Bridging humanitarian operations management and organisational theory

Purpose This paper supports the call for using a separate research stream for long-term recovery vs disaster relief in humanitarian studies. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the thematic shift towards service operations during this developmental phase and explores the role of social entrepreneurial organizations. It builds from the literature on service operations management and social entrepreneurship to promote theory in humanitarian operations management. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory study uses literature concepts and field data from multiple development case studies of social entrepreneurial organizations and social enterprises in Africa and the Middle East to analyze service operations. Findings Clear contributions to the role of social entrepreneurship in providing humanitarian and development services were identified and categorized according to service operations management stages. Practical implications This paper has important practical implications. The positioning of social entrepreneurial organizations as humanitarian service providers would open opportunities for new collaborations between donors and social organizations. Mainstream NGOs dominate the scene of servicing local communities; leaving aside social entrepreneurial organizations with substantial room for innovation that they might bring to the sector. In addition, social entrepreneurial organizations’ ability to build business models and design sustainability and scalability aspects for their operations may bring long-term development to impoverished communities. Global NGOs as well as government actors who carry out the first three stages of humanitarian operations could plan on working with (or even help creating) social entrepreneurial organizations to help with long-term recovery. Originality/value This study examines the implications of two bodies of literature; service operations management and social entrepreneurship on humanitarian operations management research. It concludes with a conceptual framework emphasizing the contributions of social entrepreneurship in planning, development, delivery, and distribution of services in the long-term recovery humanitarian and development operations.

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Operations adding value to society

International Journal of Operations & Production Management ◽

10.1108/ijopm-09-2020-832 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 40 (9) ◽

pp. 1293-1300

Author(s):

Gyöngyi Kovács ◽

Markku Kuula ◽

Stefan Seuring ◽

Constantin Blome

Keyword(s):

Operations Management ◽

Research Agenda ◽

Risk And Resilience ◽

Management Research ◽

Sustainable Operations ◽

Content Type ◽

Humanitarian Operations ◽

Research Areas ◽

Constant Change ◽

Societal Problems

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to discuss the role of operations management in society. The article detects trends, raises critical questions to operations management research and articulates a research agenda to increase the value of such research in addressing societal problems.Design/methodology/approachThis paper evaluates the papers presented at the EurOMA 2019 conference to detect trends and discuss the contributions of operations management research to society. It further goes to identify gaps in the research agenda.FindingsThe article finds several important streams of research in operations management: sustainable operations and supply chains, health care and humanitarian operations, innovation, digitalisation and 4.0, risk and resilience. It highlights new trends such as circular economy research and problematises when to stop implementing innovation and how to address and report their potential failure. Importantly, it shows how it is not just a question of offshoring vs reshoring but of constant change in manufacturing that operations management addresses.Originality/valueThe article highlights not just novel research areas but also gaps in the research agenda where operations management seeks to add value to society.

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Process improvement in humanitarian operations: an organisational theory perspective

International Journal of Production Research ◽

10.1080/00207543.2018.1424374 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 56 (21) ◽

pp. 6828-6841 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Paul D. Larson ◽

Cyril Foropon

Keyword(s):

Process Improvement ◽

Organisational Theory ◽

Humanitarian Operations

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Special Issue of Production and Operations Management: Humanitarian Operations and Crisis Management

Production and Operations Management ◽

10.1111/j.1937-5956.2011.01282.x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 20 (5) ◽

pp. 787-788

Author(s):

Martin K. Starr ◽

Luk N. Van Wassenhove

Keyword(s):

Crisis Management ◽

Operations Management ◽

Special Issue ◽

Humanitarian Operations

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Special Issue of Production and Operations Management: Humanitarian Operations and Crisis Management

Production and Operations Management ◽

10.1111/j.1937-5956.2011.01348.x ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 404-405

Author(s):

Martin K. Starr ◽

Luk N. Wassenhove ◽

Aruna Apte ◽

Paulo Goncalves ◽

Sushil Gupta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crisis Management ◽

Operations Management ◽

Special Issue ◽

Humanitarian Operations

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Guest editorial: humanitarian logistics - an opportunity for service research

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management ◽

10.1108/jhlscm-01-2015-0004 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 2-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Graham Heaslip

Keyword(s):

Operations Research ◽

Operations Management ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Guest Editorial ◽

Service Operations ◽

Service Research ◽

Future Research ◽

Content Type ◽

Service Operations Management ◽

Humanitarian Operations

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.

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