Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate humanitarian supply chains in the context of the Ukrainian crisis as example of complex emergency. The paper focuses on a selection of support modes: in-kind donations, cash-based assistance and local procurement.

This paper adopts a case-study approach and interpretive paradigm. Findings are based on the analysis of primary sources including interviews with three Polish humanitarian organizations, internal documents, and secondary sources such as published reports.

Findings indicate that in a middle-income urbanized country such as Ukraine non-standard modes such as cash transfer programs and local procurement can be employed, since the necessary infrastructure and market are operational. However, each mode has limitations, so they should match the local context and the needs of diverse social groups.

The findings and recommendations are specific to the case analyzed, Ukraine, and its socio-economic context. The research contributes to discussions about mode selection, stressing the links between mode, stage of the disaster response and local context.

Applying cash transfers and local procurement can reduce supply chain costs, such as transport and warehousing. Shortened supply chains enable faster responses and increased agility.

Cash transfers and procurement involve the local community and beneficiaries, and can better fulfill needs maintaining people’s dignity. However, for vulnerable groups and those in conflict zones, in-kind goods are a better option.

The author argues that the much-discussed dichotomy of cash or goods does not reflect reality; local and regional procurement should be added as important support modes in middle-income countries in crisis.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the applicability of care quality concepts as contract award criteria for public procurement of health and social care, using the case of Sweden.

Based on a literature review, European and Swedish legal texts, government regulations as well as 26 Swedish court review cases concerning care procurement have been analysed.

Methods used for assessing care quality are seldom useful for predicting the quality to be delivered by a potential contractor. Legal principles of transparency and equal treatment of tenderers make it necessary to apply strict requirements for verification.

Results refer primarily to a Swedish context but could be applicable throughout the EU. Further studies of relations between award criteria and public/private collaborative practices for improving care quality during contractual periods are desirable.

Local and regional procurement officials should benefit from a better understanding of how quality criteria should be designed and applied to the award procedures for care contracts. Care providers in the private sector would also be able to develop their quality strategies and present their abilities more efficiently when tendering for public contracts.

Issues of quality of health and social care are of obvious importance for social sustainability. Public awareness of care quality problems is evident and often a cause of media concern.

This investigation pinpoints the difference between traditional care quality thinking and the legal principles underlying contract award in public procurement of care services.

Discusses how changes in institutional objectives for international food assistance have influenced the organization of supply chains for innovative therapeutic foods designed to address problems of malnutrition and undernutrition.

Draws upon insights from donor and international organization reports, policy documents, and academic publications to reveal the structure, goals, and objectives of international organizations involved in food assistance strategies. Explores how innovations in Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods and Ready-to-Use Supplementary Foods fit into food assistance strategies and broader humanitarian goals.

Informed by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, international food assistance strategies have broadened beyond acute malnutrition to include chronic undernutrition. Food assistance strategies have shifted toward a focus on local and regional procurement (LRP) over transoceanic aid, with Public Private Partnerships (P3s) playing a facilitating role.

This chapter raises important considerations to factor into the design and execution of international food assistance strategies using LRP/P3 modes of organization. It contributes to an understanding of the challenges of organizing international food assistance strategies that include socioeconomic goals of sustainability and nutrition objectives.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether new and young firms are different from older firms. This analysis is undertaken to explore general characteristics, use of external resources and growth orientation.

Data from the 2008 UK Federation of Small Businesses survey provided 8,000 responses. Quantitative analysis identified significantly different characteristics of firms from 0‐4, 4‐9, 9‐19 and 20+ years. Factor analysis was utilised to identify the advice sets, finance and public procurement customers of greatest interest, with ANOVA used to statistically compare firms in the identified age groups with different growth aspirations.

The findings reveal key differences between new, young and older firms in terms of characteristics including business sector, owner/manager age, education/business experience, legal status, intellectual property and trading performance. New and young firms were more able to access beneficial resources in terms of finance and advice from several sources. New and young firms were also able to more easily access government and external finance, as well as government advice, but less able to access public procurement.

New and young firms are utilising external networks to access several resources for development purposes, and this differs for older firms. This suggests that a more explicit age‐differentiated focus is required for government policies aimed at supporting firm growth.

The study provides important baseline data for future quantitative and qualitative studies focused on the impact of firm age and government policy.

Although e‐procurement has been adopted in many industries, the business case for this technology has only partially been explored in the literature. This paper aims to investigate, through a case study approach, the extent of the business case developed for e‐procurement adoption in three implementations.

The paper employs a case study method and examines three industrial firms through in‐depth interviews with managers involved in the projects. The cases were presented and explored individually, followed by identification of relevant drivers and problem factors.

The research identifies 18 drivers which can form the basis of a business case for e‐procurement. A further 17 problem factors are presented, which have the potential to militate the original case. It is apparent that the firms involved only developed a limited case for adoption and that there is a significant element of faith that the eventual results will justify the investment.

A framework of the business drivers for e‐procurement is introduced, in the form of a multi‐attribute hierarchy. This framework can assist managers to classify relevant issues in assessing and developing the case for e‐procurement adoption.

