Disaster Resilience Through Public–Private Short‐Term Collaboration

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jbl.12152
• Published date: 01 June 2017
• Date: 01 June 2017

Disaster Resilience Through Public–Private Short-Term

Collaboration

Colin B. Gabler

1

, Robert Glenn Richey Jr.

2

, and Geoffrey T. Stewart

3

1

Ohio University

2

Auburn University

3

University of Louisiana

While contingency planning may provide a perspective for anticipating critical incidents, supply chain managers must develop competencies

to address the long-term disruptions that stem from both natural and man-made disasters. The broad-reaching nature of disasters brings

public and private entities together and often requires collaboration to revitalize disrupted supply chains. Leveraging supply chain governance

logic through the dual lenses of resource management and competing values, a research framework is introduced to address the nature of

public–private short-term collaboration and its influence on supply chain resilience. The largely unstudied concept of short-term collaboration

is at the heart of a model focusing on the alignment and adjustment of potentially disparate organizational values (public/private) to establish

collective responsiveness while facilitating the fulfillment of mutual goals for a single event and/or discrete repeat events. We offer research

propositions pertaining to the model and conclude with a discussion of managerial implications and the dire need for future research.

Keywords: public private partnerships; disaster logistics; short-term collaboration; governance; integration

INTRODUCTION

Disasters cause problems for both companies and their supply

chains. The occurrence of natural and man-made disasters around

the world has emerged as an increasing strategic threat. Not only

do they impact people and markets, they disrupt infrastructure,

commerce, and supply chains (e.g., Sodhi et al. 2012; Swanson

and Smith 2013; Heaslip and Barber 2014; Leiras et al. 2014).

Thus, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) is

now more pertinent than ever (see Kov

acs and Spens 2011; Day

et al. 2012; Kunz and Reiner 2012). While the total economic

impact varies (following are estimates: 9/11-NYC—$50–$100B;

Hurricane Katrina—~$150B; Haiti Earthquake—$8B; Nepal

Earthquake—$6B; Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown—$105B), the

subsequent social, environmental, and economic consequences of

disasters leave impacted areas in complicated recovery modes

and vulnerable to future incidents (Hallegatte 2008; Rose and

Blomberg 2010). Further, the scope of the disaster depends on

the scope and size of the country’s infrastructure and economy.

While traditional contingency planning may provide a perspec-

tive for anticipating critical incidents, supply chain managers

must develop and deploy competencies to address the temporal

disruptions that stem from these disasters and foster effective

governance of short-term collaborations (STCs). The extenuating

circumstances of disasters are often so great that private- and

public-sector entities find themselves working together to recover

and rebuild both communities and markets. We call this Public–

Private Short-term Collaboration. Taking a metaparadigmatic

approach (e.g., Lewis and Grimes 1999), our aim is to under-

stand how supply chains can increase their responsiveness and

resiliency in a dynamic way (Cozzolino et al. 2012). This

approach has been used specifically in disaster recovery logistics

by Richey (2009) and elsewhere (see Dewulf et al. 2009) to

move typical single and divergent theoretical grounding

approaches away from conceptual confusion and toward an inter-

active, process-focused framing. Given the global need for disas-

ter response/recovery and the inconsistency within the literature

involving public–private partnership strategies, this technique

may provide an opportunity to both spur more partnerships and

continued research.

Disasters cause the characteristics of the economic environ-

ment to clash with the natural environment. With human lives

hanging in the balance, organizations often have to shift from

maximizing their financial goals to supporting the community

and fundamental goals like survival. Disaster situations call for

the immediate and largely reactive creation of complex

short-term collaborative relationships between public and private

entities. These STCs are defined as intense yet temporary col-

laborations between organizations created in direct response to

an unforeseen disruptive event. They are often established with

a basic understanding of roles prior to the incident and become

more complex as the scope of the incident becomes known.

STCs persist despite less formal integration due to informal

planning, the temporal setting, and changing dynamics of the

situation. STCs that become active in the aftermath of a crisis

require a high degree of collaboration in the way of time,

effort, and personnel (Afshar and Haghani 2012; Luis et al.

2012). Essentially, stronger STC is needed to operate at the

level of communication at which other relationships are already

operating. STC between firms and government agencies must

develop quickly to meet the needs of diverse stakeholders, such

as victims, business partners, firm management, firm employees,

charity donors, investors, and even the general public (voters).

The situation is comparable to an individual carrying a bucket

of water to fulfill some urgent need when disaster strikes—in this

case, the bucket springs a leak that cannot be repaired. The water

Corresponding author:

Robert Glenn Richey, Jr., Raymond J. Harbert Eminent Scholar

Chair in Supply Chain Management, Harbert College of Business,

Auburn University, 405 W. Magnolia Ave, Auburn, AL 36830,

USA; E-mail: richey@auburn.edu

Journal of Business Logistics, 2017, 38(2): 130–144 doi: 10.1111/jbl.12152

© Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals