Examination of service triads in humanitarian logistics

Understanding public service supply chain management: a systematic literature review

The complexity of delivering public services under dynamically changing operating conditions causes uncertainty in those processes. Economic and social crises, pandemics, natural and technological threats and local armed conflicts add more layers of complexity and force governments to seek ways to ensure the continuous supply of these services. Therefore, researchers indicate that a supply chain management approach could increase the efficiency and quality of public service implementation processes. However, the scattered research that exists on this topic occurs in limited areas of public governance. Therefore, this paper aims to understand the importance of supply chain management in public service delivery processes, develop the public service supply chain model, analyse the evolution of the research and identify research streams in this exploratory area. A systematic literature review based on the PRISMA methodology serves to achieve this purpose. The paper defines public service supply chain management as a synchronised process of co-creating value in public networks with its basis in relationship management, in which each actor can be both a supplier and an end-user. This paper also presents a bibliographic visualisation of research issues in public service supply chain management (PSSCM) and identifies eight major research streams in this area.

Humanitarian actions of a cultural center during the Covid-19 pandemic: an analogy with supply chain business processes

Purpose

This study intends to map the supply chain and characterize the business processes of a cultural center in an aggregated and coordinated operation to serve families in need during the Covid-19 pandemic. This case study analyzes distinct aspects of humanitarian management capable of contributing to the management of commercial supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting a case study approach, this research contextualizes the view on humanitarian supply chains related to the importance of participating organizations' engagement and the relationship and similarity with business organizations.

Findings

The study presents the model adopted to undertake the aid operations, maps the cultural center's humanitarian supply chain, clarifies the relationships and operations developed and compares the business processes with those of commercial chains. Possibilities and initiatives are discussed that can contribute to business organizations' greater engagement in humanitarian actions.

Research limitations/implications

Restricted to one case involving the cultural center and the other agents researched, the information and considerations are limited, and any generalization should be treated with caution.

Practical implications

The study is a practical example that clarifies how business organizations can engage in the supply chain of humanitarian institutions. It also illustrates ways to help these institutions improve their fund-raising initiatives.

Social implications

This study is justified by the representativeness of humanitarian actions in critical periods such as the Covid-19 pandemic. The study also presents potential ways to contribute to operations of this nature and to encourage business organizations to improve participation in humanitarian movements.

Originality/value

Many studies on the subject have highlighted the importance of comparing humanitarian and business supply chains through real case research.

Mitigating interorganizational conflicts in humanitarian logistics collaboration: the roles of contractual agreements, trust and post-disaster environmental uncertainty phases

Purpose

Governance is the key to establishing effective collaboration among humanitarian logistics partners addressing an ongoing relief work. With a focus on humanitarian interorganizational collaboration, this research draws on governance theories to investigate how conflicts can be mitigated in this challenging setting.

Design/methodology/approach

The focus on governance extends attention to the frontiers of contractual agreement, trust and environmental uncertainty to be applied in the humanitarian setting. To develop perspectives, an online survey of 289 field executives working in humanitarian organizations across the globe is conducted. The findings are based on hierarchical regressions.

Findings

Environmental uncertainty, in humanitarian logistics, is not straightforward, but wields distinctive challenges in the response phase (immediate to the disaster) as well as the recovery phase (beginning of build back) – to loom prospects of conflict between partners. Findings outline that contractual agreement can increase conflict during the response phase (high environmental uncertainty), but mitigate it during the recovery phase (low environmental uncertainty). Furthermore, contractual agreement interactively strengthens the ability of trust to reduce conflict. Yet, trust acting alone shows best outcome to mitigate conflict.

Research limitations/implications

Contrary to the established understanding in traditional logistics suggesting the vitality of contracts to easily mitigate challenges posed by environmental uncertainty, the humanitarian setting extends a unique outset for interorganizational governance based on the temporality of response and recovery phases.

Originality/value

This research pioneers to quantitatively examine the setting of humanitarian logistics based on survey. Given the difficulty of data acquisition, the extant research has largely relied on qualitative investigations when considering the agenda of governance.

Characterizing third-party logistics setups in the context of construction

Purpose

The use of third-party logistics (TPL) setups in construction has increased but is still a new phenomenon. The purpose was to increase understanding of how structural and management dimensions are related in CLSs by describing how CTPL setups are used.

Design/methodology/approach

Ten dimensions to describe and structure CLSs were identified from the literature and used to structure a cross-case analysis of 13 Swedish CLSs.

Findings

The main findings are: (1) there are three typical initiators of CLSs: municipalities, developers and contractors; (2) CLSs are drivers for service differentiation and modularization among TPL providers as construction specific services are required; (3) CLSs play a new role in construction by coordinating logistics activities between the construction project and the vicinity of the site.

