Learning mechanisms for humanitarian logistics

Abstract

Purpose – As humanitarian organizations often operate in highly volatile environments, a good understanding of their learning mechanisms would improve the knowledge acquisition and retention in these organizations, and complement the formal logistics education and training for their relief staff. The paper explores the following research question: what learning mechanisms are used by humanitarian organizations to acquire sufficient knowledge for their logistics operations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper opts for a theoretical study based on the existing literature. We apply organizational learning theory to examine the learning process and mechanisms of humanitarian organizations. An actual case is used to validate the findings. Findings – The study develops a theoretical framework for the learning mechanism of humanitarian organizations, and reports four learning mechanisms: learning by hiring, learning by doing, learning by observing, and learning by searching. Five propositions are proposed for empirical validation. Research limitations/implications – Because of the theoretical nature of the study, the research is still an exploratory one. The organization learning literature employed is not comprehensive. Researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further. Practical implications – The paper includes implications for humanitarian organization to better manage their learning processes, improve the effectiveness of their knowledge management, and benefit more disaster-affected people. Originality/value – This paper fills a gap in the learning processes and knowledge management of humanitarian organizations.