Cooperative-based procurement in humanitarian operations

In the quest to increase the cost efficiency of procurement, humanitarian organizations (HOs) are consolidating their procurement processes in a cooperative. This study investigates how the cooperative interacts with different layers of the participating HOs. Leveraging both qualitative as quantitative data, we take a multi-method approach to show how disparities in goals and information between strategy formulators and followers can impact humanitarian operations. The findings reveal that while this strategy reduces costs, it wrongly incentivizes individual organizations such that collective effectiveness can decrease.

Daan van Beek started his PhD at Kühne Logistics University in April 2022. His research focuses on combining human behaviour with quantitative modelling efforts in the context of the humanitarian aid sector. His dissertation focuses on the risks and opportunities that are posed by novel strategies on collaboration between the supply chains of humanitarian organisations.