The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0960-0035.htm
IJPDLM
39,6
450
International Journal of Physical
Distribution & Logistics Management
Vol. 39 No. 6, 2009
pp. 450-468
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0960-0035
DOI 10.1108/09600030910985811
Critical success factors in the
context of humanitarian aid
supply chains
Stephen Pettit and Anthony Beresford
Transport and Shipping Group, Logistics and Operations Management Section,
Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Abstract
Purpose – Critical success factors (CSFs) have been widely used in the context of commercial supply
chains. However, in the context of humanitarian aid (HA) this is a poorly addressed area and this paper
therefore aims to set out the key areas for research.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on a conceptual discussion of CSFs as
applied to the HA sector. A detailed literature review is undertaken to identify CSFs in a commercial
context and to consider their applicability to the HA sector.
Findings – CSFs have not previously been identified for the HA sector, an issue addressed in this
paper.
Research limitations/implications – The main constraint on this paper is that CSFs have not
been previously considered in the literature as applied to HA. The relevance of CSFs will therefore
need to be tested in the HA environment and qualitative research is needed to inform further work.
Practical implications – This paper informs the HA community of key areas of activity which have
not been fully addressed and offers.
Originality/value – This paper contributes to the understanding of supply chain management in an
HA context.
Keywords Aid agencies, Supply chain management, Critical success factors
Paper type Literature review
Introduction
The requirement to improve the delivery of humanitarian aid (HA) has recently
received increased attention, due to the perceived failures in aid delivery systems
following major crises (Fritz Institute, 2005). HA delivery is often treated as a series of
discrete activities disconnected from each other and there is often a weak (or non
existent) connection between each stage in the delivery of aid, and developing
continuous supply chains has not generally been a priority leading to large amounts of
waste (Taylor and Pettit, 2008; United Nations Development Programme – (UNDP),
1993). Wastage rates of up to 30 percent in aid delivery have been identified in some
post-crisis situations (Beresford and Rugamba, 1996; Beresford et al., 2007).
There is considerable evidence that the number of natural and man-made
emergencies worldwide is increasing (Roh et al., 2008), but there is still relatively little
published work aimed at improving the understanding of the nature of supply chain
management (SCM) for HA in crisis conditions. Kovacs and Spens (2007) however,
suggest that this is now changing. Ho et al. (2002) recognised that such problems exist
in the understanding of commercial supply chains and there is no reason to believe that
the level of understanding of HA supply chains is any different. Little effort has been
put into developing a sound theoretical basis underpinning how SCM for HA operates.
First, for example, the diverse nature of the HA community (e.g. medicine, food, Humanitarian
clothing, and infrastructure) is not fully understood (UNDP, 1993). Second, crisis aid supply
response is relatively short-term and the establishment of effective supply chains takes
place under high-stress conditions. Third, there may well be an element of “we know chains
best”. While most aid agencies ultimately succeed in delivering aid to those most
needing it, there appears to be little willingness (Schulz and Heigh, 2007) to consider
approaches used by either other aid agencies or by the wider business community 451
which may have best practice concepts which could be usefully employed in the
context of emergency response. Finally, with the need to use financial resources as
effectively as possible there is little finance available to fund research into SCM for HA
and the research that does take place is therefore intermittent and uncoordinated.
Many of the processes in commercial supply chains are similar to, although not
necessarily directly transferable to, the HA environment and the direct transfer of
business logistics concepts to HA will be, at best, problematical (Olorotunba and Gray,
2002). The significant differences are that HA generally operates in a context of
voluntary contributions of finance and labour, that the “end consumers” are people
who will not be party to any commercial transaction, that final delivery will be in
countries without any established logistics community or infrastructure (conceivably
no functioning transport infrastructure), that governments and the military may be
involved at a significant level and the environment may be both politically and
militarily unstable (Olorotunba and Gray, 2002; Long and Wood, 1995). The limited
transferability of commercial logistics and supply chain solutions is exacerbated by the
shortage of technical knowledge in many aid agencies; specifically, there are
insufficient experienced logisticians working in the HA community. This issue is
highlighted by the Fritz Institute (2005) in a survey undertaken in the aftermath of the
Asian Tsunami. This knowledge scarcity impacted on the functioning of the relief
effort and had wider consequences as logisticians were reallocated from other
assignments. The shortage of logisticians had other impacts notably in the area of
assessment and planning. The Fritz Institute (2005) survey highlighted the fact that
only 58 percent of organisations had such people in their assessment teams ultimately
leading to problems in the supply chain at a later date as choke points had not been
addressed properly.
Emergency logistics is often the largest and most complex element of relief
operations (UNDP, 1993) and in order for successful supply chains to be effective there
is a requirement for a clear understanding of the problems and issues involved.
Improving supply chain efficiency requires uncertainty to be reduced, minimised, or
even eliminated but in many business cases this may not be completely achievable due
to the product involved (Mason-Jones et al., 1999; Christopher and Towill, 2001). Such
problems are exacerbated in an HA context when the products become relief goods
destined for communities of people either distressed or displaced as the result of a
crisis outside of their control, and through which the supply chain will inevitably have
to operate. Developing an understanding of which factors are critical to the success of
HA supply chains, and whether the same factors emerge in all crises, is important. It is
apparent that, as with commercial supply chains, there are certain key factors which
will determine the ultimate success of HA delivery. As a contribution to the debate on
SCM for HA, this paper therefore seeks to identify the range of factors which are
critical for the successful operation of an HA supply chain.
IJPDLM Critical success factors
39,6 The concept of success factors was first developed by Daniel (1961). It was proposed
that if certain factors, critical to the success of that organisation, are not achieved the
organisation will fail (Huotari and Wilson, 2001). While in an HA context profit is not
the motive, if critical success factors (CSFs) are not defined then failure is likely to
occur in the delivery of aid to those who require it in either in terms of the time such aid
452 takes to reach those who require it, or in the delivery of inappropriate aid. Various
definitions as to what CSFs are have been put forward. Rockart (1979) highlights the
fact that CSFs are “the limited number of areas in which results, if they are satisfactory,
will ensure successful competitive performance for the organisation” and Hofer and
Schendel (1978) state that they are “those variables which management can influence
through its decisions” and which can affect a companies overall competitive position.
Leidecker and Bruno (1984) contended that CSFs exist at a variety of levels, firm
specific, within an industry, and in the wider economic socio-political environment.
Korpela and Tuominen (1996) state that CSFs are “the characteristics, conditions or
variables that when properly sustained, maintained or managed can have a significant
impact on the success of a company in a particular industry.” Overall, they could be
described as the “limited number of areas in which results ensure successful
competitive performance” (Alazmi and Zairi, 2003).
There is a substantial body of literature relating to the understanding of CSFs in the
business environment, and it is clear from much of this work that CSFs are best
identified from the top of an organisational structure. As Freund (1988) suggested, this
approach ensures that individual “business unit” CSFs support the overall CSFs of the
business. Thus, analysing a business to identify CSFs begins with identifying
corporate objectives, then business units, and then key functional areas. At each level,
the number of CSFs identified ranges between five and ten as more than this increases
the likelihood that performance indicators are being used instead of success factors.
If too many CSFs are identified they are likely to have “been defined at too low a level
of detail” and incorrect CSFs arise from “an unrealistic view of the marketplace” or
because the overall strategy was defined before the CSFs were identified (Freund,
1988). Anthony et al. (1972) used the concept for management control system design,
later recognising six important variables (Anthony and Dearden, 1976). Within aid
organisations, the application of this approach suggests therefore that there should be
identifiable CSFs for the organisation, CSFs specific to their logistics and SCM division
or unit (or specific to those responsible for such activity if there is no separate unit) and
possibly CSFs for individual parts of, or actors within, the supply chain. It is also
possible that individual CSFs may have their own specific CSFs.

