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Integrating supply chains for emergencies and ongoing operations in UNHCR
Author(s) -
Jahre Marianne,
Kembro Joakim,
Rezvanian Tina,
Ergun Ozlem,
Håpnes Svein J.,
Berling Peter
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of operations management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.649
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1873-1317
pISSN - 0272-6963
DOI - 10.1016/j.jom.2016.05.009
Subject(s) - humanitarian logistics , supply chain , computer science , refugee , business , operations management , operations research , facility location problem , politics , network planning and design , risk analysis (engineering) , process management , marketing , economics , political science , engineering , law , computer network
Humanitarian organizations (HOs) often base their warehouse locations on individuals' experience and knowledge rather than on decision‐support tools. Many HOs run separate supply chains for emergency response and ongoing operations. Based on reviews of humanitarian network design literature combined with an in‐depth case study of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), this paper presents a warehouse location model for joint prepositioning that incorporates political and security situation factors. Although accessibility, co‐location, security, and human resources are crucial to the practice of humanitarian operations management, such contextual factors have not been included in existing network optimization models before. We found that when quantified, and modeled, such factors are important determinants of network configuration. In addition, our results suggest that joint prepositioning for emergency response and ongoing operations allows for expansion of the global warehouse network, and reducing cost and response time.