Paul D. Larson, Ph.D.

1
Risk and Relationships in Humanitarian Supply
Chains
Paul D. Larson, Ph.D. CN Professor of
SCM Director, Transport Institute Head, SCM
Department University of Manitoba larson_at_cc.umanit
oba.ca
Wilfrid Laurier University November 26, 2010
2
Prosperity Mobility Sustainability
3
The PMAC Project

• Public Sector SCM

4
Business Logistics
Humanitarian Logistics
5
Business and Relief Logistics
There are clear parallels between business
logistics and relief logistics, but the transfer
of knowledge between the two has been limited and
the latter remains relatively unsophisticated.
Source Pettit and Beresford (2005, p. 314)
6
Business Logistics vs. Relief Logistics
Factor Business Logistics Relief Logistics
Purpose Economic profit Social impact
Context Uninterrupted Interrupted
Time Time is money Time is life
Source of Customers Donors
7
Multiple Stakeholders
Donors
3PLs
Aid agencies
Humanitarian aid supply network
Recipients
Suppliers
Military
Other NGOs
Governments
Adapted from Kovács and Spens (2007, p. 106)
8
HUMLOG Group
(www.humloggroup.org)
Aim To research the area of humanitarian
logistics in disaster preparedness, response and
recovery with the intention of influencing future
activities in a way that will provide measurable
benefit to persons requiring assistance.
Cardiff University, UK Cranfield University,
UK Hanken School of Economics, Finland Jönköping
International Business School, Sweden Kwame
Nkrumah Univ. of Science Technology,
Ghana National Defence University of
Finland Norwegian Defence Command and Staff
College Norwegian School of Management Thammasat
University, Thailand United Nations Joint
Logistics Centre (UNJLC) University of Manitoba,
Canada
9
854 million people do not have enoughto eat -
more than the populations ofUSA, Canada and the
European Union.
Every five seconds a child dies because she or he
is hungry.
Source The State of Food Insecurity in the World
2006, FAO.
10
Kluger, Jeffrey (2008), How America's Children
Packed On the Pounds, Time, June 12.
(http//www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,18
13700,00.html)
a whopping 32 of all American children now
carry more pounds than they should.
(http//www.betterhealthusa.com/public/227.cfm)
More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight
and 30 per cent suffer from obesity but there has
been a dramatic increase in childhood obesity.
In the United States, the percentage of
overweight or obese children has doubled over the
past 30 years to 25 per cent of the under-19
population.
11
Some numbers
540
the number of children who will die during
the next 45 minutes due to hunger and
malnutrition.
1/6
the portion of people in the world today
who are undernourished.
the number of humanitarian aid workers
murdered in 2008.
122
12
Food and AgricultureOrganization of theUN
(www.fao.org)
13
Urgent needs lagging practices
Humanitarian aid agencies are twenty years behind
the large corporations in adopting todays
fundamental tools of logistics and SCM (Fritz
Institute).
Silvia Spring, Relief When You Need It Can
FedEx, DHL andTNT bring the delivery of
emergency aid into the 21st century?Newsweek
International Edition, September 11, 2006.
14
The Four Quadrants
Sector Environment Environment
Sector Uninterrupted Interrupted
For-profit Business Business at Risk
Not-for-profit Development Aid Disaster Relief
15
Humanitarian NGOs engage in two broad types of
activities (1) Relief activities relief for
victims of large-scale emergencies. These
short-term activities focus on providing goods
and services to minimize immediate risks to human
health and survival. (2) Development activities
longer-term aid, focusing on community
self-sufficiency and sustainability. These
activities include establishing permanent and
reliable transportation, healthcare, housing, and
food.
Beamon, Benita M. Burcu Balcik (2008),
Performance measurement in humanitarian relief
chains, International Journal of Public Sector
Manage-ment, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 4-25.
16
Monument to Canadian Aid Workers,Rideau Falls
Park, Ottawa, Canada
2009 Humanitarian Logistics Conference Relationsh
ip Building in Humanitarian Relief Supply
Chains October 15-16, Ottawa
17
Relationship Building in Humanitarian Supply
Chains
800 a.m. Breakfast and Registration 825
a.m. Opening Remarks Paul D. Larson,
Director, Transport Institute 830 a.m.
Opening Keynote Kevin McCort, President and
CEO, CARE Canada 900 a.m. Session One
Vanessa Brown, Logistics
Officer, Canadian Foodgrains Bank
Dave Carlstrom, President and CEO, Air
Serv International 1015 a.m. Break 1030 a.m.
Session Two Birgitte
Olsen, Head of Logistics, IFRC
Nancy Rivard, President, Airline Ambassadors
International 1200 p.m. Luncheon, with keynote
speaker George Fenton,
Associate Supply Chain Director, World Vision
International 130 p.m. Session Three
Mary Ennis, Executive Director,
Disabled Peoples International
Major Paul Gillies, Canadian Forces Joint
HQ/DART 245 p.m. Break 300 p.m. Session
Four Amreen Choudhury,
Sr. Program Officer Roster Unit, CANADEM
Jeff Ashcroft, Founder, World
Org. for Relief Logistics Development (WORLD)
415 p.m. Closing Remarks Gyöngyi Kovács,
Director, HumLog Institute 615 p.m.
Reception, with art exhibit Laura Archer, Artist
HUMLOG Group
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A Note on Methodology

• Case-based research (Yin, 2003, 2009)
• "how" or "why" questions
• cannot control behavioural events
• focus on contemporary events
• Grounded research (Strauss Corbin, 1998)
• The two work well together (Locke, 2001)
• Data mostly qualitative interviews ( 1 hr.)
• plus documents, observations, etc.
• Analysis aided by qualitative software (NVivo8)

19
Humanitarian Supply Chain Relationships
20
Types of Relationships
humanitarian
NGOs
humilitarian
humoneytarian
Military
Business
humanitariUN
B2B
United Nations
21
Internal (intra-NGO) Relationships

• Relief vs. development
• Global (HQ) vs. local (in the field)
• Cross-functional

22
Partnership Characteristics

• High level of cooperation
• Costly to implement
• Extra communication
• Coordination
• Risk sharing

Source Lambert and Knemeyer (2004)
23
Partnership Drivers

• Asset and cost efficiencies
• Customer service enhancements
• Marketing advantages
• Profit growth or stability

Source Lambert and Knemeyer (2004)
24
Partnership Facilitators

• Compatibility of corporate cultures
• Compatibility of management philosophy and
  techniques
• Strong sense of mutuality
• Symmetry between the two parties

Source Lambert and Knemeyer (2004)
25
Management Components (for Partnerships)

• Planning
• Joint operating controls
• Communications
• Risk/reward sharing

Source Lambert and Knemeyer (2004)
26
Relationships
Organisation A
Organisation B

• Compatibility
• mission/strategy/agenda
• organisational culture
• technology
• Complementarity
• administration
• advocacy
• fund-raising
• operations (e.g. logistics)

27
Department of National Defence/Canadian Forces
Protecting Canada. Protecting Canadians and
defending our sovereignty is our first
priority. Defending North America. We work with
Canadas closest ally (USA) to defend North
America. Contributing to International Peace and
Security. We contribute to international peace
and security through operations around the world.
www.forces.gc.ca
28
Canadian Red Cross
Mission to improve the lives of vulnerable
people by mobilizing the power of
humanity in Canada and around the
world.

• Fundamental Principles
• humanity
• impartiality
• neutrality
• independence

www.redcross.ca
29
To demonstrate Gods love by working among people
suffering from poverty, conflict, oppression and
natural disaster. MCC strives for peace, justice
and the dignity of all people by sharing our
experiences, resources and faith in Jesus Christ.
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty
and you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me.
Matthew 2535-36
www.mcc.org
30
Office for the Coordinationof Humanitarian
Affairs
OCHAs mission is to mobilise and
coordinateeffective and principled humanitarian
action inpartnership with national and
internationalactors in order to alleviate
human suffering in disasters emergencies advoc
ate for the rights of people in need promote
preparedness and prevention facilitate
sustainable solutions
http//ochaonline.un.org
31
To cut through the inefficiency and unintended
consequences of aid efforts, observers have long
called for better coordination among
humanitarian, political, and military
organizations. (p. 1027)
Seybolt, Taylor B. (2009), Harmonizing the
Humanitarian Aid NetworkAdaptive Change in a
Complex System, International Studies Quarterly,
Vol. 53, No. 4, pp. 10271050.
32
the humanitarian assistance communitypeople
in need, national governments, UN agencies,
non-governmental organizations, political
missions, military contingents and donorsas a
complex, open, adaptive system. (p. 1028)
Seybolt (2009)
33
Seybolt (2009)
34
Constraints on network development

• Sudden, massive workload urgency
• Lack of trust among the players
• Political interests of donor governments

Seybolt (2009, p. 1029)
35
How to overcome the constraints?

