Supply Chain for Disaster Management: An Empirical Study
Supply Chain for Disaster Management: An Empirical Study
Ashwini Sharma, Dixit Garg, and Ashish Agarwal
Introduction
Indian education system has always been the source of curiosity across the world.
The tradition of gurukul and world renowned university, i.e., Takshashila and
Nalanda, had attracted many of the scholars and knowledge seekers from all the
countries. Somehow after a long duration of invasion and ruling, education has been
affected the most among the other areas. It is not what has been the original system
which apart from the core education included practicing moral and ethical values.
Engineering education is not the exception to it. Today it is said that out of the all
engineers passing out from engineering, merely 30 % of them are employable, i.e.,
of required quality. In any crisis situation, for example, flood, drought, earthquake,
or war, the activities connected with providing humanitarian aid (HA) to those
requiring it will often be treated as a series of discrete activities disconnected from
each other (UNDP 1993).
Usually, the term “disaster” refers to a “disruption that physically affects a
system as a whole and threatens its priorities and goals” (Van Wassenhove 2006).
With respect to cause, it is possible to distinguish between a natural and a
man-made disaster; with respect to predictability and speed of occurrence, it is
possible to distinguish between a sudden-onset and a slow-onset disaster. Taking into account also the different impact in terms of required logistic effort (from higher to lower), it is possible to identify four types of disasters (Cozzolino 2012):
(1) calamities, characterized by natural causes and sudden-onset occurrences (e.g.,
earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes); (2) destructive actions, characterized by
man-made causes and sudden-onset occurrences (e.g., terrorist attacks, coups
d’e´tat, industrial accidents); (3) plagues, characterized by natural causes and
slow-onset occurrence (e.g., famines, droughts, poverty); and (4) crises, characterized
by man-made causes and slow-onsets occurrence (e.g., political and refugee
crises).
Considering the situation, something can be done in order to improve the quality
of education in engineering which should not be superficial and which will help the
students to develop process and systems to fight disaster at the time of need.
As shown in Fig. 17.1, the students take admission in year 1 having two
semesters and two exams. If the minimum criterion (which is different for different
institutes) is met, then gate 1is crossed; otherwise, he/she has to prepare till gate 1 is
crossed. In the same manner, the other gates are to be crossed till the student is
passed out from the institute. The value added in all the 4 years that get accumulated
should reflect at the time of crossing each gate.
In the present system, the stage gate process as shown above does not hold good
for the readiness of students in different disaster situations; therefore, it is needed to
rethink the whole of the process to find out the missing link.
Literature Review
Engineering education system in India is going through a high degree of transition
from quite sometimes. A good engineering education system is supposed to be one
which equips the student with a sense of responsibility toward the society apart
from the technical know-how of the specialization in respective branch. At present
in the engineering system where the trained manpower is needed to cater for the
disaster management and humanitarian logistics, very few initiatives have been
taken by the universities especially in the engineering field. It gives a clear-cut
impression that there is something missing in the delivery of knowledge, research in
the field, or learning by the student.
Emergency logistics is often the largest and most complex element of relief
operations (UNDP 1993), and in order for successful supply chains to be effective,
there is a requirement for a clear understanding of the problems and issues involved.
India is vulnerable, in varying degrees, to a large number of natural as well as
man-made disasters. 58.6 % of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of moderate to
very high intensity; over 40 million hectares (12 % of land) is prone to floods and
river erosion; of the 7,516 km long coastline, close to 5,700 km is prone to cyclones
and tsunamis; 68 % of the cultivable area is vulnerable to drought, and hilly areas
are at risk from landslides and avalanches.
Lu et al. (2006) identified the factors which are most important to humanitarian
aid and emergency relief organizations in providing an effective response in crisis
situations and, secondly, the variables which contribute to the effectiveness of each.
From desk and field research, the extent to which CSFs are recognized and
understood within aid agencies is assessed. They demonstrated how such factors
can assist agencies in developing improvements in both strategy and response and
contribute more generally to the development of an assessment tool for humanitarian
aid supply chains.
Factors such as global warming, environmental degradation, and increasing
urbanization expose a greater number of people to the threat of natural disasters.
In the last three decades, the rate of disasters has risen from 50 to 400 per year
(Kovacs and Spens 2007), and it is still expected to increase five times more on the
next 50 years (Thomas and Kopczack 2007). In 2010, 207 million people suffered
from disasters, which caused 296,800 deaths and losses of 109 billion dollars (Sapir
2011). In the last decade, Brazil has suffered, on average, six natural disasters per
year (UN 2011), and, in 2008, it was the thirteenth country most affected by natural
disasters, having two million victims affected mainly by floods or landslides (Lima
et al. 2011).
Ashwini Sharma, Dixit Garg, and Ashish Agarwal
Introduction
Indian education system has always been the source of curiosity across the world.
The tradition of gurukul and world renowned university, i.e., Takshashila and
Nalanda, had attracted many of the scholars and knowledge seekers from all the
countries. Somehow after a long duration of invasion and ruling, education has been
affected the most among the other areas. It is not what has been the original system
which apart from the core education included practicing moral and ethical values.
Engineering education is not the exception to it. Today it is said that out of the all
engineers passing out from engineering, merely 30 % of them are employable, i.e.,
of required quality. In any crisis situation, for example, flood, drought, earthquake,
or war, the activities connected with providing humanitarian aid (HA) to those
requiring it will often be treated as a series of discrete activities disconnected from
each other (UNDP 1993).
Usually, the term “disaster” refers to a “disruption that physically affects a
system as a whole and threatens its priorities and goals” (Van Wassenhove 2006).
With respect to cause, it is possible to distinguish between a natural and a
man-made disaster; with respect to predictability and speed of occurrence, it is
possible to distinguish between a sudden-onset and a slow-onset disaster. Taking into account also the different impact in terms of required logistic effort (from higher to lower), it is possible to identify four types of disasters (Cozzolino 2012):
(1) calamities, characterized by natural causes and sudden-onset occurrences (e.g.,
earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes); (2) destructive actions, characterized by
man-made causes and sudden-onset occurrences (e.g., terrorist attacks, coups
d’e´tat, industrial accidents); (3) plagues, characterized by natural causes and
slow-onset occurrence (e.g., famines, droughts, poverty); and (4) crises, characterized
by man-made causes and slow-onsets occurrence (e.g., political and refugee
crises).
Considering the situation, something can be done in order to improve the quality
of education in engineering which should not be superficial and which will help the
students to develop process and systems to fight disaster at the time of need.
As shown in Fig. 17.1, the students take admission in year 1 having two
semesters and two exams. If the minimum criterion (which is different for different
institutes) is met, then gate 1is crossed; otherwise, he/she has to prepare till gate 1 is
crossed. In the same manner, the other gates are to be crossed till the student is
passed out from the institute. The value added in all the 4 years that get accumulated
should reflect at the time of crossing each gate.
In the present system, the stage gate process as shown above does not hold good
for the readiness of students in different disaster situations; therefore, it is needed to
rethink the whole of the process to find out the missing link.
Literature Review
Engineering education system in India is going through a high degree of transition
from quite sometimes. A good engineering education system is supposed to be one
which equips the student with a sense of responsibility toward the society apart
from the technical know-how of the specialization in respective branch. At present
in the engineering system where the trained manpower is needed to cater for the
disaster management and humanitarian logistics, very few initiatives have been
taken by the universities especially in the engineering field. It gives a clear-cut
impression that there is something missing in the delivery of knowledge, research in
the field, or learning by the student.
Emergency logistics is often the largest and most complex element of relief
operations (UNDP 1993), and in order for successful supply chains to be effective,
there is a requirement for a clear understanding of the problems and issues involved.
India is vulnerable, in varying degrees, to a large number of natural as well as
man-made disasters. 58.6 % of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of moderate to
very high intensity; over 40 million hectares (12 % of land) is prone to floods and
river erosion; of the 7,516 km long coastline, close to 5,700 km is prone to cyclones
and tsunamis; 68 % of the cultivable area is vulnerable to drought, and hilly areas
are at risk from landslides and avalanches.
Lu et al. (2006) identified the factors which are most important to humanitarian
aid and emergency relief organizations in providing an effective response in crisis
situations and, secondly, the variables which contribute to the effectiveness of each.
From desk and field research, the extent to which CSFs are recognized and
understood within aid agencies is assessed. They demonstrated how such factors
can assist agencies in developing improvements in both strategy and response and
contribute more generally to the development of an assessment tool for humanitarian
aid supply chains.
Factors such as global warming, environmental degradation, and increasing
urbanization expose a greater number of people to the threat of natural disasters.
In the last three decades, the rate of disasters has risen from 50 to 400 per year
(Kovacs and Spens 2007), and it is still expected to increase five times more on the
next 50 years (Thomas and Kopczack 2007). In 2010, 207 million people suffered
from disasters, which caused 296,800 deaths and losses of 109 billion dollars (Sapir
2011). In the last decade, Brazil has suffered, on average, six natural disasters per
year (UN 2011), and, in 2008, it was the thirteenth country most affected by natural
disasters, having two million victims affected mainly by floods or landslides (Lima
et al. 2011).
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