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Best practice relief supply for emergency services in a developed economy: Evidence from Queensland Australia

Mark M.J. Wilson (Department of Global Value Chains and Trade, Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce, Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand)
Peter Tatham (Department of International Business and Asian Studies, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia)
John Payne (PGK Systems Ltd, Brisbane, Australia)
Cécile L’Hermitte (Waikato Management School, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand)
Michael Shapland (Department of the Inspector-General Emergency Management, Brisbane, Australia)

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management

ISSN: 2042-6747

Article publication date: 13 March 2018

Issue publication date: 23 March 2018

783

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges inherent in planning and responding to disaster events in a multi-agency context where numerous governmental and non-governmental actors and agencies are involved in the planning and response phases. In particular, the authors examine a situation where a lead agency has recently been delegated the responsibility for emergency relief logistics and how it might determine and implement best practice.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting an iterative inductive approach, the authors gather data and insights from academic literature, emergency management policies, frameworks and documents and exploratory in-depth interviews with 12 key informants who have considerable experience with the challenges of logistic preparation and response to disasters in a developed country context. The data and context are limited to developed counties, especially the state of Queensland, Australia.

Findings

The authors discuss the challenge of achieving coordinated supply chain management where mandated/lead response agencies are required to meet stakeholder and local community expectations and outcomes. From these findings, the authors offer 11 practical recommendations to assist the delivery of best practice in emergency logistics.

Originality/value

Humanitarian logistics is usually examined from a low/middle-income country perspective, yet an efficient and effective disaster response is no less important for developed economies. In this respect, the authors offer a fresh examination of the challenges of delivering best practice for emergency logistics in order to achieve expected community outcomes.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The original research underpinning this paper was funded by the Queensland Inspector-General Emergency Management.

Citation

Wilson, M.M.J., Tatham, P., Payne, J., L’Hermitte, C. and Shapland, M. (2018), "Best practice relief supply for emergency services in a developed economy: Evidence from Queensland Australia", Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 107-132. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHLSCM-03-2017-0008

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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