Master thesis Supply Chain Management

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Master thesis Supply Chain Management

‘Organizational characteristics: the root cause of migration problems?’

Faculty of Economics and Business University of Groningen

June 22nd_{, 2018}

Roberto David Student number S3031837 r.a.david.1@student.rug.nl

Supervisor and first assessor: Dr. K. (Kirstin) Scholten Second Assessor: Dr. O.A. (Onur) Kilic

Wordcount (excluding tables and references): 11.986 words

Abstract: Organizational characteristics have found to be able to affect the service supply chain management performance. However, it was argued that there are several organizational

characteristics, as well as several service supply chain performance dimensions. The aim of this research was to identify ‘how and when’ each organizational characteristic influences each dimension within service supply chain management. In order to do so, it applied case research and thereby analyzed reports from 9 organizations within the humanitarian context who greatly differed in characteristics. The findings section showed all mechanisms that enable the organizational characteristics to influence each service supply chain management performance dimension and ultimately provides a comprehensive overview of this relationship. Next to the theoretical contribution, this research also provides NGO’s, governmental organizations and businesses incentives to overcome barriers within the humanitarian context by showing how they can improve their service supply chain management performance.

Keywords: Service supply chains, humanitarian context, organizational characteristics, service supply chain management performance dimensions, non-governmental organizations, businesses,

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2 Table of contents

1. Introduction ... 3

2. Theoretical background ... 5

2.1 Service supply chain management performance dimensions ... 5

2.1.1 Quality ... 10 2.1.2 Flexibility ... 10 2.1.3 Resource utilization... 11 2.1.4 Innovation ... 12 2.1.5 Competitiveness ... 12 2.1.6 Financial ... 13 2.2 Organizational characteristics ... 14 2.3 Humanitarian context ... 17 3. Method section ... 19

3.1 Defining the method ... 19

3.2 Setting selection ... 19 3.3 Case selection ... 20 3.4 Data collection ... 22 3.5 Data analysis ... 25 4. Findings ... 26 4.1 Quality ... 28 4.2 Flexibility ... 31 4.3 Resource utilization ... 33 4.4 Financial ... 35

4.5 Competitiveness and innovation ... 36

5. Discussion ... 37

5.1 Service supply chain management performance dimensions ... 37

6. Conclusion ... 39

6.1 Managerial implications ... 39

6.2 Limitations and further research ... 40

6.3 Acknowledgements ... 40

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3 1. Introduction

Throughout the last 3 years, approximately 1.6 million refugees have fled to the European Union due to issues in their home country (UNHCR, 2018). Service organizations, who operate within this humanitarian context to ‘’minimize human suffering and to meet the basic needs of the customer’’ (Balcik & Beamon, 2008, p.1), try to fulfill these different service requirements in the form of e.g. medical services, legal services and security services for various reasons (Van Wassenhove, 2006). Especially due to the nature of the humanitarian context and because stakes are high, it is essential that the service supply chains of these organizations are well managed in order to avoid vital mistakes (Van Wassenhove, 2006). However, after researching how organizations perform within this context, it was found that their efficiency and effectiveness is far from optimal (Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert, 2017).

An underlying reason found in literature that can explain this underperformance is that the humanitarian context is characterized by a vast variety of organizations with differences in characteristics such as status, culture and stakeholder power (Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert, 2017). These differences make it that for example a non-governmental organization is not willing to share information within this context since it otherwise appears to lose their neutral status (Clarke, 1998). The same principle applies to the differences in culture, which has been found to have the ability to block collaboration efforts with crucial partners (Tatham & Kovács, 2007). These consequences subsequently result in limited visibility and therefore service supply chain management ability within this context (Skjøtt-Larsen, Schary, Mikkola, & Kotzab, 2007). But also outside the firm, organizational characteristics such as the power of stakeholders appear to have the ability to let organizations make decisions which are rather political than optimal (Boland & Fowler, 2000) (Clarke, 1998). Already recognized from the study of DiMaggio & Powell (1983), it was found that organizational characteristics could result in (1) actions that are more symbolic than effective (2) less efficiency and (3) a reduction of organizational change (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). Organizational characteristics have therefore also been broadly referred to as organizational influences (Dahl & Simon, 1957) (Magnier‐Watanabe & Senoo, 2008), and thereby have the ability to limit service supply chain management (Cho, Lee, Ahn, & Hwang, 2012).

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4 laying, an insight which still lacks knowledge nowadays (Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert, 2017). This has led to the following research question for this thesis:

‘’ How do organizational characteristics influence service supply chain management performance dimensions within the humanitarian context’’

Drawing on publically available documents of organizations, this thesis aims to extend the knowledge on this topic by providing theoretical insights on how each organizational characteristic has the ability to influence each service supply chain management performance dimension, and furthermore to understand what the impact of this is within the humanitarian context. Moreover, it can provide organizations within the humanitarian context insights on how to enhance the serviceability by showing where there is potential to improve. It has been found that this can ultimately enable organizations to satisfy the increasing pressure of stakeholders nowadays (Rueede & Kreutzer, 2015)

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5 2. Theoretical background

2.1 Service supply chain management performance dimensions

Service organizations have become a big part of the world's’ economy nowadays (Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012); the aim of these organizations is to deliver an excellent customer experience for various reasons (Tax, McCutcheon, & Wilkinson, 2013) such as making profit, satisfying stakeholders or to reach objectives that the organizations was founded for (Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert, 2017). These organizations often work in a service supply chain, which is “the network of suppliers, service

providers, consumers and other supporting units that performs the functions of transaction of resources required to produce services; transformation of these resources into supporting and core services; and the delivery of these services to customers.” (Baltacioglu, et al., 2007, p.112). Even though this

definition and the service setting show similarities compared to the manufacturing setting, Thomas and Kopczak (2005) argue that the two differ with respect to characteristics.