• Exchange information
• Quantity
• Quality
• But
• Massive workload information overload
• Trust information sharing

Seybolt (2009, p. 1029)
36
Trust
Coordination
Compatibility Complementarity
Information overload
Supply chain performance
37
Supply Chain Risk Management In the Humanitarian
World
38
ABI/Inform articles on supply chain and risk
management
39
Types of Risk

• Matching supply and demand
• Late shipments inaccurate forecasts
• Stock-outs, back orders, and lost sales
• Volatility (fuel, currency, commodities)
• Interruptions
• - Earthquakes - Labour strikes
• - Hurricanes - Terrorist attacks
• - Tsunamis - Pandemics

40
Risk Management vs. Crisis Management
Risk management
Resources squandered?
proactive
Approach
Crisis management
Resources conserved
reactive
occurs
fails to occur
Interruption
41
Reducing disaster risk A challenge for
development
Natural disasters exert an enormous toll on
develop-ment. In doing so, they pose a
significant threat to prospects for achieving the
Millennium Development Goals of halving extreme
poverty by 2015.
the process of development itself has a huge
impact both positive and negative on disaster
risk.
UNDP (2004), Reducing Disaster Risk A Challenge
for Development, New York.
42
Two types of disaster risk management

• Prospective integrated into sustainable
  development planning medium-term disaster risk
  reduction.
• Compensatory disaster preparedness and
  response immediate-term risk reduction.

UNDP (2004), Reducing Disaster Risk A Challenge
for Development, New York.
43
Bringing disaster risk reduction and development
concerns closer together requires three steps

1. Data and tools to track the relationship between
   development policy and disaster risk.
2. Best development practices that reduce disaster
   risk.
3. Political will to re-orient the development and
   disaster management sectors.

UNDP (2004), Reducing Disaster Risk A Challenge
for Development, New York.
44
Patterns of Risk
Four natural disaster categories (earthquake,
cyclone, flood and drought), are responsible for
94 of deaths.
the translation of drought into famine
is mediated by armed conflict, internal
displacement, HIV/AIDS, poor governance and
economic crisis.
UNDP (2004), Reducing Disaster Risk A Challenge
for Development, New York.
45
UNDP (2004), Reducing Disaster Risk A Challenge
for Development, New York.
46
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47
Kovács, Gyöngyi Peter Tatham (2009), Responding
to Disruptions in the Supply Network from
Dormant to Action, Journal of Business
Logistics, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 215-229.
48
War
In action
Relief
Peace
Dormant
Preparation
Lean
Agile
Adapted from Kovács Tatham (2009)
49
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War
Intelligence
In action
Relief
Development
Peace
Dormant
Preparation
Lean
Agile
Adapted from Kovács Tatham (2009)
51
War
Intelligence
In action
Relief
Development
Peace
Dormant
Localpresence
Preparation
Lean
Agile
Adapted from Kovács Tatham (2009)
52
Knemeyer, Zinn and Eroglu (2009), p. 142.
53
Catastrophic event humanitarian space
Catastrophic event business world
Adapted from Knemeyer, Zinn and Eroglu (2009)
54
Knemeyer, Zinn and Eroglu (2009), p. 147
55
Likelihood vs. Impact
H15N1
LARGE
Proactive
?
H5N1
Impact
Reactive
?
H1N1
small
low
high
Likelihood
56
The last time such a severe flu pandemic hit
Canada was in 1918. That year, the city of
Winnipeg literally shut down for 46 days --
businesses, theatres and churches were closed.
About 9,000 people died in Alberta, Saskatchewan
and Manitoba.
John Longhurst, Planning for a
pandemic, Winnipeg Free Press, July 15, 2006.
57
A New Pandemic?
H1N1 WHO may conquer it by 2011 E. coli
new strain, resistant to nearly
all antibiotics, present in Canada
MacLeans, January 18, 2010.
58
What if?

