Inter-Organizational Factors, Coordination Mechanism Initiatives, And Performance: Study Of Humanitarian Supply Chains

Hasil daripada peningkatan dramatik yang berpunca daripada bencana alam dan manusia telah membawa kepada kerugian yang besar. Pembuat dasar, aktivis kemanusiaan, dan ahli-ahli akademik di seluruh dunia mencari cara yang berkesan dan cekap untuk mengatasi atau meminimumkan kerugian besar tersebut. As a result of the dramatic increase in natural and man-made disaster losses, humanitarian practitioners and academicians are seeking effective and efficient means of minimizing the tremendous losses. Although various theoretical underpinnings are beneficial to understand the importance of supply chain in a humanitarian context, the management of coordination mechanism along the humanitarian supply chain has yet to be explore

Exploring the application of blockchain to humanitarian supply chains: insights from Humanitarian Supply Blockchain pilot project

Purpose – Some studies and reports have recently suggested using blockchain technology to improve transparency and trust in humanitarian supply chains (HSCs). However, evidence-based studies to display the utility and applicability of blockchains in HSCs are missing in the literature. This paper aims to investigate the key drivers and barriers of blockchain application to HSCs and explore whether evidence could support that the application of blockchain improves transparency and trust in HSCs. Design/methodology/approach – This paper puts forward a two-stage approach to explore the blockchain application in HSCs: an initial exploration of humanitarian practitioners and academicians interested in blockchain through focus group discussions; semi-structured interviews with practitioners involved at the UK Department for International Development’s Humanitarian Supply Blockchain pilot project. Findings – First, we found that main drivers include accountability, visibility, traceability, trust, collaboration, time efficiency, reducing administrative work and cross-sector partnership. Main barriers, however, are composed of engagement issues, lack of technical skills and training, lack of resources, privacy concerns, regulatory problems, pilot scalability issues and governance challenges. Second, evidence from our case study revealed the blockchain application could have added value to improve visibility and traceability, thus contributing to improve transparency. Concerning trust, evidence supports that blockchain could enhance both commitment and swift trust in the pilot study. Practical implications – Our study contributes to a more understanding of added values and challenges of blockchain application to HSCs and creates a perspective for humanitarian decision-makers. Originality/value – This study provides the first evidence from the actual application of blockchain technology in HSCs. The study discovered that it is still less evident in many humanitarian organizations, including medium- and small-sized nongovernmental organizations, that they engage in a direct deployment of in-house or customized blockchain-based HSC. Instead, these actors are more likely to indirectly use blockchain in HSCs through a private commercial partner.acceptedVersio

Is silicon a panacea for alleviating drought and salt stress in crops?

Salinity affects around 20% of all arable land while an even larger area suffers from recurrent drought. Together these stresses suppress global crop production by as much as 50% and their impacts are predicted to be exacerbated by climate change. Infrastructure and management practices can mitigate these detrimental impacts, but are costly. Crop breeding for improved tolerance has had some success but is progressing slowly and is not keeping pace with climate change. In contrast, Silicon (Si) is known to improve plant tolerance to a range of stresses and could provide a sustainable, rapid and cost-effective mitigation method. The exact mechanisms are still under debate but it appears Si can relieve salt stress via accumulation in the root apoplast where it reduces “bypass flow of ions to the shoot. Si-dependent drought relief has been linked to lowered root hydraulic conductance and reduction of water loss through transpiration. However, many alternative mechanisms may play a role such as altered gene expression and increased accumulation of compatible solutes. Oxidative damage that occurs under stress conditions can be reduced by Si through increased antioxidative enzymes while Si-improved photosynthesis has also been reported. Si fertilizer can be produced relatively cheaply and to assess its economic viability to improve crop stress tolerance we present a cost-benefit analysis. It suggests that Si fertilization may be beneficial in many agronomic settings but may be beyond the means of smallholder farmers in developing countries. Si application may also have disadvantages, such as increased soil pH, less efficient conversion of crops into biofuel and reduced digestibility of animal fodder. These issues may hamper uptake of Si fertilization as a routine agronomic practice. Here, we critically evaluate recent literature, quantifying the most significant physiological changes associated with Si in plants under drought and salinity stress. Analyses show that metrics associated with photosynthesis, water balance and oxidative stress all improve when Si is present during plant exposure to salinity and drought. We further conclude that most of these changes can be explained by apoplastic roles of Si while there is as yet little evidence to support biochemical roles of this element

Visibility, resource sharing and performance in supply chain relationships: insights from humanitarian practitioners