Identifying critical success factors for supply chain management

Rockart (1979) extended the concept of CSFs to the supply chain based on work
undertaken at MIT, recognising, where relevant, good distribution as a factor (Huotari
and Wilson, 2001). Porter (1985) combined CSFs with the value chain concept.
A number of authors have considered the role of CSFs within commercial supply
chains. Gunasekaran and Ngai (2003) identified five key functions critical to a small
logistics company: strategic planning, inventory management, transportation
planning, capacity planning, and information management. Razzaque and Sheng
(1998) considered CSFs in relation to outsourced logistics and highlighted
communication of ideas, relationships, customer focus, the setting of standards and Humanitarian
monitoring performance against those standards, knowing the payback period and the aid supply
importance of the human factor. Power et al. (2001) considered success factors in agile
supply chains and identified seven independent variable groups being participative chains
management (human resource management – HRM), computer-based technology
(information management), resource management (inventory management),
continuous improvement, supplier relations (collaboration), just-in-time methodology, 453
and technology utilisation. Wong (2005) assessed CSFs for knowledge management in
small and medium enterprises and identified 11 separate activities which can be
grouped into: strategic planning, resource management, information management,
HRM, and continuous improvement.
Thus, from the literature there are ten CSFs which are consistently identified and
which have relevance to the implementation of successful supply chains. Such CSFs
could therefore also be relevant to measuring the degree of success of HA supply
chains. Table I details the CSFs identified in the literature, and where alternate
descriptors are given, shows where these are considered to best fit the principal
categories. Key aspects of individual CSFs are also detailed.

Critical success factors for humanitarian aid supply chain management

The application of CSFs to HA supply chains is rarely seen, although the work of, for
example, Pettit et al. (2006) started to address this issue. Although the circumstances in
which HA supply chains operate are different, the basic activities within those chains
are not fundamentally different to commercial supply chains. This suggests that, as
with the commercial environment, analysing the basic factors which are both
critical for success and common to most industries, and determining their relevance to
the HA environment could provide HA organisations with ways of increasing the
effectiveness of their activity. Literature pertaining to HA supply chain improvement,
while addressing the issue tangentially, never specifically consider CSFs as an
important issue in their own right. Thus, for example, Kemball-Cook (1984) detailed
“10 commandments for relief logistics”, in part these are CSFs but they are not
addressed as such[1]. Therefore, in order to address the needs of the HA environment
in this context, the starting point for this analysis are the CSFs discussed above.
Having identified CSFs which are important within commercial SCM from existing
literature, their relevance to HA supply chains is now assessed.

Strategic planning
For a supply chain to succeed strategic planning addressing long-term decision
making is required and will therefore need to be dealt with at the highest level of an
organisation. Strategic management takes a view of the overall organisation and
addresses the questions which define how an organisation fits into its “business
environment” (Daft and Marcic, 2004). Without a clear strategic view it is unlikely
that individual aspects of an aid agencies “business”, such as implementing effective
supply chains, can be fully achieved. Strategic planning identifies assets and
assesses the strengths and weaknesses of possible scenarios. A long-term approach
is adopted which allows an organisation to be prepared for what must be done
when an emergency occurs (Long, 1997). For example, the assessment and planning
for the Asian Tsunami crisis were inadequate within many organisations which led
 39,6

