HUMLOG at POMS 2023

The Production and Operations Management Conference is organized by POMS, the Production and Operations Management Society, as an international conference intended to exchange novel ideas, methods, and developments in the production and operations world. The conference includes high quality invited research sessions, doctoral consortiums, workshops, tutorials, and subject specific mini-conferences. This year the HUMLOG Institute is taking part in 6 sessions centered on a variety of topics. Take a look below at the topics presented this year by researchers from HUMLOG.

Read more about the conference on the conference website here!

Panel: Teaching Humanitarian Operations

Drawing from a panel of experience and diverse experts from acound the academic spectrum, the session is teaches strategies for courses in and on humanitarian operations, humanitarian logistics, and resilience. The panel concentrates on topics, materials, risks, and best teaching practices. 

HUMLOG Researchers:

Collaborating Researchers:

  • Harwin De Vries, Assistant Professor, Rotterdam School of Management, Netherlands
  • Maria Besiou, Professor, Kuehne Logistics University, Germany
  • Jarrod Goentzel, Senior Lecturer, MIT, United States
  • Joakim Kembro, Associate Professor, Lund University, Sweden

Environmental sustainability through waste management in humanitarian contexts

Environmental sustainability is an emerging concept in humanitarian contexts. Through an extensive review of grey and academic literature and an empirical study, this paper provides a framework of theoretical and practical solutions for greening the humanitarian supply chain. Particularly procurement, local action, and collaboration are highlighted as recommended action.

HUMLOG Researchers:

Standards and Cooperation in the Humanitarian Sector: Distributing Food in the Sahel

This mixed-methods research explores the impact of standards on cooperation in humanitarian supply chains. Collaboration and cooperation across multiple actors and facilitating factors are discussed in the context of therapeutic food distribution against chronic malnutrition in the Sahel region between 2012 and 2022.

HUMLOG Researchers:

Sustainable energy transition in humanitarian medical cold chains

This research uses the panarchy theory to analyze the vaccination trial in South Sudan in 2023. Through an in-depth case study, we aim to understand the principles forresilience and sustainability thinking that influence the narrative of using sustainable energy in humanitarian cold chains.

HUMLOG Researchers: 

Collaborating Researchers: 

  • Andreas Wieland , Associate Professor, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
  • Arni Halldorsson, Professor, Charmers Institute of Technology, Sweden 

Revisiting the definition of humanitarian logistics

Humanitarian logistics (HL) is a relatively new but increasingly important research area that relies on conceptual definitions from the early 2000s. We revisit and offer a revised definition of HL by combining the insights from a survey of academic research and an expert elicitation process over multiple rounds.

HUMLOG Researchers: 

Collaborating Researchers: 

  • Joakim Kembro, Associate Professor, Lund University, Sweden
  • Nathan Kunz, Associate Professor, University of North Florida, United States 
  • Lina Frennesson, Student, Lund University, Sweden

Process modularity, supply chain responsiveness, and moderators

This research describes how Doctors without Borders (MSF) employed process modularity to maintain supply chain responsiveness during the Covid19 pandemic. Eight moderators that affect the impact of process modularity on supply chain responsiveness are presented and the applicability of process modularity in other humanitarian organizations is investigated.

HUMLOG Researchers: 

Collaborating Researchers:

  • Harwin De Vries, Assistant Professor, Rotterdam School of Management, Netherlands
  • Joakim Kembro, Associate Professor, Lund University, Sweden