Logistic Management In Disasters Discussion Responses to classmates’ postings include content that is thoughtful and address all issues clearly and compreh
Logistic Management In Disasters Discussion Responses to classmates’ postings include content that is thoughtful and address all issues clearly and comprehensively; references provided for each post. please have a look on the posts. Discussion Board Response or Comment
Logistic Management in Disasters
This assignment is for the Discussion Board.
Check the two posts and write a respond separately to their threads “meaning two posts”, the
response must be substantive and contain new ideas or information that adds and support the
discussion. Faculty will assign points based on quality of response. Exemplary responses
demonstrate insight, contain additional references “APA”, show extraordinary effort, promote
dialoguing, etc.
Responses to classmates’ postings include content that is thoughtful and address all issues
clearly and comprehensively; references provided
Respond to two of classmates posts
1- Improving Supply Chain Responsiveness
As it were all parties in a humanitarian response are connected by Supply chain. Such activities
like communication and information flow, transport infrastructure and scheduling activities.
However in most cases supply chain response is not as expected because of disjointed response.
Responsiveness improvement will have a positive impact to the supply chain. For instance, rapid
communication will relay the necessary information within shortest time and hence prompting
quicker action. Quick response in terms of materials supply will ensure that the victims have
clothes, shelter and food and hence alleviate suffering. When volunteers and other responders are
within reach from command center, it becomes easy to call them when emergency arises (HolguinVeras, et al., 2013). A good case of a disaster where improving response is well demonstrated
is 9/11 attack. In post disaster review, it was found that corporates alone cannot mount an
effective preparation for disasters of such magnitude. In this case therefore disaster
responsiveness improvement was necessary through collaborative effort with other parties
such as federal agencies, and NGOs.
References
Holguin-Veras, J. O. S. É., Jaller, M., & Wachtendorf, T. (2013). Improving postdisaster
humanitarian logistics. TR News, 4-10.
It is evident during the event of supplying critical goods required to assist those who are
affected by disasters; there are a lot of challenges that face the delivery. When the goods and
services are not delivered at the right time in the scenes that leads to failure in effective response
of the disaster. The humanitarian logistics require proper planning for the mitigation, detection,
response, and recovery in a disaster. The logistics are known to account for 60% to 80 % of
expenditure. It is evident that all those involved in the relief operation are connected by relatively
fragile supply chains.
There are challenging facing with the supply chain of humanitarian relief. One challenge
is to create a flexible and adaptive supply chain in the upcoming uncertain world. The supply
networks are known to be more complex and vulnerable. There has also been an acceleration of
rate in the advancement of the technology that has introduced unprecedented and unanticipated
opportunities to interfere with human life. Another challenge is the issue of global power shifts
and conflicts that generate new threats to humanitarian logistics (James, 2017). Such issues have
raised more weaknesses in the humanitarian supply chain such. There are also various challenges
being faced by organizations that are inadequate finances, ambiguous objectives, limited
resources, high uncertainty, extreme urgency and political boundaries.
The business best practices are also experiencing changes. Those changes are causing
hardship to the commercial supply chains. Most of the organization develop plans to protect
themselves against low impact and recurrent risks and fail to plan on high impact low likelihood
risks. The commercial supply chains are the ones used by humanitarian organizations, and they
end up failing them terribly (Santos & Howard, 2017). The commercials supply chain fail to
recognize the high impacts that are caused by low likelihood risks. Such risks need to be realized
by the commercial suppliers for them to be held accountable in case they fail in their operation of
supplying the goods and services required by the humanitarian organizations.
It is essential to understand there must be plans set to counter the adverse effects brought
by those challenges in the supply of goods and services. There are steps to be followed when the
humanitarian logistics have to be accomplished. The humanitarian logistic relief engages in five
phases that are planning, mitigation, detection, response, and recovery (James, 2017). There are
steps for each phase. In the planning, there is the implementation of the relief plan. During
mitigation, there is the establishment of a continuous improvement process.