The first characteristic that only services have is that they are intangible, which makes it that it cannot be held in stock if needed. This subsequently results in the fact that inventory flexibility is impossible to obtain (Armistead & Clark, 1994). Moreover, service are perishable, which make it that critical value can be lost when it has not been used as is shown when not selling a hotel room or airline seat (Moeller, 2010). Furthermore, services are also heterogeneous, which makes it that every service delivery can be perceived differently and therefore, standardization is difficult to obtain (Moeller, 2010). Lastly, it is also shown that services are inseparable, so the moment of production (;providing the service) is also the moment of delivery and can significantly influence how the service is perceived by the customer (Edvardsson, Gustafsson, & Roos, 2005). Next to these specific service characteristics, literature also stresses that from the customer side, there is high variability in every customer that service organization has to deal with regarding the requests of the customer, the arrival time of the customer, the capabilities to understand aspects, the efforts and their subjective preferences (Crandall and Markland, 1996). Literature broadly outlines and discusses these differences since it has been shown that they can limit the ability to manage these service supply chains (Edvardsson, Gustafsson, & Roos, 2005). Subsequently, they result in the fact that service supply chain management, which is ‘’the management

of information, processes, capacity, service performance and funds from the earliest supplier to the ultimate customer’’ (Ellram et al., 2004, p.25), is considered to be more complex to manage compared

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6 However, because of the aforementioned characteristics of services, an outlining of performance dimensions for service supply chain management lacked throughout the years compared to the manufacturing sector (van Ark, O'Mahony & Timmer, 2008). Most attempts were to apply existing supply chain management performance dimensions from the manufacturing setting into the service setting as is shown in the SCOR-model (Stentoft Arlbjørn, Vagn Freytag & de Haas, 2011), or to create service supply chain management performance dimensions from the customer point of view, as is shown in the SERVQUAL-model (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Malhotra, 2005). This latter model assesses the reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, responsiveness and responsiveness from the customer point of view, though it has been argued that this model is rather subjective and does not give sufficient feedback for organizations (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Malhotra, 2005). Because of the critics on previous models within the service setting, Boon-itt & Pongpanarat (2011) recognized that service supply chain management need a separate framework, which reflect on performance dimensions from the organizational point of view that take these characteristics into account.

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Service supply chain management performance dimension based on Fitzgerald (1994)/literature view

Literature view

Quality

Based on meeting expectations of the customer (Fitzgerald, 1994)

Based on strength of the partnerships (quantitatively) (Feng et al. 2011)

Based on the evaluation of the customer encounter

(Giannakis, 2011)

Organizational point of view, operationalized by Fitzgerald (1994) and Cho, Lee, Ahn &

Hwang (2012, p.804): -Responding to the needs of the customer or not - The willingness to help

- The cleanliness of the service - The way of communicating

- Availability and security that the service offers

Organizational point of view, operationalized by Feng et al. (2011): -Number of partnerships

-Mutual activities

Customer point of view, operationalized by Giannakis (2011): -Overall rating of the service, directly after the customer encounter

Flexibility

Based on ability to range in volume, speed and capabilities

(Fitzgerald, 1994)

Based on meeting the overall service requests

(Klassen & Rohleder, 2001)

Based on meeting the changing market requirement (Childerhouse & Towill, 2004)

Based on the number of services provided (Johnston and Glark, 2008)

Based on customer response time (Gunasekaran,Patel & Tirtiroglu, 2001)

Hwang (2012, p.804): -How fast the delivery of the service can be available when it has to meet certain customer demands,

-In what terms the resources can vary in capabilities

Organizational point of view, operationalized by Klassen &

Rohleder (2001): -Number of customers served compared to requests

Organizational point of view, operationalized by Childerhouse & Towill (2004): -Number of customers served compared to requests over period of time

Organizational point of view, operationalized by Johnston and Glark, (2008): -Number of services

Customer point of view, operationalized by: Gunasekaran, Patel & Tirtiroglu (2001)

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Service supply chain management performance dimension based on Fitzgerald (1994)/literature view

Literature view

Resource utilization

Based on productivity of resources (Fitzgerald, 1994)

Based on the utilization of the capacity (Crandall and Markland, 1996)

(Greene & Greene, 2015) (Johnston and Glark, 2008)

Based on accuracy of forecasting techniques (Chopra and Meindl, 2004)

Hwang (2012, p.804): -Asset turnover

Organizational point of view, operationalized by Crandall and Markland (1996) and Greene &

Greene (2015): -Utilized service divided by capacity

Organizational point of view, operationalized by Chopra and Meindl (2004): -Era between forecast and actual

Innovation

Based on performance of innovation within current processes (Fitzgerald, 1994)

Based on improvement of current service delivery (Grönroos, 2012) (Roth & Menor ,2009)

Based on how well the technology can meet the requirements of the customers via different

channels

(Sousa, Amorim, Pinto & Magalhães , 2016)

Hwang (2012, p.804): -The improvement of business performance because of the new innovation within the current processes

Organizational point of view, operationalized by Grönroos, (2012) -Improvement of the core service, facilitating service (e.g. extra information) and supporting service (non-obligatory service to increase service satisfaction)

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Competiveness

Ability to win new customers (Fitzgerald, 1994)

Based on market share (Uysal, Chen & Williams, 2000)

Based on how well it can meet their mission (Roth & Menor, 2009)

Hwang (2012, p.804):

-The growth in customers or market share

Organizational point of view, operationalized by Uysal, Chen &

Williams (2000): -Market share

Organizational point of view, operationalized by Roth & Menor (2009) -Meeting the reason for existence or not

Financial

Based on the efficiency in which the company uses their resources

(Fitzgerald, 1994)

Based on ROI, ROA, ROS (Vickery, Jayaram, Droge & Calantone,

2003) (Gunasekaran, Patel & Tirtiroglu ,

2001)

Based on cost of service (Giannakis, 2011) (Johnston and Glark, 2008)

Hwang (2012, p.804): -The profit per customer -The total cost of the service

Organizational point of view, operationalized by Vickery, Jayaram,

Droge & Calantone (2003): -ROI, ROA, ROS

Organizational point of view, operationalized by Johnston and Glark (2008): -Cost of service delivery

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10 2.1.1 Quality

The first service supply chain management performance dimension within the framework of Fitzgerald (1994) regards quality. Throughout literature, various contradicting, as well as complementary views have been found of what is seen as quality within services. To illustrate this, it can be seen as delivering the highest standard of service for a certain price (Tuchman, 1980) but also if the service delivery meets the expectations of the customer (Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman, 1996). These contradicting views have lead to the fact as well that there are various ways to measure service quality (Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012). However, within the original framework of Fitzgerald (1994), this service supply chain management performance dimension is defined in line with the view of Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman, (1996) as ‘’the outcome of the relationship between the customer and the service

provider, based on the satisfaction that derives after (not) meeting the expectations of this customer’’

(Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012, p.804). This dimension is subsequently measured by responding to the needs of the customer or not, the willingness to help, the cleanliness of the service, the way of communicating with the customer and the competence, availability and security that the service offers; which is reflected via the customer satisfaction (Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012, p.804).

