The Examination of Cluster Coordination Mechanisms within Humanitarian Logistics

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The Examination of Cluster Coordination

Mechanisms within Humanitarian Logistics

Master Thesis Supply Chain Management

University of Groningen

June 23

rd

, 2014

Ilka Hendriksen

Student Number: S1873393

Email: I.N.Hendriksen@student.rug.nl

Supervisor: Dr. K. Scholten

Co-assessor: Drs. N. Dube

Acknowledgement: First, and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisors Dr. Kirstin Scholten and Drs.

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ABSTRACT

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1. INTRODUCTION

Disasters such as the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 as well as the Darfur Crisis proved the difficulty of coordinating the resources of independent organizations each with different expertise, specializations and objectives (Jahre & Jensen, 2010). Due to the scope of disasters and the limited resources available, no actor is able to act alone in a disaster (Balcik, Beamon, Krejci, Muramatsu, & Ramirez, 2010). Therefore, with hundreds of actors active in disaster relief, an important aspect of effectiveness in humanitarian aid is how and when key players, such as relief organizations and governments, should coordinate, limiting the duplication of efforts and wastage of scarce resources (Balcik et al., 2010; Chandes & Paché, 2010; Jahre & Jensen, 2010; Van Wassenhove, 2006). With the prospect that the formation of clusters should enable a more efficient supply chain through increased coordination among members, the Cluster Approach (CA) was set up (Altay & Labonte, 2011; DeWitt, Giunipero, & Melton, 2006). Coordination is critical in all operations, especially when considering the Logistics Cluster. However, successful coordination within the Logistics Cluster remains limited, affecting not only the effectiveness of the logistics cluster, but the effectiveness of the overall humanitarian response during a disaster (Altay & Labonte, 2011; Jahre & Jensen, 2010). The purpose of this article is to examine what supply chain coordination mechanisms can be implemented within the Logistics Cluster in the humanitarian aid relief to enhance effectiveness in saving lives. According to Porter (2000) clusters can experience enhanced productivity due to better alignment of activities among cluster participants (Porter, 2000). The idea of clusters has recently been applied in the humanitarian aid sector to improve the efficiency in key areas of relief aid and to cope with the lack of coordinated response in disaster settings (Jahre & Jensen, 2009, 2010). Specifically, the Cluster Approach was set up with the aim of bringing organizations together in order to improve the coordination efforts (Logistics Cluster, 2014). Although the humanitarian clusters have made significant progress in terms of efficiency and effectiveness since the setup, several challenges remain, the greatest being coordination between and within clusters (Steets, Grünewald, Binder, & Geoffroy, 2010). The Logistics Cluster, as a service cluster, and responsible for logistics in every operation, will be the focus of this paper (Logistics Cluster, 2014). As the Logistics Cluster is active in multiple operations, it has a responsibility not only to focus on its own operations within the cluster, but also focus on the coordination of supply chain activities of other clusters (Balcik et al., 2010; Jahre & Jensen, 2010).

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5 humanitarian aid context specifically (Arshinder, Kanda, & Deshmukh, 2008; Fugate, Sahin, &

Mentzer, 2006; Giannoccaro & Pontrandolfo, 2003).Although the article by Jahre and Jensen (2010)

reviews coordination within the humanitarian aid setting, they do not address specific coordination mechanisms. Additionally, Balcik et al. (2010) examines the extent to which the relief chains can benefit and learn from commercial supply chain coordination mechanisms. Despite both articles recognizing the significance of coordinating mechanisms, no conclusive coordination mechanisms are highlighted. Consequently, further research and insights are needed in order to gain an understanding of what mechanisms can be applied to improve supply chain coordination in humanitarian relief chains.

This article will contribute to research in three ways. First, there has been limited research on clusters and the link to supply chain management. Although clusters have shown to enhance competitiveness, it also enables enhanced coordination between organizations (DeWitt et al., 2006). This research contributes to this as it examines the coordination mechanisms within clusters from a supply chain perspective. In addition, this research contributes to the understanding of cluster coordination mechanisms in the disaster management field. Although effective coordination is highly important in facilitating effective disaster response, this remains underdeveloped. Taking this into account, this article contributes to the insight, selection and implementation of mechanisms to enhance the management of logistics throughout disasters.

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2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 Clusters

The idea of economic clusters discussed by Porter highlights clusters as being able to experience unusual competitive success in their particular field (Porter, 1998). Porter (2000) defines a cluster as “geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, firms in related industries, and associated institutions in a particular field that compete but also cooperate” (Porter, 2000: 15). Accordingly, DeWitt et al. (2006) suggest that clusters can be seen as geographic concentrations of networked supply chains. When the inter-firm processes and relationships within the networked supply chains are managed actively and appropriately, it could not only lead to improved performance on an individual level, but also the overall supply chain performance can be enhanced (DeWitt et al., 2006). As highlighted by both Porter (1998) and DeWitt et al. (2006), the formation of clusters can have significant benefits for the development of a sector as a whole including enhanced productivity, innovation, coordination and increased levels of trust (DeWitt et al., 2006). Clusters benefit from enhanced productivity as a result of increased coordination and cooperation through the increased access to employees, specialized resources, suppliers and availability of complementary products and services (Jahre & Jensen, 2009).

