on which theoretical approaches are used in this field, and to what extent this emerging field “borrows” theories from other disciplines. The purpose of this paper is therefore to deepen the understanding of HSCM from a theoretical point of view by identifying and evaluating the use of theories in HSCM literature. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review is conducted based on academic journal articles included in a well-recognised and publicly available bibliography on HSCM articles (Tatham, 2015). A content analysis is applied to the articles in terms of level of theory, research methodology, disaster management stages, disaster types, and disaster name/region. Findings – A trend towards using more established, “middle- range” theories, is evident. However, the use of theoretical approaches is not evenly spread between the different phases of disaster relief. A strong emphasis on SCM as a background discipline is also mirrored in the choice of theories used, which indicates the solidification of humanitarian logistics as a primarily supply chain discipline. The lack of use of other theoretical perspectives and grand theories is, however, still evident, which provides an interesting research agenda for future research. Research limitations/implications – The use of the bibliography limits the generalisation of the findings although some trends are evident. Originality/value – This is a first review of theories used in HSCM. It provides an overview of the state of the art of HSCM research but contributes to the maturation of research in this field. The paper concludes with a research agenda.

Dynamic capabilities in humanitarian supply chain management: a systematic literature review

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdussamet Polater
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain Management

PurposeThe main purpose of this paper is to examine the extant literature of humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) which specifically use dynamic capabilities (DCs) view. By this means, the objectives of this study are to identify and assess the DCs used in the HSCM context, the factors positively and negatively affecting the DCs and how the DCs affect humanitarian supply chain (HSC) operations. Furthermore, this research aims to give directions for future research in the field of HSCM.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts systematic literature review (SLR) approach proposed by Denyer and Tranfield (2009). Based on a SLR, this study synthesizes and compares the evidence, has a specific focus and research questions, has certain inclusion and exclusion criteria and provides evidence-based implications to the researchers and practitioners. This is a method which is replicable, transparent and auditable. The SLR methodology provides scholars and practitioners a basis for comprehending the current situation of relevant topic and taking correct steps in their future actions.FindingsThis SLR deduces that applying DCs view is still in its infancy in the HSCM literature. The result of this SLR reveals that supply chain agility (SCA), supply chain resilience (SCR), reconfiguration/transformation, integration, (short-term) collaboration, sustaining, sensing, seizing and knowledge access DCs have been used in the HSCM literature. In addition, it is determined that only one paper analyzed the influence of DCs on predisaster performance while rest of the papers focused on the postdisaster performance.Originality/valueThe result of the exhaustive literature search indicates that this is the first SLR that specifically analyzes the application of DCs view in the HSCM domain. This investigation determined the DCs used in HSCM and revealed the relations between the dependent and independent variables through the comprehensive model. In this way, this review provides a guidance to researchers in conduct their future investigations and practitioners to carry out supply chain (SC) operations by considering the factors affecting their operations.

Humanitarian supply chain management frameworks

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1749-1780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachin Agarwal ◽  
Ravi Kant ◽  
Ravi Shankar
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Research Trend ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Measurement Framework ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain Management

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare extant framework in humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) and to propose a framework on humanitarian supply chain (HSC) performance measurement based on the content, context and process. Design/methodology/approach The structured keywords, namely humanitarian supply chain (HSC), humanitarian logistic (HL), humanitarian relief chain (HRC) and humanitarian chain (HC) as an exact phrase were searched in the title, abstract and keywords in the academic database. A total of 66 peer-reviewed articles were selected for analysis purpose that reports framework from the reviewed literature. These selected frameworks are categorized in dimensions, namely framework novelty, framework source, recognize elements/constructs of framework, comparative analysis of the framework and in-depth study of HSCM performance measurement. Findings The analysis reveals that the majority of these developed frameworks are novel and academic based. Case study is most prominent research methodology in the development of HSCM framework. Lack of coordination among humanitarian stakeholders is the major challenge in the empirical implementation of framework. This study proposes future research trend toward a unified HSCM framework that will facilitate to uncover the coherent set of elements/constructs in the field of HSCM. Research limitations/implications This study considers peer-reviewed articles published in English language, and excludes conference papers, working articles, technical data/reports and book chapters. Practical implications This study categorizes new dimension for framework analysis and proposed an HSC performance measurement framework which gives new insights to the academicians, practitioners and policy makers for future work. Social implications This examination gives the establishment to facilitate investigation of viable, efficient and effective HSCM, and detail opportunities for practices. Originality/value This study critically analyzes 66 frameworks under the different criteria to identify research gap and trends. Furthermore, this study proposes the HSC performance measurement framework.

