CHSCM 3.0 - Unit 1 - SCM in the Humanitarian World

e required by people working for the organization to enable them to meet beneficiary needs, e.g.
vehicles and equipment. Most humanitarian organizations will have procedures for placing orders,
and how well these procedures are followed and the accuracy and completeness of the information
contained in customer requests, will affect the ability of people managing the supply chain to
process and meet these orders.
The actions of people working in head offices of humanitarian organizations can have an impact on
the performance of supply chains that are supporting field operations. Some of the functions we
have already looked at will have people based at the head office, and these people set organization
policies and procedures that effect different aspects of the supply chain.
The supply chain/logistics function will have people based at head office, and these people will
determine supply chain strategy for the organization. This strategy will influence the strategy that
must be followed at a regional and country level, and will determine parts of the supply chain
network, e.g. whether or not the organization has regional warehouses. Head office will also set
organization policies on different aspects of the supply chain, for example, procurement policy
which will set policy on international versus local sourcing.
The head office supply chain /logistics function will often have people with expertise in different
aspects of supply chain, or who have expertise and knowledge of particular regions and countries.
This knowledge and expertise can be valuable when setting up and managing supply chains in the
field, and can affect the performance of those supply chains.
Humanitarian organizations may also have offices in specific countries around the world. The
responsibilities of these country offices will vary, depending upon the particular humanitarian
organization, but the actions of the office and of the people working in the country office can also
have an impact on the performance of the supply chain.
In some organizations, the people managing the supply chain at a local country level will report to
the country office. The performance of these people, and therefore the performance of the local
supply chain, will be affected by the way they are managed by the person to whom they report in the
country office. The supply chain manager responsible for coordinating a number of supply chain
operations within a country or region may therefore not have any management responsibility for the
people operating the supply chain in that country or region. They are therefore providing advice
and support to people who are reporting to someone else, and often are influencing their
performance through the way they are leading them rather than managing them.