Introduction to LET for Efficient Disaster Management
Discuss about the Supply Chain Management of LET.
The logistics emergency teams or LET mainly comprises of four of the biggest global transportation and logistics organizations. The four organizations that are a major part of the LET group are Agility, Maersk, UPS, DP World. These organizations work together to support the Logistics Cluster program that is led by the United Nations World Food Programme. The partnership was further supported by the World Economic Forum in the year 2005. The organizations join their forces to provide to the humanitarian sector and provide them with emergency response to tackled the large-scale natural disasters (Logcluster.org. 2018). The organization deploys its forces worldwide when requested by the Global Logistics Cluster. The LET is known for uniting the capacities and the resources that are related to the logistics industry along with the expertise of the humanitarian communities to provide efficient and effective support to the disaster relief activities. The major reason behind the cooperation with the help of LET is to provide efficient response which is demand driven in nature (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus 2014).
The report will be mainly based on the analysis of the various supply chain related strategies that are used by the LET for the purpose of providing efficient services for the purpose of disaster management. LET is considered to be a Human Aid Organization and the various issues that can occur in the Humanitarian supply chains will also be discussed in the report. The organization will be further compared to two other organizations which operate in the same field namely, CARE or Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere and WFP or World Food Programme.
Humanitarian logistics are mainly related to the function which ensures the cost-effective and efficient flow and the storage of materials and goods mainly for the purpose of reducing the suffering of the people who hit by natural disasters. The pressure on the Human Aid related organizations have been increasing as they require to prove themselves to the donors who pledge to provide aid and the related goods to the millions of people who are in need. The organizations providing human aid are under constant scrutiny regarding the services that are provided by the them and the ways they impact the people who require their assistance (Mangan, Lalwani and Lalwani 2016).
The human aid organizations further face the challenge to react immediately to an emergency that has occurred due to a natural disaster. The local governments therefore need to take steps so that the issue related to the gap of resources can be solved. The various human aid related firms are further forming effective strategic relationships in the supply chain so that they are able to achieve success. The LET or Logistics Emergency Teams named organization was formed in response to the Tsunami that had occurred in India in the year 2004. This was formed to provide swift and efficient response to the needs of the various people who were affected due to this disaster (Wisner, Tan and Leong 2014).
Analysis of LET’s Supply Chain Related Strategies
The logistics organizations which were initially a part of the LET team were, Agility, FedEx, A.P. Maersk and TNT. There were however some changes in the year 2014 which led to the formation of the recent team of LET. The organization mainly operates in the various emerging markets where there are chances of the occurrence of disasters in a frequent manner. The main strategy that has been helpful for the operations of LET in the market is the deployment of local supply chain related personnel rather than deploying the professionals from international areas. The organization further tries to make collaborations with the competitors so that they can help in improving the lives of the various communities (Pagell and Shevchenko 2014).
LET has been providing its services to the various countries during the time of disasters since its inception in the year 2004. The major reason that is related to the success of LET in the market is the well-established partnership that is made by the organization with the logistics organizations. The company conducts regular meetings with the different logistics suppliers. The different suppliers are responsible for providing different services to the people who are affected by the disasters. Agility has been provided with the responsibility of the operational aspects and the organization aims at initiating the coordination of LET for updating the Logistics Capacity Assessments (Beske, Land and Seuring 2014).
Maersk on the other hand was provided with two responsibilities which are, becoming the chair of LET for two years and the lead the company for the communication related objectives of LET. UPS was mainly made responsible for the efforts related to capacity development of LET. Further, the company also assisted in organising and facilitating the training of the LET members. The division of the various responsibilities have been helpful in the successful operations of LET in the various emerging markets. The active employees of the organization are another major reason behind the success of LET in the market (Touboulic and Walker 2015).
The organization takes pride in its employees as they participate actively in the various disaster relief programs. The employees contribute their expertise in the professional field with commitment and energy. The partnerships that have been made by LET allows the organization to deploy the employees directly to set up the supply chain in the various fields where the humanitarian disasters take place. The employees of the company are active in organising donations along with the various professional tasks that are performed for them (Meixell and Luoma 2015).