Taking other perspectives to reflect on service quality, Feng et al. (2011) measured service quality quantitatively via the strength of the relationship with their suppliers since they argue that this enables the service provider to meet different expectation if needed. But because of the inseparable characteristic of the service, Giannakis (2011) argues that service quality should be directly measured only based on the evaluation of the customer encounter, since this will be a direct result of the service provision. Because of these contradicting and complementary views, it is important for service supply chain management to define what it sees as service quality, which aspects are most important, and how to measure this (Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012). This will subsequently structure the design of their supply chain (technology), the roles of the customers and employees accordingly (Larivière et al., 2017) (Zomerdijk & Voss, 2010).

2.1.2 Flexibility

The second service supply chain performance dimension regards flexibility and is referred to in the framework as: ‘’The ability to provide services that can range in (1) volume, (2) speed and (3)

capabilities’’ (Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012, p.804). It is subsequently measured based on how fast

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11 Reflecting back on the characteristics of services, it has been recognized that customers in services vary regarding request, arrival, capabilities, effort and subjective preferences (Crandall and Markland, 1996). Therefore, four literature streams have been found that take a different view on what it sees as flexibility. First of all, Klassen & Rohleder (2001) argue in a more broader sense that flexibility should be measured in terms of how well it is able to meet the overall service requests. Furthermore, Childerhouse & Towill (2004) added on this view that because the requests vary over time, like in the manufacturing setting, flexibility should be measure based on how well it could meet the differences in preferences, demands and expectations of the customers over time. Thirdly, Johnston and Glark (2008) do not share this view since they argue that expectations of different customer preferences can only be met by having multiple services and therefore, flexibility should be measured in terms of the number of services provided by the organization. Lastly, Gunasekaran, Patel & Tirtiroglu (2001) define flexibility based on the fact that flexibility can also purely focus on the time that is needed to respond when requests come in. It therefore measured flexibility based on the time that a customer had to wait before the service started (Gunasekaran, Patel & Tirtiroglu, 2001). Service supply chain management therefore has to define exactly what it sees as flexibility, since it has to adjust their processes and capabilities accordingly to deal with this customer-induced variability (Sampson & Spring, 2012).

2.1.3 Resource utilization

The third service supply chain management performance dimension, resource utilization, is referred to in the framework of Fitzgerald (1994) as ‘’the productivity in which a company is a able to use facilities,

equipment and staff to serve customers’’ (Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012, p.804), and is subsequently

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12 2.1.4 Innovation

The fourth service supply chain management performance dimension, innovation, is referred to in literature in line with the view of Schumpeter (2000), arguing that an innovation is not only the creation, but also the commercialization of something (Schumpeter, 2000). However, for service providers, this commercialization aspect is viewed from different angles. Firstly, in the framework of Fitzgerald (1994), innovation is defined as: ‘’the measurement of success of the innovation process and the

innovation itself’’ (Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012, p.804), which is subsequently measured via the

improvement of business performance because of the new innovation within the current processes (Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012, p.804). Complementing on this view, with the complex innovations and technologies that are emerging, Sousa, Amorim, Pinto & Magalhães (2016) argued that something can only be considered as an ‘innovation’ if those improved processes can now better meet the customer requirements via different channels since that is the ultimate goal. The last literature stream measures innovation of organizations in terms of how well they are able to integrate new technology in order to improve their service delivery in their core service, facilitating service (e.g. extra information) and supporting service (non-obligatory service to increase service satisfaction) (Gronroos, 2012). Roth & Menor (2009) thereby already stated that innovations should match with the target market, service encounter and service concept of the organization to be able to improve the service ability. This implies for service supply chain management that their innovation should match with the objective of the firm and the capabilities that their employees/processes have in order to keep competing with other organizations, which is recognized as a current challenge for firms in this innovation-economy (Ostrom, Parasuraman, Bowen, Patrício & Voss, 2015). Though, again, literature recognizes that innovation is hard to measure for service supply chain management due to the subjective preference among customers (Crandall and Markland, 1996).

2.1.5 Competitiveness

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13 2.1.6 Financial

The last service supply chain management performance dimension, financial, is referred to in the framework of Fitzgerald (1994) as : ‘’the efficiency in which the company uses their resources ’’ (Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012, p.804) and is measured via the profit per customer and the total cost of the service (Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012, p.804). Though, current literature outlines and complements on this definition more specifically, and refers to the fact that financial performance is captured using a set of traditional performance measures; these included pre-tax return on assets (ROA), return on investment (ROI) (Gunasekaran, Patel & Tirtiroglu, 2001) and return on sales (ROS) (Vickery, Jayaram, Droge & Calantone, 2003). It should be emphasized that cost is a key constituent of each of these items (Vickery, Jayaram, Droge & Calantone, 2003). Though, since it is not every companies aim to gain profit, Giannakis (2011) and Johnston and Glark (2008) measured this dimension in terms of cost of service delivery so that similar cost for similar aims of companies could be compared. This financial performance ultimately has the ability to affect the other 5 dimensions in the framework of Fitzgerald (1994) if the financial resources are not sufficient. Satisfying stakeholders is therefore top priority for service supply chain management (Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012).

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14 2.2 Organizational characteristics

Organizational characteristics can be defined as ‘’ features originating both from the management

model adopted by the organization, through its structure or strategy, and from the company culture embodied in the nature of its membership and relationships’’ (Magnier‐Watanabe & Senoo, 2008,

p.22). Since previous literature found that these organizational characteristics could lead to the fact that decisions are being made that are not the most effective ones (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983) or far from optimal (Weaver, Trevino & Cochran, 1999), it is argued that these aforementioned organizational characteristics could also be broadly referred to as organizational influences (Magnier‐Watanabe & Senoo, 2008, p.22). This makes it that service delivery of organizations is not optimal, but is in line with certain characteristics of organizations, whether the aim is profit maximizing, or non-profit related (Roth & Menor, 2009). Even though literature outlines a variety of organizational characteristics, this thesis specifically selected certain ones since it has been shown that reason for existence, size, structure and culture are the broad, interrelated factors that can affect the performance of an organization and are mostly used in current literature when referring to organizational characteristics (Zheng, Yang & McLean, 2010). Furthermore, because status and income streams can affect irrational decision-making (Boland & Fowler, 2000), these two characteristics are also going to be researched. This thesis therefore argues that these characteristics, which are again summarized in table 2, are most appropriate to investigate in this research.

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15 organization), it is also found that this characteristic is closely linked to the status of an organization (Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert, 2017). However, no literature has been found that makes distinctions between different kinds of reason for existences.