This is in line with the aims of the humanitarian cluster approach: the Cluster Approach was set up with the aim of bringing organizations together in order to improve overall coordination efforts in the humanitarian aid (Logistics Cluster, 2014). With coordination being an important aspect of effective relief aid, we need to further examine coordination literature, specifically with supply chain as a key concept.

2.2 Coordination in Supply Chain Management

Coordination is highly important in supply chain management. No longer do businesses compete as separate entities, but rather as supply chains (Lambert & Cooper, 2000). Supply chains are not based on a chain of one-to-one relationships, but a network of multiple relationships (Lambert & Cooper, 2000). In order to ensure overall supply chain performance, it is essential that supply chain members behave as a unified system and coordinate among each other (Arshinder et al., 2008). As a result of a large number of activities spread over several functions and organizations, supply chains can be said to be highly complex (Beamon & Xu, 2006). Appropriately, this is in line with the idea that the formation of clusters can be seen as geographic concentrations of networked supply chains (DeWitt et al., 2006).

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7 1994: 111). Important to highlight is that coordination and collaboration have been used interchangeably in humanitarian supply chain literature (Balcik et al., 2010; Jahre & Jensen, 2010; Kovács & Spens, 2007), and therefore we will use these terms similarly.

2.3 Horizontal and Vertical Coordination

Coordination can be identified as horizontal or vertical. Horizontal coordination is the extent to which an organization coordinates with organizations on the same level of the chain (Balcik et al., 2010). Vertical coordination is the extent to which an organization coordinates upstream or downstream activities (Balcik et al., 2010). Vertical coordination is defined by Simatupang and Sridharan (2002): “when two or more organizations, such as the manufacturer, the distributor, the carrier and the retailer, share their responsibilities, resources and performance information to serve relatively similar end customers” (Jahre & Jensen, 2010). This implies that the synchronization of different levels, or different tiers, across a supply chain is enabled by coordination mechanisms (Jahre & Jensen, 2010). Thus, a key aspect in supply chain management is developing mechanisms that will allow alignment of independent organizations and their decisions and activities to be coordinated (Li & Wang, 2007). Within clusters, both horizontal and vertical types of coordination can be identified. With horizontal coordination mainly taking place within the clusters, vertical coordination is essentially the alignment of clusters, to serve the end customer (Jahre & Jensen, 2009). However, as each cluster is specialized in main sectors of humanitarian aid and control only parts of the supply chain, the coordination of downstream and upstream activities, and thus across clusters, is highly important in ensuring different needs are met in the affected region (Humanitarian Response, 2013; Jahre & Jensen, 2010). In order for the individual clusters to be able to serve the beneficiary, coordination on a vertical level needs to be aligned (Jahre & Jensen, 2009). Therefore, it is necessary to note that although this research will look at coordination mechanisms within a cluster (horizontal), these coordination mechanisms will impact upstream as well as downstream supply chain activities of the relief organizations involved (vertical).

2.4 Coordination Mechanisms

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8 supply chain costs, each article addresses coordination mechanisms differently and categorizes mechanism attributes differently (Arshinder et al., 2008; Beamon & Xu, 2006; Fugate et al., 2006; Romano, 2003).

Arshinder et al. (2008) present a literature review of various coordination mechanisms and classify four categories of coordination mechanisms: supply chain contracts, information technology, information sharing and joint decision making (Arshinder et al., 2008). Similarly, Xu and Beamon (2006) describe four categories of attributes that characterize and differentiate a coordination mechanism in the (commercial) supply chain: resource sharing structure, level of control, risk and reward sharing, and decision style. In contrast to the previous authors, Fugate et al. (2006) place more emphasis on price and distinguish between price, non-price and flow coordination mechanisms in which the latter includes product and information flows. In Appendix A, an overview is provided of the various authors and their depicted supply chain coordination mechanisms categories. Although an important mechanism in supply chain coordination seems to be information sharing, surprisingly, there are no set coordination mechanisms in the commercial supply chain. With various coordination mechanisms discussed and analyzed in literature, several authors argue the importance of coordination mechanisms being dependent on the unique circumstance of each problem and the interdependencies between supply chain members (Arshinder et al., 2008; Fugate et al., 2006; Giannoccaro & Pontrandolfo, 2003). Classifying coordination mechanisms requires an understanding of the specific coordination issue, therefore, it is relevant to examine what has been researched with regards to coordination in the humanitarian aid industry as the aim of the paper is to examine what coordination mechanisms can be established the humanitarian setting (Fugate et al., 2006) .

2.5 Coordination in Humanitarian Aid

Just as the aspect of logistics and supply chain management has become critical in the private sector, the aspect of supply chain, or logistics has too, become an important aspect in humanitarian aid (Van Wassenhove, 2006). We define humanitarian logistics as “the process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, cost-effective flow and storage of goods and materials, as well as related information, from the point of origin to the point of consumption for the purpose of alleviating the

suffering of vulnerable people” (Thomas & Kopczak, 2005: 2) 1

. Coordination within relief aid can be said to differ to commercial supply chains due to the uncertainties associated with disasters: the magnitude of the disaster as well as the unpredictability of the region and the actors involved

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9 (Beamon, 2004). Consequently, characteristics that distinguish humanitarian supply chains from commercial supply chains include: zero (or approximately zero) lead times affecting inventory availability, procurement and distribution, high stakes (often life or death), unreliable or incomplete supply and transportation information, and variable levels of technology (Beamon, 2004). The importance of supply chain coordination is brought to light in cases of major disasters: not only is the affected area in a state of chaos, there are also hundreds of organizations actively looking to set up facilities, moving supplies and people (Thomas & Kopczak, 2005).