454

Table I.
IJPDLM

CSFs for logistics

Critical success
factor Alternate descriptor Key aspects Author examples

Strategic planning Long-term decision making, planning, Nature/size of the business, location, Gunasekaran and Ngai (2003), Razzaque
management and leadership outsourcing, budgets, relationships, (1998), and Wong (2005)
customer focus, setting of standards and
performance monitoring, management
and support, organisational
infrastructure, and processes and
activities
Resource Inventory management Planning and coordinating materials Gunasekaran and Ngai (2003), Power et al.
management flows, volumes, timings, and consolidation (2001), Wong (2005), Whybark (2007), and
Beamon and Kotleba (2006)
Transport planning Transport availability and constraints Transport mode, capacity, scheduling, Gunasekaran and Ngai (2003)
maintenance, and intermodality
Capacity planning Storage, processing and transport Long- and short-term demand, number of Gunasekaran and Ngai (2003)
capacity warehouses/capacity, number of vehicles,
and material handling equipment capacity
Information Strategic information management and Data on performance and utilisation, Power et al. (2001), Huotari and Wilson
management enterprise resource planning system type, and level of integration (2001), Wong (2005), and Umble et al.
(2003)
Technology Implementation of new technology Innovation and adaptation, technology Power et al. (2001) and Gooley (1999)
utilisation leader/follower, interfacing, and training
HRM Participative management Number of employees in relation to Power et al. (2001) and Wong (2005)
capacity, training and education,
motivational aids, culture, and human
factor management
Continuous Benchmarking, key performance Reliability, flexibility, lead time, cost Power et al. (2001), Korpela and Tuominen
improvement indicators effectiveness, value-added, and (1996), Wong (2005), and de Brito et al.
measurement (2007)
Supplier relations Collaboration Management of competition amongst Power et al. (2001), Soin (2004), Cottrill
suppliers and service/price negotiation (2004), and Gooley (1999)
Supply chain Just-in-time, agility, and lean supply Management of base and surge, hub and Power et al. (2001), Christopher and Towill
strategy spoke systems, inbound and outbound, (2001), and Naylor et al. (1999)
and in-house/third party strategies
to problems in the execution of an effective response (Fritz Institute, 2005; Humanitarian
Beresford and Pettit, 2005). Strategic planning should include corporate strategy aid supply
(e.g. transport and warehousing), location of distribution centers (e.g. centralised or
localised), outsourcing of non-core activities, the size of the business and budgets, chains
acquiring capital, deployment of resources and the effective use of the organisations
skills. It is almost certain that the political and economic environments in which
a crisis occurs will influence the strategic planning of aid agencies (Long and 455
Wood, 1995).
At levels below the “corporate” level strategic management will need to address the
key attributes relating to the various stages of disaster planning. Whereas in a
commercial organisation there will, in the main, be a relatively stable supply chain or
chains for the goods being moved, in disaster scenarios there are likely to be different
supply chain requirements for the different stages of a disaster. As Kovacs and Spens
(2007) suggest, different resources and skills will be required for the three principal
phases of a disaster, preparation, response, and reconstruction. Different combinations
of organisations are likely to be involved in the different phases, some in only one,
some in all. Thus, the strategic planning requirements of each organisation will be
different. Strategic plans can be developed for situations that are likely to occur (Long,
1997) and aid agencies often develop long-term relationships with suppliers for items
frequently needed in disaster situations as highlighted, for example, by Kovacs and
Spens (2007) and Dignan (2005). Where such arrangements are made they may bridge
the various phases of a disaster (Thomas, 2003).
Völz (2005) highlights the problems that can occur if forward planning does not
occur and which may impinge on other CSFs such as information requirements,
coordination and collaboration mechanisms and capacity mapping. Strategic planning
will also assist aid agencies in developing more effective inventory management and
may lead to approaches such as pre-positioning (Matthews, 2005). The strategic
sourcing and centralised purchasing of aid will also be fundamental to successful
delivery. The UNDP (1993) suggest that the implementation and operational aspects of
such plans have to be understood and accepted by everyone in the organisation. A good
example of successful pre-positioning of emergency materials and supplies occurred in
Indonesia in May 2006. Following the increasing activity of the Mount Merapi volcano
aid agencies were mobilised and stockpiles of aid were positioned in readiness for
large-scale displacement of the local population and possible casualties. In the event an
earthquake of 6.2 magnitude struck in the same area resulting in large-scale damage
to buildings, the loss of an estimated 5,700 lives and displacement of at least 600,000
people. Availability and appropriateness of aid materials was therefore less of a
problem than is often observed (Save the Children, 2006).

Inventory management
Commercial inventory management is a core logistics function which is dominated by
“pull” systems. In contrast, Whybark (2007) contends that in disaster relief
circumstances inventory first requires “push” into strategic storage locations before
“pull” systems are implemented to get to the precise area of need. Other logistics
functions revolve around managing inventory which is concerned with the planning,
coordination, and control of materials flow in logistics supply chains. Volumes, timing,
and consolidation are important and will be affected by both supply and demand.
IJPDLM Inventory management needs to address both existing inventory within the
39,6 organisation and “in-country sources of supplies which can be accessed at short
notice” (Long and Wood, 1995). Inventory analysis needs to consider lead times for “the
supply of critical items” (UNDP, 1993) and forecast demand along the supply chain
(Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2003). As Power et al., (2003) suggest “flexibility of both
process and product are pre-requisites for being nimble and responsive to changing
456 market requirements”. Commercial organisations have used many different
methodologies to optimise their use of resources” (e.g. just-in-time – JIT) and some
of these may be appropriate for HA delivery. Inventory management in HA differs
from commercial supply chains in that “the time values of commodities are much
greater than the inventory carrying costs” (Long and Wood, 1995). Beamon and
Kotleba (2006) carried out extensive field research in southern Sudan, and from this,
proposed three single-item inventory management models which could be developed
into a composite multi-item model.
It has been shown in recent disaster relief operations that the speed of HA delivery
plays an important role and affects the ability of logisticians to procure, transport and
receive supplies at the site of a humanitarian relief effort (Thomas, 2003). To this end a
number of HA organisations, for example World Vision and the International
Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), have begun to adopt pre-positioning as a key part
of their inventory management process, by maintaining fully stocked warehouses in
key locations and pre-planned stock arrangements with suppliers and transport
companies in a range of other countries and which contributes to a more rapid response
once a crisis occurs (Matthews, 2005; Schulz and Heigh, 2007; Jahre and Haigh, 2008).
One of main factors that can increase the speed of delivery is to locate the emergency
relief warehouse depot near the place where disaster frequently occurs. International
agencies aim to limit the impact of natural disasters by operating worldwide response
network supported by infrastructure such as freight depots in strategic locations.
The main objective of developing such a warehouse network, supported by transport
capability, is to reduce response times and costs when an emergency occurs. At the
present time different agencies operate their own global networks, although there has
been some integration of activity where, for example, some aid agencies make use of
the United Nations Humanitarian Resource Depot Network (Roh et al., 2008). The recent
work of Balcik and Beamon (2008) represents one of the first attempts to marry
theoretical emergency inventory needs with actual requirements.
Time is clearly one of the crucial factors in any emergency relief operation.
It is important for the stocks to arrive in the right area at the right time in order to
assist the victims. During an initial period of three to five days after a disaster, a
country must, in effect, use its indigenous resources to meet the challenge of providing
emergency relief (Tatham and Kovacs, 2007). A carefully constructed network should
be able to meet the needs of every disaster. It is not just only the donors that are needed
for the relief operation to work, but also logisticians who play a crucial role in
emergency relief operations (Fritz Institute, 2005). It is thus suggested that relief
provision would be more effective if a collaborative warehouse strategy, involving
several agencies, were adopted. Further, in light of the evidence suggesting more
frequent crises and emergencies in new areas, the current warehouse networks should
be expanded to improve future humanitarian response.
Transport and capacity planning Humanitarian
The provision of transport is very different in disaster situations compared to the aid supply
circumstances generally faced by commercial organisations. While the latter will have
stable fleets of vehicles and primarily good infrastructure over which to operate, in chains
disaster situations there is usually destabilised infrastructure and the fleet will have to
be organised at the disaster location from available resources (Kovacs and Spens,
2007). However, transport and distribution are critical in disaster relief (Long, 1997) 457
and an important aspect of humanitarian logistics is the requirement to address mode,
utilisation of capacity, scheduling, and maintenance in such circumstances. The full
range of activities includes consolidation, contract services, payment, local tendering
and brokering, outsourcing of transport, strategic alliances, and cost minimisation
(Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2003). Where existing long-term aid programmes are already
in existence short-term emergency relief may be able to draw on existing organised
transport programmes. In emergency relief situations, however, aid agencies are likely
to be competing with each other for the same transport capacity and this will increase
the cost as local transport sources react to market forces and increase prices as demand
outstrips supply. In such situations, where vehicles are used from across an existing
network, there may well be trucks “circulating around a disaster area without any
particular destination” (Kovacs and Spens, 2007). Such a situation was well
documented in the aftermath of the Asian Tsunami (Fritz Institute, 2005). The full
range of transport options are likely to be needed including air (particularly in the early
stages of a crisis), sea and road. The use of other transport methods include the use of
pack animals in mountainous regions where no other options are available (Long and
Wood, 1995; Beresford et al., 2002) and amphibious craft in coastal or other flooding
crises.
Demand assessment post crisis is “unpredictable regarding timing, location and
scale” and will be affected by a range of factors including those with indeterminable
impacts such as culture and language (Kovacs and Spens, 2007). Capacity planning is
affected by both short- and long-term demand and will affect decisions on numbers of
warehouses and distribution centers and their capacity, vehicles and other equipment
and numbers of employees. Four key areas affecting capacity are warehousing,
transport, material handling devices and human resources, and maximisation of use of
capacity is key (Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2003). Increasing the capacity of aid networks
can also be achieved through collaboration with commercial organisations as
exemplified by the World Food Programme’s (WFP) partnership with TNT to use their
off-peak capacity (Cottrill, 2004). Additionally, capacity planning may extend to
include the ability of ports and airports to handle relief commodities under different aid
scenarios. In respect of ports, reviewing capacity would need to consider the type of
handling facilities available, on-quay storage and the actual operational capacity of the
port at different times of year. During the 1999 Balkan crisis, port operations were
switched from Macedonia to Italy, Albania, and Greece in order to overcome capacity
problems (Gooley, 1999). For airport capacity, the ability to take certain types of
aircraft, cargo handling facilities, refuelling, helicopter operational ability, and conflict
with existing services will all impact on operational ability (UNDP, 1993,
Howard-Williams et al., 2008). Airport capacity was put under considerable pressure
during the aftermath of the Asian Tsunami when many aid agencies sought to land
their own aircraft (Thomas, quoted in Jensen, 2005). Competition for takeoff and
IJPDLM landing slots may make it impractical for aid agencies to rely entirely on air shipments,
39,6 such a situation having occurred in Albania during the Balkan crisis (Gooley, 1999).

