Research Directions in Information Systems for Humanitarian Logistics

This article systematically reviews the literature on using IT (Information Technology) in humanitarian logistics focusing on disaster relief operations. We first discuss problems in humanitarian relief logistics. We then identify the stage and disaster type for each article as well as the article’s research methodology and research contribution. Finally, we identify potential future research directions

Community health workers and stand-alone or integrated case management of malaria: a systematic literature review.

A systematic literature review was conducted to assess the effectiveness of strategies to improve community case management (CCM) of malaria. Forty-three studies were included; most (38) reported indicators of community health worker (CHW) performance, 14 reported on malaria CCM integrated with other child health interventions, 16 reported on health system capacity, and 13 reported on referral. The CHWs are able to provide good quality malaria care, including performing procedures such as rapid diagnostic tests. Appropriate training, clear guidelines, and regular supportive supervision are important facilitating factors. Crucial to sustainable success of CHW programs is strengthening health system capacity to support commodity supply, supervision, and appropriate treatment of referred cases. The little evidence available on referral from community to health facility level suggests that this is an area that needs priority attention. The studies of integrated CCM suggest that additional tasks do not reduce the quality of malaria CCM provided sufficient training and supervision is maintained

Potential role of remote sensing in disaster relief management

Baseline or predisaster data which would be useful to decision making in the immediate postdisaster period were suggested for the six areas of public health concern along with guidelines for organizing these data. Potential sources of these data are identified. In order to fully assess the impact of a disaster on an area, information about its predisaster status must be known. Aerial photography is one way of acquiring and recording such data

To Greener Pastures: An Action Research Study on the Environmental Sustainability of Humanitarian Supply Chains

Purpose: While humanitarian supply chains (HSCs) inherently contribute to social sustainability by alleviating the suffering of afflicted communities, their unintended adverse environmental impact has been overlooked hitherto. This paper draws upon contingency theory to synthesize green practices for HSCs, identify the contingency factors that impact on greening HSCs and explore how focal humanitarian organizations (HOs) can cope with such contingency factors. Design/methodology/approach: Deploying an action research methodology, two-and-a-half cycles of collaboration between researchers and a United Nations agency were completed. The first half-cycle developed a deductive greening framework, synthesizing extant green practices from the literature. In the second and third cycles, green practices were adopted/customized/developed reflecting organizational and contextual contingency factors. Action steps were implemented in the HSC for prophylactics, involving an operational mix of disaster relief and development programs. Findings: First, the study presents a greening framework that synthesizes extant green practices in a suitable form for HOs. Second, it identifies the contingency factors associated with greening HSCs regarding funding environment, stakeholders, field of activity and organizational management. Third, it outlines the mechanisms for coping with the contingency factors identified, inter alia, improving the visibility of headquarters over field operations, promoting collaboration and resource sharing with other HOs as well as among different implementing partners in each country, and working with suppliers for greener packaging. The study advances a set of actionable propositions for greening HSCs. Practical implications: Using an action research methodology, the study makes strong practical contributions. Humanitarian practitioners can adopt the greening framework and the lessons learnt from the implementation cycles presented in this study. Originality/value: This is one of the first empirical studies to integrate environmental sustainability and HSCs using an action research methodology

Knowledge management for disaster resilience: Identification of key success factors

The number of reported disasters has increased steadily over the past century and risen very sharply during the past decade. These bring about the loss of lives, property, employment and damage to the physical infrastructure and the environment. Disaster management efforts aim to reduce or avoid the potential losses from hazards, assure prompt and appropriate assistance to victims of disaster, and achieve rapid and effective recovery. While knowledge management can enhance the process of disaster management, there is a perceived gap in information coordination and sharing within the context of disaster management. Identifying key success factors will be an enabler to manage the disasters successfully. In this context, this study aims to identify and map key knowledge success factors for managing disasters successfully through capturing the good practices and lessons learned. The objective of this paper is to present the literature findings on factors which support successful disaster management. Accordingly the identified factors were classified into eight main categories as technological, social, legal, environmental, economical, functional, institutional and political

Disaster management in industrial areas: perspectives, challenges and future research

Purpose: In most countries, development, growth, and sustenance of industrial facilities are given utmost importance due to the influence in the socio-economic development of the country. Therefore, special economic zones, or industrial areas or industrial cities are developed in order to provide the required services for the sustained operation of such facilities. Such facilities not only provide a prolonged economic support to the country but it also helps in the societal aspects as well by providing livelihood to thousands of people. Therefore, any disaster in any of the facilities in the industrial area will have a significant impact on the population, facilities, the economy, and threatens the sustainability of the operations. This paper provides review of such literature that focus on theory and practice of disaster management in industrial cities. Design/methodology/approach: In the paper, content analysis method is used in order to elicit the insights of the literature available. The methodology uses search methods, literature segregation and developing the current knowledge on different phases of industrial disaster management. Findings: It is found that the research is done in all phases of disaster management, namely, preventive phase, reactive phase and corrective phase. The research in each of these areas are focused on four main aspects, which are facilities, resources, support systems and modeling. Nevertheless, the research in the industrial cities is insignificant. Moreover, the modeling part does not explicitly consider the nature of industrial cities, where many of the chemical and chemical processing can be highly flammable thus creating a very large disaster impact. Some research is focused at an individual plant and scaled up to the industrial cities. The modeling part is weak in terms of comprehensively analyzing and assisting disaster management in the industrial cities. Originality/value: The comprehensive review using content analysis on disaster management is presented here. The review helps the researchers to understand the gap in the literature in order to extend further research for disaster management in large scale industrial cities.Peer Reviewe