The humanitarian relief chain encompasses several stages which are important to coordinate within clusters in order to provide effective overall response. These stages are described below.

Figure 1:Humanitarian Relief chain adapted from van Wassenhove and Pedraza Martinez (2012)

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10 each other to limit duplication of efforts. Accordingly, literature shows that clusters provide the flexibility and capacity to react rapidly to customer requests (DeWitt et al., 2006).

However, the establishment and selection of coordination mechanisms can prove to be a struggle, costing not only time and money, but possessing difficulties at strategic, tactical and operational level of relief organizations (Balcik et al., 2010).

2.6 Coordination Mechanisms in Humanitarian Aid

Coordination mechanisms applicable to the humanitarian supply chain, and more specifically applicable to the humanitarian clusters, need to take into account that the mechanisms are context specific and need to be adapted accordingly. While the CA has mechanisms in place, coordination mechanisms in relief chains are not as developed as commercial supply chains, and no research to date has addressed coordination mechanisms applicable in the humanitarian context (Balcik et al., 2010).

Balcik et al. (2010) state that the specific characteristics of relief operations have an effect on the type and level of coordination mechanisms (Balcik et al., 2010). Authors Jahre and Jensen (2010) address coordination within the humanitarian aid through the examination of general coordination and specifically consider horizontal and vertical coordination. They describe the essentialness of coordinating activities, actors and technologies and managing flows of informational, financial and physical nature in relief chains, as these variables address what to coordinate (Jahre & Jensen, 2010). Using these adapted variables described by Jahre and Jensen (2010), we will further explore what coordination mechanisms can be established within the humanitarian aid setting. Therefore, the following variables will be used: actors, physical activities, financial activities, information and technologies as they cover the types of issues that can be coordinated, and can be carried out vertically or horizontally (Jahre & Jensen, 2010). The significance of these variables in relation to coordination in humanitarian aid will be briefly discussed in the next section.

Jahre and Jensen (2010) also suggest the importance of considering the strategic, tactical and operational levels, at which coordination can be arranged. The definitions that we will use throughout this research have been described in the table below.

Table1: Definition of levels adopted from Jahre and Jensen (2010)

Level Definition (Horizontal coordination within a Cluster)

Strategic Global capacity building, Standards for a Cluster

Tactical Organizations in a Cluster cooperate at the regional level

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11 In preparing and effectively responding to a disaster, all the variables are interconnected and interdependent (Romano, 2003; Van Wassenhove, 2006). In explaining these variables, we will also consider the CA to gain an understanding of the current state with regards to variables.

Actors

Although each actor in a supply network of humanitarian aid prepares and responds to disasters in a different manner, collaboration is of crucial importance in booking success (Kovács & Spens, 2007). Regardless of whether an actor has all the elements organized appropriately, a single actor would be much less effective than when collaborating with other actors (Van Wassenhove, 2006). Therefore, with a large amount of actors each with numerous specializations present in a disaster setting, a coordinated system is essential (Van Wassenhove, 2006).

The Cluster Approach has actors at various levels: global, national and local actors. Where there has been a strong focus at the global development, the focus on local actors and developing their capacities in responding to disasters is increasing (Steets et al., 2010). However, the 2010 Cluster

Evaluation Report showed that, one of the biggest challenges is that the clusters largely fail to connect

to national and local actors and build on existing coordination and response mechanisms (Steets et al., 2010). Accordingly, this is in line with the findings of Jahre and Jensen (2010): a significant gap has been found between local and global operations (Jahre & Jensen, 2010).

As a result of the setup of the CA, there has also been an noticeable increase in partnerships and commitment between non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) at the global level (Steets et al., 2010; Stoddard, Harmer, Haver, Salomons, & Wheeler, 2007). However, this has not developed as much at the local level: “national and local NGOs and community-based organisations were seen to participate at roughly the same rate and extent as previously, with the Cluster Approach showing no added value in terms of identifying and engaging more of these partners, or providing significant opportunities for mentoring, partnership and direct funding”(Stoddard et al., 2007: 16).

Information

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12 evaluation report showed that several cluster within the CA insufficiently and ineffectively shared information (Steets et al., 2010).

Technology

Along with the coordination of actors, systems and technologies need to be set up appropriately in order to allow for physical flow of goods, informational flow to ensure coordination and collaboration, as well as allow for management of financial flows (Van Wassenhove, 2006). In all operations in the CA, the office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is responsible for setting up and maintaining a country specific web portal (Steets et al., 2010). However, these have been shown to seldom be “user-friendly and require intense active maintenance, which is often not available” (Steets et al., 2010).

Physical activities

The physical activities are the material and product flow from the supplier to beneficiaries (Van Wassenhove, 2006). The Logistics Cluster has developed prepositioned stocks of supplies in addition to creating standard operating procedures (Steets et al., 2010). However, where the Logistics Cluster has made progress, the OCHA is responsible for setting standards at the strategic level for all the clusters, the OCHA has not been as successful (Steets et al., 2010).

