An optimal redistribution plan considering aftermath disruption in disaster management

Humanitarian aid distribution logistics with accessibility constraints: a systematic literature review

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the relevant literature in order to identify trends and suggest some possible directions for future research in the framework of humanitarian aid distribution logistics with accessibility constraints.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors developed a systematic literature review to study the state of the art on distribution logistics considering accessibility constraints. The electronic databases used were Web of science, Scopus, Science Direct, Jstor, Emerald, EBSCO, Scielo and Redalyc. As a result, 49 articles were reviewed in detail.

Findings

This study identified some gaps, as well as some research opportunities. The main conclusions are the need for further studies on the interrelationships and hierarchies of multiple actors, explore intermodality, transshipment options and redistribution relief goods to avoid severe shortages in some nodes and excess inventory in others, studies of the vulnerability of transport networks, correlational analysis of road failures and other future lines.

Research limitations/implications

The bibliography is limited to peer-reviewed academic journals due to their academic relevance, accessibility and ease of searching. Most of the studies included in the review were conducted in high-income countries, which may limit the generalizability of the results to low-income countries. However, the authors focused on databases covering important journals on humanitarian logistics.

Originality/value

This paper contextualises and synthesises research into humanitarian aid distribution logistics with accessibility constrains, highlights key themes and suggests areas for further research.

A probabilistic fuzzy goal programming model for managing the supply of emergency relief materials

The post-disaster humanitarian logistic operations deal with the supply of emergency relief materials to mitigate damages in the affected areas. Immediately after the disaster, it is challenging to estimate the demand for emergency relief materials. As a result, the demand for such materials at the point of demand and the corresponding transportation costs for the entire supply chain network becomes uncertain. This paper proposes a new probabilistic fuzzy goal programming model for making decisions to manage the post-disaster supply of emergency relief materials. A suggested procedure converts the proposed model to its deterministic equivalent when the demands for the relief materials follow uniform distributions. We implement the differential evolution, a metaheuristic technique, for analyzing demand satisfaction for relief materials under various scenarios. A case example based on the Nepal Earthquake in 2015 demonstrates the usefulness of the proposed approach. The solution of the model will help the Disaster Management Agency coordinate with the humanitarian organizations and foreign countries to provide the required emergency relief materials so that an adequate level of supply can be assured to the affected areas with the least possible transportation cost.

Sustainable supply chain management towards disruption and organizational ambidexterity: A data driven analysis

Balancing sustainability and disruption of supply chains requires organizational ambidexterity. Sustainable supply chains prioritize efficiency and economies of scale and may not have sufficient redundancy to withstand disruptive events. There is a developing body of literature that attempts to reconcile these two aspects. This study gives a data-driven literature review of sustainable supply chain management trends toward ambidexterity and disruption. The critical review reveals temporal trends and geographic distribution of literature. A hybrid of data-driven analysis approach based on content and bibliometric analyses, fuzzy Delphi method, entropy weight method, and fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory is used on 273 keywords and 22 indicators obtained based on the experts' evaluation. The most important indicators are identified as supply chain agility, supply chain coordination, supply chain finance, supply chain flexibility, supply chain resilience, and sustainability. The regions show different tendencies compared with others. Asia and Oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa are the regions needs improvement, while Europe and North America show distinct apprehensions on supply chain network design. The main contribution of this review is the identification of the knowledge frontier, which then leads to a discussion of prospects for future studies and practical industry implementation.

An asset-based participatory community analysis of natural hazards in Naphuno, Greater Tzaneen Municipality, Limpopo province, South Africa

Natural hazards disrupt the daily lives of people and communities. Consequently, social workers, like any other stakeholders, deal with community predicaments arising from the effects of natural hazards. The social relief distress (SRD) programme of government utilises needs-based, top-down government-driven interventions in communities affected by natural hazards, focused on what communities lack, as opposed to what communities have. This research study involved a community that experienced natural hazards, such as flooding, hail, lightning and windstorms, which destroyed property and livelihoods during the period 2014-2015. Eight experts and 12 affected community members participated in a qualitative participatory action research analysis study between 2016 and 2017. Guided by the asset-based community development (ABCD) approach, the affected community participated in a collaborative manner in the analysis of the consequences of natural hazards within the community. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews and focus group discussions, and analysed thematically. The findings confirmed the traumatic effects of natural hazards, such as loss of property, crops and livestock, physical injuries and even death. The main finding established that natural hazards should be managed in a collaborative way between formal experts of natural hazards and community members through ABCD principles and methods in building resilient communities.

The Impact of Uncertainty Factors on the Decision-Making Process of Logistics Management

The article is a contribution to the discussion on the possibilities of effective logistic decisions under the conditions of uncertainty. Variable and unpredictable factors, which create the conditions of uncertainty, not only directly affect logistic processes (positive or negative impact), but can also be a determinant of making decisions. Logistics management, because it is referred to in the context of decision-making, is currently defined by the quality of management decisions taken, including factors which often constitute only partially quantifiable sets. The main goal of the article is to show the strength of the dependence between the occurrence of uncertainty factors and the type of decision. On the basis of decision-making theory, the types of decisions were defined, and then a set of factors that are most important for a given type of decision was selected. The results of the analysis allowed the strength of the influence of uncertainty factors on making logistics decisions to be determined. On this basis, a catalog of key decisions was selected, including decision types, and also the effects of decisions taken under uncertainty were determined. The study and the results of the analysis should be treated rather as a voice in the ongoing discussion. Due to the unpredictability of some uncertainty factors, the research field in the discussed problem remains open.