Ganguly, K K; Padhy, R K and Rai, S S (2017) Managing the humanitarian supply chain: A fuzzy logic approach. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 8(5), pp. 521-536. ISSN 1759-5916
Abstract
Purpose: Humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) in today’s environment faces the challenges such as information availability, inventory management, collaboration, logistics related issues and preparedness. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the HSCM performance, considering the consequences in terms of operation, recovery and responsiveness based on the fuzzy estimates of the components presented. Design/methodology/approach: In the study, triangulation approach was adapted for collecting data and developing a hierarchical structure for humanitarian supply chain performance assessment. The relationships between HSCM performance and its suddenness and required preparedness are depicted by cause and effect diagrams. The concepts of fuzzy association and fuzzy composition are applied to identify relationships. Findings: In the hierarchy presented, the performance in a disaster situation, preparedness and suddenness of the situation and factors that influence the above are modeled. The taxonomy is developed for describing the relationship between factors, their likelihoods and impacts to achieve consistent quantification. Research limitations/implications: The study considers case studies from Indian conditions; however, conditions in other countries and their practices for the disaster management may vary to certain extent. Practical implications: A methodology presented for evaluating the exposures in considering the consequences in terms of responsiveness, operations, recovery, mitigation and emergency response. The study may help the humanitarian relief practitioners to understand the insights of the disaster situations using the proposed framework. Originality/value: A common language for describing the different factors of HSCM is presented, which includes terms for quantifying likelihoods and impacts. The concept of fuzzy association and fuzzy composition has been applied to identify relationships between sources and consequences on HSCM performance. The use of descriptive linguistic variables is ensured through the implementation of fuzzy logic.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building performance; crisis management; disaster management; disaster mitigation; disaster response; fuzzy logic; humanitarian assistance; humanitarian supply chain management; natural disasters; performance management |
| Index terms: | performance management, recovery, quantification, inventory, case study, humanitarian, disaster response, fuzzy logic, taxonomy, estimate, implementation, disaster management, supply chain performance, disaster mitigation, crisis management, building performance, emergency response, face, natural disaster, exposure, triangulation, methodology, collaboration, mitigation, practitioner |
| Subjects: | measurement and scaling, emergency and crisis management, quality assurance, environmental hazards, management, performance measurement, safety engineering, public and environmental health, research methods, inventory management, financial risk, psychology, operations management, principle, data science, data analysis and analytics, contractual arrangements, financial and cost management, data collection methods, research design and methodology, supply chain performance, practitioner |
| Topics: | Health and Safety, Cost Management, Research Practice, Project Management, Roles and Professions, Sustainability, Procurement, Digital Applications, Supply Chain Management, Quality Management, Ethics, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here