Article

(Le)agility in Humanitarian Aid (NGO) Supply Chains

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of agility in the context of supply
chains of humanitarian aid (HA) organizations, particularly non-government organizations (NGOs).
This responds to the increasing pressure on NGOs to use their resources more strategically if they are
to gain donor trust and long-term commitment.
Design/methodology/approach – A literature-based approach that extends the commercial
supply chain concept of agility to NGOs is combined with the first exploratory semi-structured
interviews of these concepts with five NGO supply chain directors.
Findings – The commercial concept of agility when responding to disaster relief holds strong
potential for increasing efficiency and effectiveness, but this application is restrained by the absence of
supporting information technology (IT) and the relegation of supply chain management (SCM) to the
“back office” by NGOs. This has potential implications for NGOs and other HA agencies.
Research limitations/implications – This paper represents an exploratory study, and an
extended pool of interviewees would reinforce the qualitative findings. Planned future research will
address this issue.
Practical implications – Practical guidance on how NGOs can proactively manage their
organization’s ability to respond with agility in a highly pressured environment is provided.
Originality/value – This paper is the first to offer practical guidance to managers of NGOs on
strategies available to improve their organization’s flexibility and agility, based on theoretical concepts
and initial exploratory data. In addition, evidence of how commercial tools apply in a different arena
may prompt commercial managers to be more innovative in utilizing and customizing supply chain
principles to their particular context of operation.

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

No. Panggil

ATC LO SCH l

Penerbit

Ireland : Emerald Insight., 2010

Deskripsi Fisik

16 p

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

0960-0035

Klasifikasi

LO

Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

-

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

Vol. 40 Iss 8/9 pp

Subjek

Supply Chain Management
Flexible Organizations
Aid Agencies

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

Scholten, Kirstin

Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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