The COVID-19 response: considerations for future humanitarian supply chain and logistics management research

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise D.P. Thompson ◽  
Renata Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain ◽  
The Way

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is three-fold: (1) this editorial viewpoint gives context to the manuscripts included in this special issue on pandemics and epidemics. (2) The viewpoint frames a research agenda for the vital work necessary to understand and make the humanitarian supply chain more resilient. (3) The authors hope that the viewpoint as well as the included papers contribute to the dialogue and facilitate a research program over the short- to medium-term about mass complex disasters, including epidemics and pandemics, and their effects on the humanitarian supply chain and logistics.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines COVID-19 response by focusing on the USA as a mini case study. It utilizes contemporaneous reporting in USA newspapers between February and July of 2020. Reports made during an incident or event provide some of the most accurate records of that event and point to gaps in our understanding of research in the humanitarian supply chain.FindingsThe novel COVID-19 pandemic highlights unanticipated ways that pandemics and epidemics impact HLSCM and display the supply chain's fragility in stark terms. The paper layouts some of the thematic issues that emerged from COVID-19 that could point the way for future research in the field in the short run.Research limitations/implicationsThe articles accessed for the paper dated February–July 2020. With the pandemic ongoing, many more thematic areas or more enduring ones might surface that could change the direction of the findings or recommendations. In addition, relying on secondary sources like newspapers for this research largely depends on the quality of the reports. Moreover, newspaper articles are not as scientifically robust as are academic journals as some. The viewpoints could be biased. It is also difficult to verify the best news sources, if they are not known a priori.Practical implicationsThematic lessons from America's COVID-19 impact set the stage for future research agenda in the humanitarian supply chain and logistics response over the next few years. There will be other pandemics. The question is not if, but when.Social implicationsThe COVID-19 pandemic makes it impossible for us to ignore the link between the global supply chain, natural and human-made disasters, including epidemics and pandemics, environmental degradation and deforestation.Originality/valueThe paper's originality lies it being one of the first, if not the first, to deal with this topic within the operations/logistics/supply chain management field. It therefore helps to pave the way for other perspectives and approaches to understand and advance the field of humanitarian logistics and supply chain management.

Modeling the enablers of humanitarian supply chain management: a hybrid group decision-making approach

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachin Agarwal ◽  
Ravi Kant ◽  
Ravi Shankar
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Relative Significance ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Humanitarian Operations ◽  
Hybrid Framework ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain Management

PurposeThis paper intends to explore and appraise the humanitarian supply chain management enablers (HSCMEs) for efficient and effective humanitarian operations. This research aims to analyze the interaction of enablers for humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) using a proposed hybrid framework consists of fuzzy Delphi (FD), interpretive structural modeling (ISM)–matriced impacts croises multiplication appliquee a un classement (MICMAC) and revised Simos approach.Design/methodology/approachThis research is deliberate to identify 28 HSCMEs through a literature review and experts' opinions; out of which 20 HSCMEs are selected using FD. ISM is applied to know contextual relationship among the selected HSCMEs for developing a hierarchical model. The MICMAC analysis classifies the HSCMEs based on driving power and dependence power to validate the developed hierarchical ISM structure. The revised Simos technique is used to prioritize the HSCMEs to access its relative significance in humanitarian operations.FindingsThe finding of the analysis suggests that government policy and leadership support obtained the highest priority, having high driving power and low dependence power is significantly strategic and emerged as the leading driver for the HSCM implementation.Research limitations/implicationsISM model presents an insight into interrelationship among HSCMEs, but this cannot quantify the impact of each HSCMEs.Practical implicationsDisaster relief aid agencies and stakeholders may focus on the enablers having high driving power and higher weight in designing and executing an effective and efficient humanitarian supply chain and to improve their activities and strategies of HSCM.Social implicationsThis research helps humanitarian logisticians and humanitarian organizations to make better decisions to improve their operational performance in pre and postdisaster phases.Originality/valueThis paper explores the application of proposed hybrid framework to analyze the HSCMEs that can be considered as the original contribution.

scholarly journals Supply chain management as the key to a firm’s strategy in the global marketplace

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 159-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Gonzalez-Loureiro ◽  
Marina Dabic ◽  
Timothy Kiessling
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
Intellectual Structure ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Global Marketplace ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the intersection of two literature streams: that of strategy and supply chain management (SCM). This review should create a better understanding of “strategic SCM” by focussing on relevant theories in the strategic management field and their intersection with SCM to develop a joint research agenda. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a correspondence analysis on the content of 3,402 articles from the top SCM journals. This analysis provides a map of the intellectual structure of content in this field to date. The key trends and changes were identified in strategic SCM research from 1990-2014 as well as the intersection with the key schools of strategic management. Findings – The results suggest that SCM is key to a successful deployment of strategy for competing in the global marketplace. The main theoretical foundations for research in this field were identified and discussed. Gaps were detected and combinations of theoretical foundations of strategic management and SCM suggest four poles for future research: agents and focal firm; distributions and logistics strategic models; SCM competitive requirements; SCM relational governance. Research limitations/implications – Scholars in both the strategy and the SCM fields continue to search for competitive advantages. Much recent research indicates that strategic SCM can be a critical source for that advantage. One of the limitations of the research is that the analysis does not include every journal that published an article mentioning SCM. However, the 34 journals selected are reputed to be the most influential on SCM and focussed primarily on SCM. Practical implications – The map of the intellectual structure of research to strategic SCM highlights the need to combine different theoretical approaches to the complex phenomenon of SCM. Practitioners should consider the supply chain as an informal organization and should devote time and resources to build a shared advantage across the supply chain. They should also consider the inherent benefits and risks that sharing. Originality/value – The paper demonstrates that strategic SCM needs a balanced and rigorous combination of theoretical approaches to deliver more theory-driven evidences. The research combines both a qualitative analysis and a quantitative methodology that summarizes gaps and then outlines future research from a large sample of articles. This methodology is an original contribution to this field and offers some assistance for enlarging the sample of future literature reviews.