• A volcano in Iceland stranded your leadership
  team in eastern Europe?
• A mosquito-transmitted plague swept across
  western Canada?
• Your confidential, strategic corporate data was
  compromised by a new computer virus?

59
The Making of a Humanitarian
60
Relationships
Organisation B
Organisation A

• agenda
• activities

• agenda
• activities

• Compatibility
• Complementarity

Humanitarian 2
Humanitarian 1

• motives
• skills

• motives
• skills

61
Gayle Williams was shot dead by the Taliban as
she walked towork in Kabul on October 20, 2008.
Gayle, 34, a UK and SouthAfrican national, was a
volunteer for Serve Afghanistan, a UK-registered
charity providing education and training for
peoplewith disabilities.
http//www.lastingtribute.co.uk/tribute/williams/2
928081
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SERVE Afghanistan
SERVE Afghanistans purpose is to express Gods
love and bring hope by serving the people of
Afghanistan, especially the needy, as we seek to
address personal, social and environmental needs.
SERVE Afghanistan is a Christian charity
registered in the UK (no. 1105086), has been
working with Afghan refugees since 1980 in
Pakistan and has gradually moved both its project
work and its head office into Afghanistan itself.
http//www.serveafghanistan.org/index.html
63
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foodwatershelter are extremely saddened by the
death ofDarren Stratti, our building foreman and
friend, who wasshot during a burglary in Arusha,
Tanzania on June 30, 2008.Darren gave his life
bravely to protect those around him.Nobody else
was injured in the incident.
http//www.foodwatershelter.org.au/darrenstratti.a
spx
65
food water shelter inc. (fws) is a
not-for-profitorganisation an Australian,
non-denominational,non-governmental organisation
that builds andruns eco-friendly children's
villages with education,social, health and
community facilities for childrenin developing
countries.
Yes, but who are we, really? Well, we're simply
fiveAussie women who want to make a difference.
http//www.foodwatershelter.org.au/default.aspx
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TANZANIA
67
Wellits like this those involved with
fwsbelieve that while a person is on earth,
theyeither get a dodge deal or a great deal. If
youget a great deal, then it only seems fair
thatyou help those who got the dodge deal.
Why we do it
http//www.foodwatershelter.org.au/what-we-do.aspx
68
foodwatershelter inc draws its name from
theteachings of psychologist Abraham Maslow.
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs unless a
personsfirst-level needs (health, food, water,
sleep) andsecond-level needs (shelter, safety)
are met, s/heis unable to climb the ladder (and
reach happiness).
1. Physiological (biological needs - food, water,
health)2. Safety (shelter, removal from
danger)3. Love/belonging (affection, being a
part of groups)4. Status (self esteem and esteem
from others)5. Actualization (achieving
individual potential)
69
Somalia Situation Report No. 42 24 Oct 2008
The death of two United Nations workers during
the week deeply distressed the humanitarian
community in Somalia. Abdinasir Aden Muse, a
senior programme assistant for WFP, was killed
after evening prayers on October 17, 2008 in
Marka, Lower Shabelle region. This comes at a
time when WFP is delivering at least 35,000
metric tons of food on a monthly basis reaching 3
million people all over the country. Two days
later, on October 19, Muqtar Mohamed Hassan, an
engineer with UNICEF's water and sanitation
activities, was shot dead by unknown gunmen in
Xudur, Bakool region. Water and sanitation
projects are essential in a country where only
29 have access to clean drinking water and 37
to sanitation facilities. This weeks
killingsbring the total number of aid-related
workers killed in Somalia since January to 29.
Source United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
70
IRC aid workers Mohammad Aimal, Shirley Case,
Nicole Dial and Jackie Kirk were killed on 13
August 2008 in an ambush in Afghanistan, where
the IRC has been working for 20 years, providing
lifesaving aid and recovery assistance to the
Afghan people. They were returning from meetings
with the local community in Logar Province about
an IRC project that aids children with
disabilities.
http//www.theirc.org/about/
71
Mohammad Aimal,25, Afghan
Shirley Case, 30, Canadian
http//www.theirc.org/where/afghanistan/in-memoria
m.html
Dr. Jacqueline Kirk,40, British-Canadian
Nicole Dial, 31,Trinidadian-American
72
We are the International Rescue Committee a
critical global network of first responders,
humanitarian relief workers, healthcare
providers, educators, community leaders,
activists, and volunteers. Working together, we
provide access to safety, sanctuary, and
sustainable change for millions of people whose
lives have been shattered by violence and
oppression.
http//www.theirc.org/about/
73
Harming humanitarians
Source Stoddard, Abby, Adele Harmer and Victoria
DiDomenico,Providing aid in insecure
environments 2009 update, Humanitarian Policy
Group (HPG) Policy Brief 34, April 2009.
74
Life and death on canvas A Montreal nurse paints
the faces of a forgotten war
Through this experience, the difference between
being a touristand a humanitarian became
apparent to me - and I knew whichI wanted to be.
Archer, Laura (2007), Humanitarians among
Us,UPEI Magazine, Summer, pp. 10-12.
75
Kidnapped!
Catherine Solyom, Canadian aid worker
kidnapped, Canwest News Service, March 13,
2009. 
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Freed!
Montreal nurse and three others freed after two
days ofcaptivity in Darfur, The Canadian Press,
March 13, 2009.
78
(No Transcript)
79
Eastern Chad

