Do Optimization Models for Humanitarian Operations Need a Paradigm Shift?

Optimization approaches for planning and routing of humanitarian field operations have been studied intensively. Yet, their adoption in practice remains scant. This opinion paper argues that effectiveness increase realized by such approaches can be marginal due to triviality of planning problems, ex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Production and operations management 2020-01, Vol.29 (1), p.55-61
Main Authors: De Vries, Harwin, Van Wassenhove, Luk N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Corporate culture
cost‐effectiveness analysis
decision support
Humanitarian aid
humanitarian logistics
Humanitarianism
Operations management
Optimization
planning
routing
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Summary:Optimization approaches for planning and routing of humanitarian field operations have been studied intensively. Yet, their adoption in practice remains scant. This opinion paper argues that effectiveness increase realized by such approaches can be marginal due to triviality of planning problems, external constraints, and information losses. Cost increases, on the other hand, can be substantial. These include costs of implementation and use, data gathering, and mismatches with organizational cultures. Though such costs are a key concern for humanitarian organizations, OR/MS studies typically consider effectiveness measures only. We argue a paradigm shift towards cost‐effectiveness maximization and increasing the strength of the presented evidence is needed and discuss corresponding future research needs.
ISSN:1059-1478
1937-5956
DOI:10.1111/poms.13092