A customer perspective on performance measurement in humanitarian supply chains

The increasing importance of services in SCM leads to a stronger focus on the customer perspective. Donors and beneficiaries are two distinct customer groups of humanitarian supply chains. This paper will analyse how this impacts performance measurement for example in the commonly used balanced scorecard, which includes a customer perspective. Keywords: Performance measurement, Humanitarian logistics, Customer perspectiv

Metrics for the Naval Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Operations

Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations are part of the Cooperative Strategy for the 21st Century Seapower of the United States (U.S.). In this research, we further investigate, through literature survey, whether any metrics can be defined and developed to enhance the efficacy and efficiency of HADR operations. Such measurement will be instrumental in successfully following a fundamental principle: ﾓIf we are going to do HADR anyway, then why not do it smartly.ﾔ In the past 2-3 decades, the United States Navy (USN) has been the active and principal supplier of disaster relief due to its many unique and critical capabilities (Apte, Yoho, Greenfield, & Ingram, 2013; Apte, Goncalves, & Yoho, 2016). Whether this effort will continue and be sustained in an environment of fiscal austerity and budget cuts is not given. Therefore, it is critical to identify resources the USN possesses, due to its core competencies and capabilities, that support humanitarian logistics, and to understand the USNﾒs readiness level to utilize these resources in the best possible way. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) can rapidly respond to disasters because it maintains high levels of readiness on a constant basis. The USMC provides critical resources for these missions through their Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs), which are flexible and adaptable enough to accomplish a wide range of operations, including non-combat missions (Apte & Yoho, 2014). Given the recent frequency of disasters around the world, it is probable that the occurrence of these events will continue, thus creating a demand for the relief capabilities. The MEUs have flexible and adept forces that can be deployed to austere environments while meeting urgent timelines (USMC, 2009).Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research Progra

Stakeholder salience in humanitarian supply chain management

Mitchell et al.(1997) developed a framework for assessing the salience of stakeholder groups based on their power, urgency and the legitimacy of their claim. This has been applied to illustrate the complexities of stakeholder interactions in humanitarian supply chains and to provide insights for their management and further research. Keywords: Supply chain management, Humanitarian logistics, Stakeholder salienc

Understanding readiness metrics for the humanitarian operations through literature review

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JHLSCM-08-2018-0059Purpose – The purpose of this research is to understand whether an organization knows if it is ready to respond to a disaster and whether it has the capabilities to deliver relief. Our initial motivation was to identify unique resources possessed by the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) due to their unique and critical capabilities for humanitarian operations. The recent frequency of disasters around the world suggests these events will continue to create demand for relief capabilities. For this reason we need to understand readiness metrics not just for USN and USMC but for humanitarian organizations (Hos) in general. Design/methodology/approach – We survey relevant literature for understanding how HOs define and develop readiness metrics and associated factors. We studied documents including peer-reviewed scholarly articles, government documents, white papers, research papers and Department of Defense (DoD) briefings. We study literature that is significantly written for DoD, one, the vast experience of USN and USMC and two, the lessons learned have been documented. The literature offers substantial information on what readiness means and why it is important. This documented information is critical because it is known to the researchers in humanitarian operations that data is hard to come by. Findings –The framework for readiness proposed at the end of this article is context the emergency responder probably uses in an informal fashion. The validation of readiness framework, we find exists in the supporting literature we review. Originality/value – The understanding of readiness metrics for humanitarian operations for the organizations we study may offer insight into other HOs. The insights we gain may not be pivotal or counterintuitive to the conclusions based on commonsense. However, they are supported by the literature review. We formalize the concept based on conclusions of a set of diverse set of researchers and practitioners such as academic scholars, DoD personnel and government officials involved in humanitarian missions, USAID representatives that are repeatedly tasked for being ready, military and government officers from host and foreign countries and many more.Acquisition Research Program at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS)NPS Foundatio

Exploring the performance measurement system in a humanitarian organization : the case of the Norwegian refugee council

Masteroppgave i bedriftsøkonomi - Universitetet i Nordland, 201

Evaluation of the supply chain network design at United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) - Through the development of a performance measurement system

