Assessing Barriers in Humanitarian Supply Chains for Cyclone in Coastal Areas of Bangladesh: An Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) Approach

Abstract

Bangladesh has frequently been affected by natural hazards, notably, cyclones in coastal areas. Humanitarian organizations are always active in helping affected communities through effective humanitarian supply-chain management by providing humanitarian goods and services, which is crucial to aiding vulnerable people after a natural catastrophe. However, some factors cause significant difficulties in achieving feasible humanitarian supply-chain (HSC) management that eventually ends up as a disfunctional and ineffective system to support to the community in need. Therefore, a lack of standard logistics support complicates horizontal cooperation between humanitarian organizations at various stages, along with relief aid. The motive of the paper is to identify and understand the barriers of HSC during the disaster preparedness and immediate response phase, particularly for cyclones in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. Through an extensive literature review and consultation with experts from different humanitarian organizations, 10 barriers were identified. To illustrate the structural relationships among the selected barriers, an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach with additional MICMAC (Matriced’ Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée á unClassement) analysis is used for data analysis. This aids in evaluating relative dependencies and driving power among the selected barriers. Findings show that a lack of an integrated approach and coordination among government and other humanitarian stakeholders, the inefficacy of multilateral information sharing among them, and a shortage of experienced logisticians are the barriers with the highest driving powers in HSC. The findings of this study will help humanitarian experts, aid agencies who distribute humanitarian aid, and organizations, to set up a good supply chain for helping people in the coastal area of Bangladesh following cyclones.