Information management and technology utilisation

Information management is crucial in disaster management and the speed with which
it is used can have a critical impact on the effectiveness of the response (Perry, 2007;
458 King, 2005; Maxwell and Watkins, 2003). In the broad context of SCM information has
been an area where CSFs are often used, particularly as enablers for knowledge
management within an organisation. Companies operating at a global scale face many
challenges such as “increasing competition, expanding markets and rising customer
expectations” (Wong, 2005). The use of information technology (IT) to facilitate
enterprise resource planning systems can thus help an organisation to develop a
unified view of its business (Umble et al., 2003) and allow automation of core activities
such as SCM (Holland and Light, 1999). Jarrar et al. (2000) suggest that all CSFs for
ERP systems fall within four main groups: management commitment, change
management, IT infrastructure and business process reengineering. Power et al., (2003)
suggest that the use of IT is an indicator of supply chain best practice, particularly if
such systems connect customers, suppliers, and value adding activities.
IT has long been recognised as being important for the support of humanitarian
efforts, Long (1997) arguing that information transmission can determine the success
or failure of relief operations. Long and Wood (2005) suggest that management of
information during a crisis “is the single greatest determinant of success.” IT assists in
integrating activity and providing information to allow the supply chain to operate
more effectively. IT systems allow for the provision and continuity of accurate
information, performance measurement, and control (Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2003).
At the strategic planning level, information content and flows, and systems
compatibility are often seen as the most critical aspects (Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2003;
Soin, 2004; UNDP, 1993).
Specific decision support systems and communications and information systems
are vital in controlling relief operations. Such systems “can assist in crisis, disaster
and emergency planning, response and management.” The diverse nature of such
situations, however, means that some decision support systems (DSS) are more
appropriate in certain circumstances than others. Thus, the use of DSS in crisis
situations has to be appropriate and development an ongoing activity of crisis
management professionals (Power, 2005). Various systems have been developed both
by the United Nations (UN) with the international emergency network, and the
WFP with the international food aid information system (Long and Wood, 1995).
UN agencies have also developed a system to improve coordination between
humanitarian organisations, attempting to facilitate information exchange, improve
coordination, and build capacity (UNJLC, 2005; Kovacs and Spens, 2007). At a regional
level, such systems can also help in the development of, for example, evacuation plans
(Nisha de Silva, 2001; Beresford and Pettit, 2007). More recently, the Fritz Institute
(2004) have developed SCM software to support HA operations. The use of information
systems to track and trace relief commodities has the potential to significantly improve
the effectiveness of aid delivery and minimise waste. For example, the WFP have used
commercial logistics software to improve the management of its network, warehouses,
vehicles, and spare parts (Cottrill, 2004). However, the lack of up-to-date technologies
for tracking and tracing aid in the supply chain is a significant issue, with only Humanitarian
26 percent of agencies having access to track-and-trace software (Fritz Institute, 2005). aid supply
The IFRC have also been proactive in developing technology to support their
emergency response capacity (Schulz and Heigh, 2007; Jahre and Haigh, 2008). chains
While new technologies are often seen as a way to improve supply chains,
appropriate and more effective use of existing technology should not be overlooked
(Power et al., 2003). In a commercial context, technological developments are often 459
rapid and organisations that do not adopt them may operate sub-optimally and not be
competitive. From an HA perspective, new technology utilisation is one area where
competition per se is of less importance, although the use of IT is growing in
importance because it offers benefits both in terms of inventory savings and supply
chain control. Communication is an important aspect of any aid operation and utilising
existing telecommunications infrastructure is as important as other communication
methods (Gooley, 1999). Real time communications are “the most important method of
reacting quickly for effective coordination” (Long, 1997). In Rwanda in 1994/1995, for
example, as part of the large-scale post civil war reconstruction effort high priority was
given to repairing internal and cross-border telecommunication links (Beresford and
Rugamba, 1996). During the early stages of the Asian Tsunami response, 83 percent of
organisations communicated by cellular or satellite phone and it was not until a week
into the crisis that 50 percent were using e-mail systems. Thus, while IT systems
contributed positively to the overall response they were not the only, or even the
primary, technology used. Achieving a balance in the use of communication systems is
important. Reliance on one type of system can create capacity difficulties (Fritz
Institute, 2005). Conversely, too many systems can lead to incompatibility problems,
“black holes” in coverage and infrastructure “support” failures (Beresford and
Rugamba, 1996).

