Supply Chain Visibility in the Humanitarian Context During the Last Mile of Delivery

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IN THE FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY DEGREE PROJECT

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT AND THE MAIN FIELD OF STUDY

INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS

,

STOCKHOLM SWEDEN 2020

Supply Chain Visibility in the

Humanitarian Context During

the Last Mile of Delivery

A case study at the United Nations

Population Fund in Zimbabwe

GUSTAV SÄLLSTRÖM

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MINA ASGHARI

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Supply Chain Visibility in the

Humanitarian Context During the Last

Mile of Delivery

-A case study at the United Nations Population

Fund in Zimbabwe

By

Gustav Sällström

With Contributions From

Mina Asghari

Master of Science Thesis TRITA-ITM-EX 2020:417 KTH Industrial Engineering and Management

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Insyn i Leverantörskedjan Inom den

Humanitära Sektorn Under Det Sista

Ledet i Logistikflödet

-En Fallstudie vid Förenta Nationernas

Befolkningsfond i Zimbabwe

Av

Gustav Sällström

Med Bidrag Av

Mina Asghari

Examensarbete TRITA-ITM-EX 2020:417 KTH Industriell teknik och management

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Master of Science Thesis TRITA-ITM-EX 2020:417

Supply Chain Visibility in the Humanitarian Context During the Last Mile of Delivery

Gustav Sällström Approved Examiner Luca Urciuoli Supervisor Bo Karlson Commissioner

United Nations Population Fund

Contact person

Abstract

The global business environment is rapidly changing, and with the emergence of a new landscape comes new challenges. Traditional supply chains have been reshaped in an attempt to better adjust to the ever-increasing globalization process. This has increased the complexity of logistics as supply chains now are global, multi-tiered and encompass a variety of activities and stakeholders. As a result, many organizations are struggling to fully monitor their supply chains due to the lack of visibility within the supply chain. This concerns not only commercial corporations but also humanitarian organizations in their quest to improve the situation for people in need.

The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of Supply Chain Visibility and

determine which factors that affect the level of visibility in a supply chain, and to investigate how humanitarian organizations can increase the level of Supply Chain Visibility during the last mile of delivery. The research was conducted by means of an extensive literature review and a case study in Zimbabwe. The case study included a mapping of the national supply chain and an assessment of the current level of visibility. Subsequently, the underlying issues that affect the current level of visibility were identified and analysed.

The findings from the study show that the underlying activity and the antecedent of Supply Chain Visibility is information sharing between trading partners in the supply chain. The activity of information sharing is in turn determined by the level of connectivity and willingness. Connectivity measures the maturity of the technological means that an

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increase the level of quality of the shared information. In the long run it is imperative that humanitarian organizations detach the information flows from the physical flows so that information is transmitted electronically from health facilities to the central information repository, rather than being collected by vehicle. Implementing a Logistics Management Information System based on the GS1 standards is therefore a necessity as it would allow for automatic information capture and dissemination among supply chain stakeholders.

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Examensarbete TRITA-ITM-EX 2020:417

Insyn i Leverantörskedjan Inom den Humanitära Sektorn Under Det Sista Ledet i Logistikflödet

Gustav Sällström Godkänt Examinator Luca Urciuoli Handledare Bo Karlson Uppdragsgivare

Förenta Nationernas Befolkningsfond

Kontaktperson

Sammanfattning

Den globala marknaden förändras snabbt och i takt med att det affärsmässiga landskapet förändras kommer nya utmaning. Traditionella leverantörskedjor har oformaterats i ett försök att bättre anpassa sig till den ständigt ökande globaliseringen. Detta har lett till att

komplexiteten inom logistikområdet ökat och leverantörskedjor är idag globala, flerskiktade och innefattar en mängd aktiviteter och aktörer. Som ett resultat av detta har många

organisationer idag svårt att fullt ut övervaka sina leveranskedjor på grund av bristande insyn. Detta rör inte endast kommersiella företag utan även humanitära organisationer i deras strävan att förbättra levnadssituationen för människor i nöd.

Syftet med den här studien var att utforska begreppet ”Supply Chain Visibility” och slå fast vilka faktorer som påverkar graden av insyn i leverantörskedjan, samt att undersöka hur humanitära organisationer kan öka graden av insyn i sina leveranskedjor under ”the last mile

of delivery”. Studien genomfördes med hjälp en grundlig litteraturstudie och en fallstudie i

Zimbabwe. Fallstudien inkluderade en kartläggning av den nationella leveranskedjan och en bedömning av den nuvarande nivån av insyn i denna. De underliggande problemen som påverkar den nuvarande nivån av insyn i leveranskedjan identifierades och analyserades slutligen.

Resultaten från studien visar att den underliggande aktiviteten som föregår ”Supply Chain

Visibility” är informationsdelning mellan aktörer inom leveranskedjan. Graden av

informationsdelning beror i sin tur på konnektiviteten i leveranskedjan och på viljan hos enskilda aktörer att dela information med andra parter. Konnektivitet är ett mått på hur

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organisationer fokusera på att förbättra och effektivisera dessa transportprocesser för att öka kvaliteten på informationen. På sikt är det därför helt centralt att informationsflödena skiljs från de fysiska flödena så att information kan överföras elektroniskt från kliniker till den centrala datalagringsenheten, istället för att samlas in med hjälp av distribueringsfordonen. Att implementera ett ”Logistics Management Information System” baserat på GS1 standarden är därför nödvändigt då det skulle tillåta automatisk informationsinsamling och

informationsspridning mellan intressenter inom leverantörskedjan.

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Thesis outline.

Figure 2: Map of UNFPA’s offices worldwide (UNFPA, 2018e). Figure 3: Overview of the applied research process.

Figure 4: The abductive research approach (Kovács and Spens, 2005). Figure 5: Illustration of a simple supply chain with associated flows.

Figure 6: The GS1 System of Standards (GS1, 2018).

Figure 7: Three levels of supply chain integration (Spekman et al., 1998).

Figure 8: Distribution of Family Planning expenditure per source of funds, 2017 (FP2020, 2017). Figure 9: Distribution of Family Planning expenditure per government, 2017 (FP2020, 2017). Figure 10: A general procurement cycle in a Low- and Middle-Income Country.

Figure 11: Common national supply chain structures in LMICs (Yadav et al., 2011).

Figure 12: Small variations in customer demand are amplified as information is communicated back

through the supply chain in a typical LMIC (Yadav, 2015).

Figure 13: Maximum-Minimum Inventory Control System recommended by the USAID DELIVER

project (Leung et al., 2016).

Figure 14: The relation between the information type and its features (Caridi et al., 2010b). Figure 15: Connectivity-Willingness framework (Fawcett et al. 2007).

Figure 16: The creation of the Zimbabwe Assisted Pull System (ZAPS) system (USAID, 2016b).

Figure 17: Annual cost of operating the ZAPS compared to the previous systems (Rosen el al., 2015). Figure 18: Family Planning supply chain structures in Zimbabwe (Mudarik, 2017).

Figure 19: Zimbabwe contraceptive commodity funding, per donor in 2015 (ZNFPCIP, 2016). Figure 20: Funding and procurement structure for Family Planning commodities in Zimbabwe. Figure 21: Annual Expenditures for FP Commodities between 2012–2015, expressed in USD

(ZNFPCIP, 2016).

Figure 22: ZNFPC’s source of income between 2013-2015 (ZFPCIP, 2016). Figure 23: Illustration of the two tiers in the national supply chain system. Figure 24: Zimbabwe distribution network structure.

Figure 25: Illustration of the different stock level statuses within ZAPS.

Figure 26: Proportion of facilities within the national supply chain with access to selected ICT tools

(SDP, 2018).

Figure 27:The path through the supply chain for condoms and contraceptives.

Figure 28: Information flow during the Stage 1: Preparation for Ordering. Figure 29: A graphic illustration over the ordering process.

Figure 30: Information flow between different actors during the ordering round. Figure 31: Information flow between different actors after the ordering round.

Figure 32: Information and material flow during the preparation for order processing stage. Figure 33: Commodity flow during the delivery stage.

Figure 34: Information flows during the delivery stage. Figure 35: Information flow during the first part of stage 6. Figure 36: Information flow during the second part of stage 6. Figure 37: ZAPS information flow mapping on a system level. Figure 38: The house of Supply Chain Visibility.

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Overview of the unstructured interviews conducted during the pre-study. Table 2: Overview of the semi-structured interviews during the pre-study.

Table 3: Overview of the semi-structured interviews conducted during the case study. Table 4: Characteristics of Disaster Response and Ongoing Operations (Jahre et al., 2016). Table 5: Visibility types, characteristics, scores and results (Caridi et al., 2010a).

Table 6: List of SDPs in Zimbabwe by province and delivery platform (SDP, 2018).