According to the 2010 Cluster Evaluation Report, one of the most significant challenges is the assessment of needs (Steets et al., 2010). Although the different clusters facilitate the sharing of assessment results, duplication and quality issues remain an issue. As the Logistics Cluster plays a fundamental role in identifying and prioritizing needs as well as assessing common services and resource mobilization throughout all clusters, it is important that the assessment of needs are transparent (Majewski et al., 2012).

Financial activities

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13 NGOs to funding” (Majewski et al., 2012: 37). With this, one of the recommendations of the report is to improve the governance of funding mechanisms in limiting conflicts of interest (Steets et al., 2010).

2.7 Establishing Coordination mechanisms

In this research we will examine the cluster coordination mechanisms within one cluster. Figure 2 shows the conceptual model of this research. The model depicts several supply chains with the relief chain encompassing the relief chain activities. In the CA, each cluster is specialized in one main sector of humanitarian relief. Nevertheless, it is of critical importance that there is sufficient coordination across clusters to ensure that each of the steps within the relief chain is done effectively to serve recipients better (Jahre & Jensen, 2010). Therefore, these (horizontal) mechanisms will have an effect on the overall supply chain (vertical) mechanisms.

We draw on the article of Jahre and Jensen (2010) and further explore the coordination mechanisms. These variables (actors, activities (financial and physical), information, and technology) will be used to examine the mechanisms that are used within one cluster in coordinating the setup, assessment of the needs, procurement, transportation, warehousing and information management.

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3. METHODOLOGY

We have adopted a case study approach analyzing the Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). A case study allows for early and exploratory investigations where the phenomenon is not yet understood, which is applicable in this research: the understanding and development of coordination mechanisms in relief organizations is still underdeveloped (Voss, 2009). The case study, with the unit of analysis being the New York City VOAD, has been explored based on secondary data through the use of various sources such as news articles, archives and organizational documents.

3.1 Case Setting and Selection

Working on a domestic basis in the United States, the VOAD coordinates organizations, active in disaster response and recovery, on a national, state and local level (Fagnoni, 2008; Scholten, Scott, & Fynes, 2014). The VOAD is an experienced organization that has provided guidance in numerous disasters of considerable scale since 1970 (NVOAD, 2014). As guiding operating principles during the four disaster phases, the VOAD established four practices: Cooperation, Communication, Coordination, Collaboration (4 C’s) (NVOAD, 2014). By applying these principles, they have fostered effective coordination among voluntary and federal organizations, and for-profit organizations. This makes the VOAD particularly suitable for this research as they can be considered exemplary and knowledgeable in establishing coordination mechanisms. Specifically, as they act as a forum through which organizations can share knowledge and resources to avoid duplication of relief efforts (National Volunatry Organizations Active in Disasters, 2012).

In this research we have specifically considered a natural, sudden onset disaster as the source of data: Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012 and affected over a dozen states (FEMA, 2013a). The storm has been the second costliest disaster in the United States (U.S) history causing over 117 deaths and $68 billion in damage (NVOAD, 2014). With such a large impact ranging across numerous states, a wide range of member organizations (of the VOAD) were involved throughout the disaster management, implying coordination was highly important within states as well as across states (NVOAD, 2013). Although the second largest hurricane in the history of the U.S- after Hurricane Katrina which hit in August of 2005- we have chosen to examine Hurricane Sandy as it is more recent (FEMA, 2013b). Although this single source of data study may limit the generalizability of research, it allows for an in-depth study (Voss, 2009). We have specifically looked at the local level VOAD within the state of New York, where damages were significant with extensive disturbances to the state’s infrastructure system including telecommunication centers, and the electrical grid (Sledge, Resmovits, & Zeller, 2012).

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15 case study is appropriate when examining the same single case at different points in time and examine how certain conditions change over time (Yin, 2009). As this study has extensively looked at the coordination mechanisms of the NYCVOAD throughout the different disaster management phases as well as the different levels, a single case study seems suitable.

The NYCVOAD was particularly suitable for a number of reasons. With New York (City) being among the United States’ most susceptible cities to hurricane hazards, and the NYCVOAD has dealt with a number of sudden onset disasters including Hurricane Irene and Tropical storm Lee, NYCVOAD seemed appropriate to analyze the coordination mechanisms (Jones, 2011; New York City Office of Emergency Management, n.d.). The NYCVOAD played and continues to play an important role throughout disasters, coordinating actors, activities and processes at an operational level. Lastly, the NYCVOAD had an extensive list of documents and archives related to Hurricane Sandy.

It is important to mention that although the NYCVOAD is the unit of analysis, the state level and national level VOAD are highly involved in the efforts of the NYCVOAD. The VOAD aims to build resilient communities and locally tailored preparedness and recovery efforts, recognizing that disasters are responded to most quickly through local resources (Georgia VOAD, 2012). Nevertheless, the State VOAD and NVOAD offer guidance and input (National Volunatry Organizations Active in Disasters, 2013).