Human resource management

HRM is a key issue for many aid organisations. The ability of an aid organisation to
respond effectively will be significantly impacted upon by how it has organised its
human resources. Frequently, the level of logistics expertise within aid agencies is low
and those that are employed operate some way down the organisational structure.
Rarely is there a specific logistics division employing logisticians with high-level
logistical skills and logisticians often have “limited authority to carry out their
decisions” and assessment teams often do not have logisticians (Perry, 2007; Thomas,
2003). Further, the way in which they manage their staff “on the ground” will impact on
their effectiveness and ability to distribute relief aid (Thomas and Kopczak, 2005). The
availability of trained logistics experts to facilitate effective HA responses is of
paramount importance but there is often a shortage of people who have the relevant
training. A survey undertaken by the Fritz Institute (2005) following the Asian Tsunami
indicated that the numbers of people with the relevant training is poorest at the local
level and best at the international level. Thus, effective response is jeopardised by the
lack of trained people in key locations closest to the crisis. Relief agencies also will often
only muster the relevant human resources once a crisis occurs, using various standby
mechanisms such as roster lists or transfer from other operations to meet staffing needs
on a short-term basis. However, HRM in a disaster situation is primarily about getting
the “right people [. . .], in the right place [. . .] as soon as possible [. . .]” (CILT, 2006).
IJPDLM Effective HRM is therefore a key factor in the success or otherwise of an aid
39,6 operation. In order to improve the effectiveness of HA responses it is likely that many
organisations will have to adapt or change many of their current practices. Closely
linked to this will be the parallel requirement to adapt their workforce by improving
the skills of those already in the organisation, upgrading the level at which they
operate within the organisation and ultimately allowing the logisticians to make or
460 input into key logistics decisions. As organisations change, for example adopting agile
practices, so the role of HRM will also have to change. The effectiveness of an
organisation, as Power (2003) states “will largely be a function of the ability of
disparate functions to cooperate by working as teams with common goals.”

Continuous improvement and collaboration

It is recognised that if commercial supply chain solutions are to meet the needs of the
“market place,” organisations need to focus on having an holistic and continuous
improvement approach to meeting the needs of the customer (Power et al., 2003).
In this context, metrics and tools can be used to manage and improve performance,
tracking key factors in supply chain performance and benchmarking the activities of
an organisation against key performance indicators (Soin, 2004; Korpela and
Tuominen, 1996). There is no reason to believe that HA organisations could not learn
from this approach, for example by adopting IT performance measurement systems
which measure, for example, the overall, effectiveness of the supply chain (Fritz
Institute, 2005).
There is a clear requirement for more research on the capabilities of
humanitarian supply chains and the measurement of their effectiveness, although
some exploratory research has been undertaken (Davidson, 2006; Beamon, 2004;
van Wassenhove, 2006). Thus, sophisticated measures of effectiveness for
humanitarian logistics performance do not yet exist. The most recent research
considering this issue derived the requirements for performance measurement from
a critical literature review and then tested them within an HA organisation (de Brito
et al., 2007). Key performance measures such as delivery time, total logistics costs,
etc. can be measured and managed and the benefits of performance measurement
are widely accepted (Sürie and Wagner, 2002). Other benefits of using specific
performance measures are:
[. . .] the ability to support the management of complex systems, to improve communication
between supply chain partners, to ensure actions are aligned with strategies and objectives,
and to facilitate the actual management of strategies, execution of initiatives and evaluation
of performance (de Brito et al., 2007).
de Brito et al. (2007) in fact group the requirements of a performance measurement
system into three areas. In initiating performance measurement systems the first stage
is to identify issues of strategic relevance to an organisation which will ultimately lead
to the implementation of the performance system. Thus, identifying success factors
(those which are strategically important for the organisation) is of crucial importance
(requirement 1). Supporting this is the need for a consistent source of accurate data
(requirement 2) and the requirement to implement change (requirement 3),
something which “the humanitarian sector is not accustomed to” according to
Davidson (2006). The three requirements are thus:
 (1) recognition of strategic importance; Humanitarian
(2) accurate data; and aid supply
(3) organisational commitment to assess performance. chains
In the study undertaken by de Brito et al. (2007) of one organisation it was found that
there was partial fulfilment of requirement 1, none for requirement 2, and complete
fulfilment of requirement 3. If this organisation is typical of the humanitarian sector, 461
and there is no reason to believe that it is not, then significant progress will need to be
made within the humanitarian sector if greater success is to be achieved.
Collaboration is seen as being a key differentiator in supply chain best practice and
in achieving integration and efficiency in logistics networks (Power et al., 2003).
Collaboration within the HA supply chain can work in a number of ways. The
importance of having close supplier relations is widely acknowledged and
collaborative bidding can help to lower purchase costs (Soin, 2004). Aid agencies do
collaborate with commercial logistics organisations in order to improve the
effectiveness of their distribution networks. Examples include the WFP which has
been using such an arrangement to redesign both the use of its warehouses to increase
capacity and their distribution network so that it more closely reflects the requirements
of international HA (Cottrill, 2004) and the American Red Cross which use commercial
logistics contractors in many crisis situations (Gooley, 1999). Where collaboration
occurs, the Fritz Institute (2005) indicate that the outcome is generally positive.
Collaboration can occur with a variety of organisations including local authorities, the
military, the private sector, and other relief agencies.
Collaboration often only occurs once a crisis is unfolding and it is then much more
difficult to optimise coordination. This leads to situations such as that which occurred
in Banda Aceh in 2005 where:
[. . .] lacking any standard operating procedures or common understanding of the roles each
would play, on-site coordination and management among the humanitarian organisations
was not optimised. Competing supply chains for procurement and transportation caused
congestion at local airports and roads, taxing already limited capacity.
While the immediate needs of a crisis can be met by ad hoc collaboration, longer term
needs are less well served and more “appropriate mechanisms” would improve
response effectiveness. (Fritz Institute, 2005). In the immediate aftermath of the
Tsunami there was considerable inter-agency “squabbling” and it was not until this
was resolved that improved collaboration was achieved. The resolution of such
problems pre-crisis would have ensured that the immediate response was that much
better (Völz, 2005). This one example highlights the fact that poor collaboration can
have an impact on a number of other success factors including inventory management,
capacity planning, and transport.
Overall, the question thus arises as to whether collaboration can ever exist in the
same sense that it would in a commercial supply chain. Where supply chains are built
rapidly in a crisis situation the need to develop effective collaboration is important.
However, collaboration is about more than interfacing with other organisations and
sharing information and resources, there is also the need to develop trust between the
various partners which allow the former to operate effectively. It involves establishing
a relationship whereby partners have a vested interest in sharing benefits and costs
IJPDLM through process integration. There will thus be a need to establish trust very quickly,
39,6 especially in the more pressing emergencies such as sudden onset events and the
development of “swift trust” may have a positive impact (Zolin, 2002). Hung et al.
(2004) suggest that the establishment of swift trust is based on five prerequisites:
information about third-parties, rule, role, category, and dispositional trust. In disaster
relief the establishment of trust leads quickly to the pursuit of goals and specific
462 outcomes and, as an example of one of these outcomes, it is likely that overall network
performance would be improved.

Supply chain strategy

The objective of a commercial supply chain operation is to provide an appropriate level
of customer service and there is a significant literature on approaches to ensuring that
good arrive in the right place at the right time. Much of the debate has focused on the
concepts of lean logistics or agile logistics, although there is sometimes confusion
between the two, something which Christopher (2000) addresses.
Commercially, the lean principle of understanding what “value is from the point of
view of the end consumer of the product or service” is important and commercial
companies are becoming increasingly sophisticated in defining “value” (Womack and
Jones, 1996; Murphy and Wood, 2004). The lean thinking paradigm suggests that any
activity that does not add value as perceived by the end consumer is waste, and
through the removal of waste, value can be added and a superior offer provided. This is
a simple yet powerful idea that is applicable across all industry sectors and places a
strong emphasis on supply chain actors to develop efficient yet effective solutions to
the supply of goods and services. Waste reduction will also lead to time compression;
the reduction of cycle time in the supply chain from time of order to time of delivery.
To achieve this, the uninterrupted flows of products supported by processes such as
just in time delivery are promoted. Inventory waiting for the next supply chain process
can be considered as a waste as this adds no value to the end-consumer. Lean thinking
has been applied to a wide range of industries in both the manufacturing and service
sectors. It has been contended that the concept is best suited to circumstances where
demand is stable and there is low product variety (Christopher, 2000); this does not sit
comfortably with prevalent conditions in HA supply chains, not necessarily something
which will exist in an HA supply chain.
The aim of supply chain agility is to be able to respond rapidly to changes in
customer demand levels and requirements (Booth, 1996). It embraces the business as
whole including information systems, logistics processes and, perhaps most
importantly, mindsets (Christopher and Towill, 2001). The key is flexibility in being
able to respond to changes in the market, both in terms of demand and design. This
requires excess capacity to be available in order to meet the changing requirements
while minimising the amount of inventory within the supply chain. An agile supply
chain is, therefore, less cost effective than a lean one but has improved customer
service levels, able to meet the demands of consumers as they change.
Leanness and agility are generally considered to be two distinct concepts although a
combination of the two has also been postulated, that of “leagility” (Naylor et al., 1999),
aiming to bring together the merits of lean and agile supply chains. In reality, many
supply chains incorporate both lean and agile elements which help to minimise cost
levels and enable the supply chain to be responsive to customer demands. Leagility can
be achieved in three ways: the Pareto curve approach; separation of base and surge Humanitarian
demands, and the decoupling point approach (Christopher and Towill, 2001): lean aid supply
principles are geared to base demand and agile capabilities fit surge events.
These concepts are relevant to HA supply chains, because value in an HA context chains
relates to ensuring that the correct products are distributed to the right people at the
right time and providing the correct form of aid to meet immediate needs is a critical
part of any aid operation. Thus, for example, blankets will have a low value if the 463
target population already have a sufficient number while medical supplies may have a
high value if a post-disaster region is affected by disease or illness. There are many
examples of inappropriate aid being supplied while the required equipment or supplies
are either not provided or cannot get through aid pipelines choked by unneeded items
(Pettit and Beresford, 2005). HA organisations which are seeking to be as effective as
possible in the movement of aid through their supply chains will therefore need to
address the concept of value and how this applies to those they are assisting, and
design their supply chain in an appropriate way. The recent past has seen some
organisations such as the IFRC starting to address these issues and adopt appropriate
techniques to improve their supply chains (Schulz and Heigh, 2007; Jahre and Haigh,
2008). In reality, the key challenge in HA conditions is to identify the most appropriate
concepts from established commercial models and to reject those concepts which are
inappropriate.

Conclusions
It is clear that CSFs, which are prominent within commercial supply chains, are just as
relevant to those organisations operating in the HA sector. The CSFs identified in this
discussion are as important in the HA environment as they are in a commercial context.
They are central to effective emergency response; although it is a source of concern that
they have not always been addressed adequately by HA organisations. This review has
shown that the boundary between CSFs and key performance indicators in the context of
HA is not always clear and the usage of the terms by individual organisations can
overlap. However, there appear to be ten CSFs which are widely used commercially and
which are probably sufficiently robust to use in a “global” and non-commercial context
such as HA distribution. This paper highlights a range of CSFs which enable a
systematic approach to be adopted in order to assess supply chain effectiveness in detail.
A particular issue, for example, is that in crisis conditions transport or freight rates are
consistently seen to be forced up to the detriment of the aid donors and the recipients of
the aid. Although this is partially a logical commercial response to uncertainty, there is
also evidence of opportunism on the part of the service providers. This clearly illustrates
that tighter planning may yield better control of the supply chain. The CSFs that are
suggested here are not, however, attributed priority ranking, and individual
organisations may well have different CSFs as their key objective for improvement.
CSFs will generally emerge from their particular role and from the constraints placed on
their operation, which in the context of HA can be very specific. Thus, clarifying which
CSFs are applicable in emergency situations, and assessing their respective priority
rankings, forms the logical extension of the concepts discussed in this paper and is a
basis for future research.
This paper has sought to highlight and appraise the CSFs which are seen as
important in maximising the operational effectiveness of HA supply chains. As such it
IJPDLM has primarily addressed the individual “structural” elements of such supply chains.
39,6 There are however a range of “cultural” influences, many of which are external, which
must come together to create a positive environment which in turn will enable the
structural elements to work; amongst these are behavioural aspects of participants in
the supply chain. In any crisis situation there will be a range of players such as, for
example, governments, national non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foreign
464 NGOs, military organisations, and UN aid agencies (Pettit and Beresford, 2005).
Decision making thus cannot be based solely on the “structural” elements of supply
chains – cultural elements may play a decisive role and ultimately may determine
whether or not an effective supply chain can ever be established. One of the most
extreme examples of political constraints determining the form and level of response
was that of Cyclone Nargis (Whiting, 2008). In the immediate aftermath of the event,
the Myanmar Government dictated severely constrained access for aid agencies, thus
effectively halting the supply chain at the international border for several days before
politics softened enabling a robust air bridge to be established. Whether structural or
cultural factors ultimately determine the effectiveness of an emergency supply chain
will be depend on the nature and location of the crisis in question.