Table 7: List of the primary LMIS forms and reports that are utilized within ZAPS.

Table 8: Semi-quantitative visibility assessment scores.

Table 9: Visibility assessment results based on information type.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AMC Average Monthly Consumption

CBD Community Based distributor

CCRV Contraceptive Commodity Receipt Voucher CMS Central Medical Store

CO Country Office

DFID Department for International Development DHE District Health Executive

DLS Directorate of Laboratory Services DMO District Medical Office

DPM District Pharmacy Manager DPS Directorate of Pharmacy Services DR Disaster Response

D-SODR District Summary Ordering and Delivery Report DTTU Delivery Team Topping Up

EC Emergency contraceptives EDI Electronic Data Interchange

eLIMS Electronic Logistics Management Inventory System EOP Emergency Order Point

ERP Enterprise Resource Planning

FC Female Condoms

FP Family Planning FP2020 Family Planning 2020

GHSC Global Health Supply Chain-Procurement GoZ Government of Zimbabwe

ICT Information and Communication Technology Inj Injectables

ISG Interagency Supply Chain Group IUCD Intrauterine Contraceptive Device JIT Just-In-Time

KPI Key Performance Indicator

LMIC Low- and Middle-Income Country

LMIS Logistics Management Information System

MC Male Condoms

mCPR modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate MIS Management Information System MoF Ministry of Finance

MoH Ministry of Health

MOHCC Ministry of Health and Child Care NatPharm National Pharmaceutical Company NBM NatPharm Branch Manager

NDA Non-Disclosure Agreement NGO Non-Governmental Organization NOM NatPharm Operations Manager NSA NatPharm System Administrator NSC NatPharm Stores Controller OO Ongoing Operations

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POS Point of Sale

PP Provincial Pharmacist

PSB Procurement Services Branch

PSM Procurement and Supply Management

P-SODR Provincial Summary Ordering and Delivery Report RH Reproductive Health

SCM Supply Chain Management SCV Supply Chain Visibility

SCVSM Supply Chain Value Stream Mapping SDG Sustainable Development Goals SDP Service Delivery Point

UN United Nations

UNFPA United Nations Populations Fund UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund

USAID United States Agency for International Development VAN Visibility and Analytics Network

WHO World Health Organization

ZAPS Zimbabwe Assisted Pull System

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Preface

This report was written by Gustav Sällström at Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. It is the final part of the Master program Industrial Engineering and Management. The research corresponded to 30 ECTS credits.

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Acknowledgements

First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Bo Karlson at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Your tremendous patience, encouraging support and insightful feedback during this study meant more to me than you can imagine, and for that I will be forever grateful! This study would not have been possible without you.

Secondly, I would also like to thank Ingegerd Nordin at the United Nations Populations Fund Copenhagen. Your guidance and support really helped propel this study forward. Further acknowledgements go to all employees at UNFPA PSB Copenhagen and especially to Thinlay Wangchuk. Thank you for taking the time to answer questions, providing feedback and sharing your valuable knowledge.

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1. INTRODUCTION

This chapter covers the background of the studied research area. It covers the context and outlines the background by describing the transformation of the global business climate, how it has impacted supply chains in general, how humanitarian organizations are affected by these changes and how they are trying to adjust. The objective is to provide the reader with essential background knowledge and contextual information of the research area. This is followed by a description of the purpose and the research question. Lastly, expected contribution, delimitations and limitations are described and the outline of each chapter is presented.

1.1. Background

The global business environment is quickly changing, and with the emergence of a new landscape comes new challenges. Traditional supply chains have been reshaped in an attempt to better adjust to the ever-increasing globalization process (Doesburg et al, 2011). This has increased the complexity of logistics as supply chains now are global, multi-tiered and encompass a variety of activities and stakeholders. As a result, many organizations are struggling to fully monitor their supply chains due to the lack of visibility within the supply chain and poor collaboration among partners (Butner, 2010). The result is inefficient and inflexible supply- & demand management and more vulnerable, complex and costly supply chains (Butner, 2010). In addition to creating more complex supply chains, the globalization process has also increased competition on the global market (Doesburg et al, 2011).

Neither of these concerns are strictly a matter for private companies that are striving to stay competitive, humanitarian and public organizations are also facing the challenge of allocating scarce resources efficiently. Andrew Natsios, the former administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) once famously stated that: “Doing good is

no longer enough. We have to show results. If you cannot measure aid empirically, then USAID will have to find other partners to fund” (Mitchell, 2007).

