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This paper aims to further the understanding of planning and carrying out logistics operations in disaster relief.

Topical literature review of academic and practitioner journals.

Creates a framework distinguishing between actors, phases, and logistical processes of disaster relief. Drawing parallels of humanitarian logistics and business logistics, the paper discovers and describes the unique characteristics of humanitarian logistics while recognizing the need of humanitarian logistics to learn from business logistics.

The paper is conceptual in nature; empirical research is needed to support the framework. The framework sets a research agenda for academics.

Useful discussion of the unique characteristics of humanitarian logistics. The framework provides practitioners with a tool for planning and carrying out humanitarian logistics operations.

No overarching framework for humanitarian logistics exists in the logistics literature so far. The field of humanitarian logistics has so far received limited attention by logistics academics.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the issues and challenges in humanitarian logistics and to develop a framework for effectively managing the humanitarian logistics in disaster relief supply chain operations in India.

This paper presents a framework to manage humanitarian logistics effectively in disaster management through qualitative analysis. First, the author examines the challenges facing the humanitarian logistics and supply chain through the reviews of the literature on various disasters. Then, the author presented a framework based on the best practices and initiatives taken worldwide in the preparedness and response stage of the humanitarian supply chain to manage and reduce the aftermath of any disaster in context to India.

A framework has been developed to manage humanitarian logistics in the disaster relief operation, which would improve the humanitarian supply chain in India and help to effectively manage natural disasters in the preparedness and response stage at the state and district levels.

The paper mainly emphasises on the preparedness and response stage of disaster supply chain management in Indian context.

None of the disaster incidents can be stopped from taking place, but the impact can be minimised by proper preparedness and effective response during the operations of humanitarian logistics. With this hope, the framework has been developed, which if implemented would help to plan and manage any disaster incident in an effective manner, which ultimately would save millions of lives and cost in terms of infrastructure, property, assets etc.

As natural disaster incidents are occurring frequently in Indian states, there is an urgent need for a framework to manage the logistics operations effectively and efficiently during any disaster relief operations. Limited literature is found on developing and presenting a framework focusing on the preparedness and response phase of disaster supply chain management in context to India. Hence, this paper is believed to be the first to fulfil this gap with main emphasis on the preparedness and response stage of disaster supply chain management in Indian scenario.

The purpose of this study is to draw lessons for logistics management in humanitarian disasters, using the earthquake in Haiti as a case study. In Haiti, there were problems with the logistical response. This study investigates the humanitarian logistics challenges faced by various stakeholders in Haiti during the disaster-relief operations.

In this exploratory case study, the central methodology used was data triangulation. Data triangulation involved interviews with respondents grouped into three categories, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the military establishment and the governmental agencies. Prominence is given to the common themes expressed by each group. These common themes are then compared to the themes of other groups to identify opportunities and problems for future disaster relief operations.

The study indicates that there is a clear gap in terms of how the humanitarian efforts were coordinated between different actors. Lack of civil–military cooperation and coordination was one of the findings from the interviews, and many of the resources and initiatives were overlapping or redundant. Timeliness and efficiency need to be at the forefront of all planning and would result in more saved lives and reduced human suffering. The key goal of humanitarian logistics stipulates is to form connections and relationships, which was well illustrated through the informants' interviews. It was found that organizing different stakeholders/actors to work together by sharing processes and distribution channels demands a vision that goes beyond logistics management. Government agencies, the military establishment, NGOs, locals and victims need to collaborate to create a synergy in generating solutions that are tailored to the shock of the disaster in the first place.

The current study relies on a single case study approach as disaster scenarios are unique in terms of their impact, magnitude, timing and location. Despite these limitations, this study provides a detailed account of the logistical challenges in dealing with the disaster that took place in Haiti. The logistics-related lessons learned from this case study should be carefully applied in other settings, taken into consideration contextual differences.

One important aspect of measuring efficiency for any commercial logistics system is key performance indicators (KPIs) that indicate how well the firm is doing in managing its inbound and outbound operations. From a practical standpoint, the Haiti case raised a challenging concern with regard to how to measure the performance of humanitarian disaster logistics. This is a starting point to understand the dynamics of disaster system efficiency and logistics interplay and offers a few lessons to improve the resource availability in the case of future emergencies.

This study lays the groundwork for future researchers to explore and debrief on the topic once disaster relief draws to a close and time has allowed logisticians and relief workers to analyze the response mechanisms used in disasters.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges of humanitarian logisticians with respect to different types of disasters, phases of disaster relief and the type of humanitarian organization. A conceptual model is constructed that serves as a basis to identify these challenges.

The paper is based on a country as a case, namely Ghana. Structured and unstructured data are collected in a workshop with humanitarian logisticians, and complemented with presentations of humanitarian logisticians, as they perceive their challenges. Disaster statistics and country profiles are used as secondary data.

The paper shows that some disasters defy a categorization between natural and man‐made causes. Challenges of humanitarian logisticians depend not only on the disaster at hand, but also on the local presence of their organization. The most emphasized challenge is the coordination of logistical activities. Challenges can be managed better if attributing them to different stakeholder environments.

Applying stakeholder theory to logistics, this paper provides a greater understanding for the challenges of humanitarian logisticians.

A stakeholder categorization of the challenges of humanitarian logisticians helps to find potential collaboration partners as well as to mitigate these challenges.

Humanitarian logistics is a rather new field in logistics literature. What is more, there is a lack of empirical cases in the field. This paper proposes a conceptual model based on an actual empirical case.

Coordinating logistics in the midst of a relief operation is often an overwhelming job that can jeopardise the human life and assets if not done rapidly and practicably. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the performance of relief logistics in a disaster situation in Ghana with emphasis on the coordination of emergency relief operation and effectiveness of inventory management.

