Sustainable humanitarian operations: An integrated perspective

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Corbett, Charles J.; Pedraza-Martinez, Alfonso J.; Van Wassenhove, Luk N.
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; Indiana University System; IU Kelley School of Business; Indiana University Bloomington; INSEAD Business School
• 刊物名称: PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1059-1478
• DOI: 10.1111/poms.13848
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 4393-4406
• 关键词: coordination; disaster management; HEALTH; humanitarian operations; logistics; material convergence; partnerships; Sustainable Operations; workshop

摘要

The immediate response to disasters, while well intended, sometimes causes avoidable humanitarian challenges later on. Drinking water may be essential, but it is not necessary to provide it in small plastic bottles. Injections may save lives, but inappropriately discarded syringes are hazardous. Can humanitarian relief be made more sustainable? This paper summarizes a 1-day workshop on this topic, held at INSEAD in 2019 in connection with Luk Van Wassenhove's transition to emeritus professor. This workshop involved over 100 academics and practitioners. Five areas were discussed in detail: material convergence, coordination between humanitarian organizations (HOs), logistics, partnerships with industry, and health. The discussions demonstrate the possibility of better integrating sustainability with humanitarian operations despite the inherent tension between the immediate need to save lives and the longer term perspective associated with sustainability. This requires that various stakeholders, including HOs, donors, and watchdog organizations, think differently about the balance between short-term and long-term interventions, the metrics and incentives they apply, and the role of local versus global organizations. Leading practitioners and scholars in humanitarian operations are well aware of these challenges and opportunities in each domain separately; this paper aims to introduce these issues to a broader audience in a single more integrated overview, based on the themes that were discussed at the workshop.