During the last two decades, significant investments have been made to address global health issues in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) and to increase the supply of health commodities (Solo, 2011). Despite these efforts, the availability of essential products remains poor at many health facilities in numerous LMICs (Yadav, 2015). As a result, humanitarian organizations, donors and local governments have started to realize that strong supply chains are imperative to ensure proper availability of, and access to, health commodities in LMICs (Solo, 2011).

One of the sectors that is addressing this concern is the sector for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health. It is a United Nations (UN) led program with the objective to create “a

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able to participate fully in shaping prosperous and sustainable societies” (United Nations,

2015).

Under the guidance of the United Nations, a number of international actors has initiated a program to address these issues and as of the11th _{of July 2017, 37 governments, 11 partner}

organizations and 16 private companies have signed a formal global commitment, Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) (UN Foundation, 2017). The objective of the group is to address issues related to both global and national supply chains, in LMICs, to improve the distribution of Family Planning (FP) commodities. One of its members is the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA). Its primary role is to address population and development issues, with emphasize on reproductive health, family planning and gender equality, by procuring and distributing FP commodities to countries in need. Their vision is to create a world where

“every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled” (UNFPA, 2018a). To achieve this goal, the organization is working closely with

governments and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to support global, national and local programs in more than 150 countries in order to improve commodity availability.

However, delivering commodities on a global scale to a variety of countries is not a trivial task as there are often vast geographical distances between manufacturer and end consumer. The FP2020 initiative seeks to address this issue by expanding on the work by the Interagency Supply Chain Group (ISG), a global group consisting of 15 major policy and funding bodies (ISG, 2018). ISG was established in 2014 with the goal of improving the effectiveness and the efficiency of the public supply chains in LMICs. They are now working side-by-side with the FP2020 initiative to enhance supply chain performance (ISG, 2018).

One of the main building blocks for this joint venture is the creation of a single shared platform, a global Visibility and Analytics Network (VAN) (Accenture, 2015). The Global VAN will capture and share data to all parties to enable global partners to collaborate

virtually. The aim of the platform is to synchronize the operations of different partners along the supply chain and provide accurate data in real time to support decision-making and enhance collaboration (FP2020, 2017). In addition to the global part of the VAN, there is also a country part, called Country VAN. The Country VAN is a national platform and UNFPA’s local counterparties are now taking the first steps toward the development of the Country VAN. The long-term goal is that the Country VAN will enable real-time tracking of

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1.2. Problematization

One of the cornerstones of humanitarian operations is the belief that sustainable long-term solutions can only be achieved if they are country-led and country-driven. This sentiment is shared by UNFPA as they work with local governments to improve the situation for women and children in terms of family planning and gender equality. Therefore, UNFPA does not engage operationally in supply chain activities on the ground, rather they seek to support local governments to strengthen their national supply chains on their own, in addition to providing commodities. Consequently, as the FP commodities (that UNFPA has procured on behalf of the country) arrive in the recipient country, it is the responsibility of the local government to disseminate the commodities throughout the national supply chain. This introduces a high amount of uncertainty on behalf of UNFPA as they have fiduciary obligation towards their donors, to obtain reasonable assurances that the program supplies are used as intended.

The problem is that UNFPA does not have full visibility into the supply chain. Once the commodities reach the recipient country, UNFPA loses visibility and control over the

commodities. This makes it difficult to ensure that the commodities are handled properly and that the intended recipients actually receive the commodities. The result is that UNFPA cannot adequately evaluate their own performance, as it depends on the recipient countries, which makes it difficult to progress towards their primary objective. Nor can they monitor the entirety of the supply chain and ensure that commodities are not being stolen or diverted elsewhere. This means that they cannot provide donors with accurate information about the impact of the funds they provide.

1.3. Purpose

The purpose of this study is to better understand which factors affect the level of Supply Chain Visibility (SCV) in a supply chain and how humanitarian organizations can increase the level of SCV during the last mile of delivery.

1.4. Research Question

RQ: How can humanitarian organizations improve the Supply Chain Visibility during the last mile of delivery in public distribution systems?

• Sub-RQ1: Which factors affect supply chain visibility?

• Sub-RQ2: What are the challenges to realize a high level of supply chain visibility in a

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1.5. Expected Contribution

This thesis intends to shed light on the subject of Supply Chain Visibility during the last mile of delivery in a public supply chain in a humanitarian context. The objective is to assess the level of visibility in a specific supply chain and identify the obstacles that limit the current level of visibility and explore what can be done to address these issues to improve the level of visibility within the supply chain. The study does not claim to provide a conclusive analytic discussion on how Supply Chain Visibility can be achieved in any public supply chain in the humanitarian context. The intention is to explore the research area rather than to provide definitive answers as one field study cannot capture all aspects of the selected topic.

