Characterizing Coordination in Humanitarian Supply Chains: A Case Study in Colombia

Theories And Approaches

(Lambert et al., 1998) proposed a framework for understanding supply chains. This framework is composed of three elements: the supply chain structure, the business processes and the management components. Supply chain’s structure refers to the setup of the different network actors, having into account from the raw materials suppliers to the end costumer. Supply chain structure includes both horizontal and vertical dimensions. Examples of applications for Lambert framework can be seen in (Gonzalez-Feliu, Osorio-Ramirez, Palacios-Arguello, & Talamantes, 2018)

Regarding the business processes, Lambert (1998) defines eight key processes among the supply chain relationships: customer relationship management, customer service management, demand management, order fulfillment, manufacturing flow management, procurement, product development and commercialization and returns.

Finally, the management components are referred as the managerial variables by which business processes are integrated and managed, these are classified in those related with the physical and technical components (planning and control methods, work flow, organization structure, communication and information flow and product flow) and those related with the managerial and behavioral components (management methods, power and leadership structure, risk and reward structure and culture and attitude).