Yes / This study has addressed and identified the problems in managing the existing emergency supply chain of Bangladesh in all phases of operation in terms of the primary drivers of the supply chain. It has also attempted to conceptualize and suggest an effective emergency supply chain. In this context, a thorough field investigation in several districts was conducted among the employees of the organizations sharing common information with similar protocols and implications (interoperable). Information was collected from the employees of all the participating organizations involved in disaster management through a semi-structured questionnaire based survey. The respondents addressed and illustrated several interconnected reasons which are inhibiting proper forecasting, procurement, storage, identification of affected people, and distribution. The respondents pointed out that the mismatching of objectives in the different organizations resulted in non-interoperability among the participating organizations. These issues are related to the malfunctioning of management with multidimensional organizational conflicts. Reflecting those issues, an emergency supply chain for disaster management is proposed in this study

Yes / An integrated process, interlinked operation and interoperable communication network amongst operating agencies are critical for developing an effective disaster management supply chain. The traditional managerial problems observed across disaster management operations are: non-cooperation among members, disrupted chain of commands, misuse of relief items, lack of information sharing, mistrust and lack of coordination. This study aims to understand the issues affiliated with negative attitude towards disaster management operations using theory of cognitive dissonance. A qualitative investigation was undertaken across 64 districts in Bangladesh. Five constructs were examined for their influences on attitude and behavioural intention of members participating in government emergency supply chain for disaster management. The results indicate that administrative conflict, political biasness and professional growth have significant effects on attitude. Impact of insecurity is non-significant on attitude. This research offers substantial theoretical contribution to the cognitive dissonance theory in the context of disaster management supply chain.

Title: Emergency Supply Chains during a pandemic - Stockpiles and Last-Mile distribution Rationale: Disasters come in many shapes and sizes in terms of its nature and its destructiveness. A commonality amongst disasters is that they all cause widespread damage and extensive human suffering. A recent event that has brought attention to pandemics is the outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. With pandemic outbreaks being a statistical certainty according to WHO officials and historical references point to extensive damage caused by previous pandemics, proper emergency supply chain protocols are called for in order to secure the supply of vital resources. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how stockpiles and last-mile distribution has been applied within emergency supply chains in previous disasters. This in order to collect and process knowledge as to how emergency supply chains can be used within a pandemic outbreak. Objective: The objective of this study is to answer the following question:  “How can stockpiles and last-mile distribution within an emergency supply chain be used to order to increase the availability of vital resources during a pandemic outbreak?” Method: This study takes a qualitative approach with a hermeneutic standpoint. Combined with an inductive reasoning the study aims to serve the above stated purpose and objective. Scientific literature will be sampled and thoroughly examined to provide a theoretical basis for the empirical data that will be collected in latter stages of the study. The empirical data that will be collected is exclusively qualitative in nature and consists of field reports, new articles, statements and other form of publications. The theoretical and empirical data will then be analyzed in order to serve the purpose and achieve the study objective. Measures such as authenticity and good ethical practices have been taken in order to ensure study quality.  Conclusions: Valuable knowledge can be extrapolated from previous disasters that have practiced the use of emergency supply chains and preparedness based stockpiling. This knowledge can be applied to disasters of pandemic nature such as the novel coronavirus.  Keywords: Emergency supply chain (ESC), Preparedness, Response, Stockpile, Vital resources, Social important activities, Collaboration, Last-mile distribution (LMD).