Whilst the literature offers theoretical benefits for e‐procurement, the paper provides managers and researchers with empirical evidence of the drivers for this technology and of the problems encountered in implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to address the inefficiency problems in procurement operations in disaster relief logistics which are mainly due to the lack of coordination among less organized suppliers and partnerships. Such problems lead to poor responsiveness and hinder timely procurement of required goods.

An auction‐based framework for procurement of goods, which is suitable for a single coordinating platform in disaster relief logistics, is proposed. Integer programming formulations are used in auctioning operations. A simulation model that generates problem instances is used to evaluate and tune system‐level design parameters.

Design parameters greatly affect the behaviour and responsiveness of the system and the performance of the auction‐based framework in different problem instances. Combinations of those parameters may allow suppliers with limited capacities to become more involved in the bidding process. In addition, the procurement shares of bidders may change substantially with different values of the parameters.

Even though the presented framework is inspired from real‐life applications, it is not implemented in real‐life disaster relief operations. The goodness of fit for the framework would best be evaluated by a real disaster case. In addition, transportation scheduling and vehicle routing considerations and budgeting issues are not considered in the framework.

This paper presents an auction‐based framework for less organized suppliers of goods and their partnerships, such as local humanitarian organizations, private companies, and standby partners. The presented framework offers a background for coordination during disaster relief operations which provides opportunities to act as a set of organized entities. This background also helps those entities coordinate their efforts to enhance the capabilities of local governments and NGOs.

The purpose of this conceptual article is to investigate the application of halal in purchasing.

This article provides a discussion on the implications of halal for the purchasing function, in particular the purchasing portfolio matrix of Kraljic and the purchasing process model of van Weele.

Halal leads to stronger partnerships with suppliers (strategic and leverage products) and adopting various strategies to secure continuity of supply (bottleneck products). Therefore, conventional commodity categories in certain industries can be allocated different for halal certified products and services, resulting in possible different product and supplier strategies. Halal requirements also have impact on the purchasing process; its tactical and operational purchasing activities.

This conceptual paper shows that halal has implications for the procurement strategy and purchasing process, key components of the procurement function. However, more empirical research is needed through case study research and focus groups to better understand the challenges and solutions surrounding the sourcing practices of halal certified companies.

For halal certified companies it is important to extend halal towards purchasing. Effective alignment is required between the halal policy, procurement strategy and purchasing process. A procurement organisation can progress in three stages, from viewing halal compliance as opportunity, making its supply chains halal, to making its value chain halal.

Purchasing is an important marketing discipline in defining the buyer supplier relationship. This study contributes to the understanding of the purchasing function in a halal supply chain and value chain. It is the first study investigating the application of halal in purchasing.

Although noticeable improvements have been made in global health in recent years, the distribution is uneven throughout the world and many developing and low-income countries lack access to required medicine and vaccines. Thus, a model to strategically source vaccines for these nations can contribute a great deal. This paper aims to present an extensive review of strategic sourcing literature, and to identify the criteria and available models in making strategic sourcing decisions. The purpose is to develop a decision making framework for future empirical study of humanitarian aid networks, more specifically, sourcing and distribution of vaccines in developing countries.

A thorough review of several purchasing and supply chain management (SCM) journals was conducted to identify the strategic criteria in making sourcing decisions, hence “strategic sourcing”. In line with this, a number of sourcing strategies were reviewed to find the relevant strategic criteria. Secondary data from practice were also investigated for special characteristics of vaccine supply chains in humanitarian aid networks. Articles were then scrutinized and results categorized in order to develop a framework for future empirical studies.

The findings show the historical development of strategic sourcing and the criteria in making strategic sourcing decisions. More recent studies, while taking a look back in history, have revealed a mix of strategies for more flexible models. Quality has been noted to be a strategic criterion for sourcing vaccines and this has caused the supply market to be dispersed on a global scale.

Considering the extensive number of academic publications, due to the focus of this study being sourcing within humanitarian aid networks, a number of academic journals in logistics/SCM/sourcing were reviewed.

A decision making framework is presented for sourcing vaccines within the humanitarian sector. The criteria in making strategic sourcing decisions are further re-evaluated and a base model proposed. The framework will be used for further research on sourcing in the humanitarian aid sector as well as practical implications.

There is no single undertaking regulating food assistance at the international level. International food assistance is regulated by a patchwork of rules emanating from different institutions and normative arrangements. This study aims to explore how international law shapes international food assistance. How is international law regulating food assistance, considering this patchwork of institutions and norms? What dominant narratives enshrined in legal agreements shape the evolution of international food assistance?

The author uses the concept of “regime complex”, which allows analyzing partially overlapping and nonhierarchical regimes governing a particular issue, shedding light on the narratives and institutional arrangements that lead to the consolidation of international rules. The author identifies two main regimes that govern international food assistance: the food assistance regime and the food trade regime.

The author shows that using the “regime complex” concept clarifies the evolution of international food assistance, highlighting that international law is a crucial element in shaping international food assistance and showing that the two main institutional regimes governing it interact and shape rules along three main themes: the centrality of donor States’ self-interests, the relationship between international food assistance and trade liberalization and the goal of achieving food security for the beneficiaries.

Using the regime complex concept, the author brings new light on the broader institutional and legal framework influencing the governance of international food assistance, showing that different regimes take part in its shaping.