1.6. Delimitations

Delimitations refers to the boundary conditions of a study. Outside of the boundary condition of a study nothing can be inferred from it, as any findings from the research are not validated in this space and are therefore not applicable.

This study was conducted at the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) and the

delimitations were articulated in accordance with the host country (Zimbabwe) and with the Procurement Services Branch (PSB), which is a department at UNFPA. The aim of the study is to explore the concept of Supply Chain Visibility and to investigate how humanitarian organizations can improve the level of SCV during the last mile of delivery in public supply chains.

Additional delimitations are that this research will focus on a single Low- and Middle-Income Country (LMIC), and specifically on ongoing operations, and do not include the emergency relief part of humanitarian logistics. The study focuses specifically on contraceptive

commodities for the use of Family Planning (FP). With regards to the geographical aspect of the research, the field study was confined to a single African country, Zimbabwe, and any findings will not necessarily be transferable to other geographical regions.

This study also assumes that UNFPA has access to all the information that the case country has. So, by increasing the level of visibility within the in-country supply chain, that visibility would be extended to UNFPA.

1.7. Limitations

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topic, there is always a risk that the respondents are reluctant to disclose all aspects of the phenomenon which further limits the study.

1.8. Outline

In this section, an overview of how the thesis is organized is presented and a brief summary of each chapter is included. There are eight chapters in total; Introduction, Research Setting, Methodology, Literature Review, Theoretical Framework, Empirical Findings, Analysis and Conclusion, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Thesis outline.

Chapter 1, Introduction

This chapter introduces the research area and the topic for this thesis. It presents a brief background before outlining the problematization, the purpose, the research question and the limitations of the research.

Chapter 2, Research Setting

This chapter covers the research setting in which the study was conducted. It will introduce the reader to the organization that is at the center of this paper, the United Nations

Populations Fund. It also provides a short summary of the department at which the authors were stationed during the research.

Chapter 3, Methodology

In this chapter the choice, order and execution of the research methods are described and motivated. It includes a description of the overall research process, followed by a description of the different stages of the research. It also includes a discussion on the research quality, where the reliability, validity and the generalizability of the research is discussed.

Chapter 4, Literature Review

This chapter briefly introduces the concept of Supply Chain Management before presenting an in-depth review of the literature in the area of Supply Chain Visibility. It also includes a thorough exposition on humanitarian supply chain operations in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Chapter 5, Theoretical Framework

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Chapter 6, Empirical Findings

This chapter presents the findings from the pre-study and the case study. It presents a short introduction of the specific country where the case study was conducted and briefly describes historical initiatives related to Family Planning. The reader is then presented with a

breakdown of the structure, the operational procedures and information- and material flows related to the national supply chain for Family Planning. Lastly, the results from the visibility assessment are displayed.

Chapter 7, Discussion

The chapter starts with a brief discussion related to the purpose of the study by reconnecting with the formulated sub-questions. The following sections include a discussion that covers the results from the literature review and the visibility assessment. The visibility assessment discussion focuses on the quantity and quality of the information that is shared within the system.

Chapter 8, Conclusion

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2. RESEARCH SETTING

This chapter covers the research setting in which the study was conducted. It introduces the reader to the organization that is at the center of this research paper, the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA). It also provides a short summary of the department at which the authors were stationed during the research. The purpose of this is to provide the reader with basic background information in order to better understand the context in which the study took place.

2.1. United Nation Population Fund

United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) is the United Nations reproductive health and rights agency. UNFPA has been procuring reproductive commodities for LMICs for over 40 years and it is today the largest international donor and public procurer of sexual and

reproductive health commodities (UNFPA, 2018a, b, c). Its primary role is to address population and development issues by focusing on reproductive health and gender equality. They strive towards creating a world where “every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is

sage and every young person's potential is fulfilled” (UNFPA, 2018a).

