Beneficiary appointment and delivery planning in a conflict setting

IF 2.8 4区 管理学 Q2 MANAGEMENT DECISION SCIENCES Pub Date : 2024-08-14 DOI:10.1111/deci.12645
Burcu Balcik, Maria Battarra, Melih Celik, Bashar Khoury, Anand Subramanian
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Abstract

In this study, we explore the challenges faced by humanitarian organizations engaged in relief efforts for internally displaced individuals during armed conflicts. Based on our semistructured interviews with three local nongovernmental organizations (LNGOs) in Syria, we introduce a new appointment scheduling problem to improve decision‐making for aid delivery planning in conflict settings. Operating in a highly resource‐constrained environment, these LNGOs face complexities that necessitate effective decision support tools to streamline supply delivery at relief facilities, where a large number of registered beneficiaries are served. Our proposed appointment scheduling problem aims to optimize the allocation of delivery times for various supplies, taking into account the urgency of needs and operational limitations. We present a heuristic that addresses the complexities of the proposed scheduling problem in a flexible way. The heuristic can accommodate simple rules derived from LNGOs' operational policies on the ground, such as imposing a single visit per beneficiary, delivering a single supply type per day, and preallocating time slots to conflict groups. We present a case study based on the Latakia district of Syria to assess the performance of our heuristic and the effectiveness of simplified delivery strategies. Our results not only showcase the efficiency of the heuristic, but also provide valuable managerial insights. We find that cross‐training of staff is more beneficial when supplies are relatively abundant. Furthermore, the simplified delivery policies are effective in certain conditions contingent upon various factors, including supply scarcity, difficulty of travel, and the level of conflict in the population.
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冲突环境下的受益人任命和交付规划
在本研究中,我们探讨了在武装冲突期间从事境内流离失所者救援工作的人道主义组织所面临的挑战。根据我们对叙利亚三个地方非政府组织(LNGOs)的半结构式访谈,我们引入了一个新的预约安排问题,以改善冲突环境下援助交付规划的决策。这些 LNGOs 在资源高度紧张的环境下开展工作,面临着各种复杂问题,需要有效的决策支持工具来简化救济设施的供应交付,因为这些设施为大量已登记的受益人提供服务。我们提出的预约调度问题旨在优化各种物资的交付时间分配,同时考虑到需求的紧迫性和操作的局限性。我们提出了一种启发式方法,以灵活的方式解决拟议调度问题的复杂性。该启发式能够适应根据当地非政府组织的业务政策制定的简单规则,例如对每个受益人只进行一次访问、每天只交付一种供应品、为冲突群体预先分配时间段等。我们以叙利亚拉塔基亚地区为基础进行了案例研究,以评估我们的启发式方法的性能和简化交付策略的有效性。我们的研究结果不仅展示了启发式方法的效率,还提供了宝贵的管理见解。我们发现,在供应相对充足的情况下,对员工进行交叉培训更为有利。此外,简化交付政策在特定条件下是有效的,这取决于各种因素,包括供应稀缺程度、旅行难度和人口中的冲突程度。
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来源期刊
DECISION SCIENCES
DECISION SCIENCES MANAGEMENT-
CiteScore
12.40
自引率
1.80%
发文量
34
期刊介绍: Decision Sciences, a premier journal of the Decision Sciences Institute, publishes scholarly research about decision making within the boundaries of an organization, as well as decisions involving inter-firm coordination. The journal promotes research advancing decision making at the interfaces of business functions and organizational boundaries. The journal also seeks articles extending established lines of work assuming the results of the research have the potential to substantially impact either decision making theory or industry practice. Ground-breaking research articles that enhance managerial understanding of decision making processes and stimulate further research in multi-disciplinary domains are particularly encouraged.
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