A stratified sampling method was employed to a sample of 134 respondents from regional, district and municipal offices in the National Disaster Management Organisation in Ghana using a self-administered questionnaire.

The findings from this study revealed an effective assessment time but late delivery of relief items. They also revealed issues with respect to resource availability, inventory management and coordination with relief actors which resulted in slow response to affected population.

The result from this study reveals an ineffective disaster relief response. The practical implications of this issue have been highlighted. In addition, ways to effectively address this issue have been discussed.

Drawing insight from previous work and study finding, the paper presents a framework for effective relief logistics operation focussing on all relevant actors in each phase of disaster.

Mismanagement and corruption in disaster relief operations (DROs) have created a demand for transparency and visibility in humanitarian logistics and supply chains. The global relief organisations and recent research endorse the adoption of digital solutions in DROs. The purpose of this research is to examine the moderating role of digitalisation in enhancing transparency in humanitarian logistics and supply chains of DROs in Pakistan.

Employing the quantitative research method, the data were collected from 340 disaster relief workers through survey questionnaires using the snowball sampling technique. The data were analysed in the SmartPLS3 software of PLS-SEM.

The findings suggested that in Pakistan, where corruption and mismanagement in humanitarian logistics and supply chain have been the greatest concerns of all the stakeholders, digitalisation of the DROs is a way forward to create transparency in the system and build the trust of the donor organisations and public.

The sample included only 340 disaster relief workers, future researchers may test the proposed model on a larger sample size and from different stakeholders' perspectives such as the disaster victims, government agencies and NGOs.

The ultimate beneficiaries of a digitalised and transparent humanitarian logistics and supply chain will be the society as a whole and particularly the victims of the disasters. By adopting the appropriate technologies in DROs, the victims will receive timely and entitled resources, and early warnings will save many lives.

The paper contributes to the body of knowledge by providing the first empirical evidence of examining the moderating role of digitalisation in creating transparency in humanitarian logistics from one of the top ten most disaster-affected nations.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a greater understanding of the challenges of civil military logistical cooperation, coordination and collaboration in humanitarian relief logistics.

Systematic literature review of academic journals.

This paper has four main findings. First, a categorisation of humanitarian logistics literature is achieved through a systematic review. Second, a classification of military involvement in humanitarian relief logistics is presented. Third, the research substantiated systematic differences in the kinds of military cooperation not only due to stage of operations but also depending upon whether the disaster is “natural” or “manmade”. Fourth, the research identifies the challenges of civil military logistical cooperation, coordination and collaboration and posits recommendations to overcome the identified challenges.

This paper represents an exploratory study and provides the basis for further research on cooperation, coordination and collaboration between military and civilian agencies in humanitarian operations. The paper sets a research agenda for academics.

This paper is the first to offer practical guidance to military commanders and managers of humanitarian agencies on solutions and recommendations to overcome the challenges to civil military logistical cooperation/coordination in humanitarian operations.

The area of civil military logistical cooperation/coordination has received limited consideration within the humanitarian aid logistics literature to date. This paper is designed to redress this shortfall. As a result, it is hoped that it will act as a catalyst for further research and to widen and deepen the resultant debate with a view to improving the outcome for those affected by current and future disasters.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This study seeks to provide insights into corporate achievements in supply chain management (SCM) and logistics management and to detail how they might help disaster agencies. The authors aim to highlight and identify current practices, particularities, and challenges in disaster relief supply chains.

Both SCM and logistics management literature and examples drawn from real‐life cases inform the development of the theoretical model.

The theoretical, dual‐cycle model that focuses on the key missions of disaster relief agencies: first, prevention and planning and, second, response and recovery. Three major contributions are offered: a concise representation of current practices and particularities of disaster relief supply chains compared with commercial SCM; challenges and barriers to the development of more efficient SCM practices, classified into learning, strategising, and coordinating and measurement issues; and a simple, functional model for understanding how collaborations between corporations and disaster relief agencies might help relief agencies meet SCM challenges.

The study does not address culture‐clash related considerations. Rather than representing the entire scope of real‐life situations and practices, the analysis relies on key assumptions to help conceptualise collaborative paths.

The study provides specific insights into how corporations might help improve the SCM practices by disaster relief agencies that continue to function without SCM professional expertise, tools, or staff.

The paper shows that sharing supply chain and logistics expertise, technology, and infrastructure with relief agencies could be a way for corporations to demonstrate their good corporate citizenship. Collaborations between corporations and disaster agencies offer significant potential benefits.

The devastating impact of catastrophic disasters on terrestrial infrastructure requires the adoption of alternative technology solutions among humanitarian organizations. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of the most commonly used satellite technologies in relief logistics: imagery and mapping, portable global positioning system (GPS) positioning devices, telecommunications, and GPS vehicle tracking.

The paper examines both the benefits and limitations of satellite technologies in light of the existing literature and through a complementary questionnaire survey with field workers involved in humanitarian operations in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

The results show that the use of satellite technologies can facilitate most of the key logistics challenges encountered by relief actors. However, they also highlight important barriers within humanitarian organizations such as the lack of skilled workers and high costs, underlining the need for long-term training, resource investments, and cooperation between users and technology providers.

The research findings remain valid only in the context of catastrophic disaster responses, which lead to similar destructions, logistical problems, and needs for satellite technologies.

This paper shows how satellite technologies can support humanitarian professionals in the field. It also provides policy recommendations that can facilitate the use of these technologies.

The applications of satellite technologies within humanitarian supply chains are not well-defined in the literature. This paper is the first to be dedicated to analyze the role of the main satellite technologies used in a relief logistics setting.