Agility and resource dependency in ramp-up process of humanitarian organizations

• Published date: 12 August 2019
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-05-2018-0119
• Date: 12 August 2019
• Pages: 845-862
• Author: Qing Lu,Jie Wu,Mark Goh,Robert De Souza
• Subject Matter: Management science & operations

Agility and resource dependency

in ramp-up process of

humanitarian organizations

Qing Lu

Department of Logistics Management,

Izmir University of Economics, Izmir, Turkey

Jie Wu

Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau, Taipa, Macau

Mark Goh

Business School, The Logistics Institute –Asia Pacific,

National University of Singapore, Singapore, and

Robert De Souza

The Logistics Institute –Asia Pacific, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Abstract

Purpose –The ramp-up in humanitarian logistics operations is a stage when the demand surges, often at the

start of an emergency. In response, agility is a key strategy used by the humanitarian organizations (HOs).

However, the HOs are constrained by their existing resources and have to respond in the ramp-up process

under their resource dependency. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework on agility-building

strategies used by HOs for the ramp-up.

Design/methodology/approach –This study applies both the dynamic capabilities perspective and

resource dependence theory to humanitarian relief operations, and develops four testable propositions to

explore the agility-building strategies of the HOs for the ramp-up process. A multiple-case study is conducted

on six international HOs operating in Indonesia to verify them, in addition to an extensive literature search.

Findings –The case study shows that the human resource management, pre-positioning, standardization

and supplier management of the HOs are all related to their resources and environment in the ramp-up

process. The authors highlight the practical differences between the few super large, resource rich and

centralized HOs with the second-tier HOs.

Research limitations/implications –Given the small sample size and single country as the site of study,

some findings may not be applicable to the other HOs or in other regions.

Practical implications –The propositions could be applicable to other HOs operating under similar

environments, and potentially to the commercial enterprises operating in a highly volatile environment with

severe resource scarcity.

Originality/value –This study provides new insights into ramp-up operations and into how HOs build their

agility and reduce their resource dependencies. Theoretically, the paper applies two established theories in the

strategic management literature to a new field.

Keywords Strategic management, Humanitarian logistics, Emergency preparedness, Agility strategy,

Dynamic capabilities, Resource dependency, Ramp-up process

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

For the past few decades the increasing impact and complexity of natural and manmade

disasters have pressured humanitarian organizations (HOs) to improve the effectiveness

and efficiency of their relief operations (IFRC, 2016). The pressure has reached the greatest

in the ramp-up stage when there is a surge in demand for relief supplies and other resources The International Journal of

Logistics Management

Vol. 30 No. 3, 2019

pp. 845-862

© Emerald PublishingLimited

0957-4093

DOI 10.1108/IJLM-05-2018-0119

Received 8 May 2018

Revised 20 February 2019

Accepted 19 May 2019

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-4093.htm

The authors express their gratitude and appreciation to all organizations and individuals supporting

this study. The early version of this study has been presented on the 22nd International Symposium on

Logistics (ISL2017).

845

Agility and

resource

dependency

such as manpower (Tomasini and Van Wassenhove, 2009). Such pressure has called for the

use of appropriate strategies in the HOs to prepare ahead before the start of an emergency

(Scholten et al., 2010). In response, many HOs have started to apply commercial supply chain

management strategies and practices in their logistics operations for more effective

preparation. One of these strategies is agility, the organizational ability to respond to

external changes rapidly. It has been identified as a key to effective humanitarian logistics

operations (Oloruntoba and Kovács, 2015).

Notwithstanding that the literature has a consensus on the importance of agility strategy

in humanitarian relief operations (Scholten et al., 2010), there have been very few empirically

validated studies of agility in humanitarian logistics (Oloruntoba and Kovács, 2015). And

most of the scholarly works in the field are based on only a few super large global HOs such

as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Federation of Red Cross and

Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) (e.g. L’Hermitte et al., 2016). It has been proposed that the

IFRC’s Emergency Response Unit (ERU) is an example of the best practices for improving

the responsiveness of HOs ( Jahre and Fabbe-Costes, 2015), but its methods may not be

workable for a smaller second-tier HO with a decentralized structure and less funding.

There has been much interest in applying quantitative models to the fieldof humanitarian

logistics in recent years (Van Wassenhove and Pedraza-Martinez, 2012; Gupta et al., 2016).

Many sophisticated models havebeen developed on stock pre-positioning and facility location

in the preparation stage (e.g. Rezaei-Malek et al., 2016; Manopiniwes and Irohara, 2017).

However, those models may not be applicable for many of the second-tier HOs, as they

typically are resource-light with limited funding (Oloruntoba and Kovács, 2015). Therefore,

gaining an appreciation of how the different types of HOs build their agility internally and

leverage external resources to respond effectively in the ramp-up process would definitely

help to inform the body of knowledge and the community of practices.

Unlike the few centralized, super-large HOs linked to governments or multinational

organizations(e.g. the UN), second-tier HOsare typically decentralizedby region and country,

with more development programs being conducted at the country level. Being resource-light

without manydedicated resources for emergencyoperations, their budgets forpre-positioning

and ramp-up operations are limited. To compensate for the shortage of tangible resources,

these HOs have to rely moreon their intangible capabilities,leveraging resources from within

and outside of the organization in ramp-up operations. The dynamic capabilities perspective

(DCP) is a powerful theoretical tool in strategic management (Teece and Pisano, 1994;

Teece et al., 1997), which such HOs can apply to develop appropriate agility-building

strategies in their ramp-up operations (Oloruntobaand Kovács, 2015). In addition tothe DCP,

resource dependence theory (RDT) can assess the fit between the HO agility-building

strategies and existing resources, capabilities and constraints (Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978).

Both the DCP and RDT wereapplied to the ramp-up process investigation in this study,and

that led to four testable propositions. They were then validated in a field study in Indonesia

involving total six HOs, one super-large and five second-tier ones.

Practically, this study extends the scope of the current HO agility literature. Several recent

humanitarian logistics studies have sought to integrate the preparedness stage with emergency

response for the most realistic solution (e.g. Manopiniwes and Irohara, 2017; Wang et al., 2018).

Most such studies have remained on the operational level and their findings are more suitable for

government agencies or for a few super-large HOs with loose resource constraints. This study, in

contrast, has focused more on the strategic responses of second-tier HOs under various resource

constraints. Its findings may therefore have greater applicability to the field of humanitarian

operations. They provide some new insights into ramp-up operations and into how HOs build

their agility and reduce their resource dependencies. The findings of this study can be applied to

the other second-tier HOs operating under similar environments, and potentially to commercial

enterprises operating in a highly volatile environment with severe resource scarcity.

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