Operational excellence in humanitarian logistics and supply chain management through leagile framework: a case study from a non-mature economy

Past few years have continuously seen an increase in intensity and frequency of climate-related disasters in non-mature economies. Most of these losses can be attributed to inefficient and ineffective management of humanitarian logistics and supply chains during the preparedness, response and reconstruction phases of disaster relief operations. Previous researches have focussed primarily either on the response phase of humanitarian logistics or on the humanitarian supply chain coordination issues mostly within international or local NGOs. We present results of a research on how a novel integrated lean and agile (leagile) framework could be employed to efficiently and effectively manage humanitarian logistics and supply chain management (HLSCM) in a local jurisdiction (i.e. public sector) of a disaster-hit region in a non-mature economy. Through this leagile framework, we identify inefficiencies and opportunities of improvement in HLSCM. Our recommendations can be used by both public and private sector organisations dealing with humanitarian emergencies to increase the efficiency of their response and performance during a disaster. Our research also informs guiding principles of UN Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction to include a leagile framework for achieving both effective and efficient responses to disasters in its priorities for action. We further suggest future research agenda in this field in order to augment the resilience of both public and private organisations.