Note
1. The ten commandments are: centralised organisation, government commitment, autonomy,
communications, budget and procurement system, base and port operations, commodity
control system, transport fleet management, vehicle workshops, and distribution
monitoring.

References
Alazmi, M. and Zairi, M. (2003), “Knowledge management critical success factors”, Total Quality
Management, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 199-204.
Anthony, R.N. and Dearden, J. (1976), Management Control Systems Text and Cases, Homewood,
Irwin, IL.
Anthony, R.N., Dearden, J. and Vancil, R.F. (1972), “Key economic variables”, Management
Control Systems, Homewood, Irwin, IL, pp. 138-43.
Balcik, B. and Beamon, B.M. (2008), “Facility location in humanitarian relief ”, International
Journal of Logistics – Research and Application, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 101-22.
Beamon, B.M. (2004), “Humanitarian relief chains: issues and challenges”, paper presented at the
34th International Conference on Computers & Industrial Engineering, San Francisco, CA,
November 14-16.
Beamon, B.M. and Kotleba, S.A. (2006), “Inventory management support systems for emergency
humanitarian relief operation in South Sudan”, International Journal of Logistics
Management, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 187-212.
Beresford, A.K.C. and Pettit, S.J. (2005), “Emergency relief logistics: an evaluation of military,
non-military and composite response models”, International Journal of Logistics –
Research and Applications, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 313-32.
Beresford, A.K.C. and Pettit, S.J. (2007), “Disaster management and mitigation: a case study of
logistics problems in Thailand following the Asian Tsunami”, Proceedings of the 19th
NOFOMA Conference 2007, Reykjavik, Iceland, May.
Beresford, A.K.C. and Rugamba, A. (1996), Evaluation of the Transport Sector in Rwanda,
UNCTAD, Geneva, p. 39.
Beresford, A.K.C., Jennings, E. and Pettit, S.J. (2002), “Emergency relief logistics: a disaster Humanitarian
response model”, Proceedings of the 7th Logistics Research Network Conference,
Birmingham, September. aid supply
Beresford, A.K.C., Pettit, S.J. and Bayusuf, F. (2007), “Distribution of humanitarian aid in chains
East Africa, Post Rwandan civil war”, Proceedings of the 1st CCHLI Conference,
Shrivenham, UK.
Booth, R. (1996), “Agile manufacturing”, Engineering Management Journal, Vol. 6 No. 2, 465
pp. 105-12.
Christopher, M. (2000), “The agile supply chain: competing in volatile markets”, Industrial
Marketing and Management, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 37-44.
Christopher, M. and Towill, D. (2001), “An integrated model for the design of agile supply
chains”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 31
No. 4, pp. 235-46.
Cottrill, K. (2004), “Moving the world”, Traffic World, January 26, 2004, p. 1.
Daft, R.L. and Marcic, D. (2004), Understanding Management, 4th ed., Thomson, Andover.
Daniel, D.R. (1961), “Management information crisis”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 39 No. 5,
pp. 111-21.
de Brito, M.P., van der Laan, E.A. and Vergunst, D. (2007), “Humanitarian organisations and
performance measurement”, Proceedings of the 1st CCHLI Conference, Shrivenham, UK.
Freund, Y.P. (1988), “Planners guide – critical success factors”, Planning Review, No. 4, pp. 20-3.
Fritz Institute (2004), Humanitarian Logistics Software, Fritz Institute, San Francisco, CA, p. 8.
Fritz Institute (2005), Logistics and the Effective Delivery of Humanitarian Relief, Fritz Institute,
San Francisco, CA, p. 12.
Gooley, T.B. (1999), “In times of crisis, logistics is the job”, Logistics Management and
Distribution Report, Vol. 38 No. 9, p. 82.
Gunasekaran, A. and Ngai, E.W.T. (2003), “The successful management of a small logistics
company”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 33
No. 9, pp. 825-42.
Ho, D., Au, K.F. and Newton, E. (2002), “Empirical research on supply chain management:
a critical review and recommendations”, International Journal of Production Research,
Vol. 40 No. 17, pp. 4415-30.
Holland, C.P. and Light, B. (1999), “A critical success factors model for ERP implementation”,
IEEE Software, May/June, pp. 30-6.
Howard-Williams, I., Neale, J., Gavin, J., Kissick, R. and Connolly, J. (2008), “Who you gonna
call?”, Logistics and Transport Focus, Vol. 10 No. 8, pp. 38-41.
Hung, Y-T.C., Dennis, A.R. and Robert, L. (2004), “Trust in virtual teams: towards an integrative
model of trust formation”, Proceedings of the 37th Hawaii International Conference on
Systems Sciences, Track 1, Vol. 1.
Huotari, M.-L. and Wilson, T.D. (2001), “Determining organisational information needs:
the critical success factors approach”, Information Research, Vol. 6 No. 3.
Jahre, M. and Haigh, I. (2008), “Does failure to fund preparedness mean donors must prepare
to fund failure in humanitarian supply chains?”, Proceedings of the 20th NOFOMA
Conference, Helsinki, June, pp. 265-82.
Jarrar, Y.F., Al-Mudimigh, A. and Zairi, M. (2000), “ERP implementation critical success factors –
the role and impact of business process management”, Proceedings of the IEEE
IJPDLM International Conference on Management of Innovation and Technology ( ICMIT 2000 ),
Vol. 1, pp. 122-7.
39,6
Jensen, B. (2005), “Logistical problems marred tsunami relief efforts, report finds”, The Chronicle
of Philanthropy, June 22, available at: http://philanthropy.com/
Kemball-Cook, D. (1984), Logistics Guidelines – 10 Commandments for Relief Logistics,
International Disasters Institute, London, p. 17.
466 King, D. (2005), “Humanitarian knowledge management”, Proceedings of the 2nd ISCRAM
Conference, Brussels, Belgium.
Korpela, J. and Tuominen, M. (1996), “Benchmarking logistics performance with an application
of the analytic hierarchy process”, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management,
Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 323-33.
Kovacs, G. and Spens, K.M. (2007), “Humanitarian logistics in disaster relief operations”,
International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 37 No. 2,
pp. 99-114.
Leidecker, J.K. and Bruno, A.V. (1984), “Identifying and using critical success factors”,
Long Range Planning, Vol. 17 No. 10, pp. 23-32.
Long, D.C. (1997), “Logistics for disaster relief: engineering on the run”, IIE Solutions, Vol. 29
No. 6, pp. 26-9.
