PurposeThe 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/approachThe 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.FindingsThe 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/implicationsThe reviewed literature is limited to peer-reviewed journals listed in Thomson Reuters’ journal citation reports.Practical implicationsThis study may help future researchers better understand and solve, using organizational theory, the behavioral challenges faced by humanitarian operations.Originality/valueThe 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.
PurposeGovernance 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/approachThe 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.FindingsEnvironmental 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/implicationsContrary 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/valueThis 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.
The productivity and efficiency in any construction is always a challenge. Due to various factors the efficiency of men and machine gets reduced hampering the productivity. The purpose of this study is to highlight the benefits of time and motion study employed in construction sector. Time and motion study and work sampling has been employed to measure the productivity of the various construction activities and the paper discusses its application to the various phases of erection of steel structure such as installation of purlins, installation of primary beams and installation of secondary beams on the arrival slab of an airport. The parameters such as efficiency, productivity, tool time, support time and idle times are observed. Motion corrections and time corrections are applied. It is expected that employing lean concepts to construction will help in increasing productivity and reduce risks. After first week of observation and then employing time and motion study corrections, an increase of 37.95% is observed in terms of efficiency, an increase of 218.03% is observed in terms of productivity and an increase of 93.25% is observed in terms of tool time. The idle time showed a decrease of 40.24%.The results are highly promising and hence the management of construction industry need to consider the application of time and motion study not only from the point of view of enhancing efficiency and resource usage, but should also discuss the soft side of employee psychology.
PurposeMy way or the highway: A stronger partner in humanitarian relief collaboration often seeks control over its weaker partners by leveraging diverse power tactics that may be non-coercive or coercive in nature. In this backdrop, this research accentuates the perspective of weaker partners to understand how a weaker partner drives collaborative synergy under power tactics. Weaker partner in the collaborative dyad resembles the humanitarian organization (HO) who is less capable in terms of access to resources. This partner is further dependent on the stronger HO's directives to participate in the relief work.Design/methodology/approachBased on social exchange theory (SET), a collaborative dyad in humanitarian relief work is visualized from the perspectives of power and power disparity. In terms of power, mediated power tactics such as legal, coercive and reward powers are considered. Disparity recognizes the presence of a stronger and a weaker partner. Set also magnifies the insight on conflict and trust that can respectively hamper and improve the synergy between partners. In total, 295 executives representing self-reported weaker HOs are surveyed.FindingsLegal power, as experienced by the weaker partner, bears a positive impact over collaborative performance to improve collaborative synergy. Coercive power shows a negative impact. Reward power again bears a positive impact. Coercion can complicate collaborative synergy by establishing conflicts. Yet, the trust of weaker partner on stronger HO positively moderates the negative impact of conflict over collaborative performance.Originality/valueThis research invokes the view of power disparity to explain synergy in inter-organizational collaboration from the perspective of weaker partners.
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