3.2 Data collection

This research is qualitative, based upon multiple sources of secondary data. Several sources such as company reports, documents and newspaper articles have been used to ensure the data is more reliable than single sourced data (Calantone & Vickery, 2010). This also ensured construct validity, as multiple sources allow for “iterating between constructs and date” (Croom, 2009: 77). As this research is mainly based on documents based on the Internet, Yin (2009) suggests a procedure in terms of focusing on the most pertinent information(Yin, 2009). He suggests to triage the documents in accordance to their apparent centrality and pertinence of this investigation. By allowing more time for information that seems central to this research, less important materials are left aside (Yin, 2009). These sources were initially identified through the VOAD (local, state and national) websites, by examining the archives and resources. Additionally, since the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) works in cooperation with the VOAD, information was retrieved from their reports and resources as well. From these documents, several member organizations were identified, from which information was also retrieved. Lastly, the Google search engine was utilized for additional information. The following keywords were used:

 ‘New York City VOAD’ and ‘Hurricane Sandy’

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 ‘Preparation VOAD’ and ‘Hurricane Sandy’

 ‘Response VOAD’ and ‘Hurricane Sandy’

 ‘Member Agencies VOAD’ and ‘New York City’

The decision whether the document was to be included was based on the appropriateness of the document such as to what extent the document was related to two factors: the relation to Hurricane Sandy and the NYCVOAD and NYVOAD. The documents were also selected based on credibility, which is explained below. Croom (2009) suggests reviewing materials by first browsing, then speed reading and lastly identify materials pertinent to the study. Accordingly, this research followed the steps highlighted by Croom (2009): the documents were first browsed through, then scanned and looked for key words such as ‘member agency’ ‘VOAD’, ‘Hurricane Sandy’, ‘preparation’, ‘response’ and if suitable, the document was read in-depth.

The overall suitability and credibility of the documents were determined by the source of the document. Considering the information came from the VOAD or identified member agencies, we can assume that the information is reliable. It is important to recognize that as this research is primarily based on secondary sources- documents may be prone to slight bias, specifically newspaper articles (Voss, 2009). This is mitigated by the use of multiple sources, also allowing for triangulation. The benefits of document and archival analysis includes the fact that the documents can be reviewed and analyzed repeatedly (Yin, 2009). This can be recognized by the fact that several codes have been grounded several times, indicating several document pointed to the same coordination mechanisms. A list of documents that have been used in this research can be found in Appendix B.

3. 3 Data Analysis

Data analysis has been performed in accordance to the steps outlined by Miles and Huberman (1994): data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing. Data reduction is the process of selecting, focusing, simplifying and transforming the data (Miles & Huberman, 1994). The data was reduced and coded by assigning units of meaning to the ‘chunks’ of information gathered which allowed a clear manner in which words could be related to the research question (Miles & Huberman, 1994). As such, the coded data were regrouped and linked with other categories (Voss, 2009). Specifically, during this research, upon coding the data, second order categories were formed inductively. Subsequently, the categories formed were grouped into one of the variables by Jahre and Jensen (2010), which highlighted the most essential flows and processes in cluster coordination. The program utilized for systematic coding and categorizing was ATLAS.ti.

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17 In Appendix C, a coding tree can be found of the various codes that have been identified. The codes have been grouped and selected in accordance to the identified variables: actors, activities (physical and financial), information, and technologies. Additionally, we have examined what coordination mechanisms appear to occur in what phase (preparation and response) and at what level (operational, tactical and strategic) (Appendix D).

4. RESULTS

The aim of this study is to examine what coordination mechanisms can be implemented within humanitarian aid. In this section, we will present the findings and is structured as follows. The variables are presented in the following order: actors, information, technology, physical activities and lastly the financial activities. Within each category, the various coordination mechanisms that have been found specifically within that category are discussed. Several examples and quotes have been provided, with the number referring to the document number available in Appendix D.

Actors

The network setup of the NYCVOAD in the preparation phase and response phase allowed coordination to take place between different organizations at the same supply chain tier level as well as on different tier levels. This was strongly encouraged by the NVOAD on a strategic level. They recognized the fact that setup of a network of organizations prior to a disaster would allow for more effective relief than only after the onset of a sudden disaster, such as Hurricane Sandy. Additionally, they also allowed organizations to join the network after the onset of Hurricane Sandy, allowing the network to expand. The setup of the network was established through a number of ways. First, an overview was provided of all organizations and their area of expertise, which were provided in the

‘NY Hurricane Sandy Disaster Resources’29

. Additionally, national guidelines guided the local VOAD to the setup of the organization. Several lead agencies were appointed to guide during the Hurricane, which were assumed to have responsibility for a certain specialty area. An example was the

appointment of the Salvation Army to lead the Food Access Plan18. Lastly, the VOAD, at all levels,

was recognized as the activator and initiator for communication during disasters for all organizations in all specialty areas. This meant that any organization was able to activate the entire network through the VOAD, which initiated the response of other organizations. As a result, this ensured that all state VOAD members were aware of the situation initiating a faster response: “Activation of any one member organization may be done directly by that organization or may be requested through the

leadership of the NYSVOAD” 8. Activation will ensure that all member organizations are informed of

the situation: “Once activated, NYSVOAD will encourage a cooperative and coordinated voluntary

response” 9

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18 Accordingly, another identified coordination mechanism was the membership of the local VOAD. Benefits as well as standards that the organizations needed to adhere to were identified. Benefits of membership, and thus incentives for participation, included training and access to resources of other organizations. However, the membership was not without standards that organizations needed to adhere to such as annual fees as well as ethical principles: “Membership in NYSVOAD may be

terminated for any of the following….” 15.