Connecting to the ongoing conversation on the importance of supply chain visibility, in this paper, we empirically examine the impact of visibility in supply chain relationships, on resource sharing among, and on the performance of, humanitarian organisations

evidence from the 2017 Kermanshah earthquake

This paper identifies the challenges during a recent disaster relief operation in a developing country where the humanitarian response is dominated by national actors, with international actors having a minor role. A case study design is used; the main data sources are semi-structured interviews with 43 informants involved in the 2017 Kermanshah earthquake relief operation. The findings suggest that humanitarian practitioners deal with multiple challenges during disaster relief operations. One group of challenges relates to humanitarian logistics (HL) like needs assessment, procurement, warehousing, transportation, and distribution, all widely discussed in the literature. Another involves the growing use of social media, legitimacy regulations, and the engagement of new humanitarian actors (HAs) like social media activists and celebrities. These factors have not been extensively studied in the literature; given their growing influence, they require more scholarly attention. The findings will help humanitarian practitioners and policymakers better understand the challenges involved in disaster relief operations conducted by multiple actors and thus help them improve their practices, including the creation of proper regulations, policies, and logistics strategies. The study uses primary data on a recent disaster to assess and extend the findings of previous studies regarding HL challenges. It also elaborates on the critical non-logistical challenges that influence aid delivery in emergency responses, including the growth of social media, regulations, and the engagement of new HAs. The results may motivate future empirical and modelling studies to investigate the identified challenges and identify practices to mitigate them.peerReviewe

Improved coordination during disaster relief operations through sharing of resources

Abstract In this paper, we focus on coordination dynamics between nonprofit organizations in the short-term, nonprofit, and competitive settings in disaster relief operations. Sharing resources across organizations can be a key to better coordination. Thus, we tested the link between resource sharing, aspects impacting resource sharing, and operational performance of the organizations using 101 data points. Data was collected through a survey from HOs within the Southeast Asian region and was analyzed using the Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS) approach. The results show that resource sharing can improve organizational performance in this horizontal and competitive context, and that complementarity of resources between organizations increases their willingness to share resources. Complementarity of resources can also improve the interdependencies between organizations, which is not perceived very highly in the current highly competitive settings

Supply Chain Resilience: Insights from Theory and Practice

Disasters have an effect not only on individuals but also on the local infrastructure and the supply chains that are highly detrimental to aid delivery. The most effective way of delivering aid to disaster-affected areas is by reestablishing pre-disaster supply chains to enable disrupted supply chains to get back to normal conditions. Consequently, developing a resilient supply chain is one approach to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of aid delivery. In this chapter, we review and discuss the enablers of humanitarian supply chain resilience.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Exploring the application of blockchain to humanitarian supply chains: insights from Humanitarian Supply Blockchain pilot project

Purpose Some studies and reports have recently suggested using blockchain technology to improve transparency and trust in humanitarian supply chains (HSCs). However, evidence-based studies to display the utility and applicability of blockchains in HSCs are missing in the literature. This paper aims to investigate the key drivers and barriers of blockchain application to HSCs and explore whether evidence could support that the application of blockchain improves transparency and trust in HSCs. Design/methodology/approach This paper puts forward a two-stage approach to explore the blockchain application in HSCs: an initial exploration of humanitarian practitioners and academicians interested in blockchain through focus group discussions; semi-structured interviews with practitioners involved at the UK Department for International Development's Humanitarian Supply Blockchain pilot project. Findings First, we found that main drivers include accountability, visibility, traceability, trust, collaboration, time efficiency, reducing administrative work and cross-sector partnership. Main barriers, however, are composed of engagement issues, lack of technical skills and training, lack of resources, privacy concerns, regulatory problems, pilot scalability issues and governance challenges. Second, evidence from our case study revealed the blockchain application could have added value to improve visibility and traceability, thus contributing to improve transparency. Concerning trust, evidence supports that blockchain could enhance both commitment and swift trust in the pilot study. Practical implications Our study contributes to a more understanding of added values and challenges of blockchain application to HSCs and creates a perspective for humanitarian decision-makers. Originality/value This study provides the first evidence from the actual application of blockchain technology in HSCs. The study discovered that it is still less evident in many humanitarian organizations, including medium- and small-sized nongovernmental organizations, that they engage in a direct deployment of in-house or customized blockchain-based HSC. Instead, these actors are more likely to indirectly use blockchain in HSCs through a private commercial partner.peerReviewe

Application of Landsat-8 and ASTER satellite remote sensing data for porphyry copper exploration: a case study from Shahr-e-Babak, Kerman, south of Iran

The Shahr-e-Babak region located in the Kerman metallogenic belt is one of the high potential segments of Urumieh–Dokhtar magmatic arc for porphyry copper and epithermal gold mineralization in the south of Iran. This high potential zone encompasses several porphyry copper deposits under exploitation, development and exploration stages. The aim of this study is to evaluate Landsat-8 data and comparison with the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer data-sets for mapping hydrothermal alteration zones related to Cenozoic magmatic intrusions in Shahr-e-Babak region. Previous studies have proven the robust application of ASTER in lithological mapping and mineral exploration; nonetheless, the Landsat-8 data have high capability to map and detect hydrothermal alteration zones associated with porphyry copper and epithermal gold mineralization. In this investigation, several band combinations and multiplications, developed selective principal component analysis and image transformations were developed for discriminating hydrothermal alteration zones associated with porphyry copper mineralization using Landsat-8 data