ABSTRACT

Purpose

The study aims to operationalize the information systems in the humanitarian supply chain performance management between humanitarian organizations and donors in the preparedness stage, which can be used for empirical studies.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a systematic literature review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) to gather and analyze 17 peer-reviewed publications. Then, analyses were used to develop an operationalization.

Findings

Most publications focused on operationalization in one area, e.g., information systems, performance management, or preparedness stage. Only seven publications provided survey/interview instruments/guidelines, operationalized into questions/variables for future empirical studies covering three areas: description, initial understanding, and analysis.

Research limitation/implications

The operationalization can be pretested for question appropriateness and used to collect data from humanitarian organizations and donors, highlighting the relationship between information systems and performance management in the preparedness stage.

Social implications

The study lays the foundation for its contribution to the social community in conducting empirical studies (e.g., surveys) by initially operationalizing information systems in the humanitarian supply chain performance management, potentially improving lead-time effectiveness and cost-efficiency.

Original/value

Previous studies did not provide operationalizing information systems for humanitarian supply chain performance management in the preparedness stage for empirical studies.

Keywords: humanitarian supply chain, operationalization, survey, information systems, performance management activities, preparedness