There were several levels at which cooperation took place within the organization that allowed them to coordinate effectively. First it is important to note that it was found that the member agencies operate independently and are not dictated through the VOAD. This is interesting as the VOAD shows that while organizations collaborate in an efficient manner through the use of a coordinating organization (VOAD), they still keep their independence. With regards to cooperation, the local VOAD member organizations seemed to collaborate among each other, within the same supply chain level as well across supply chain tiers. For instance, the American Red Cross partnered with National Animal Rescue and Sheltering Coalition to deliver pet food through Red Cross emergency response

vehicles with donations from the PetSmart Charities24. In addition to the local NYCVOAD member

organizations cooperating, the national VOAD (NVOAD) also cooperated with the local VOADS to ensure guidance. This was classified at the strategic level. Lastly, the NYCVOAD worked together with the federal organizations, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) playing an important role.

Information

As a coordinating organization, the NYCVOAD facilitates extensive information sharing through the use of a number of identified mechanisms. First, a number of conference calls with regards to Hurricane Sandy within New York City took place at different levels of the organization: local, state as well as national. Locally, three weekly conference calls were held between member organizations, while at the State level daily conference calls were being held that concerned updates of activities of the organizations per region: “All Hands is also setting up operations in Long Beach on Long Island and have begun conducting outreach to known Community-based and VOAD partners in the area to

coordinate efforts...”7. Additionally, the local as well as national VOAD distributed situation reports

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19 This information was gathered by member agencies that assessed the needs within New York City and submitted information on their activities. Data sharing among member agencies of the NYCVOAD as well as New York State VOAD (NYSVOAD) was found to be fostered through listing specific contact information of organizations that had various responsibilities as well as through social media. For instance, the NYCVOAD kept an updated disaster recovery guide, available both in preparation and response phase, which listed all organizations involved, including contact information: “previous guides focusing on the immediate relief have served as basis for this guide, which seeks to integrate Federal, State, City, business and non-profit services in an ever more inclusive source of information”

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. Although social media seemed to have been set up only during the response phase, it allowed for communication relating to the assessment of needs of organizations and citizens.

Technology

Technology was found to play an important coordinating role throughout Hurricane Sandy. The technology allowed for organizations to communicate among each other, provide updates to the NYCVOAD with regards to the needs of specific areas within NYC. The setup of the technology was found in both the preparation phase as well as response phase, which was surprising as technology has been found to be essential in the coordination, and thus expected to have been setup before the onset of a disaster. The main technology was found to be a common web portal system. The main and initial web portal systems in place were the National Donations Management Newtork (NDMN), powered by

Aidmatrix, a supply chain management technology company7, and the ALAN portal1, both used on a

national basis. In addition to this system, during the response phase of Hurricane Sandy, the NYCVOAD discussed several other common web portal systems, one of which was Sahana software

system 7. This leads us to the next aspect, which was the ease of use and access to technology and

specifically the common web portal system. Due to the large number of organizations with various skills, the NYCVOAD was aware of the necessity to have a basic, easily to learn web portal : “It takes no additional IT staff or computer hardware to operate. All you need is a web-browser, basic Internet

skills and about one-half hour for basic user training”12. Additionally, social media was also used as a

technology platform: through the social media, member organizations updated this site with information provided from the NVOAD: “They also tracked their progress and coordinated their efforts through the workbook, monitoring, documenting, and reporting on the activities of VOAD

member organizations throughout the recovery”6

. Thus, social media allowed for organizations to track, assess the needs and monitor progress on various levels.

Physical Activities

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20 with transportation such as whether the local VOAD member has experience in transportation and is

insured24.

Additionally, in the response phase of Hurricane Sandy, there were constant updates of the specific physical activities. For instance, the transportation within NYC was limited and banned several types

of vehicles due to bad weather conditions5: Clearly, this affected all organizations within the

transportation supply chain tier. However, the updates regarding physical activities within a specific logistical area were found to also have an impact on the vertical coordination mechanisms. For example, the limitation on transportation not only affected organizations within the horizontal tier, but also affected vertical activities, having an effect on the supply chain as a whole: “With the high demand and limited availability of donated warehousing space, many VOAD and government

organizations are teaming up” 25.

Financial Activities

Several mechanisms were found within the NYCVOAD that allowed for effective financial

management. There were clear guidelines from the national level that placed emphasis on the effective

management and controls of finances. Additionally, it was found that the national guidelines stated that the local VOAD’s were not allowed to compete with the member agencies. This was found to be in line with the member agencies calling for financial contributions during Hurricane Sandy. This leads us to the next coordination mechanism: common encouragement and emphasis of financial

donations. The NYCVOAD and its member organizations seemed to place a great amount of

emphasis on providing cash donations rather than physical donations after Hurricane Sandy. Interestingly, several member agencies listed other organizations to which financial contributions could be given to: “Please consider the following organizations for monetary contributions and/or

in-kind donations….” 18. Consequently, this would indicate that the member organization could receive

less donations as it would be given to other organizations.

5. DISCUSSION

We concluded that coordination mechanisms are context dependent and the selection of mechanisms can be difficult to establish (Arshinder et al., 2008; Balcik et al., 2010; Fugate et al., 2006; Giannoccaro & Pontrandolfo, 2003). Therefore, we examined the VOAD as an exemplary organization. Drawing on the findings from the VOAD, specific implications for the Cluster Approach and specifically Logistics Cluster can be derived.