An empirical investigation of the enablers in humanitarian supply chain management in India

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaurav Kabra ◽  
A. Ramesh
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Disaster Victims ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain Management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the perception of stakeholders, i.e. disaster victims, volunteers and managers, who were involved in relief activities, toward the enablers in humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) with special emphasis on heart wrenching and deadliest disaster, that occurred in the Uttarakhand (a northern state in India) on June 14, 2013. Design/methodology/approach – A detailed case study of the recently disaster, that occurred in the Uttarakhand has been carried out to investigate the enablers associated with the HSCM and the data were collected from published literature and newspaper articles, semi-structured interviews with academic experts and practitioners, hypothesis were formulated and tested using analysis of variance. Findings – The findings of the study indicate that, there is no significant difference in the perception of disaster victims, volunteers and managers toward the enablers in HSCM in India. There is a strong need for more effective and efficient monitoring of over-exploitation of the mountainous regions, Geographic Information Systems mapping of the state and a separate disaster communication network. Research limitations/implications – The scope of study is limited to flash floods that occurred in the Uttarakhand. Extending the research on other types of disaster could be considered as the scope for further research. Practical implications – The paper investigates some of the enablers of HSCM and discusses some of the emerging issues and lessons learned from the disaster that occurred in the Uttarakhand, in managing future disasters in India and the other world. Originality/value – This paper presents the first attempt in India with its combination of field-based qualitative research and survey analysis to investigate the enablers of HSCM in India.

scholarly journals Pandemic-induced knowledge gaps in operations and supply chain management: COVID-19’s impacts on retailing

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin C. Schleper ◽  
Stefan Gold ◽  
Alexander Trautrims ◽  
Duncan Baldock
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Retail Industry ◽  
Future Research ◽  
External Shocks ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Impact Pathways

PurposeThis Impact Pathways paper aims to provide a timely and structured discussion of real-world problems at Marks and Spencer and in retail in general, evoked through the current COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe article presents collaborative research based on more than five hours of interviews and several iterative paper writing steps between management scholars and Marks & Spencer’s Head of Procurement - Logistics and Supply Chain. Continuous discussions for more than ten months among the research team assure the timeliness and relevance of the findings. The exceptional position of the executive and his career biography allowed the integration of a variety of intra-organisational and inter-organisational stakeholders.FindingsThis paper highlights the impacts of the current COVID-19 pandemic on operations and supply chain management (OSCM) in the retail industry, structured in upstream, internal and operational, and downstream and customer perspectives. The paper concludes with a practice-infused research agenda, which aims to trigger relevant research about the current and potential future crises.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the research agenda is directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the retail industry, the future research pathways are expected to inform business responses to potential future external shocks other than pandemics and in different industries as well.Originality/valueDespite a plethora of studies already published on COVID-19 and OSCM, little is known on how the outbreak affects specific firms and industries. This paper offers an overview of COVID-19 related change as it happens at the retailer and in the retailing industry in general. This article is among the first to provide a practice-infused call for research on urgent issues being faced by business leaders directly relevant to our domain.

Analyzing drivers and barriers of coordination in humanitarian supply chain management under fuzzy environment

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaurav Kabra ◽  
A Ramesh
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relief Operations ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain ◽  
Process Solutions ◽  
Humanitarian Supply Chain Management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers to coordination in humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM), proposes solutions and prioritizes them to overcome the barriers particularly in the Indian context. Design/methodology/approach – This study adopts a comprehensive and rigorous procedure to explore the barriers and solutions to coordination in HSCM. The research design is divided into three phases; first, the barriers and solutions are collected through an extensive literature review; second, barriers and solutions were verified with experts involved in relief operations of the disaster that occurred in Uttarakhand (a Northern state in India) on June 14, 2013 and finally, based on the weight of barriers estimated by fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, solutions to overcome the barriers are prioritized using fuzzy technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution that considers uncertainty and impreciseness rather than a crisp value. Findings – This study explored 23 barriers to coordination in HSCM and grouped into five categories i.e., strategic barriers, individual barriers, organizational barriers, technological barriers and cultural barriers, and finally 15 solutions were proposed and prioritized to overcome the barriers so decision makers can focus on overcoming these barriers and realize the benefits of coordination in HSCM. Practical implications – This study provides a more efficient, effective, robust and systematic way to overcome barriers to coordination and improve the competencies of humanitarian supply chain (HSC). Originality/value – This is the first kind of study that prioritizes the solutions to enhance coordination in HSC based on the weight of the barriers.

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