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

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.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdussamet Polater

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1749-1780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachin Agarwal ◽  
Ravi Kant ◽  
Ravi Shankar

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.


Author(s):  
Tunca Tabaklar ◽  
Árni Halldórsson ◽  
Gyöngyi Kovács ◽  
Karen Spens

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachin Agarwal ◽  
Ravi Kant ◽  
Ravi Shankar

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.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaurav Kabra ◽  
A Ramesh

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Sakyi Damoah

PurposeThis study explores the critical success factors (CSFs) in humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) by focussing on flood disaster management (FDM) in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachAn in-depth semi-structured interview and questionnaire surveys in a sequential data collection approach were used to collect data from definitive stakeholders of humanitarian organisations. The data was analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factors analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques.FindingsSeventy-four factors were identified as success factors of HSCM of flood disaster management. However, 41 of these factors were statistically significant and considered as critical. In descending order, these factors relate to management practices, education and training, stakeholder involvement and cooperation, infrastructure, innovation and technology, materials and resources, administrative practices, socio-cultural and economic. Whilst some factors are internal to the humanitarian organisations, others are external factors that are beyond the control of humanitarian organisations.Research limitations/implicationsEven though this study offers empirical results that could guide policymakers in their decision-making about humanitarian operations, care needs to be taken since the data is within one country and within a specific disaster context – hence, policymakers need to consider the local contextual dynamics. Future studies could look at different disasters context to make a comparative analysis of various types of disaster operations.Practical implicationsInstitutions such as World Health Organization, Red Cross organisations and UN seeking to curbs global-warming-related disasters and the reduction of the effects of flood disaster can use findings as a guide during the formulation of HSCM policies and strategies.Originality/valueUnlike previous studies of humanitarian operations that focussed extensively on theoretical expositions, simulations, conceptual frameworks and models, this present study offers empirical evidence of humanitarian operations in the context of SCM. Further, by highlighting on the HSCM CSFs, this study contributes to disaster reduction and their effects on humanity in the context of FDM. This research could be used as guide by governments and FDM organisations to make informed decisions on SCM areas to focus the most during FDM.


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