Actors

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21 the establishment of clusters benefit from increase in productivity through the availability of additional resources and employees (Jahre & Jensen, 2009).

It was found that establishing a network of organizations contribute to the coordination of actors within a cluster. The establishment of a local network such as the NYCVOAD was strongly encouraged by the NVOAD, recognizing that the local community will be first to respond due to the proximity of distance as well as the familiarity with the area. This emphasis on the local network development can have significant implications for the Cluster Approach, as they have only recently started to focus on the local actors.

Considering the network setup from a global perspective, several aspects need to be considered. First, considering sudden-onset disasters, with the region of where the disaster will strike and the number and type of actors unknown, setting up a network of actors may not be without difficulty (Beamon, 2004). However, with many disaster prone areas known, regional network setup in those areas could be established in advance, as the VOAD has done. We also saw that following the onset of Hurricane Sandy, the network was expanded. Even if there is no setup preceding a disaster, a network of organizations could be established afterwards. Rather than allowing organizations to continue to work in an unorganized manner, a coordinating body such as the VOAD could build a network during the response phase. In the case of regions where continuous projects take place, or ongoing recovery, the setup of a network, may be a viable option. A coordinating body such as the VOAD and membership thereof, may provide increased incentives for organizations to participate and could allow for an organized approach.

The level of cooperation between member organizations was also found to be a coordinating mechanism within the NYCVOAD. The involvement of both federal organizations, national members of the VOAD and NVOAD itself, through participation in conference calls, can be said to close a gap between the strategic and operational level of operations. By supporting the local VOAD through training and allowing access to national resources, the local NYCVOAD is able to develop and increase the capacities. Within the Cluster Approach, this has been identified as a shortcoming of effective response: there is a significant gap bridging the local, operational collaboration and the strategic, global level collaboration (Jahre & Jensen, 2010). As an identified issue within cluster coordination, this may have important implications on the global level. The Logistics Cluster can learn from this: the high amount of collaboration at various levels allows the local organizations to develop stronger capabilities which would enable higher levels of coordination (Steets et al., 2010).

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22 setting standards such as fees, as well as providing incentives such as training, organizations may become committed to sharing information and coordinating with other organizations that are also members.

Informational

Information sharing was done through the use of several mechanisms: conference calls, situation reports, data sharing and regular updates. These mechanisms kept organizations updated on a regular basis, ensuring member agencies aware of the activities and allowing all organizations to view the needs and activities of other organizations active in disaster, not only the organizations within the same supply chain tier. This also enabled for alignment across a vertical level. Therefore, we can confirm that the horizontal coordination mechanisms also influenced the vertical coordination mechanisms (Jahre & Jensen, 2009).

It is important to recognize several important implications with regards to implementation on a global level. Although the logcluster.org website provides a platform for accessing and exchanging information, improvement in information sharing is recommended throughout the CA as a whole (Majewski et al., 2012). Here the CA can learn from the VOAD, which has shown to have various information sharing mechanisms in place that allow organizations to assess needs of organizations within the same supply chain tier as well as other tiers. Reflecting back on the relief chain figure (figure 1), information management was important throughout the relief chain as a whole, allowing supply chain participants to coordinate activities. Considering the struggle with regards to information sharing across clusters in the Cluster Approach, the VOAD has shown to enable vertical cluster information sharing through various mechanisms, which may be beneficial to the Cluster Approach in becoming more effective in inter-cluster coordination (Steets et al., 2010).

Technology

In sharing information, the NYCVOAD used a common web portal system. The web portal allowed organizations to assess the needs and post these. Due to the relatively easy access and limited training necessary, the web portal proved to be an effective, and easy to work with, tool to organize supply chain activities among members. This not only allowed for horizontal coordination within a cluster, but also enabled vertical coordination due to all organizations being able to detect any needs, as discussed previously.

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23 importance that all organizations active in disaster are able to use it properly without (much) training. Considering the various cultures, backgrounds, and education levels, it would be of great importance that the web portal would be understandable. The NYCVOAD placed great emphasis on this through discussing the aspect of a web portal system throughout meetings and discussing with member organizations the most attainable system.

Physical Activities

Due to limited scope of this paper, we will only highlight a few important aspects regarding the physical activities. One of the ways physical activities were coordinated was through a set of guidelines set by the NVOAD. With these guidelines on for example how to limit the liability issues with regards to transportation, a certain standard is created. With the NVOAD outlining several important issues regarding physical activities, the local VOAD had clear standards they were able to follow. Although the Logistics Cluster has been able to set operating standards, other clusters have not been as successful (Steets et al., 2010). Keeping in mind the importance of creating horizontal as well

as vertical alignment of vertical activities (Jahre & Jensen, 2009), it would seem of critical importance

that the Logistics Cluster would cooperate with other clusters in setting operating standards. The NVOAD had clear standards set for all organizations, thus allowing all organizations nationwide to follow the same standards.

