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Toward a conceptualization of humanitarian service providers

Diego Vega (HUMLOG Institute, Hanken Svenska Handelshogskolan, Helsinki, Finland)
Christine Roussat (CRET-LOG, Aix en Provence, France and Université Clermont-Auvergne, Clermont Ferrand, France)

The International Journal of Logistics Management

ISSN: 0957-4093

Article publication date: 2 October 2019

Issue publication date: 27 November 2019

723

Abstract

Purpose

Service development and outsourcing are growing trends in humanitarian logistics (HL). Humanitarian organizations (HOs) have developed specialized units to perform logistics activities on behalf of other aid organizations, as a commercial logistics service provider (LSP) would do. The purpose of this paper is to explore the characteristics of HOs acting as LSPs and the differences with their commercial counterparts.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses a two-level content analysis of 149 annual reports from 50 local and international HOs, performed with the help of qualitative data analysis software. First, a manifest content analysis identified the number of occurrences of logistics-related words and later, a latent content analysis studies the use in context of such words to characterize the nature of HOs as LSPs.

Findings

Evidence shows that some international HOs – in some cases through specialized logistics units – perform the same activities as commercial LSPs, providing similar services. However, due to the characteristics of the humanitarian context, HOs acting as LSPs can offer a wider range of value-added and dedicated services to clients (other HOs) than commercial LSPs.

Research limitations/implications

Exploring the activities performed by HOs on behalf of other aid organizations and characterizing them as service providers constitutes a first attempt to grasp the unique features of these particular humanitarian LSPs. The results open the discussion about the services HOs offer, thus contributing to theory development in HL.

Practical implications

The identification of HOs acting as LSPs introduces a new actor to the humanitarian network, which the authors refer to as humanitarian service provider (HSP). This supposes two main managerial implications. First, the results support the idea of seeing servitization as a competitive difference, having a substantial impact on the way HOs build their strategies and achieve competitive advantage. Second, HSPs can push their commercial equivalents to identify new activities or services to offer and maintain their competitive advantage with regard to the newcomers.

Originality/value

This paper furthers the discussion on the concept of HSPs and demonstrates its uniqueness, thus contributing to the ever-growing body of knowledge of HL research.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely thank Professor David B. Grant for his comments and suggestions, Professor Britta Gammelgaard for her continuous support, and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

Citation

Vega, D. and Roussat, C. (2019), "Toward a conceptualization of humanitarian service providers", The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 929-957. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-04-2018-0091

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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