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Bridging Research and Practice in Humanitarian Logistics: A Diagnostic Tool to Assess Organizational Agility

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The Palgrave Handbook of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Abstract

The humanitarian and academic communities exhibit fundamental differences. This chapter aims to provide an example of how research can be made more practice-oriented and, therefore, more useful to aid agencies by presenting a maturity test designed for humanitarian organizations to easily assess their built-in agility and identify ways in which it can be improved. This tool is based on 40 practices that reflect four strategic-level capabilities. It is designed as a quick and simple audit tool that is expected to provide both insight and practical guidance to those humanitarian organizations aiming to develop their agility and to better respond to the change and environmental turbulence affecting their supply chain operations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Waikato Management School, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Cécile L’Hermitte

  2. Centre for Regional & Rural Futures, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

    Marcus Bowles

  3. Department of International Business and Asian Studies, Gold Coast, Australia

    Peter H. Tatham

  4. Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia

    Benjamin Brooks

Authors
  1. Cécile L’Hermitte
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  2. Marcus Bowles
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  3. Peter H. Tatham
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  4. Benjamin Brooks
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cécile L’Hermitte .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hanken School of Economics , Helsinki, Finland

    Gyöngyi Kovács

  2. Hanken School of Economics , Helsinki, Finland

    Karen Spens

  3. Hanken School of Economics , Helsinki, Finland

    Mohammad Moshtari

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L’Hermitte, C., Bowles, M., Tatham, P.H., Brooks, B. (2018). Bridging Research and Practice in Humanitarian Logistics: A Diagnostic Tool to Assess Organizational Agility. In: Kovács, G., Spens, K., Moshtari, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59099-2_20

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