Furthermore, it has been found that if structures and cultures differ too much between potential partners, it can block the willingness to collaborate or to exchange information; this can ultimately limit the service supply chain management ability of organizations since less visibility will then be acquired (Tatham and Kovács, 2007). This is exemplified by Mintzberg (1979), who distinguishes between 5 types of organizational structures; if these structures differ too much, there is great difficulty to align departments. The same is exemplified by Sunley (2011), who distinguishes between formal and informal cultures to show that they can differ greatly and can thereby result in a block in collaboration. However, this has found to be less sensitive in the commercial/profit sector, as long as the companies strive towards the same purpose, or if both organizations are better off (Hofmann, 2017). This in turn increases the visibility for service supply chain management if information between partners is shared (Hofmann, 2017) (Hsuan, Skjott-Larsen, Kinra, Kotzab & Schary, 2015) and can make organizations more flexible with respect to forecasting and understanding customer needs, while saving costs (Hsuan, Skjott-Larsen, Kinra, Kotzab & Schary, 2015). Furthermore, it has been found that the structure of an organization can also influence the decision speed within services since a long decision structure also generates long service waiting time as is often seen at governments, where certain decisions have political pressure and therefore need approval from several stakeholders (Snyder & Diesing, 2015) (Akhtar et al., 2012).

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16 Lastly, literature also stresses the influence that the differences in size of an organization can have (Jackson et al, 1989). This organizational characteristic seems to be closely linked to structure, since the long decision lines are often a consequence of the size of an organization (Snyder & Diesing, 2015) (Akhtar et al., 2012). Van Wasserhove (2006) furthermore outlined that specialized knowledge, that is often seen at large organizations, can influence their absorptive capacity of the firm, which is defined as ‘’ a firm’s ability to value, assimilate and apply new knowledge’ (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990, p.128). This disadvantage for smaller organizations is referred to in literature as ‘resource poverty’ and can limit the service supply chain management ability (Thong & Yap, 1995). In order to distinguish these organizations based on their size, Loecher (2000) set a threshold of 200 employees to distinguish small from large organizations.

Organizational characteristic Link to service supply chain management performance Source

Reason for existence -Can block visibility throughout the service supply chain -Fully determines the focus of performance

(Roth & Menor, 2009) (Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert, 2017)

Status -Can influence willingness to share information (Clarke, 1998)

(Boland & Fowler, 2000).

Income streams -Stakeholders can influence decisions for service ability (DiMaggio & Powell,1983)

Culture -Can block collaboration and therefore visibility for service supply chain management

(Tatham and Kovács, 2007)

Structure -Can influence the speed of an organization because of decision making

-Can block collaboration with crucial partners in the service supply chain

(Snyder & Diesing, 2015) (Akhtar et al., 2012)

Size -Can lead to more specialized knowledge, more efficiency -Can influence the absorptive capacity and voidance of the poverty gap

(Jackson et al, 1989) (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990) (Thong & Yap, 1995).

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17 2.3 Humanitarian context

One service context where service delivery is particularly diverse in terms of organizational characteristics but where organizations still serve the same customer and thereby have the common goal to ‘’minimize human suffering and to meet the basic needs of ‘the customer’’ (Balcik and Beamon, 2008, p.1) is the humanitarian context. This context distinguishes itself from other contexts in sense that ‘’organizations within this context work because of voluntary contributions of finance and labour,

that the ‘end consumers’ are people who will not be party to any commercial transaction, that final delivery will be in countries without any established logistics community or infrastructure (conceivably no functioning transport infrastructure), that governments and the military may be involved at a significant level and the environment may be both politically and militarily unstable’’ (Pettit &

Beresford, 2009, p.451) (Olorotunba and Gray, 2009) (Long and Wood, 1995). Organizations within this context service from preparedness until the recovery (Kovács & Spens, 2009) in the context of natural disasters (e.g earthquakes) and man-made disasters (e.g. civil wars) (Van Wassenhove, 2006), anticipating on both slow-onset and rapid-onset disasters (Kovács and Spens, 2009). As Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert (2017) outlined, in this context there are organizations working towards the same common goal but also have individual goals with different reasons for existence (e.g. profit maximizing versus non-commercial), statuses (e.g. NGO’s and businesses), income streams (e.g. donors versus revenue), cultures (e.g. formal versus informal), structures (e.g. complex versus simple) and sizes (e.g. large versus small). The organizations within this humanitarian context therefore have, next to the common goal, different performance goals specific to their own organization that are aimed to be reached as well (Balcik and Beamon, 2008). This makes it that all organizations are servicing the same customer in their own way (Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert, 2017). In order to separate these organizations based the reason for existence together with the status, Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert (2017) distinguished between (1) governmental organizations, (2) non-governmental organizations and (3) businesses in this context (Waddell and Brown, 1997) (Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert, 2017). The fact that this context has a diversity of different organizations with differences in characteristics makes it that this it is regarded as highly suitable for this thesis.

After reviewing literature, it has been found that organizations have certain characteristics which have the ability to influence different service supply chain management performance dimensions. With respect to the research question; ‘’ How do organizational characteristics influence the service supply

chain management performance dimensions within the humanitarian context’’, it has now been

elaborated that organizations differ in characteristics regarding reasons for existence, status, income

streams, culture, structure and size which all have the ability to influence service supply chain

management performance dimensions of the framework of Fitzgerald (1994) regarding quality,

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18 shown in figure 1. A context where all these characteristics differ, but also come together to reach the same objective and service the same customer is the humanitarian context and is therefore been regarded as suitable for this thesis. Following the selected organizational characteristics and the framework of Fitzgerald (1994) will enable to ultimately specifically answering the research question. These outcomes can subsequently answer ‘how and when’ each organizational characteristic influences each service supply chain management performance dimension, an insight which still lacks knowledge nowadays (Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert, 2017) (Cho, Lee, Ahn, & Hwang, 2012).

Figure 1: Conceptual framework

Humanitarian context

Organizational characteristics

-Reason for existence -Status

-Income streams -Culture -Structure -Size

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19 3. Method section

3.1 Defining the method

From the literature review, it is shown that certain organizational characteristics can influence the service supply chain management performance in different dimensions. However, it is still unknown ‘how and when’ and which specific service dimensions are affected when organizations have certain characteristics within the humanitarian context (Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert, 2017) (Cho, Lee, Ahn & Hwang, 2012). Yin (2003) argues that in these situations, the research is in an exploratory phase, and qualitative case research can thereby help to gain deep and strong insights that are required. Furthermore, this thesis aims to understand this phenomenon context-specifically (humanitarian context); Golafshani (2003, p.600) argued as well that in that case, qualitative case research is most suitable. While doing so, the UOA (unit of analysis) becomes service organizations within the humanitarian context. Since multiple organizations come together in this context, it is argued that case research can thereby provide strong and insightful argumentation by comparing different cases (Siggelkow, 2007). It is therefore determined that case research will be most suitable for answering the research question.