CARE international is considered to be a global leader in the movement related to the worldwide movement that is dedicated towards ending the poverty. The organization is well-known in the market for their commitment towards the dignity of people. The mission of the organization is to defeat poverty, save lives and achieve justice socially. The vision of the company is related to seek a world which is full of hope, social justice and tolerance. The organization has placed the girls or women in the centre of their activities as the company has realised that poverty cannot be eradicated until everyone has equal opportunities and rights. The values of the company are mainly related to the transformation, that is, the belief that they have in innovation, urgent action, and necessity related to the transformation within the world or within the organization (CARE US. 2018).
Comparison of LET with CARE and WFP
The organization holds accountability to the partners and people who are served by the company. The organization also believes in diversity related to the voices and the ways by which they can solve the problems in the world. CARE believes in challenging its own performance and levels of learning. The organization further believes in the concept of equality of all human beings in the society (Martínez-Jurado and Moyano-Fuentes 2014). The company believes that the dynamic partnerships that are formed by with other organizations are important in solving the complex challenges that are related to global development. The partners of the organization including the corporations, the foundations and entrepreneurs are committed towards developing and further supporting the initiatives that are socially responsible in nature. CARE aims at building strong communities in developing world along with enhancing the development and business related goals. The activities that are performed by CARE help in solving the various global challenges (Waters and Rinsler 2014).
The organization works closely with the other corporations so that the strategic partnerships can be formed to achieve the results. The organization also aims at connecting with the consumers and they are able to leverage the worldwide programs that are related to education, entrepreneurship and maternal health as well. The programs help in building engaging and dynamic consumer related campaigns with help the company in connecting with their consumers. The organization believes in the long-lasting partnerships which are critical for the success of the consumer campaigns. The other main feature of the organization is related to the process of cause related marketing that is undertaken by CARE (Wolf 2014). The organization has also formulated loyalty programs for the consumers so that they are able to highlight the commitment of the customers towards CARE that needs to be taken of the community.
The second human aid organization that is considered for the purpose of comparing with LET is Save the Children. This is an US based human aid organization which operates in the field of saving the children in the United States and around the world. The main aim of the organization is to give the children a start in life which is healthy in nature. They also provide the children an opportunity for learning and provide them with protection from the harm. The organization claims to be the first to respond at the time of any type of crisis. The employees of the company further try to save the lives of the children and their future (Save the Children. 2018).
The organization was established in the year 1919 by Eglantyne Jebb and Dorothy Buxton. The company has formed strategic partnerships with many other organizations to reach more and more children with the help of the services that they provide. The partners of the company help them in transforming the lives of the children and the improving their future as well. Save the Children has many corporate partnerships which are helpful for the purpose of sharing the visions and the ways by which they are able to invest in childhood (Kozlenkova et al. 2015). The organization works in a collaborative manner with the partners so that the complex challenges can be resolved which have caused issues in the lives of children. Save the Children has a huge network of its various local and global partners which are helpful in increasing the response that they can provide to the emergency situations. The global corporate partners of Save the Children include, Accenture, BVLGARI, C&A, GSK, Ikea Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Mondelez International, Toms. These partners of the company help in increasing its connectivity so that it can be successful in achieving the strategic goals (Taticchi et al., 2015).
Challenges Faced by Humanitarian Aid Organizations
The two organizations namely CARE and Save the Children operate in the human aid related field. CARE has similar ways of operations like LET and has string distribution related team which assists the employees of the organization to provide emergency services at the time of immediate need. On the other hand, the field of operations of Save the Children is small and comparatively different in nature. The organization mainly works towards providing facilities to the children who are underprivileged (Quarshie, Salmi and Leuschner 2016).
The competitive advantage is maintained by Logistics emergency team with the help of its efficient and well maintained partnerships with the various organizations. The cross-company partnerships had been made by the various organizations so that they are able to provide services at the time of emergency. This has proved to be the first initiative that has been taken by multiple organizations for human aid related purposes. The organization was formed in partnership with some of the best logistics service providing companies. This has further enabled the organization to provide immediate emergency services at the time of natural disasters. LET further hired local professionals in the teams instead of international personnel which increased the effectiveness (Grant, Wong and Trautrims 2017).
The organization performs many training programs for the new professionals who enter the team. This training program is known as LET training. The training programs are conducted at the different emergency operations for the personnel of the organization. The chosen professionals read through the various LET related guidelines and booklets so that an understanding can be built of the operational expectations from the professionals. The organization is also known for providing on time emergency services with the assistance of its partners. The committed team of the organization is another major strength that ultimately leads to its competitive advantage (Carter, Rogers and Choi 2015). The team is always ready to take the responsibility that is given to them and give their best to provide aid to the people at the time of need. The employees or the team of the organization are always committed towards the mission and the vision that has been set by the management.
The management of the logistics emergency teams has formulated various strategies that are related to providing required services to people who are hit by a natural disaster. The recent strategy that has been formed by the organization in the year 2016 was based on the previous strategy of the organization. The previous strategy was based on the professionalising and strengthening of the work related to Logistics Cluster. This is required to ensure that the humanitarian community is able to save the lives with the help of reliable and timely logistics related services (Rushton, Croucher and Baker 2014).
The Logistics Cluster has the responsibility to provide information management, coordination, and further ensure access to services related to common logistics where it is required. The new strategy will further carry forward the previous strategy of the organization (Stadtler 2015). This will further be helpful in providing the appropriate services that are required during the times of emergency. The collaboration that has been created with the help of these strategies between the partners of the organization has helped LET to provide emergency services to the various people who have been hit by disasters (Waters and Rinsler 2014). The collaborative strategies have continued to strengthen the partnerships which have further helped the team in providing appropriate services for the purpose human aid. The organization has also formed a group named Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) in the year 2017 so that collaboration can be reinforced within the teams and the partners to provide better services. The collaboration can further continue and emphasis is also given by the organization towards the improvement of knowledge (Pagell and Shevchenko 2014).
LET’s Success Factors in the Market
Sustainability is related to the ability which is related to continue a particular behaviour in an indefinite manner. The continued growth or the development of an organization without deteriorating the environment or causing depletion of the various natural resources on which the well-being of the humans depends. The sustainable development is mainly related to the flow of the services and goods which the economy can generate revenues indefinitely without further reducing the natural capacity of production (Stadtler 2015).
The strategy of Logistics Emergency Teams or LET is sustainable in nature as the partners have been able to collaborate and provide appropriate services to the people in need. The various organizations or the partners are the most important part of the sustainable operations of LET. The capacities and the abilities of LET are used in a sustainable nature so that the organization can operate in the industry for a longer term. Sustainability is the major part of the various human aid related organizations as they are committed towards providing services to people who are in immense need (Beske, Land and Seuring 2014).
Conclusion
The report can be concluded by stating that the human aid organizations need to have a fast and agile supply chain management strategy so that they are able to provide urgent services to people at times of emergency. The organization always need to be ready for any type of emergency situations and provide services whenever required. Therefore, the efficiency in supply chain is important for ensuring high levels of service by human aid organizations.
- LET needs to improve the teams in a continuous manner so that they are able to provide the best services to the people in need.
- The teams that are working with the organizations need to efficient so that they are able to provide maximum effort at the times of disaster management.
- The logistics of the company needs to be improved so that they are able to provide the best and fastest services.
References
Beske, P., Land, A. and Seuring, S., 2014. Sustainable supply chain management practices and dynamic capabilities in the food industry: A critical analysis of the literature. International Journal of Production Economics, 152, pp.131-143.
CARE US. (2018). CARE US | A NGO Empowering Women & Girls of US. [online] Available at: https://www.careus.org/ [Accessed 14 Apr. 2018].
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Jacobs, F.R., Chase, R.B. and Lummus, R.R., 2014. Operations and supply chain management (pp. 533-535). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
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Quarshie, A.M., Salmi, A. and Leuschner, R., 2016. Sustainability and corporate social responsibility in supply chains: The state of research in supply chain management and business ethics journals. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 22(2), pp.82-97.
Rushton, A., Croucher, P. and Baker, P., 2014. The handbook of logistics and distribution management: Understanding the supply chain. Kogan Page Publishers.
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Stadtler, H., 2015. Supply chain management: An overview. In Supply chain management and advanced planning (pp. 3-28). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Taticchi, P., Garengo, P., Nudurupati, S.S., Tonelli, F. and Pasqualino, R., 2015. A review of decision-support tools and performance measurement and sustainable supply chain management. International Journal of Production Research, 53(21), pp.6473-6494.
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Wolf, J., 2014. The relationship between sustainable supply chain management, stakeholder pressure and corporate sustainability performance. Journal of business ethics, 119(3), pp.317-328.
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