UNFPA has its headquarters in New York (market in orange in Figure 2 below) from where the organization is directed by the Executive Director (UNFPA, 2018d). The organization has national presence in 121 countries, where each country office provides targeted efforts within UNFPA’s the five pillars: Population and development, HIV/AIDS, family planning, maternal health and gender (UNFPA, 2018e, f). All countries are further divided into six different regions:

• Arab states (15)

• Asia & the Pacific (23) • East & southern Africa (22)

• Eastern Europe & Central Asia (17) • Latin America & the Caribbean (21) • West & Central Africa (23)

Each region is represented by one regional office, located at the cities marked in red in Figure

2 below (UNFPA, 2018e). In addition, UNFPA also has three Sub-regional offices (marked in

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Figure 2: Map of UNFPA’s offices worldwide (UNFPA, 2018e).

2.2. Procurement Services Branch

UNFPA Denmark has two entities; UNFPA Nordic Office and UNFPA Procurement Service Branch (PSB). PSB is the procurement division within UNFPA and offers procurement services for Family Planning (FP) commodities (UNFPA, 2018g). Through them, external entities such as governments, NGO’s and other UN agencies can procure FP commodities using internal funds or donor funds (UNFPA, 2018c). This structure allows UNFPA’s partners to draw on the capacity and knowledge of PSB in order to obtain the best possible outcome. During 2017, 60 percent of all UNFPA volume was procured by PSB and the value of these commodities tallied almost $190 million (UNFPA, 2018b). Procuring large quantities allows PSB to obtain very competitive prices from suppliers and PSB is therefore able to provide substantial discounts to its partners (UNFPA, 2018c).

It should be noted that even though PSB is in charge of procurement and procures FP commodities on behalf of a variety of actors, they do not distribute the commodities

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3. METHODOLOGY

In this chapter the choice, order and execution of the research methods are both described and motivated. It includes a description of the overall research process, followed by a description of the different stages of the research. The chapter also covers the methodological approach on how previous literature has been gathered and it outlines how and why different research methods were used to capture and analyze the empirical data. The chapter ends with a discussion on the research quality, where the reliability, validity and the generalizability of the research is discussed.

3.1. Research Process

In this study, the process was divided into three separate stages; pre-study, case study and final analysis, see Figure 3. The first two stages of the study were conducted at the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA). The pre-study was carried out at PSB’s office in Copenhagen and the case study was conducted at UNFPA’s Country Office (CO) in Zimbabwe. Throughout the first two stages, literature and theories within the research area were continuously reviewed. During the final analysis, the data gathered during the prior stages was consolidated, analyzed and concluded.

Figure 3: Overview of the applied research process.

3.1.1. Pre-study at PSB, UNFPA Copenhagen, Denmark

A pre-study was conducted at PSB in UNFPA’s Copenhagen office. The purpose was twofold: i) to obtain a broad understanding of humanitarian operations and logistics in the humanitarian context, ii) to deep dive on the concept of Supply Chain Visibility (SCV).

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theory development and in turn, theory development would affect the choice of literature, in an iterative process referred to as “theory matching” (Dubois and Gadde, 2002). This

exploratory process resulted in continuous re-evaluation of literature, theories and frameworks as illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 4: The abductive research approach (Kovács and Spens, 2005).

Besides reviewing the existing literature on humanitarian operations and SCV, the pre-study also included unstructured interviews with various employees at PSB. The objective was to get a better understanding of the specific conditions that apply to PSB and UNFPA regarding the procurement and the distribution of FP commodities. Adding a different method of data collection helped to increase the quality of the research as the phenomenon is triangulated from different perspectives (Yin, 2009).

Although an abductive approach was rather time-consuming, it provided a solid contextual understanding of humanitarian logistics and very detailed knowledge of SCV as a concept, which was necessary in order to address Sub-RQ1. The ability to switch from the

humanitarian perspective to the SCV perspective (developed in a commercial setting) and thus view the research from multiple angles (Kovács and Spens, 2005) was used to structure and design the study. This facilitated the process of isolating the problem and articulating the main research question and formed the basis for a more conclusive research design for the case study phase (Blomkvist and Hallin, 2015).

3.1.2. Case study at UNFPA Harare, Zimbabwe

The case study was performed at UNFPA’s Country Office (CO) in Harare, Zimbabwe. The study was carried out by both the author and the co-author. The co-author traveled to

Zimbabwe whereas the author participated via Skype from UNFPA’s office in Copenhagen.

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level of SCV in this type of network and iii) to identify any issues related to the current level of SCV.

It should be noted that the public supply chain in question, handles various products and not only the FP commodities that have been provided by UNFPA. As mentioned in section 1.2., UNFPA is not responsible for the distribution of the FP commodities once they reach the recipient country. From the perspective of UNFPA, this part of the delivery process is referred to as the “last-mile of distribution” (ISG, 2018).