3.2 Setting selection

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20 3.3 Case selection

In order to investigate different service organizations with different characteristics within the humanitarian context, this thesis follows the view of Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert (2017) and thereby distinguishes between (1) governmental organizations (2) NGO’s and (3) businesses. An organization within this context will be regarded as one of these 3 kinds of organizations based on the reason of existence and status, since these can indicate whether the organization is aiming for profit (business), serving a certain objective (NGO) or to serve the wellbeing of their citizens

(governmental) (Wilson, 1991). In order to provide a comprehensive overview, this thesis aims to research all of these 3 kind of organizations in both counties (Greece and The Netherland).

Furthermore, to categorize organizational characteristics, table 3 has been generated and is based on the literature in the theory section. After extensive research, this has led to table 4 which will be the scope of the research. Because of the large differences between the aims of these organizations, this thesis expects that these organizations have different service focus. Therefore, contradicting results are expected, which is referred to in literature as ‘theoretical replication’ (Yin, 2003).

Table 3: Categorization of the independent variable (organizational characteristics)

Organizational characteristic Literature stream/source Operationalization

Reason for existence Literal citation Not applicable

Status Nurmala, de Leeuw & Dullaert (2017) NGO, Businesses, Governmental organizations

Income streams Boland & Fowler (2000) Main source of income: tax, revenue, donations

Culture Sunley (2011) Formal: a clear structure, hierarchy, and reward systems Informal: flat organizational structure, no clear hierarchy

and ad hoc reward systems

Structure Mintzberg, (1979) Simple structure Machine bureaucracy Professional bureaucracy

Divisionalized form Adhocracy

Size Loecher (2000) SME: <250 employees

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21 Table 4: Organizational overview of organizations operating in both Greece and The Netherlands

Case Reason for existence

Status

Income

streams Culture Structure Size Source

Case 1

Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland

‘’To serve the interests of refugees and asylum seekers in the Netherlands, from the

moment of entry to integration into Dutch

society’’ NGO Donations Informal Simple structure Large

Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland (2017)

Case 2

Nidos

‘’To provide assistance to young people on the basis of the provision in the authority

and one measure for youth protection’’ NGO Donations Informal simple structure Large

Faber (2017)

Case 3

Government of Greece

‘’To serve the people of Greece in their

best interest’’ Governmental Tax Formal

Machine Bureaucracy Large AIDA Greece (2017) Case 4 Accenture Netherlands

‘’To provide a variety of services and solutions regarding strategy, consultancy,

digital, technology and operations’’ Business Revenue Formal

Professional bureaucracy Large Accenture (2017, February 1) Case 5 IND

‘’To enforce the alien policy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in their best

way'’ Governmental Tax Formal

Machine

Bureaucracy Large IND (2017)

Case 6

Government of The Netherlands

‘’To serve the people of the Netherlands in

their best interest’’ Government Tax Formal

Machine

Bureaucracy Large

Klaver (2016)

Case 7

COA

‘’For the reception of asylum seekers and to guide them to a future in the Netherlands

or the country of origin’’ Government tax formal

Machine

Bureaucracy Large COA (2017)

Case 8

UNICEF

‘’To protection rights, to help meet basic needs and to expand their opportunities to

reach their full potential’’ NGO Donations Formal

Machine

bureaucracy large UNICEF (2003)

Case 9

Airbus security services

‘’To protect governments, military, organizations and critical national

infrastructure’’ Business Revenue Formal

diversified

organization Large

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22 3.4 Data collection

In order to get an overview of each organization from multiple angles and viewpoints, this research will investigate reports for each organization. This will enable to get a comprehensive overview of all activities that each organizations takes and especially ‘how and when’ each organizational

characteristic influences each service supply chain management performance dimension. In order to ensure that reports will be reliable, reports that are considered to be investigated for this research will be assessed based on the following exclusion criteria, which can be found in table 5.

Table 5: Exclusion criteria for data collection

After extensive research, table 6 provides a full overview of all documents/reports that complied with the exclusion criteria in table 5. These reports will therefore be investigated to gather information for answering the research question.

Exclusion criteria Argumentation

1.Reliability of the source of the report

The source of the report should come from an open source which is known for reliability of their results and who provides an overall picture for comparison or review.

2.Reliable sources used in the report

The report that will be investigated should refer to reliable sources in order to ensure that it can be exemplified in the findings section.

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23

Case Sources available

(Title of the report) Source

Length of the document (in

pages)

Case 1: Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland Jaarverslag 2016 Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland (2017) 33

Case 1: Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland Jaarverslag 2017 Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland (2018) 58

Case 1: Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland Local responses to the refugee crisis in the Netherlands Klaver (2016) 31

Case 1: Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland AIDA Report The Netherlands AIDA The Netherlands (2017) 93

Case 1: Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland WWR-Policy brief 4: Geen tijd te verliezen WWR (2015) 48

Case 1: Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland

Protection in Europe for refugees from Syria

Orchard (2014) 84

Case 1: Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland Rijksjaarverslag 2017 iii Algemene Zaken Rijksoverheid (2018) 48

De integratie van statushouders op lokaal niveau: Belemmeringen en oplossingen

Smit (2015) 48

Arbeidsmarktintegratie van personen die internationale of humanitaire bescherming genieten in nederland

Akerboom (2016) 56

Case 1: Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland Monitor vreemdelingenketen Ministerie van justitie en veiligheid (2015) 122

Case 2: Nidos Nidos jaarverslag 2016 Faber (2017) 40

Case 2: Nidos Nidos jaarverslag 2017 Faber (2018) 56

Case 2: Nidos Local responses to the refugee crisis in the Netherlands Klaver (2016) 31

Case 2: Nidos AIDA Report The Netherlands AIDA The Netherlands (2017) 93

Case 2: Nidos WWR-Policy brief 4: Geen tijd te verliezen WWR (2015) 48

Case 2: Nidos

Akerboom (2016) 56

Case 2: Nidos Monitor vreemdelingenketen Ministerie van justitie en veiligheid (2015) 122

Case 2: Nidos Rijksjaarverslag 2017 iii Algemene Zaken Rijksoverheid (2018) 48

Case 3: Government of Greece AIDA report Greece Aida Greece (2017) 185

Case 3: Government of Greece

Protection in Europe for refugees from Syria

Orchard (2014) 84

Case 3: Government of Greece WWR-Policy brief 4: Geen tijd te verliezen WWR (2015) 48

Case 3: Government of Greece Transitioning to a government run refugee and migrant response in Greece Pantelia (2017) 16

Case 3: Government of Greece

Obstacle Course to Europe Doctors without borders (2016)

31

Case 4: Accenture Netherlands Accenture annual report 2016 Accenture (2017, February 2) 106