• Well-armed rebels
• Highway bandits
• 82 vehicles hijacked or stolen since Oct. 2005
• Level-E duty station (UN)

Harr, Jonathan (2009), Lives of the Saints, The
New Yorker, January 5, pp. 47-59.
80
Eastern Chad
In May (2008), a Frenchman named PascalMarlinge
was travelling in a convoy of three vehicles on
the Farchana road. He was forty-nine years old,
the director of Save the ChildrenU.K. in Chad.
His convoy was stopped by threearmed men. One
of them shot him in the head,killing him. No
one else was injured.
Harr, Jonathan (2009), Lives of the Saints, The
New Yorker, January 5, p. 59.
81
Profile of aid workers

• Young, well-educated
• In search of adventure in an exotic locale
• Inspired by a vague desire to do good

Harr, Jonathan (2009), Lives of the Saints, The
New Yorker, January 5, pp. 47-59.
82
Categories of aid workers

1. Runners fleeing past lives
2. Seekers looking for adventure
   or enlightenment

Harr, Jonathan (2009), Lives of the Saints, The
New Yorker, January 5, pp. 47-59.
83
Three Ms

• Missionaries
• Misfits
• Mercenaries
• tax-free salaries
• hardship pay
• expenses covered
• vacation time

Harr, Jonathan (2009), Lives of the Saints, The
New Yorker, January 5, pp. 47-59.
84
Skills and Competencies

• Technical knowledge
• Soft skills (leadership, communication)
• Motives

85

• What skills and attributes are required to be a
  successful humanitarian logistician?

86

• Part of a project addressing a question posed by
  the President of the Womens Institute for
  Supply-Chain Excellence (WISE)
• Why are there so few female humanitarian
  logisticians?
• In many NGOs, the gender balance is 5050 or
  6040 in favour of females except in logistics,
  where the ratio is 2575 at best.
• WISE Is this due to HR policies (e.g.
  recruitment, retention, etc.) or due to external
  factors?

87

• NGO as proxy for those affected by disaster who
  are unwilling or unable to articulate their
  needs.
• Greater presence of female humanitarian
  logisticians would be of value in
• Improving quality of logistics decisions that may
  fail to consider needs and concerns of female
  beneficiaries.
• Reaching female beneficiaries given cultural
  sensitivities in many areas of the world.

88
Existing research on logistics skills and
attributes

• Training education programmes (Mangan et al
  2001)
• Career development (Murphy Poist 2007)
• Logisticians vs. supply chain managers
  (Gammelgaard Larson 2001)
• Logistics, business and problem solving skills
  (Mangan Christopher 2005)
• supply chain managers regard themselves as
  managers first and logisticians second
• Market winning vs. market entry skills?