Research limitations/implications

The study is based on 13 cases in the Swedish construction context. Additional studies of CLSs in other countries are needed.

Practical implications

The ten dimensions can be used as a guide in designing a CLS and in determining the order of design decisions. The identification and structuring of CTPL services also exemplify the variety of service offerings.

Originality/value

This is one of the first cross-case analyses of CLSs enabling the characterization of CTPL setups. This study identifies how different services included in the setup relate to the roles of SCM and logistics in construction.

The four spheres of value co-creation in humanitarian professional services

Purpose

The study focuses on the value co-creation processes in humanitarian professional services provision, analysing the key enabling factors of beneficiaries' participation, involved in long-term integration programmes (L-TIPs).

Design/methodology/approach

Through an in-depth case study, the research looks at the practices of value co-creation in humanitarian professional services, considering both the perspectives of the professional service provider and beneficiary.

Findings

In professional services beneficiary's participation affects the success of the L-TIPs outcomes. Participation's enablers can be classified into four different spheres, each belonging to different elements of professional service: the beneficiary, the professionals, the service design and the external environment.

Research limitations/implications

This paper contributes to the literature on humanitarian operations & supply chain management. By focussing on an understudied phase of the disaster life-cycle management, it contributes to the theory of value co-creation by exploring new issues and drivers of beneficiary's participation.

Practical implications

This research has interesting implications for policymakers and humanitarian practitioners. First, guidelines for professionals' behaviours and interventions should be designed as well as new practices and strategies should be adopted. Second, governments should avoid concentrating L-TIPs in few big humanitarian centres.

Originality/value

The study focuses on an understudied stage of humanitarian operations, namely the L-TIPs, and uses this setting to build on the theory of value co-creation in professional services by identifying its enabling factors, clustered into four spheres, namely beneficiary, professional, service design and environmental.

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

Purpose

The 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/approach

This 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.

Findings

This 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/value

The 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.

Outsourcing in humanitarian logistics – status quo and future directions

Purpose

Outsourcing of logistics has great importance in disaster relief. Aid agencies spend several billion US dollars every year on logistics services. However, the concept of outsourcing has not been established adequately in literature on humanitarian logistics, leading to a fragmented view of the practice. This paper provides a holistic perspective of the concept by constructing a conceptual framework to analyze both practice and research of outsourcing in humanitarian operations. Based on this analysis, we explore future trends and identify research gaps.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a structured review of academic literature, a two-round Delphi study with 31 experts from aid agencies and a complementary full-day focus group with twelve experts from aid agencies and logistics service providers.

Findings

The paper systemizes the current practice of outsourcing in humanitarian logistics according to a conceptual framework of five dimensions: subject, object, partner, design and context. In addition, it reveals ten probable developments of the practice over the next years. Finally, it describes eight important research gaps and presents a research agenda for the field.

Research limitations/implications

The literature review considered peer-reviewed academic papers. Practitioner papers could provide additional insights into the practice. Moreover, the Delphi study focused on the perspective of aid agencies. Capturing the views of logistics service providers in more detail would be a valuable addition.

Originality/value

The paper establishes the academic basis for the important practice of outsourcing in humanitarian logistics. It highlights essential research gaps and, thereby, opens up the field for future research.

Organization theory in humanitarian operations: a review and suggested research agenda

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the current application of organization theory (OT) in the humanitarian supply chain (HSC) and identify the future OT-based research opportunities that can advance knowledge of humanitarian operations.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a systematic literature review methodology to identify the current status and future direction of the OT-based study in HSC literature. The applied theories are those that have been mentioned in at least two research articles in the HSC literature. The proposed theories are either adopted from the top four referred organizational theories in the supply chain literature or those that can explain the issue of information asymmetry in HSC.

Findings

The study identifies and describes eight organizational theories and their possible future research questions in HSC. Among these, the first four theories (i.e. resource-based theory, resource dependence theory, social exchange theory and contingency theory) have already been initially applied in the humanitarian field, while the remaining theories (i.e. institutional theory, stakeholder theory, transactional cost theory and information theory) have potential for future application.

Research limitations/implications

The reviewed literature is limited to peer-reviewed journals listed in Thomson Reuters’ journal citation reports.

Practical implications

This study may help future researchers better understand and solve, using organizational theory, the behavioral challenges faced by humanitarian operations.

Originality/value

The study presents current applications of and future prospects for OT-based research in HSC, effectively providing the first review of OT applications in this area. The novel framework and new theories proposed herein may enable fresh directions for HSC research.