Kumar, P, Singh, RK and Shahgholian, A (2022) Learnings from COVID-19 for Managing Humanitarian Supply Chains: Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Directions. Annals of Operations Research. ISSN 0254-5330

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been experienced as the most significant global disaster after the Spanish flue in 1918. Millions of people lost their life due to a lack of preparedness and ineffective strategies for managing humanitarian supply chains (HSC). Based on the learnings from this pandemic outbreak, different strategies for managing the effective HSC have been explored in the present context of pandemics through a systematic literature review. The findings highlight some of the major challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as lack of planning and preparedness, extended shortages of essential lifesaving items, inadequate lab capacity, lack of transparency and visibility, inefficient distribution network, high response time, dependencies on single sourcing for the medical equipment and medicines, lack of the right information on time, and lack of awareness about the protocol for the treatment of the viral disease. Some of the significant learnings observed from this analysis are the use of multiple sourcing of essential items, joint procurement, improving collaboration among all stakeholders, applications of IoT and blockchain technologies for improving tracking and traceability of essential commodities, application of data analytics tools for accurate prediction of next possible COVID wave/disruptions and optimization of distribution network. Limited studies are focused on finding solutions to these problems in managing HSC. Therefore, as a future scope, researchers could find solutions to optimizing the distribution network in context to pandemics, improving tracing and tracking of items during sudden demand, improving trust and collaborations among different agencies involved in HSC.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-022-04753-w
Uncontrolled Keywords:	01 Mathematical Sciences, 08 Information and Computing Sciences, 15 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5001 Business H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5001 Business > HF5410 Marketing. Distribution of Products Q Science > QA Mathematics
Divisions:	Business & Management (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	Springer
Date Deposited:	01 Dec 2021 11:46
Last Modified:	08 Jun 2023 00:50
DOI or ID number:	10.1007/s10479-022-04753-w
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/15851

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