Background: UNFPA is a subsidiary organ to the United Nations (UN) with a primary focus on population and development strategies, sexual and reproductive health and gender equality. In March 2005 the UNDP/UNFPA Executive Board had realized that for the UNFPA Procurement Services Branch (PSB) to operate in line with its mission, focus would need to be directed specifically towards improvements in the areas of procurement, supply and logistics. Several studies were conducted that resulted in a recommendation to implement regional warehouses. However, the conclusion of the studies was that further quantitative analysis was needed in terms of performance measures for transportation, warehousing costs and lead-times to make an informative decision. PSB now has an opportunity to utilize United Nations Humanitarian Response Depots (UNHRDs) as regional warehouses. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a performance measurement system for PSB’s supply chain network design. In addition, the purpose was to use the performance measurement system in an evaluation of the alternative supply chain network design with regional warehouses. Research questions: 1. Which performance measures need to be considered when developing a new performance measurement system for PSB? 2. Should PSB keep its current supply chain network design or switch to a supply chain network design with regional warehouses in the UNHRDs? Method: First, exploratory interviews were held to get an understanding for PSB, its supply chain and where to direct the focus for this study. Second, several interviews were held with employees at PSB regarding PSB’s supply chain, supply chain strategy and performance measurement system. A performance measurement system could thereby be developed through these interviews and the frame of reference developed for this study. Third, order data from PSB’s information was used to determine the performance for the current and alternative supply chain. Finally, the performance of the two supply chain network designs was compared and a recommendation regarding PSB’s supply chain network design was presented. Conclusions: A new performance measurement system was developed for PSB. It was developed to contain measures from the three categories; resource, output and flexibility. The developed performance measurement system was used to analyze and compare the current supply chain network design to a supply chain network design with regional warehouses in the UNHRDs. It was found that the supply chain network design performed better or equal to the current supply chain for 11 out of the 13 performance measures. The supply chain with regional warehouses scored high in the areas that PSB had expressed as important to their strategy such as freight performance, responsiveness and customer satisfaction. All regional warehouses except for the one in Brindisi were found suitable. Therefore, the authors recommend PSB to start utilizing the UNHRDs in Accra, Dubai, Panama and Subang.Bakgrund: UNFPA är en underorganisation till Förenta Nationerna (FN). UNFPA fokuserar på populations- och utvecklingsstrategier och jämlikhet mellan könen. I mars 2005 bestämdes det i UNDP/UNFPAs styrelse att UNFPAs inköpsavdelning (PSB) skulle behöva förbättras om de skulle nå upp till sina mål. Flera studier har genomförts och resultatet av dessa visade bland annat på en rekommendation att införa regionala lager för att kunna minska ledtiderna mot kund. De visade dock också på att en mer kvantitativ analys skulle behövas med avseende på potentiella transport- och lagerkostnader innan ett informativt beslut skulle kunna tas. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att utveckla ett system med mätetal för att utvärdera PSBs försörjningskedja. Syftet var också att med hjälp av detta system utvärdera fördelarna och nackdelarna för PSB att ha regionala lager för att slutligen kunna ge en rekommendation angående huruvida PSB ska börja lagra produkter i UNHRDs eller ej. Forskningsfrågor: 1. Vilka mätetal behöver inkluderas för att kunna utvärdera PSBs försörjningskedja med avseende på regionala lager? 2. Borde PSB behålla sin nuvarande design på försörjningskedjan eller ändra till en design som inkulderar regionala lager med UNHRD? Metod: Inledande intervjuer hölls med anställda på PSB i studiens början för att få en djupare förståelse för PSB, dess försörjningskedja och var fokus skulle läggas. Ytterligare intervjuer hölls sedan angående PSB’s försörjningskedja, strategi och system med mätetal. Genom dessa intervjuer och det teoretiska rameverket kunde ett system med mätetal utvecklas. Detta system andvändes sedan för att mäta skillnaden mellan den nuvarande försörjningskedjan och den alternativa försörjningskedjan med regionala lager. Analysen av mätetalens resultat låg till grund för rekommendationen till PSB. Slutsatser: Ett system med mätetal utvecklades för PSB utifrån de tre kategorierna; tillgångar, resultat och flexibilitet. Detta system användes för att analysera och jämföra PSBs nuvarande försörjningskedja med en försörjningskedja med regionala lager hos UNHRD. Resultatet visade att försörjningskedjan med regionala lager fick bättre resultat på 11 av de 13 mätetalen som användes i analysen. Försörjningskedjan med regionala lager fick höga poäng för mätetal som PSB hade uttryckt att de tyckte var extra viktiga, såsom leveranstid, möjligheten att snabbt kunna leverera akuta ordrar samt kundnöjdhet. Alla UNHRDs regionala lager ansågs vara passande förutom lagret i Brindisi på grund av för små och infrekventa ordrar. Författarna reklommenderar därför PSB att börja lagra sina produkter in UNHRDs lager i Accra, Dubai, Panama och Subang

