Title: Collaborative initiatives among international actors within a humanitarian setting

Authors: Paulo Gonçalves; Mohammad Moshtari

Addresses: Institute of Management, Università della Svizzera italiana, Via Giuseppe Buffi 13, CH-6904 Lugano, Switzerland ' Hanken School of Economics, Supply Chain Management and Social Responsibility, The Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Research Institute (HUMLOG Institute), Arkadiankatu 22, 00101 Helsinki, Finland

Abstract: There are a number of collaborative practices among humanitarian organisations aiming of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian operations. This study elaborates the objectives of collaboration among international humanitarian organisations, and reviews various types of collaborative network and dyadic initiatives in place in the humanitarian sector. Moreover, we discuss the extent to which the initiatives are employed by humanitarian organisations and the challenges for organisations to engage in the initiatives and act as a successful partner. We also review the challenges in examining the collaborative performance within a humanitarian setting and the factors limiting organisations to appropriately collaborate and attain the desired goals of their relationships. In parallel, we elaborate research enquiries, which may be insightful to be explored in next studies on collaboration among humanitarian organisations.

Keywords: collaborative initiatives; humanitarian organisations; humanitarian operations; international actors; collaborative practice; collaboration objectives; network initiatives; dyadic initiatives; collaboration challenges; humanitarian aid; humanitarian value chain.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2016.081652

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2016 Vol.16 No.4, pp.346 - 361

Received: 15 Jul 2015
Accepted: 11 Jan 2016
Published online: 19 Jan 2017 *

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