In-kind donations, cash transfers and local procurement in the logistics of caring for internally displaced persons

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate humanitarian supply chains in the context of the Ukrainian crisis as example of complex emergency. The paper focuses on a selection of support modes: in-kind donations, cash-based assistance and local procurement. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts a case-study approach and interpretive paradigm. Findings are based on the analysis of primary sources including interviews with three Polish humanitarian organizations, internal documents, and secondary sources such as published reports. Findings Findings indicate that in a middle-income urbanized country such as Ukraine non-standard modes such as cash transfer programs and local procurement can be employed, since the necessary infrastructure and market are operational. However, each mode has limitations, so they should match the local context and the needs of diverse social groups. Research limitations/implications The findings and recommendations are specific to the case analyzed, Ukraine, and its socio-economic context. The research contributes to discussions about mode selection, stressing the links between mode, stage of the disaster response and local context. Practical implications Applying cash transfers and local procurement can reduce supply chain costs, such as transport and warehousing. Shortened supply chains enable faster responses and increased agility. Social implications Cash transfers and procurement involve the local community and beneficiaries, and can better fulfill needs maintaining people’s dignity. However, for vulnerable groups and those in conflict zones, in-kind goods are a better option. Originality/value The author argues that the much-discussed dichotomy of cash or goods does not reflect reality; local and regional procurement should be added as important support modes in middle-income countries in crisis.

Interorganizational Interaction in Disaster Response Networks: A Government Perspective

“…Finally, although much of the focus has been on coordination, collaboration, partnering, relationship building, and information diffusion, the extant literature puts forward additional interaction-related concepts, such as cooperation in procurement (Pazirandeh & Herlin, 2014), logistics (Schulz & Blecken, 2010) or warehousing (Balcik et al, 2010), co-opetition in supply chains (Kovács & Spens, 2013), customer service (Oloruntoba & Gray, 2009), supplier selection (Balcik & Ak, 2014), local procurement (Piotrowicz, 2018), and fundraising (Berenguer et al, 2017). Overall, the previous literature has identified several practices that actors can adopt during their response efforts.…”

Humanitarian logistics research for the care of refugees and internally displaced persons

“…(2) approaches to the design of refugee camps in Kenya, Ethiopia, Greece and Turkey, authored by Jahre et al (2018);(3) development of a refugee camp performance indicator system used for assessing the impact of infrastructure and service investments on refugee self-reliance in a camp in Jordan by Schön et al (2018); and (4) the role of goods-in-kind donations, cash transfers and local procurement by Polish humanitarian organisations in the logistics of caring for Ukrainian IDPs in Ukraine, authored by Piotrowicz (2018).…”

Convening green to humanitarian logistics scene: a collaborative research approach for embedding environmental sustainability in humanitarian logistics

“…However, persistent challenges concerning scarcity of local resources may hinder the success of local sourcing. Similarly, the findings of Piotrowicz (2018) supported implementation of local procurement in middle-income urbanized humanitarian settings, where infrastructures and operational markets exist. The results of Van Kempen et al (2017), as mentioned above, also advocated local sourcing in humanitarian context and showed its favorability in terms of environmental and social impact.…”

“…The fourth stream of procurement is local sourcing in HSCs. The study of Matopoulos et al (2014) and more recently Piotrowicz (2018) investigated and proposed deploying local sourcing in HSCs. Matopoulos et al (2014) deployed a resource-based view of the firm to investigate the resources required for local and global procurement strategies.…”

“…In the same vein, local procurement can empower local communities and contribute to their employment while decreasing overseas transportations and avoiding the greenhouse gas emissions emanating from the transport. Despite the calls from research for sustainable and local procurement (Schultz and Søreide, 2008, Wild and Zhou, 2011, Van Kempen et al, 2017, Matopoulos et al, 2014, Piotrowicz, 2018, , HSC literature scants such studies. Therefore, research is required on how procurement, as an organizational function, plays a role in mainstreaming sustainability in HSCs and what are the barriers and enablers it might face.…”