Outsourcing of Humanitarian Logistics

Humanitarian response exceeds the capacity of one organization. Humanitarian organizations (HOs) are entering into partnerships with other HOs and with commercial logistics service providers (LSPs) to improve humanitarian response. In the poster, we would like to present results of our research project “Outsourcing of Humanitarian Logistics Activities: Optimal Pricing Policies and Contracts” funded by the Austrian Research Agency (FWF).The poster looks into the framework for outsourcing in humanitarian logistics and insights concerning the drivers of outsourcing for HOs and drivers of engagements of LSPs in humanitarian operations, the humanitarian logistics activities to be outsourced to LSPs, the types of partnerships and contracts that exist between HOs and LSPs and how they change throughout the disaster phases.This project examines the coordination challenges of the UNHRD network and explores member humanitarian organizations’ incentives of joining the network, a coordination mechanism which achieves system optimality, and impacts of members’ decisions about stock rationing. The influence of transportation costs on distribution decisions in long-term relief operations will also be presented, alongside research progress on the role of financial service providers (FSPs) in Cash Transfer Programming.