An example of a disaster that has recently occurred in the United States is the hurricane
that occurred on October 2, 2017. The hurricane happened in Florida and Puerto Rico that
claimed the lives of 5,740 people. There was a power crisis since the hurricane knocked down
the entire power grid that resulted in a total blackout in the areas. The hurricane was named as
hurricane Maria. The response to the hurricane disaster was not up to the standards since various
challenges faced it and this could have led to the high number of deaths witnessed (Santos &
Howard, 2017). The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s proved not to be prepared to
handle the disaster in advance. They failed to send goods and services to the scene in time. The
challenges were poor management of the resources they had for the disaster.
The lack of resources was because FEMA failed to plan adequately for the food and fresh
water that was needed in case of such occurrence. Getting to the islands was also a challenge that
they never planned for in advance. The response showed that there was a chaotic and
disorganized relief effort on the islands and logistical problems occupied the response.
References
James, E. (2017). Prelims – Managing Humanitarian Relief. Managing Humanitarian Relief
–
2nd Edition, i-xxxii. doi:10.3362/9781780449029.000
Santos, A. R., & Howard, J. T. (2017). Estimates of excess deaths in Puerto Rico
following
Hurricane Maria. doi:10.31235/osf.io/s7dmu
Responsiveness is a critical term, especially in humanitarian fields. It denotes the act of
being able to meet the needs of a new and sudden situation or to adjust when
conditions are altered quickly. It calls or the need for a system to be able to resume
normal activities even after a certain undue delay. It is almost expected that
organizations should be able to provide efficient and more effective preparatory
procedures just in case a terrible situation presents itself.
Improving responsiveness has various impacts but most of them positive. In
response to disasters, the article reports that industry alone cannot be able to supply
the right solutions to deal with disasters when they occur. Responsiveness requires a
collaborative approach to be able to meet both short-term and long-term goals. This is
because it enables industries to allocate funds for any eventualities and therefore
doesn’t come as a surprise event. Moreover, improving responsiveness reduces the
likelihood of adverse effects for instance in the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, had
there been advanced preparations to deal with such disaster effects would not have
been too dire. Additionally, responsiveness improves the act of flexibility and agility, and
this makes industry players efficient in their day to day dealings.
On the other hand, improving responsiveness may curtail other activities of an
organization. For instance, there may be overindulgence on how to deal with
foreseeable disasters. People may end up focusing too much on the impending
problems rather than the supply chain activities. The humanitarian community agrees
that relief and supply chain are both complex aspects that require extra attention.
References
Menzies III, J. T. J., & Helferich, O. K. (2013). Humanitarian Relief and Broken Supply
Chains:
Advancing Logistics Performance. TR News, (287).
Humanitarian supply chain management The HSCM involves managing the different
factors in the system to reduce the impact for the people who are affected by the
disaster. The HSCM and the commercial supply chain management (CSCM) are
different in their motives and operating conditions. The main task is to mobilize the
goods, finance and to administer the services to the beneficiaries. Disaster relief
requires the activities in many dimensions, such as rescue efforts, health, and medical
assistance, food, shelter, and long term relief activities. The success of any relief
activity depends heavily on the logistical operations of the supply delivery (de la
Torre et al., 2011). The systematic use of policy instruments to deliver humanitarian
assistance in a cohesive and effective manner. Such instruments include • strategic
planning • gathering data and managing information • mobilizing resources and
assuring accountability • orchestrating a functional division of labor in the field •
negotiating and with host political authorities • providing leadership maintaining a
serviceable framework.
For example, Hurricane Katrina On August 29, 2005. Hurricane Katrina was a slowonset, localized disaster and one of the most devastating and costly hurricanes to
strike the United States. due to failed infrastructure and lack of planning for needed
supplies to be delivered to the affected area, approximately 1,700 people were dead, 1
million persons were displaced, and an estimated $135 billion in damage along the
Gulf coast was incurred. Humanitarian supply chain management explains that the
supply chain disruptions impact to the disaster could pose a significant risk and
financial difficulties
Reference:
Moberg, C. R. (2005). Improving supply chain disaster preparedness. International
Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 35(3), 195-207. DOI:
10.1108/09600030510594576
John, L., Ramesh, A., & Sridharan, R. (2012). Humanitarian supply chain
management: A critical review Inderscience Publishers Ltd.
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