89
Breakdown of Skill Sets within the T shaped
model
General Mgmt Skills Functional Logistics Skills Problem Solving Skills Inter-personal Skills
Finance Accounting Legal Problem Identification Listening
Information Technology Customs, Import Export Information Gathering Oral Comm.
Change Mgt Transport. Mgmt Problem Analysis Written Comm.
Marketing Inventory Mgmt Information Sharing People Mgmt
Project Mgmt Warehousing Problem Solving Mtg Facilitation
Strategic Mgt Purchasing Procurement Negotiation
CRM Forecasting Stress Mgmt
SRM Reverse Logistics HRM
Risk Mgmt Port/Airport Mgmt Leadership
Logistics IS
90
Content Analysis Hum. Logistics Job Vacancy
Notices

• ReliefWeb (managed by UN Office of Coordination
  of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA)
• gt1,000 VNs each month, of which some 20 are for
  logisticians.
• 62 VNs analysed covering Oct.-Dec. 2009.
• In same period only 4 VNs sought people with
  SCM skills!!

http//www.reliefweb.int
91
Administrator / Logistician Enfants du Monde -
Droits de l'Homme (EMDH) Closing date 31 May
2010Location Sudan (the) Programme As part
of the implementation of the mandate of Children
of the World Human Rights in the concerned
country and in compliance with EMDH rules and
procedures and national laws, he/she is
responsible for- ensuring smooth management of
administrative, financial, logistics and HR
aspects of the mission capitalizing EMDH
previous experiences and knowledge of the
country sharing tools and expertise- ensuring
smooth management of equipment and supplies of
the program- ensuring security of human and
material resources- implementation of the
financial and administrative strategy . . .
92
Methodology

• 3 independent coders
• Two pilot rounds which led to amplification of
  skill sets within T shaped model and additional
  skills
• Overarching rule was to code manifest (as
  distinct from latent) content

93
General Management Skills Functional Logistics Skills Problem Solving Skills Interpersonal Skills Additional Skills
Finance Accounting (inc Budget Mgmt) Legal Problem Identification Listening Reporting
Management of Information Technology Customs, Import and Export Information Gathering Oral Communication Emergency Preparedness
Change Management Transport Management Problem Analysis Written Communication Training of Others
Marketing Inventory Asset Management Information Sharing People ( Line) Management Fleet Management
Project Management Warehousing Problem Solving Meeting Facilitation Liaison with Others
Strategic Management Purchasing Procurement Negotiation Design and Implementation of policies, procedures and standards
CRM Forecasting Personal Stress Management Security management
SRM Reverse Logistics Human Resource Management (e.g. Recruiting) Mechanics and maintenance
Risk Management Port/Airport Mgt Leadership Team player
Logistics Information Systems Ability to work independently
IS literacy
Premises Management
Working Under Pressure/In a Harsh Environment
Knowledge of Donor Regulations
Ethical Conduct
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95

• Due to hierarchical/nested content of some
  categories (e.g. problem solving and
  inter-personal skills), overall inter-coder
  reliability 0.76 (vs. target of 0.85).
• T shaped model needs to be amended to reflect
  specific requirements of humanitarian logistics
  jobs, e.g. security, management of communication
  systems, premises management.

96
Next Steps

• Amend T shaped model to Pi (p) shaped variant
  to include a broader range of skill requirements
  for the humanitarian logistician
• Develop rules for coding hierarchical sets
• Apply process to January-March 2010
• Due to Haiti Earthquake and famine in South
  Sudan, number of VNs has doubled
• To differentiate better between skills required
  by logisticians in rapid vs. slow onset scenarios

97
Further Research

• What is the motivation for humanitarian
  logisticians to work for low pay in challenging
  conditions?
• Interview those who have been recruited to a job
  that is part of our data set to ascertain
  differences (if any) between advertised job and
  reality.
• Interview NGOs to understand relative weighting
  between the skills/attributes.

98
Research Opportunities

• Empirical (case studies and surveys)
• Relationship model
• Risk management model
• Modelling
• Forecasting requirements
• Pre-positioning
• Facility location
• Transportationmodes and routes

99
?
larson_at_cc.umanitoba.ca