A case study was selected as the research design since the study was exploratory in nature. Blomkvist and Hallin (2015) argues that it is suitable when studying a real-world

phenomenon, and that it generates empiric data rich in detail that captures the complexity of the phenomenon.

The study primarily focused on three aspects:

• Context and the overall structure of the supply chain • Material (commodity) flow

• Information flow

The mapping process focused on the in-country supply chain structure in Zimbabwe. It was deemed appropriate to map the context and the overall structure of the supply chain as it would not only provide useful information, it is also a useful approach to engage respondents in discussions (Meyer et al., 2013) and to encourage knowledge sharing (Carlile, 2004). The process had been initiated during the pre-study by means of two Skype interviews with UNFPA staff from the CO and by studying a number of documents and reports that had been obtained from the CO. The case study allowed for more in-depth research and covered a plethora of aspects related to the in-country supply chain that otherwise would have been hard to discover (Blomkvist and Hallin, 2015). The investigation of the material flow and the information flow, through the supply chain, had also been initiated prior to the case study, by studying internal documents. However, being on site allowed for a more complete

understanding of the distribution system and how material and information flow through the supply chain.

The level of visibility was measured using a framework developed by Caridi et al. (2010b), see section 5.2. for a more detailed description of the framework. The application of this framework also became a natural starting point for the process of identifying the issues that plague the national supply chain and affect the level of SCV that currently is achieved.

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3.1.3. Final study at KTH Stockholm, Sweden

The final analysis was conducted in Stockholm at KTH after the field study had been finished. However, Collis and Hussey (2009) argues that the processes of data collection and analysis are intertwined, so from that perspective, the analysis started already in Zimbabwe during the data collection phase.

The analysis consisted of a systematic approach of organizing, integrating, exanimating and synthetizing the information that was gathered during the study (Blomkvist and Hallin, 2015) The purpose of this phase was to identify patterns and relationships between theory and reality (Collis and Hussey, 2009). All the interviews were transcribed. The transcription process was performed with a high level of precision in order to avoid information loss. All questions were included, transcribed precisely as stated during the interviews and the same applies for all of the answers. This allowed the author to view the data in the exact same context as during the interview and minimized the information loss due to memory distortion.

Once the transcription process was completed a thematic analysis was performed where different pieces of data were coded and categorized (Blomkvist and Hallin, 2015) in order to facilitate the process of analysis. The same approach had been used during the literature review so appropriate categories were already established. During the process, irrelevant information was discarded, and additional categories were added as the new data collected from the field study was processed.

3.2. Data gathering methods

During the research, different data gathering methods were used. During the pre-study, the data was collected through both interviews and a literature review. The interviews were of both unstructured- and semi-structured nature, meaning that some interviews were conducted during meetings without any prepared questions, and others were done in a more formal setting with open ended questions. Concurrently, the literature review was conducted, in accordance with the abductive research approach, as an iterative process where literature was revived and re-evaluated throughout the study.

During the case study, seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with personnel from UNFPA’s CO in Zimbabwe and other actors with direct ties to the operations of the national supply chain for FP commodities.

3.2.1. Literature Review

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research area. This facilitated the process of formulating the research problem even though some irrelevant literature was revised in the process.

In alignment with the abductive research approach, the literature review started with broad search terms. The purpose was to initially cast a wide net and cover as much as possible of the literature in order to provide the authors a solid understanding of the subject. Terms such as “Supply Chain Visibility”, “Visibility SCM”, “Supply Networks Visibility”, “Humanitarian

Logistics”, “Ongoing Operations”, “Development Assistance”, “Public Organizations Supply Networks” “Supply Chains Developing Countries”, “Family Planning Supply Chains”, “LMIC Supply Chains”, “UNFPA Distribution Network”, “Health Commodities Supply Chain”,

“Health Products Supply Network” were used either alone or in some combination.

As the author had acquired a better grasp of the research area and the subject intended for the study, the literature review became slightly more focused, with the objective to:

• Explore the concept of SCV and to better understand the benefits of SCV and the challenges of obtaining it.

• Gain deeper understanding of the nature-, structure-, operations- and current developments of humanitarian and public supply chains in LMICs

In the process of searching for research papers, a number of search engines and databases were used. The primary search engine that was used was KTHB Primo as it provides access to a number of databases. Google Scholar was another search engine that was frequently used. Web of science was early identified as a highly reliable database with strict standards and as such, it was also frequently used.

