Supporting collaboration in humanitarian supply chains – insights from a design science project

Wagner, Stephan M.; Thakur-Weigold, Bublu

doi:10.1080/09537287.2018.1542175

Cited by 42 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…We argue that this combination of approaches is effective for the development of both practical solutions and academic intervention research. Supply chain management research that draws inspiration from both action research and design science is still in its early stages (see examples in Formentini et al, 2019; Reinerth, Busse, & Wagner, 2019; Ukko & Saunila, 2020; Wagner & Thakur‐Weigold, 2018).…”

Section: Intervention Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing Better Interventions: Insights from Research on Decent Work

Hasle

Vang

2021

J Supply Chain Manag

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Based on our experience of carrying out theoretically and practically sound interventions to improve working conditions in global supply chains, we show what makes interventions succeed or fail and what is required to ensure that an intervention’s results are sustainable in the future. Our suggestions are applicable to designing any intervention in supply chain research, but need tailoring to the local context. Our interventions were aimed at achieving decent working conditions in emerging‐country suppliers, but our insights are applicable for all supply chain scholars. In the context of emerging‐country suppliers, poor working conditions have been strongly criticized after the Rana Plaza accident and subsequently received more attention with the UN’s introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals (notably, SDG 8). Tensions between productivity‐enhancing and decent work logics create challenges for the design of interventions with long‐lasting performance improvements. This paper presents a way of overcoming the tensions by illustrating how interventions that integrate improvements in working conditions with productivity can be designed.

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Section: Intervention Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing Better Interventions: Insights from Research on Decent Work

Hasle

Vang

2021

J Supply Chain Manag

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“…Balcik et al (2010) identified that coordination in HSC depends on "relationships and interactions among different actors operating within the relief environment" (p. 23). Wagner and Thakur-Weigold (2018) argued that the HO needs to develop relationships horizontally, vertically and cross-functionally in HSC. A similar distinction was made by Makepeace et al (2017), where they identify these relationships as external (horizontal and vertical) and internal (cross-functional).…”

Section: Coordination In Hscmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vertical relationships are the ones formed with organizations which are working together with both upstream and downstream to share responsibilities, information and resources to feed the pipeline into humanitarian operations. Finally, crossfunctional relationships in an HSC refers to the internal relationship or partnership within an organization (i.e., HO) or the community where the humanitarian operations are undertaken (Wagner and Thakur-Weigold 2018). Thus, it is evident that the studies on coordination in HSC span a wider range of topics.…”

Section: Coordination In Hscmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving the coordination in the humanitarian supply chain: exploring the role of options contract

et al. 2020

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The uncertainty associated with the location, severity and timing of disaster makes it difficult for the humanitarian organization (HO) to predict demand for the aid material and thereby making the relief material procurement even more challenging. This research explores whether options contract can be used as a mechanism to aid the HO in making procurement of relief material less challenging by addressing two main issues: inventory risk for buyers and over-production risk for suppliers. Furthermore, a contracting mechanism is designed to achieve coordination between the HO and aid material suppliers in the humanitarian supply chain through optimal pricing. The options contract is modelled as a stylized version of the newsvendor problem that allows the HO to adjust their order quantity after placing the initial order at the beginning of the planning horizon. This flexibility helps to mitigate the risk of both overstocking and understocking for the HO as well as the risk of overproduction for the supplier. Our results indicate that the optimal values for decision parameters are not “point estimates” but a range of prices, which can facilitate negotiation between the two parties for appropriate selection of contract parameters under an options contract. The results imply that options contract can aid in the decentralized approach of fixing the prices between the HO and the supplier, which in turn would help in achieving systemic coordination.

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“…One major challenge that has been less investigated for humanitarian supply chain (HSC) management is waste, which remains a critical problem and requires special attention (Wagner and Thakur-Weigold 2018). It is a double-edged sword: first, it denies victims much-needed relief while simultaneously causing economic loss and costs to stakeholders, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extending dynamic capabilities towards lean thinking in humanitarian supply chains

Mishra

Chiwenga

Choudhary

2020

Production Planning & Control

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Humanitarian supply chain (HSC) research is still in its infancy and remains an enigma, due to its profound differences with the much-researched field of global supply chains. Thus, humanitarian operations (HO) remain obstinately difficult to manage, despite attempts by key stakeholders to keep abreast of all the contemporary challenges. A key concern is wastage of disaster relief materials along the supply chain, which strains already scarce resources. Moreover, humanitarian research is plagued by a dearth of theory development and redeployment of existing theories from other fields, which are critical in enhancing methodological rigour. To address these gaps, we undertake an in-depth qualitative study which draws on data from humanitarian organisations that responded to the major earthquake in Nepal (2015). Using a novel approach, we adapt the theory of constraints (TOC) and dynamic capabilities to conduct our investigation. First, we apply TOC at an analytical level to unearth the constraints perturbing HO. Second, using dynamic capabilities as an overarching theoretical lens, we draw insights which contribute towards effective HSC management. To conclude, our study contributes by extending the dynamic capabilities theory for Lean thinking in HO. We achieve this by proffering 'sustaining' as a key extension of dynamic capabilities in HSC.

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Supporting collaboration in humanitarian supply chains – insights from a design science project

Cited by 42 publications

References 48 publications

Designing Better Interventions: Insights from Research on Decent Work

Designing Better Interventions: Insights from Research on Decent Work

Improving the coordination in the humanitarian supply chain: exploring the role of options contract

Extending dynamic capabilities towards lean thinking in humanitarian supply chains

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