Case 4: Accenture Netherlands Local responses to the refugee crisis in the Netherlands Klaver (2016) 31

Case 4: Accenture Netherlands AIDA Report The Netherlands AIDA The Netherlands (2017) 93

Case 4: Accenture Netherlands

Unhcr: innovative identity management system uses biometrics to better serve refugees

Accenture (2016) 2

Case 5: IND Local responses to the refugee crisis in the Netherlands Klaver (2016) 31

Case 5: IND De IND in 2016 Jaarverslag IND (2017) 28

Case 5: IND WWR-Policy brief 4: Geen tijd te verliezen WWR (2015) 48

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24 Table 6: Documents researched that complied with the exclusion criteria in table 5

Case 5: IND

Akerboom (2016) 56

Case 5: IND Monitor vreemdelingenketen Ministerie van justitie en veiligheid (2015) 122

Case 6 Government of The Netherlands Local responses to the refugee crisis in the Netherlands Klaver (2016) 31

Case 6 Government of The Netherlands AIDA Report The Netherlands AIDA The Netherlands (2017) 93

Case 6 Government of The Netherlands WWR-Policy brief 4: Geen tijd te verliezen WWR (2015) 48

Case 6 Government of The Netherlands Monitor vreemdelingenketen Ministerie van justitie en veiligheid (2015) 122

Case 7 COA

Local responses to the refugee crisis in the Netherlands Klaver (2016) 31

Case 7 COA

Dynamiek jaarverslag COA 2016 COA (2017) 66

Case 7 COA

AIDA Report The Netherlands AIDA The Netherlands (2017) 93

Case 7 COA

WWR-Policy brief 4: Geen tijd te verliezen WWR (2015) 48

Case 7 COA

Akerboom (2016) 56

Case 8 UNICEF

Refugee and Migrant Crisis in Europe Humanitarian Situation Report 19 until 24

Unicef (2017) 66

Case 8 UNICEF

AIDA report Greece Aida Greece (2017) 185

Case 8 UNICEF

UNICEF annual report 2016 UNICEF (2017, June 1) 84

Case 9 Airbus security services

Border wars the arms dealers profiting from Europe’s refugee tragedy Akkerman (2016) 60

Case 9 Airbus security services

Border wars 2 the arms dealers profiting from Europe’s refugee tragedy Akkerman (2016) 24

AIDA report Greece AIDA Greece (2017) 185

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25 3.5 Data analysis

In order to gather the necessary data, the reports in table 6 have been investigated. In order to ensure that this investigation happened in a concise and constructive manner, literature has been used to deductively categorize and operationalize the independent and dependent variable. This deductive coding is based on the table 1 and 3. Once a quote was being analyzed from one of the reports of table 6, deductive coding led to the coding that a certain action was taken (1) in line with the reason for existence (2) due to the status, (3) structure, (4) culture, (5) size or (6) income stream. Thereafter, the impact of this organizational characteristic on one of the service supply chain performance

dimensions was also deductively coded based on the operationalization in table 1. To keep an open view of what is seen as for example quality, all operationalizations have been used to identify the dependent variable. However, in order to answer the research question with respect to ‘how’, the mechanism that enabled the independent variable to influence the dependent variable was inductively coded. This enables to ultimately generate a complete overview of how each organizational

characteristic can influence each service supply chain performance dimensions, and furthermore to show all mechanisms that enable this to happen. These relations will be exemplified in the coding tree (appendix) and in the findings section. Furthermore, in order to ensure that results are valid and reliable, Yin (1994) distinguishes between construct validity, internal validity, external validity and reliability. The following table 7 will describe and indicate how this thesis will ensure these aspects. In this table, each number in the case study tactic refers to the number in the definition in the column left of it (Yin, 1994).

Table 7: Reliability and validity in case research (Yin, 1994. P.33)

Aspect (Yin, 1994) Definition (Yin, 1994) Case study tactic in this thesis

Construct validity 1. Use multiple sources of evidence (triangulation) 2. Establish chain of evidence

3. Have key informants review draft case study report

1. Using several reports throughout the data collection from different sources if possible.

2. This thesis will exemplify relationships in the findings section 3. First and second supervisor, who have extensive knowledge on the topic,

will review the entire report

Internal validity 1.Do pattern matching 2.Do explanation building 3.Address rival explanations

1. Results from different organizations will be compared at the end of the findings

2. The reason why certain results occur will be outlined as well if this is mentioned in the report

3. As far as literature on this topic is available, reasoning from different angles (in literature) will be explained why certain results occur.

External validity 1. Use theory in single-case studies 2. Use replication logic in multiple case studies

1. Not applicable

2. If different results occur, which are expected (replication logic), this will be outlined in the discussion

Reliability 1. Use case study protocol 2. Develop case study database

1. A coding tree will be attached in the appendix and is explained throughout the data analysis section

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26 4. Findings

After a thorough analysis, several independent variables have been found to have the ability to influence different service supply chain management performance dimensions. These relationships and mechanisms are first shown in table 8. After that, this section will discuss the dependent variables in the following order: quality, flexibility, resource utilization, competitiveness, financial and

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27

Independent variable Organizational characteristics

Reason for existence Status Income streams Culture structure size

Dependent variable Service supply chain performance dimensions

Quality

>Collaboration (case 1, case 2, case 4, case 5, case 7, case 8) >Enhancing knowledge (case 1, case 2, case 5, case 6, case 7, case 8)

>Lobbying (case 1, case 2, case 8)

>Collaboration (case 4, case 5, case 6, case 7, case 8)

>Legislation power (case 6)

>Lack of financial resources (case 3)

>Decentralization and collaboration (case 1)

Flexibility

> Collaboration (case 1, case 2, case 4, case 6, case 7, case 8) >Lobbying (case 8, case 9)

>Legislation power (case 3, case 6) >Collaboration (case 6)

>Flexible workers (case 5, case 7) >Temporary contracting (case 5, case 7)

Resource utilization

>Enhancing knowledge(case 1, case 2 ,case 8)

>Collaboration (case 1, case 2, case 3, case 4, case 5, case 6, case 7)

>Lobbying (case 1, case 2)

>Legislation power(case 3,case 6) >Collaboration (case 2, case 4, case 5, case 6, case 7)

>Decentralization (case 1, case 8)

>Temporary contracting (case 5, case 7)

Financial

>Collaboration (case 1, case 4)

>Lobbying (case 1, case 9) >Collaboration (case 4)

Competitiveness

>Collaboration (case 4) >Lobbying (case 9)

Innovation >Collaboration (case 4) >Collaboration (case 4)

