05/07/2012, Prof. Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez (Indiana University), on "Fleet Management Coordination in Decentralized Humanitarian Operations"

 Abstract

We study incentive alignment for the coordination of operations in humanitarian settings. Our research focuses on transportation, the second-largest overhead cost (after personnel) for humanitarian organizations. Motivated by field research, we study the fleet size problem from a managerial perspective. In terms of transportation, our setup features an equity-focused humanitarian program implemented by an international humanitarian organization with private information that affects the balance between equity and efficiency intended by the organization's headquarters. The incentive alignment issue is complex because traditional instruments based on financial rewards and penalties are not considered to be viable options. This problem is further complicated by information asymmetry in the system due to the dispersed geographical locations of the parties. We design a novel mechanism based on an operational lever to coordinate incentives in this setting. Our study contributes to two streams of literature, humanitarian logistics, and incentives in operations management.

Co-authored withSameer Hasija, INSEAD
Luk N. Van Wassenhove, INSEAD

Biography 

Alfonso J. Pedraza-Martinez is Assistant Professor of Operations and Decision Technologies at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, where he teaches logistics. He holds a Ph.D. in Management from INSEAD. His research on humanitarian logistics has informed the practice of vehicle fleet management at the Red Cross Movement, WFP, Oxfam UK and WVI. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals like Production and Operations Management and Journal of Operations Management. Alfonso has been invited to present around 40 seminars and lectures worldwide. Before doing his Ph.D. he was a junior faculty at Universidad de los Andes School of Management in Colombia, where he taught optimization, simulation and data mining. He also has 5 years of working experience on humanitarian logistics and sustainable operations with the governments of Bogota and Colombia, respectively.

More about Professor Alfonso J. Pedraza-Martinez

Time

Start:

July 5th, 2012 @ 02:00 pm

End:

July 5th, 2012 @ 03:00 pm

Venue

Kühne Logistics University (KLU) 
Wissenschaftliche Hochschule für Logistik und Unternehmensführung
Grosser Grasbrook 17
20457 Hamburg, Germany  
Click here to get directions to the KLU.

Contact

Birgit Kappert

Tel.:

+49 40 328707-202

Fax:

+49 40 328707-209
 

CONTACT

Research Institute on Leadership and Operations in Humanitarian Aid
Großer Grasbrook 17 
20457 Hamburg, Germany
Tel.: +49 40 328707-241
Email: aloha@riloha.org

 

 

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