Another coordination mechanism of the physical activities were the regular updates provided by the VOAD. As highlighted by Kovács and Spens (2007), the initial assessment of needs and coordination of the activities following this assessment , it is important to pay attention to this aspect. Throughout the VOAD, the needs assessment was found to be coordinated extensively through updates from the member organizations. This seems to be one of the fundamental challenges within the Cluster Approach (Steets et al., 2010): if the assessment of the needs and the identified gaps were to be appropriately coordinated, a more coherent response among supply chain tier members would be more likely. In addition, clusters were found to be ineffective due to a lack of focus on operational activities (Steets et al., 2010). In comparison, through the development of the local VOAD network, emphasis was able to be placed on the relief activities. The results showed that the VOAD had numerous updates with regards to the assessment and gaps of member agencies as well as different regions. Through these updates they were able to coordinate the logistics of activities within and among supply chain tiers. Therefore, operational updates provided by the organizations not only within the Logistics Cluster, but also updates provided by other clusters, would allow for a more coordinated response. In turn, this is also linked to the information sharing mechanisms.

Financial Activities

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24 Balcik, 2008; Van Wassenhove, 2006). In addition to the fact that the VOAD does not compete with member organizations, it was found that the organizations encourage financial donations to other organizations as well. How this has been specifically arranged among the organizations is unclear, yet may be of great importance in the Cluster Approach considering the sensitivity of funding and the distribution thereof in the international setting. Thus, rather than organizations competing within the same cluster for donations and being dependent on scarce donations, response within the same cluster could be much more effective if organizations encouraged donations overall rather than only promoting themselves, as the NYCVOAD showed, especially considering they are at the same supply chain tier.

6. CONCLUSION

As no research had established coordination mechanisms within the humanitarian setting, this research examined the coordination mechanisms through a case study of the New York City VOAD, using Hurricane Sandy as the source of data. With the VOAD as an knowledgeable organization in establishing supply chain coordination mechanisms, this research investigated the coordination mechanisms in accordance to a number of variables adapted from Jahre and Jensen (2010): actors, financial activities, physical activities, information, and technology.

The identified relief chain mechanisms with regards to actors include network setup, level of cooperation and membership risks and benefits. Coordination mechanisms with regards to information sharing included conference calls, situations reports, regular updates and data sharing. A common web portal system that was easily accessible and usable allowed for a coordinated technological system. With the setup both in the preparation phase and response phase, the web portal was able to be adapted in accordance to the needs of the actors and the disaster. The physical activities during Hurricane Sandy were found to be coordinated through guidelines set by the NVOAD and through updates of member organizations, allowing coordination on a horizontal and vertical level. Lastly, the financial activities were coordinated through common encouragement of donations, clear financial control within the VOAD, where the VOAD did not compete with member agencies for donations.

The coordination mechanisms found within the VOAD can be said to cover a wide range of issues the Cluster Approach, and specifically the Logistics Cluster, is struggling with. By examining what coordination mechanisms the VOAD has established, we have discussed the transferability of the mechanisms found. A number of coordination mechanisms found within the VOAD can be said to cover a range of challenges the Cluster Approach and the Logistics Cluster is faced with in terms of coordinating the relief chain.

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25 mechanisms within clusters from a supply chain perspective and in the humanitarian aid setting, in which limited research has been done.

6.1 Managerial implications

In addition to the theoretical implications, this research has several managerial implications. By examining the VOAD, we were able to derive several coordination mechanisms in the humanitarian aid setting. This research provides the first step in the insight and implementation of supply chain mechanisms. The insight into the mechanisms established by the VOAD may allow for a more efficient and effective way in which the Cluster Approach can be organized and managed. Keeping in mind that the number of disasters is increasing globally, implementation of coordination mechanisms allowing for an efficient and effective relief chain will be vital.

6.2 Limitations and further research

As the Logistics Cluster deals with a large amount of different activities and processes not only within the cluster, but also across other clusters, only a limited amount of issues were able to be discussed throughout this research due to the scope of the paper. Delving further into the Cluster Approach and the relief chain mechanisms would provide valuable insights.

As this investigation is based on secondary data, some limitations need to be addressed. Although there was an extensive amount of reports, archives and newspapers available, access to certain types of documents was limited. Situation reports specifically proved to be very useful in gaining insights into the coordination mechanisms of the VOAD throughout Hurricane Sandy, but had limited availability. Additionally, there was very limited information available with regards to the preparation of hurricane Sandy. In order to overcome this, organizational documents that had already been established prior to Hurricane Sandy, such as by-laws of the NYCVOAD, were used to identify the preparation mechanisms.

Based on the identified limitations, we propose further research to extend the findings of this exploratory investigation. In gaining a greater understanding of the supply chain mechanisms, we suggest further interviews with the VOAD itself and member agencies. This will allow greater insights into for example the financial management. As limited information was able to be retrieved within this area, greater insights into how this is coordinated would be valuable for the Cluster Approach.

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APPENDIX A

Author Coordination mechanism categories

Fugate, Sahin, & Mentzer (2006) Price

Non-price

Flow coordination mechanisms

Arshinder, Kanda, & Deshmukh(2008) Supply chain contracts

Information Technology

Information Sharing

Joint decision making

Beamon and Xu (2006) Resource sharing structure

Level of control

Risk and reward Sharing

Decision Style

Giannoccaro and Pontrandolfo (2003) Information Sharing

Joint Decision Making

Jahre and Jensen (2010) Information

Physical Financial Actors Acitivities Technology

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The Examination of Cluster Coordination Mechanisms within Humanitarian Logistics