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28 4.1 Quality

For the dependent variable ‘quality’, several independent variables have been found to have an influence. First of all, it is shown that collaboration shows to enable the reason for existence to improve the quality of the service in case 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8. This is exemplified in case 1, which has the reason for existence to ‘serve the interests and needs of refugees and asylum seekers in the Netherlands, from

the moment of entry until integration into the Dutch society’ (Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland, 2017,

p.4)’. In order to ensure that the different interests and needs can be served in a better way, as stated in their reason for existence, it is shown that the organization seeks collaboration (e.g.:‘’ We now realize

that only together, through collaboration between refugees, citizens, government, businesses media and other NGOs, we can make a difference in servicing as many refugees in their different needs in a better way’’ (Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland, 2017, p.5) which in turn shows to improve the customer service

standard while meeting these different needs. This shows that by collaboration, the organization can improve the quality of the service which is in line with the reason for existence. However, it is also found that this collaboration does not only have to be with other organizations, as is shown in case 5 (‘’

But because we can always do better, the IND organized in September a knowledge day 'Learning from the customer'. Central question: how we can make our services even better to the wishes of our customers?’’) (Faber, 2017, p.12). This quote exemplifies that through collaboration with the customer,

it can also better serve the wished and needs.

Though, it has also been found that this collaboration can be purely shown because of the status of an organization, which in turn appears to have the ability to improve the quality of the service as well as is shown in case 4,5,6,7, and 8. This is exemplified in case 7 (e.g.: Nadia: "We all want to offer more

quality and customization. That is why it is also so important that other parties are involved the chain, such as the regional coordinators of DIVOSA, and can connect to what it is COA does in this process. By doing so, when we meet we get the most out of the retrieved information and we can change the odds on participation and integration for each resident, which can really improve the customers’ stay."

(COA, 2017, p.58). Due to the sensitivity of the information, this ‘internal collaboration’ consists only of governmental organizations since it has to be eligible to receive certain information. It is therefore shown as well that the status can also improve the quality of the service via collaboration. However, the analysis also showed that due to status, organizations collaborate externally, as is exemplified in case 6 (e.g.: ‘’Also in 2015 a temporary ‘Ministerial Committee on Migration’ was established in response to

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29 2016, p.5). This quote exemplifies that because of the status, it collaborates with other governments to improve the quality of reception for the ‘customer’.

Furthermore, it was also found that the reason for existence can also influence the quality via enhancing knowledge. This was found in case 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8. It is exemplified by case 1. This case has the reason for existence to ‘serve the interests of refugees and asylum seekers in the Netherlands, from the

moment of entry to integration into Dutch society’ (Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland, 2017, p.5). The

organization here recognizes that these needs are different and changing, and therefore, it is starting pilots (e.g.: ‘’ We also start a pilot, where we via a signal method for children, can indicate what needs

they will have in the near future. Via this way, we hope that we can better find services that are exactly suitable for the specific child within the asylum procedure’’) (Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland, 2017,

p.10) to serve the different interests of the customer in the future. It is therefore shows that the reason for existence also improves the quality via pilots.

Another activity that has been found that enables the reason for existence to improve the quality of the service, is lobbying and is found in case 1, 2, and 8. Case one exemplifies that in order to ‘serve the

interests of refugees and asylum seekers in the Netherlands, from the moment of entry to integration into Dutch society’ (Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland, 2017, p.5) it is lobbying (e.g:‘’ We aim for a pre-integration traject before refugees even arrive. We lobbied for this and resulted in more financial resources from the government and a more efficient use of our resources and the quality of the service’’)( Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland, 2017, p.3). With these lobbying practices, it is able to meet

the interest of the customer since they know what they need/want and thereby improve the customer service standard. It is therefore shown that the reason for existence improves the customer service standard via lobbying. Though, it has to be recognized as well that this can also be combined with collaboration, as is shown in case 2 (e.g.: ‘’ In the 6 weekly consultation between Nidos and Jade this

is discussed as well as lobbying for better quality. One of the highlights of the year was the fact that Nidos, together with the European Commission and the Fundamental Rights Association (FRA), co-host was a 'side-event' about custody during the 10th Forum on the Rights of the Child that took place in Brussels in November. The importance the proper organization of child custody for unaccompanied minors in European member states one of the spearheads of this meeting’’ (Faber, 2017, p.28).

But also the status appeared to be able to impact the quality of the service through legislation. This relationship is exemplified in case 6 (e.g.: ‘‘ Due to the large numbers of asylum seekers applying for

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30 Netherlands, 2017, p.57). This quote shows that the organization used their governmental power (status) to improve the quality of the service delivery via legislation. This principle was only found in case 6. Though, the government of Greece (case 3) showed the contrary due to insufficient funds (e.g.:‘’ Moreover, the impact of the financial crisis on the welfare system in Greece and the lack of an

overall integration strategy should be also taken into consideration when assessing the ability of beneficiaries to live a dignified life in Greece’’ (AIDA Greece, 2017, p.177.); ‘’The lack of a constant financing flow from the relevant EU fund creates problems in the provision of the necessary goods and services at the detention centers.” (AIDA Greece, 2017, p.162), and thereby diminished

the quality of the service (e.g.: ‘’ Even though in 2017 a number of camps in critical condition have

been closed down, conditions in a number of camps are still reported as “poor” as of January 2018,532 while compliance with recast Reception Conditions Directive standards should be

assessed’’ (AIDA Greece, 2017, p.129). This quote shows that due to a lack of financial resources, the

quality of the service provision is being diminished. Therefore, it is shown that income streams diminish the quality via insufficient funds.

Lastly, it was found that case one has a simple structure. Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland appears to use this structure to be able to improve decision making via collaboration and decentralization on a very local level (e.g.: ‘’ Some municipalities collaborate with us and the COA now, so we can give

refugees a house in the same municipality as their refugee-centralized location. By doing so we can improve our service and can start our integration traject faster to ultimately achieve more in the same amount of time’’ (COA, 2017, p.7). By doing so, it can make decision faster without first approval

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31 4.2 Flexibility

Regarding the second dependent variable, flexibility, the following independent variables have been found to have an impact.

First of all, the analysis shows that collaboration enables the reason for existence to improve the flexibility in case 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8. This same phenomenon is exemplified in case 2, where the organization collaborated to meet their reason for existence (‘’to provide assistance to young people

on the basis of the provision in the authority and one measure for youth protection’’ (Faber, 2017).

Via this collaboration, it was able to increase the capacity of their service delivery (e.g.: ‘’Nidos,

together with its contract partners, has managed in 3 months time to establish to realize 1850 small-scale shelter places. This was not easy and has brought much unrest’’with it. (Faber, 2017, p.18).