Towards a dynamic balanced scorecard model for humanitarian relief organizations' performance management

Purpose: In recent years, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) has received considerable interest among practitioners for managing their organization's performance. Unfortunately existing BSC frameworks, particularly for humanitarian supply chains, lack causal relationships among performance indicators, actions, and outcomes. They are not able to provide a dynamic perspective of the organization with factors that drive the organization's behavior towards its mission. Lack of conceptual references seems to hinder the development of a performance measurement system towards this direction. Design/methodology/approach: We formulate the interdependencies among KPIs in terms of cause-and-effect relationships based on published case studies reported in international journals from 1996 to 2017. Findings: This paper aims to identify the conceptual interdependencies among key performance indicators (KPIs) and represent them in the form of a conceptual model. Research limitations/implications: The study is solely based on relevant existing literature. Therefore further practical research is needed to validate the interdependencies of performance indicators. Practical implications: The proposed conceptual model provides the structure of a Dynamic Balanced Scorecard (DBSC) in the humanitarian supply chain and should serve as a starting reference for the development of a practical DBSC model. The conceptual framework proposed in this paper aims to facilitate further research in developing a DBSC for humanitarian organizations. Originality/value: Existing BSC frameworks do not provide a dynamic perspective of the organization. The proposed conceptual framework is a useful reference for further work in developing a DBSC for humanitarian organizations

An application of the concept of messy problems to supply chain management : an investigation of non-standard supply chains in humanitarian logistics

Purpose: This thesis aims to develop a conceptual framework for the management of non-standard supply chains, based upon the concepts of wicked and messy problems and complex adaptive systems, and to validate it in a humanitarian logistics context. Whilst a general theory of wicked and messy problems is in existence, this has not been applied in a supply chain context. Humanitarian logistics presents a complex managerial challenge, in which standard logistics approaches and techniques have been applied with variable success. Here, the underlying generative mechanisms are explored. Design/ Methodology / Approach: This thesis adopts a critical realist approach. A conceptual framework for messy supply chains is developed based on a review of literature on logistics and supply chain management, as well as complex adaptive systems, and wicked and messy problems. This framework is explored in the context of humanitarian logistics. After an initial round of interviews, three case studies were conducted, focusing on humanitarian responses as the unit of analysis. In total, 44 semistructured interviews were conducted. An analysis of findings in each case is followed by the cross-case analysis of key themes, ultimately resulting in a revised framework. Findings: All of the proposed generative mechanisms underlying the messiness in humanitarian logistics are found to be relevant. The challenges for the management of such messy supply chains lie in the behavioural complexity they represent through the mechanisms of sociopolitical impact and the multitude of diverse stakeholder views they encapsulate. Logistics and supply chain management struggles to find holistic management approaches to address such behavioural complexity appropriately. Implications: This research has highlighted the strong element of behavioural complexity that underlies humanitarian logistics and other messy supply chains and is often inadequately addressed by managers and literature alike. The acknowledgement of all the different elements of messiness in humanitarian logistics and other scenarios, as well as the need for holistic management approaches, changes the way in which messy supply chains are seen. The revised conceptual framework presented in this thesis provides a foundation for further study of various messy supply chain contexts. Originality/Value: This thesis provides a novel view of supply chains that are inadequately captured by current frameworks and typologies. As the complexity of supply chain contexts intensifies, behavioural aspects become increasingly important. The framework provided represents a first application of the rich body of literature on wicked and messy problems, as well as complex adaptive systems in supply chain management