A model to define and assess the agility of supply chains: building on humanitarian experience

Aurélie Charles · Matthieu Lauras · Luk Noel Van Wassenhove

264 citations0/0 files storedInternational Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

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Collaboration in agile enterprises Quality and Supply Management Supply Chain Resilience and Risk Management

Abstract

Purpose By constantly working in environments with high degree of uncertainty, humanitarian organizations end up becoming specialists in the implementation of agile systems. Their counterparts in profit‐making organizations have a lot to learn from them in this domain. Volatility of demand, imbalance between supply and demand and disruptions are all factors that affect commercial supply chains and call for a high level of agility. The aims of this paper are twofold: first, to clearly define the concept of supply chain agility, and second, to build a model for assessing the level of agility of a supply chain. Design/methodology/approach Three approaches are used in this research: literature review, case study and symbolic modeling. Findings The paper developed first, a framework for defining supply chain agility and second, a model for assessing and improving the capabilities of humanitarian and commercial supply chains in terms of agility, based on an analysis of humanitarian approaches. Research limitations/implications The model has been developed thanks to inputs from humanitarian practitioners and feedbacks from academics. The practical application to various humanitarian relief operations and commercial supply chains is yet to be done. Originality/value This paper contributes significantly to clarifying the notion of supply chain agility. It also provides a consistent, robust and reproducible method of assessing supply chain agility, which seems appropriate for both humanitarian and business sectors. Finally, it is complementary to existant research on humanitarian logistics. It shows that though humanitarian professionals have a lot to learn from the private sector, the reverse is also true.

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References

1984Case Study Research: Design and Methods 2004Building the Resilient Supply Chain 2006Humanitarian aid logistics: supply chain management in high gear 2004Mitigating supply chain risk through improved confidence 2024The Triple-A Supply Chain 1999Agile manufacturing:2005The antecedents of supply chain agility of a firm: Scale development and model testing 1999A methodology for achieving agility in manufacturing organisations: An introduction

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2016Supply chain capabilities, risks, and resilience 2012Dealing with supply chain risks 2018Agility and resilience as antecedents of supply chain performance under moderating effects of organizational culture within the humanitarian setting: a dynamic capability view 2022Impact of artificial intelligence-driven big data analytics culture on agility and resilience in humanitarian supply chain: A practice-based view 2014Literature review of humanitarian logistics research: trends and challenges

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