Aktuelle Publikation im Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Purpose

Foreign governments do not always welcome international humanitarian organizations responding to a disaster in their country. Many governments even impose restrictions on humanitarian supply chains through import barriers, travel restrictions or excessive bureaucracy. The purpose of this paper is to analyze these restrictions and try to identify the government characteristics that best explain the tendency to impose such restrictions.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a multiple case study among four international humanitarian organizations the authors identify and analyze the restrictions imposed on humanitarian supply chains in 143 different programs. The authors compare the average number of restrictions per country with different governmental and socio-economic situational factors.

Findings

The authors find that state fragility, a combination of government ineffectiveness and illegitimacy, is the characteristic that best explains the tendency of a government to impose restrictions on humanitarian supply chains.

Practical implications

Knowing that fragile states tend to impose a high number of restrictions helps humanitarian organizations to prepare adequately before entering a country with a fragile government. The organization can, for example, anticipate possible concerns and establish trust with the government. Commercial companies starting to do business in such country can learn from this knowledge.

Originality/value

Multiple studies have mentioned the strong impact of governments on humanitarian supply chains, but no paper has yet analyzed this problem in detail. The paper is the first to identify the characteristics that explain the number of restrictions governments impose on humanitarian supply chains, and what humanitarian organizations can do to address them.

The full paper is available at the following link: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JHLSCM-04-2016-0009

Ankündigung Gastvortrag Dr. Markus Gappmaier

„ Einladung -20 Jahre Bildkartenmethode“

Der Erfinder und Entwickler der Bildkartenmethode(BKM), einem „Methoden-Tausendsassa“ mit Erstanwendung im Bereich Prozess-und Supply Chain Management , der u.a. auch im Rahmen von Wissens-, Projekt-, Veränderungsmanagement umfassend Verwendung findet, stellt diese Methode in einem Einführungsvortrag mit Demos und Übung praxisnah vor.
Im ersten Veranstaltungsteil (bis 15:45h) werden die Grundlagen und im zweiten Teil (bis spät. 17:30h) spezielle Anwendungsformen und– bereiche der Bildkartenmethode vermittelt.

Dienstag, 16. Mai 2017 | 14:15 Uhr
B.0.03, SR der AAU Bibliothek
Anmeldung unter 0463/2700-4007 oder andrea [dot] jankovic [at] aau [dot] at

 

WIWI aktuell_2017-05-16_Gappmaier

Aktuelle Publikation im International Journal of Production Economics

Abstract

We investigate the sensitivity of a class of (s,S) inventory models with respect to the perturbation of the demand distribution in terms of ergodicity coefficients. Ergodicity coefficients can be regarded as matrix norms that are useful to study qualitative as well as quantitative properties of some classes of stochastic systems. We obtain estimations of the absolute deviation of the stationary vector of the underlying Markov chain subject to perturbations. The particular structure of the transition matrix of this class of models allows us to derive simple closed form formulae for the computation of the ergodicity coefficients as well as the perturbation bounds. The perturbation bounds obtained can help us to decide whether or not the model remains an acceptable representation of the real system and thus decide whether or not it can be trusted for real life applications. Under perturbation, e.g. estimation errors or approximations, an optimal solution for the mathematical model may not be optimal for the real system and if implemented, the real performance measures may deteriorate considerably and deviate from the targeted values. Numerical examples are given to illustrate how the perturbation of the demand distribution may have a considerable impact on the optimal inventory policy and the performance measures in some cases. In a practical setting, the understanding of the sensitivity results for inventory models can help us to identify the parameters that have to be estimated with most attention and how to build models that are robust and as close as possible to the real systems they represent.

The full paper is available at the following link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527317300737

Aktuelle Publikation im Journal of Industrial Ecology

Summary

The article investigates the factors that make businesses postpone integrating the performance dimension of sustainability in global agrifood supply chains. Based on literature-based conceptual reasoning, the article conceptualizes a double company lens distinguishing between substantial supply chain management and mere public relations endeavors as a major obstacle for businesses pursuing comprehensive supply chain performance in global agrifood chains. We point out that many supply chain performance attributes represent, in fact, credence attributes that cannot be verified by the consumer, hence entailing an information asymmetry between the company and its consumers. Rational business responses to this situation tend to focus on symbolic actions and communication efforts by means of sustainability reports and other brand-enhancing marketing tools that may be decoupled from substantial operations and supply chain improvements. The research propositions developed have partly been corroborated by a content analysis of annual and sustainability reports of four major agrifood companies (Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever, and Mondelez International). The conceptual arguments and empirical analysis presented in the article may serve as the basis for managers and academics to develop innovative inter- and intraorganizational business processes that reconcile trade-offs between various agrifood supply chain performance dimensions, thus pushing the performance frontier outward, and that provide the necessary transparency for overcoming the currently adverse setting of incentives inherent in the food production, processing, retailing, and consumption system.

The full paper is available at the following link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jiec.12440/full