This exemplifies this phenomenon again since it shows that it is able to increase capacity by collaborating with other partners. By doing so, it is able to perform the service for a larger group of customers. Though, it has to be recognized that collaboration can also be in the form of dialogue with the customer, as is shown in case 6 (‘’e.g: ’’In order to gain or maintain public support for the

reception of refugees, local governments have invested in dialogue with the local population about plans on the opening of new (crisis) reception centres. Especially, in the Summer and Autumn of 2015, these facilities sometimes had to be established on very short notice. This called for a careful management of the process in which local administrators engaged in conversation with local residents addressing questions and fears. This strategy often was successful in gaining local support for the establishment of a (crisis) reception centre’’ (Klaver, 2016, p.22) . This quote shows that the

dialogue with the customer aims to follow their reason for existence (‘’To serve the people of the

Netherlands in their best interest’’) (Klaver, 2016), since they take into account the concerns and

wishes, and thereby create goodwill to increase the capacity as well. However, it can also be in the form of one-sided support, as is seen in case 8 (e.g.:‘’UNICEF-supported capacity-building efforts in

February reached a total of 128 frontline workers and national social workers on various child protection-related topics.’’ ("UNICEF, 2017, report 21 p.2) This quote shows that ‘’To protection rights, to help meet basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential’’

(UNICEF, 2003), it is providing support so that this reason for existence is being met via other organizations as well. Lastly, also the status appears to be able to increase the flexibility via

collaboration. This is seen in case 6 (e.g.: ‘’As the number of asylum requests steadily increased since

2014, government agencies responsible for the reception of asylum seekers (COA; Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers) and the processing of applications (IND; Immigration and

Naturalization Service), responded by increasing their capacity for reception and processing. COA increased the capacity of existing reception centres and opened up new (temporary/emergency) locations’’ (Klaver, 2016, p.4). Because of the status of the organization in case 6, it can collaborate

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32 organizations). This small chain creates internal collaboration which enables to create visibility for when to increase capacity. It is therefore shown again that the status of an organization can impact the flexibility via collaboration.

The last mechanism influences the reason for existence to improve the flexibility, and was found in case 8 and 9. This is exemplified in case 8, which shows that lobbying can also increase the capacity

(e.g.: ‘’ At the national level, a progressive law on UASC was approved in Italy. Together with other UN agencies and Italian civil society UNICEF has advocated for this law and welcomed its approval as a legislative model for other European countries. On the ground in Italy, this new law should be followed up with concrete measure to increase capacities and UNICEF is already offering technical assistance to various State agencies in charge.’’ (UNICEF, 2017, report 22, p.7). In this example, it is

shown that this organization advocated to accept new law that enables them to increase capacity, which are in line with their reason for existence.

Next to the reason for existence, also the status shows to be able to improve flexibility, as is seen in for example case 3. In this case, legislation power ensured that certain facilities are being established for the refugees (‘’The law provides a legal basis for the establishment of different accommodation

facilities’’ (AIDA Greece, 2017, p.122); ‘’Under PD 220/2007, reception conditions should provide to asylum applicants “a standard of living which guarantee their health, covering living expenses and protecting their fundamental rights.”528) (AIDA Greece, 2017, p.128). In this example, the law

ensures minimum rights that the customer can obey and therefore, a minimum capacity is needed in order to provide these services. This same phenomenon is seen in case 6 (e.g:’’ Pursuant to the

Housing Act, the central government has made agreements with the municipalities on the number of beneficiaries of international protection they have to house. The share for each municipality is based on the number of inhabitants of the municipality. Beneficiaries of international protection are thus resettled all over the Netherlands. The targets for the municipalities are established twice a year, according to the inflow of asylum seekers. The target for the second half of 2015 was almost 15,000 persons’’ (Klaver, 2016, p.12). This example again shows that because of the status, it can imply law

to ensure/obey capacity.

Lastly, case 5 shows that the structure and size can also increase the flexibility via temporary employees (e.g.:‘’The large growth in reception in 2015 and the first half of 2016 has been realized

with fixed employees and a large, flexible shell of temporary employees and employees with

temporary contracts’’ (COA, 2017, p.15). In this quote, it is shown that because of the structure and

size of the organization, it can adjust their capacity through their ‘flexible shell’. This is as well shown in case 7 (e.g.: ‘’The Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) said goodbye to three hundred

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33

position due to the decrease in the number of asylum applications in the Netherlands’’ (Faber, 2017,

p.14).

4.3 Resource utilization

Regarding the third dependent variable, resource utilization, the following independent variables have been found to have an impact;

First of all, it is shown that collaboration enables the reason for existence to improve the resource utilization in case 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. This is exemplified in case one, where it has been found that that the organization (NGO) was founded to ‘serve the interests of refugees and asylum seekers in the

Netherlands, from the moment of entry to integration into Dutch society’ (Vluchtelingenwerk

Nederland, 2017, p.5)’. In order to serve these different interests , as stated in their reason for

existence, it is shown that the organization does this through collaboration (e.g.: ‘’Moreover, together

with local municipalities and the COA, we started a pilot where refugees could get a house in the same municipality as their refugee centre where they lived. By doing so, processes of integration and service could start more effectively and utilities were more effectively managed‘’ (Vluchtelingenwerk

Nederland 2017, p 3). Since this collaboration can ensure that the resources are being used more effectively, it is found that the reason for existence increases resource optimization via collaboration. This also happened in case 4, where Accenture collaborated with the UNHCR (‘’ With a

comprehensive biometric identity management system, UNHCR could more easily register, verify identity and target assistance for refugees across its worldwide operations. The new system had to meet three objectives: rapidly determine what benefits and services a person needs; secure identities; and improve documentation to help longtime refugees find permanent solutions (Accenture, 2016,

p.1). This quote exemplifies that resources can be used way more effectively through this

collaboration. This was being initiated because of the reason for existence, together with the status that led to a profit incentive.

Furthermore, it is also shown that enhancing knowledge enables the reason for existence to improve the resource utilization in case 1,2 and 8. This is exemplified in case 1 (‘’ We also start a pilot, where

we via a signal method for children, can indicate what needs they will have in the near future. Via this way, we hope that we can better find services that are exactly suitable for the specific child within the asylum procedure’’) (Vluchtelingenwerk, 2017, p.9). With these pilots, it can better assign resources

since it then knows what the customer wants. It is therefore shown in case 1 that the reason for existence improves the resource utilization via enhancing knowledge. This enhancing knowledge is also seen in case 6 where the government exercises, due to their status, legislation power (‘’ a new