Humanitarian relief supply chains: A systematic review using grounded theory approach

Abstract

Purpose – the paper aims to discuss the literature on relief supply chains and to describe the current workings and research trends in this given field. This paper also gives the guidelines for future research in relief supply chain management.

Design/Methodology – The authors use grounded theory analysis process to review the existing literature systematically, and presenting gaps and recommendations for further research.

Findings – A unique framework to classify and to present the literature is provided with the mixture of systematic analysis and grounded theory approach. The study reveals that humanitarian relief supply chain is an upcoming topic which has gained focus in recent years and currently this focus is only on identifying the problems in this field. At the same time, the focus is only on the response phase of the disaster management. The authors suggest that future researchers should move their focus on preparedness phase and should develop the frameworks/models to tackle the different problems.

Research limitations/implications – This paper does not include the papers which are not peer reviewed and which are published before 1995. Practical implications – This paper will serve as a guide to Supply Chain and Disaster Management professionals who would like to know about the current trends and existing ways to handle the relief supply chains.

Originality/Value – the authors analyze broader set of papers 185 ever covered in previous literature reviews on this topic. This paper is also the first in humanitarian supply chain management to use the grounded theory analysis as the main methodology to analyze the literature in a structured way.