Long, D.C. and Wood, D.F. (1995), “The logistics of famine relief”, Journal of Business Logistics,
Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 213-39.
Mason-Jones, R., Naylor, B. and Towill, D.R. (1999), “Lean, agile, or leagile – matching your
supply chain to the marketplace”, Proceedings of the 15th International Conference of
Production Research, Limerick, pp. 593-6.
Matthews, S. (2005), “Logistical challenges”, Forced Migration Review, July, p. 38.
Maxwell, D. and Watkins, B. (2003), “Humanitarian information systems and emergencies in the
Great Horn of Africa – logical components and logical linkages”, Disasters, Vol. 27 No. 10,
pp. 72-90.
Murphy, P.R. and Wood, D.F. (2004), Contemporary Logistics, 8th ed., Pearson/Prentice-Hall,
Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Naylor, J.B., Naim, M.M. and Berry, D. (1999), “Leagility: integrating the lean and agile
manufacturing paradigms in the total supply chain”, International Journal of Production
Economics, Vol. 62, pp. 107-18.
Nisha de Silva, F. (2001), “Providing special decision support for evacuation planning: a challenge
in integrating technologies”, Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 10 No. 1, p. 11.
Olorotunba, R. and Gray, R. (2002), “Logistics for humanitarian aid: a survey of aid
organisations”, Proceedings of the 7th Logistics Research Network Conference,
Birmingham, September.
Perry, M. (2007), “Natural disaster management planning”, International Journal of Physical
Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 37 No. 5, pp. 409-33.
Pettit, S.J. and Beresford, A.K.C. (2005), “Emergency relief logistics: an evaluation of military,
non-military and composite response models”, International Journal of Logistics: Research
and Applications, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 313-31.
Pettit, S.J., Beresford, A.K.C. and Luo, D-K. (2006), “Critical success factors in the supply of
humanitarian aid”, Proceedings of the 11th Logistics Research Network Conference,
Newcastle, September.
Power, D. (2005), “DSS for crisis planning, response and management”, paper presented at Online Humanitarian
abstract for 2nd ISCRAM Conference, Brussels, available at: www.iscram.org/index.
php?option¼content&task¼view&id¼693&Itemid¼2 (accessed July 17, 2008). aid supply
Power, D.J., Sohal, A.S. and Rahman, S-U. (2001), “Critical success factors in agile supply chain chains
management”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management,
Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 247-65.
Razzaque, M.A. and Sheng, C.C. (1998), “Outsourcing of logistics functions: a literature survey”, 467
International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 28 No. 2,
pp. 89-107.
Rockart, J.F. (1979), “Chief executives define their own data needs”, Harvard Business Review,
Vol. 57 No. 2, pp. 238-41.
Roh, S., Pettit, S.J. and Beresford, A.K.C. (2008), “Humanitarian aid logistics: response depot
networks”, Abstract Proceedings of the NOFOMA Conference, Helsinki, June.
Save the Children (2006), “Indonesia: volcanic activity forcing more families from homes”,
avialble at: www.savethechildren.org/newsroom/2006/indonesia-volcanic-activity-forcing-
more-families-from-homes.htl (accessed August 1, 2008).
Schulz, S.F. and Heigh, I. (2007), “Logistics performance management in action – design and
piloting of a development indicator tool for regional logistics units of IFRC”, Proceedings
of the 1st Cardiff-Cranfield Humanitarian Logistics Initiative Conference, Shrivenham,
November.
Soin, S.S. (2004), “Critical success factors in supply chain management at high technology
companies”, unpublished DBA dissertation, University of Southern Queensland,
Toowoomba.
Sürie, C. and Wagner, M. (2002), “Supply chain analysis”, in Stadler, H. and Kilger, C. (Eds),
Supply Chain Management and Advanced Planning – Concepts, Models, Software and Case
Studies, Springer, New York, NY.
Taylor, D. and Pettit, S.J. (2009), “A consideration of the relevance of lean supply chain concepts
for humanitarian aid provision”, International Journal of Services Technology and
Management, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 430-44.
Thomas, A. (2003), “Why logistics?”, Forced Migration Review, Vol. 18 No. 4, p. 4.
Thomas, A. and Kopczak, L. (2005), From Logistics to Supply Chain Management: The Path
Forward in the Humanitarian Sector, Fritz Institute, San Francisco, CA, pp. 1-15.
Umble, E.J., Haft, R.R. and Umble, M.M. (2003), “Enterprise resource planning – implementation
procedures and critical success factors”, European Journal of Operational Research,
Vol. 146 No. 2, pp. 241-57.
UNDP (1993), Logistics, 1st ed., United Nations Development Programme, Geneva.
United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (2005), “Logistics support system (LSS) – pipeline
tracking”, available at: www.unjlc.org/23003/pakistan/supply_chain/ (accessed July 17,
2008).
van Wassenhove, L.N. (2006), “Humanitarian aid logistics: supply chain management in high
gear”, Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 57, pp. 475-89.
Völz, C. (2005), “Humanitarian coordination in Indonesia: an NGO viewpoint”, Forced Migration
Review, July, pp. 26-7.
Whiting, M. (2008), “Cyclone Nargis response – air operation”, Logistics and Transport Focus,
Vol. 10 No. 11, pp. 22-4.
Whybark, D.C. (2007), “Issues in managing disaster relief inventories”, International Journal
of Production Economics, Vol. 108 Nos 1/2, pp. 228-35.
IJPDLM Womack, J. and Jones, D. (1996), Lean Thinking, Simon and Schuster, New York, NY.
39,6 Wong, K.Y. (2005), “Critical success factors for implementing knowledge management in small
and medium enterprises”, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 105 No. 3,
pp. 261-79.
Zolin, R. (2002), “Swift trust in hastily formed networks”, The Hastily Formed Networks
Research Group, Monterey, CA, available at: www.hfncenter.org/cms/files/swifttrustin
468 HFN10-03-02.pdf (accessed September 4, 2008).

Further reading
Beresford, A.K.C. and Pettit, S.J. (2004), “The development of an emergency relief logistics
response model”, Proceedings of the 9th Logistics Research Network Conference, Dublin,
September.

Corresponding author
Stephen Pettit can be contacted at: pettit@cardiff.ac.uk

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com

Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints