The Social Psychology of Organizations.

Social Psychology of Organizations

There has been tremendous interest in blockchain technology (BT) (also known as distributed ledger technology) around the globe and across sectors. Following significant success in the financial sector, other sectors, such as humanitarian sector, have started deploying BT at various levels. Although the use of BT in the humanitarian sector is in its infancy, donors and government agencies are increasingly calling for building BT-enabled swift-trust and more collaborative relationships among various humanitarian actors in order to improve the transparency and traceability of disaster relief materials, information exchanges and flow of funds in disaster relief supply chains. Our study, which is informed by organizational information processing theory and relational view, proposes a theoretical model to understand how BT can influence operational supply chain transparency (OSTC) and swift-trust (ST) among actors engaged in disaster relief operations. Our model also shows how BT-enabled ST can further improve collaboration (CO) among actors engaged in disaster relief operations and enhance supply chain resilience. We formulated and tested six research hypotheses, using data gathered from international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with the help of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) database. We received 256 usable responses using a pre-tested survey based instrument designed for key informants. Our results confirm that our six hypotheses were supported. Our study offers significant and valid contributions to the literature on swift-trust, collaboration and supply chain resilience and BT/distributed ledger technology. We have also noted limitations of our study and have offered future research directions.

/pdf/blockchain-technology-for-enhancing-swift-trust-32l3myqb4l.pdf

Blockchain technology for enhancing swift-trust, collaboration and resilience within a humanitarian supply chain setting

https://hal-audencia.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01996486/document

Big data analytics and organizational culture as complements to swift trust and collaborative performance in the humanitarian supply chain

The basis for this article is an information-processing view of the UN's cluster approach. We use agent-based modeling and simulations to show that clusters, if properly utilized, encourage better information flow and thus facilitate effective response to disasters. The article intends to turn the attention of the humanitarian community to the importance of sharing information and the role of cluster leads in facilitating humanitarian aid. Our results indicate that if cluster leads act as information hubs, information reaches its target faster, enabling a prompt humanitarian response. In addition, we show that information quality is critical for effective resource utilization-if cluster leads filter information, it moves faster. We also found evidence that the willingness to exchange information plays a larger role in transmitting information than that of an information hub, particularly during later stages of response operations.

/pdf/information-diffusion-among-agents-implications-for-3lesuf8foi.pdf

Information diffusion among agents: : implications for humanitarian operations

There is a growing recognition of the critical role information management can play in shaping effective humanitarian response, coordination and decision-making. Quality information, reaching more humanitarian actors, will result in better coordination and better decision-making, thus improving the response to beneficiaries as well as accountability to donors. The humanitarian response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake marked a watershed moment for humanitarian information management. Yet the fragmented nature of the response and the use of hierarchical models of information management, along with other factors, have led some observers to label the Haiti response a failure. Using an analytical framework often found in humanitarian emergencies, this study analyses challenges to information flow in the Haiti case and the implications for effective humanitarian response. It concludes by offering possible paths for overcoming such challenges, and for restoring the value and utility of humanitarian information management and exchange in humanitarian relief settings.

https://works.bepress.com/nezih_altay/23/download/

Challenges in humanitarian information management and exchange: evidence from Haiti.

Dead aid: why aid is not working and how there is a better way for Africa

Classified by the UN as one of five core challenges to civilian protection, humanitarian access denial is an increasingly urgent dilemma facing humanitarian actors. Conventional thinking about humanitarian access denial focuses on its outcomes rather than factors that shape its occurrence. The norms associated with humanitarian access and civilian protection are highly institutionalised at the intergovernmental level, yet states demonstrate considerable variation in their compliance with them at the domestic level. Utilising an interpretivist approach, we analyse how actions taken by states to deny humanitarian access in Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and Darfur/Sudan are given meaning and how they come to be understood by state actors themselves as a conduit to pursue other goals. We propose a descriptive typology of humanitarian access denial, and discuss the implications this phenomenon carries for civilian protection by humanitarian actors.

Towards a Typology of Humanitarian Access Denial

Civilian protection has become an increasingly urgent issue with which humanitarian practitioners and policy-makers must contend, particularly in relation to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). In a number of recent crises, both the host state and the international community have failed to uphold their respective primary and secondary responsibilities to protect under R2P. In such double manifest failure settings, the actors to whom a disproportionate civilian protection responsibility is most likely to fall are humanitarian actors. This article explores the concept of manifest failure, examines Security Council responses, and analyses the implications for civilian protection. I argue that humanitarian actors cannot reasonably be expected to fulfill a tertiary responsibility to protect that aligns with the United Nation's civilian protection agenda goals, and conclude by discussing how humanitarian actors can work within the limits imposed by double manifest failure cases.

Melissa Labonte

Papers

Challenges in humanitarian information management and exchange: evidence from Haiti.

Dead aid: why aid is not working and how there is a better way for Africa

Towards a Typology of Humanitarian Access Denial

Whose responsibility to protect? The implications of double manifest failure for civilian protection

R2P’s Status as a Norm