Harwin De Vries, Stef Lemmens, Thomas Breugem and Max Olivier
Pressure to address drug shortages is increasing, and calls for cross-national stockpiling solutions are on the rise. This paper argues that cross-national stockpiling presents an…
Abstract
Purpose
Pressure to address drug shortages is increasing, and calls for cross-national stockpiling solutions are on the rise. This paper argues that cross-national stockpiling presents an important opportunity for operations and supply chain management (OSCM) research to help improve medicine access in the short- and long-term.
Design/methodology/approach
To substantiate our claims for future research, we conducted an empirical analysis of shortage co-occurrence on twelve EU member-states, reviewed practice reports and academic literature, and held extensive discussions with pharmaceutical supply chain stakeholders.
Findings
We show that the potential for cross-national stockpiling is unmistakably there and that, although OSCM research has touched upon important facets of cross-national stockpiling, many open questions still require novel research.
Originality/value
We present opportunities for impactful research along various dimensions, including understanding barriers and stakeholder behavior, quantifying cost-effectiveness and potential knock-on effects, analyzing the positive and negative implications of product standardization and determining novel equitable mechanisms for allocation and financing cross-national stockpiles.
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Harwin de Vries, Marianne Jahre, Kostas Selviaridis, Kim E. van Oorschot and Luk N. Van Wassenhove
This “impact pathways” paper argues that operations and supply chain management (OSCM) could help address the worsening drug shortage problem in high-income countries. This…
Abstract
Purpose
This “impact pathways” paper argues that operations and supply chain management (OSCM) could help address the worsening drug shortage problem in high-income countries. This significant societal problem poses difficult challenges to stakeholders given the complex and dynamic nature of drug supply chains. OSCM scholars are well positioned to provide answers, introducing new research directions for OSCM in the process.
Design/methodology/approach
To substantiate this, the authors carried out a review of stakeholder reports from six European countries and the academic literature.
Findings
There is little academic research and no fundamental agreement among stakeholders about causes of shortages. Stakeholders have suggested many government measures, but little evidence exists on their comparative cost-effectiveness.
Originality/value
The authors discuss three pathways of impactful research on drug shortages to which OSCM could contribute: (1) Developing an evidence-based system view of drug shortages; (2) Studying the comparative cost-effectiveness of key government interventions; (3) Bringing supply chain risk management into the government and economics perspectives and vice versa. Our study provides a baseline for future COVID-19-related research on this topic.
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Lina Frennesson, Joakim Kembro, Harwin de Vries, Luk Van Wassenhove and Marianne Jahre
To meet the rising global needs, the humanitarian community has signed off on making a strategic change toward more localisation, which commonly refers to the empowerment of…
Abstract
Purpose
To meet the rising global needs, the humanitarian community has signed off on making a strategic change toward more localisation, which commonly refers to the empowerment of national and local actors in humanitarian assistance. However, to this date, actual initiatives for localisation are rare. To enhance understanding of the phenomenon, the authors explore localisation of logistics preparedness capacities and obstacles to its implementation. The authors particularly take the perspective of the international humanitarian organisation (IHO) community as they are expected to implement the localisation strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
A phenomenon-driven, exploratory and qualitative study was conducted. Data collection included in-depth interviews with 28 experienced humanitarian professionals.
Findings
The findings showed the ambiguity inherent in the localisation strategy with largely different views on four important dimensions. Particularly, the interviewees differ about strengthening external actors or internal national/local offices. The resulting framework visualises the gap between strategy formulation and implementation, which forms major obstacles to the localisation aims.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is required to support the advancement of localisation of logistics preparedness capacities. Important aspects for future research include triangulation of results, other stakeholder perspectives and the influence of context.
Practical implications
The authors add to the important debate surrounding localisation by offering remedies to overcoming obstacles to strategy implementation. Further, the authors’ proposed framework offers a language to precisely describe the ways in which IHOs (should) view localisation of logistics preparedness capacities and its operationalisation.
Originality/value
To the best of authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first academic article on localisation within the humanitarian logistics context.