title: The humanitarian common logistic operating picture: a solution to the inter-agency coordination challenge.
abstract: Although significant progress has been made in developing the practice of humanitarian logistics, further improvements in efficiency and effectiveness have the potential to save lives and reduce suffering. This paper explores how the military/emergency services' concept of a common operating picture (COP) can be adapted to the humanitarian logistics context, and analyses a practical and proven approach to addressing the key challenge of inter-agency coordination and decision-making. Successful adaptation could provide the mechanism through which predicted and actual demands, together with the location and status of material in transit, are captured, evaluated, and presented in real time as the basis for enhanced decision-making between actors in the humanitarian supply network. Through the introduction of a humanitarian logistics COP and its linkages to national disaster management systems, local communities and countries affected by disasters and emergencies will be better placed to oversee and manage their response activities.
authors.affiliation: Professor and Deputy Head of Department, Department of International Business and Asian Studies, Griffith Business School, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tatham
authors.affiliation: Rektor, Hanken School of Economics, Finland.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Spens
authors.affiliation: Professor, The Humanitarian Logistics Institute, Hanken School of Economics, Finland.
authors.forename: Gyöngyi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kovács
mesh_terms: D000533:Altruism; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004190:Disasters; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D008889:Military Personnel; D012066:Relief Work / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014480:United Nations
keywords: humanitarian common logistic operating picture (H-CLOP); humanitarian logistics; inter-agency coordination