The Point of No Return: Adaptation Strategies in Disaster Donation Supply Chains

Abstract

In the aftermath of disasters, material convergence (the influx of material donations) can cause extreme negative impacts and has been described as a second disaster. Donations that are nonpriority or low-priority goods, or in excess of need, can have negative impacts on transportation into and storage within the affected area. For routine supply chains, successful supply access partially lies in the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. This paper draws on data collected after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and two tornadoes outside of Oklahoma City in May 2013. Interviews were conducted with individual actors in emergent donation supply chains to understand how they made and understood the effectiveness of their efforts and later coded for how central adaptability is viewed for achieving this success. A critical finding in our study was that how actors in the supply chain define success influences whether or not adaptation is construed as necessary or important, generating important implications for how to best confront the challenge of nonpriority items entering into the emergent disaster relief supply chain to the point of no return.