Future Research in Humanitarian Operations: A Behavioral Operations Perspective

Author(s):  
Karthik Sankaranarayanan ◽  
Jaime Andrés Castañeda ◽  
Sebastián Villa

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1237-1259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omid Maghazei ◽  
Torbjørn Netland

Purpose Although the industrial application of drones is increasing quickly, there is a scarcity of applications in manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to explore current and potential applications of drones in manufacturing, examine the opportunities and challenges involved and propose a research agenda. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports the result of an extensive qualitative investigation into an emerging phenomenon. The authors build on the literature on advanced manufacturing technologies. Data collected through in-depth interviews with 66 drone experts from 56 drone vendors and related services are analyzed using an inductive research design. Findings Drones represent a promising AMT that is expected to be used in several applications in manufacturing in the next few years. This paper proposes a typology of drone applications in manufacturing, explains opportunities and challenges involved and develops a research agenda. The typology categorizes four types of applications based on the drones’ capabilities to “see,” “sense,” “move” and “transform.” Research limitations/implications The proposed research agenda offers a guide for future research on drones in manufacturing. There are many research opportunities in the domains of industrial engineering, technology development and behavioral operations. Practical implications Guidance on current and promising potentials of drones in manufacturing is provided to practitioners. Particularly interesting applications are those that help manufacturers “see” and “sense” data in their factories. Applications that “move” or “transform” objects are scarcer, and they make sense only in special cases in very large manufacturing facilities. Originality/value The application of drones in manufacturing is in its infancy, but is foreseen to grow rapidly over the next decade. This paper presents the first academically rigorous analysis of potential applications of drones in manufacturing. An original and theory-informed typology for drone applications is a timely contribution to the nascent literature. The research agenda presented assists the establishment of a new stream of literature on drones in manufacturing.



2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Yamini

PurposeThe traditional newsvendor model has focused on deriving the optimal order quantity that minimises the balance between stocking too much or too less number of products. However, the managers make inventory decisions based on intuitions and shortcuts, which may involve human errors and biases. The effect of cognitive biases and heuristics influencing the inventory ordering decisions in newsvendor settings is highlighted. The advancement of research associated to the newsvendor biases is reviewed to appreciate the behavioral aspects of the minds underlying this process.Design/methodology/approachThe use of experimental and non-experimental methods to investigate the ordering behaviour of newsvendors is described and we present a framework of the existing literature and highlight the research gaps to point to future research possibilities and priorities.FindingsThe proposed framework gives a systematic approach to confirm the existence of a substantial scope of research opportunities and points to specific areas for further research. It synthesizes the existing results of behavioral newsvendor research and will act as a key reference paper. In addition, it will help the practitioners and software tool vendors to comprehend the behavioral perspective of newsvendor preferences and design strategies to mitigate this effect. The insights will be helpful for academicians, researchers and practitioners working in the areas of experimental economics, behavioral economics, behavioral operations, bounded rationality theory, newsvendor modelling and supply chain contracts.Originality/valueA summary of literature in this evolving area of research is very scarce. Considering the impact of behavioral economics on managerial decisions in the contemporary world, it is highly important to have an educational summary which can act as a tool for the practitioners and researchers in the area of behavioral operations management.



Author(s):  
Graham Heaslip

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature service operations management (OM) and its application to the field of humanitarian operations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper serves as the editorial for this issue of JHLSCM. Findings – The paper suggests that there is an opportunity for service OM academics to apply their knowledge and skills to answer fundamental questions in the humanitarian OM field. Research limitations/implications – There is a need for a re-conceptualization of the term “humanitarian operations” to include services. Humanitarian OM is not just products but also services. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the knowledge and applications of services OM in humanitarian operations research. This is the first work to identify how services OM theories can be adopted for humanitarian OM research. This research should serve as a foundation for future research.



Author(s):  
Luke Muggy ◽  
Jessica L. Heier Stamm

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarize ways in which game theory has been or could be utilized within the humanitarian sector and to identify future research opportunities in this field. Game theory is a tool for modeling systems in which multiple decision makers act according to their own objectives and where individual choices affect system outcomes. Humanitarian logistics systems are often characterized by the presence of many such decision makers. Design/methodology/approach – The authors synthesize literature from operations research, humanitarian logistics, and the political and management sciences that describes either game theory models or settings in which game theory has the potential to contribute practical insights. Papers are categorized based on the types of decision makers highlighted and the facets of humanitarian operations described. Findings – The review of literature indicates that applications of game theory to humanitarian supply chain systems are limited to date but that many components of humanitarian operations can benefit from such study. Research limitations/implications – The literature on game theory in humanitarian supply chains is still emerging. The findings imply opportunities for researchers to advance both theoretical and practical understanding in this area. Practical implications – Current research provides some managerial insights to humanitarian practitioners, but future practice-driven research could increase the impact of game theory models in the humanitarian sector. Originality/value – This work reviews past research contributions in the area of game theory and humanitarian operations and recommends areas for future research.



2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 997-1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Niles Perera ◽  
Behnam Fahimnia ◽  
Travis Tokar

PurposeThe success of a supply chain is highly reliant on effective inventory and ordering decisions. This paper systematically reviews and analyzes the literature on inventory ordering decisions conducted using behavioral experiments to inform the state-of-the-art.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents the first systematic review of this literature. We systematically identify a body of 101 papers from an initial pool of over 12,000.FindingsExtant literature and industry observations posit that decision makers often deviate from optimal ordering behavior prescribed by the quantitative models. Such deviations are often accompanied by excessive inventory costs and/or lost sales. Understanding how humans make inventory decisions is paramount to minimize the associated consequences. To address this, the field of behavioral operations management has produced a rich body of research on inventory decision-making using behavioral experiments. Our analysis identifies primary research clusters, summarizes key learnings and highlights opportunities for future research in this critical decision-making area.Practical implicationsThe findings will have a significant impact on future research on behavioral inventory ordering decisions while informing practitioners to reach better ordering decisions.Originality/valuePrevious systematic reviews have explored behavioral operations broadly or its subdisciplines such as judgmental forecasting. This paper presents a systematic review that specifically investigates the state-of-the-art of inventory ordering decisions using behavioral experiments.



2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Sahar Goudarzi ◽  
Paul Bergey ◽  
Doina Olaru

Purpose The recent surge in behavioral studies on the coordination mechanisms in supply chains (SCs) and advanced methods highlights the role of SC coordination (SCC) and behavioral issues associated with improving the performance of the operations. This study aims to critically review the behavioral aspect of channel coordination mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach Following a systematic literature review methodology, the authors adopt a combination of bibliometric (to reflect the current state of the field), content (using Leximancer data mining software to develop thematic maps) and theory-oriented qualitative analyzes that provide a holistic conceptual framework to unify the literature’s critical concepts. Findings The analysis confirms the plethora of risk-oriented publications, demonstrating that the second largest category of studies is concerned with social preferences theory. Most studies were based on experiments, followed by analytical modeling, revealing the impact of heuristics and individual preferences in SC decisions and suggesting promising managerial and theoretical avenues for future research. Originality/value The study sheds light on behavioral decision theories applied to SC coordination by categorizing the literature based on the adopted theories. The methodological contributions include using automated content analysis and validating the outcome by interviewing leading scholars conducting active research on “behavioral operations management and SC contracts.” The authors also propose several directions for future research based on the research gaps.



2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7488
Author(s):  
Bertha Maya Sopha ◽  
Athaya Islami Triasari ◽  
Lynette Cheah

Integrating sustainability in humanitarian operations has been seen as a promising approach toward effective and long-term solutions. During disaster emergency management, the evacuation determines the risk of loss in a disaster. To better understand the effectiveness of the evacuation plan while considering the sustainability standpoint, this paper develops a multi-method simulation (MMS) approach to evaluate evacuation time, load balance of the shelters, and CO2 emission. The MMS integrating Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) and Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) incorporates evacuation decision-making and evacuation processes. Comparative analysis shows that the MMS outperforms the use of ABM solely. The simulation results indicate over-utilization and imbalanced load among the shelters, implying a need to expand shelters’ capacity and to revisit the evacuation plan concerning the location of the assembly points and the shelters and the resource allocation. Evacuation behavior heading to the nearest assembly point instead of the designated assembly point based on the evacuation plan worsens the imbalanced load among the shelters and results in higher CO2 emissions by 8%. The results demonstrate the necessity to include evacuation decision-making (social dimension) on top of the technical dimension and to adopt sustainable performance indicators in planning the evacuation sustainably. Avenues for future research are also discussed.





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