When the country for the case study was selected, another stage in the literature review started. During this part of the literature review, primary focus was on the case subject. A number of documents were received from the UNFPA’s CO in Zimbabwe and the purpose of reviewing these documents was to collect case specific data and to prepare the authors for the field study.

As literature studies is a way of collecting secondary data, it is of utmost importance that the sources are reliable. It is therefore imperative that sources are collected from databases that can be considered trustworthy, otherwise there is a risk that the findings of the study cannot be seen as reliable. Initially during the literature study, a wide time horizon was used in order to capture both early landmark papers and more recent research.

This resulted in a large amount of research papers and to efficiently weed out relevant papers, abstract, introduction and conclusion was initially read. The articles that were deemed most relevant were read in full and analyzed in depth. These findings then guided the literature review and the research developed naturally and became more detailed over time. All articles that were identified as highly relevant for the study were summarized in a separate document, highlighting the most vital findings. A thematic analysis was applied where relevant

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This was done in order to facilitate a more efficient workflow as all the relevant information within a certain area could be easily accessed during the study.

3.2.2. Interviews

As the topic of research, initially, was not definitive in terms of scale and scope, a qualitative approach was selected. This is the recommended approach when the objective is to

understand a certain phenomenon and view it from multiple perspectives (Blomkvist and Hallin, 2015).

Initially, a number of unstructured interviews were conducted during the pre-study, as illustrated in Table 1. The purpose was to obtain contextual information of humanitarian operations with focus on the process of supplying FP commodities in LMICs. Unstructured interviews were considered suitable as it would not only provide the authors with a solid contextual knowledge, but it also had the benefit of being a dynamic approach where new ideas that would arise during interviews could affect the direction of the research (Blomkvist and Hallin, 2015). This made the process highly liquid and sensitive to input from the

respondents, which was desirable.

Position Duration [min] Location

IT Specialist

Procurement Specialist

Procurement and Supply Management Coordinator 90 UN-city, Copenhagen IT Specialist

Procurement Specialist 60 UN-city, Copenhagen

Supply Chain Innovation Specialist

Procurement and Supply Management Coordinator 60 UN-city, Copenhagen

IT Specialist 45 UN-city, Copenhagen

Table 1: Overview of the unstructured interviews during the pre-study.

As the research progressed and the scale and the scope of the study became more tangible, the nature of the interviews changed to semi-structured, where the interviews were based on a number of predetermined questions related to UNFPA operations and the concept of SCV. This allowed for a more detailed data extraction, while still maintaining a certain degree of flexibility to catch previously undiscovered aspects of the research area with follow-up questions (Blomkvist and Hallin, 2015). Focus during these interviews was on the operational procedures of UNFPA and how they interact with their partnering countries regarding

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Interviews were conducted either in-person or via skype. A list of the semi-structured interviews can be seen in Table 2.

Position Duration [min] Location

Procurement and Supply Management Coordinator 60 UN-city, Copenhagen IT Specialist

Supply Chain visibility Consultant 60 UN-city, Copenhagen,

Procurement Associate 45 UN-city, Copenhagen

Program Analyst 30 UN-city, Copenhagen

Contracting Assistant 90 UN-city, Copenhagen

Table 2: Overview of the semi-structured interviews during the pre-study.

In order to develop a deep understanding of current operations, supply chain setup, historical initiatives and in-country procedures, a wide variety of interviewees were selected.

Employees at managerial positions provided a good structural description of how the entire apparatus within UNFPA works and non-managerial employees provided more detailed information regarding in-country operations, their view of SCV and what initiatives had been undertaken to improve the level of SCV in UNFPA’s partnering countries.

A number of semi-structured interviews were also conducted during the field study in

Zimbabwe. Two interviews had been done prior to the field study, via Skype, with a program analyst at UNFPA’s CO. The purpose was to define the scope of the study so that the analyst could identify suitable interviewees given the nature of the project. Once in Zimbabwe, two additional interviews were conducted with the same analyst to align the research focus and to get information about the operations of UNFPA’s CO and the structure of the in-country supply chain. The objective was to confirm the data that had been gathered from internal documents and to expand the knowledge regarding the structure and the operations of the in-country supply chain for FP commodities. It also served as means to verify that the selected theories and frameworks were possible to apply given the unique characteristics of the country.

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the mapping process and it also allowed for a thorough visibility assessment of the current level of SCV within the national supply chain for FP commodities.

All interviews were recorded with the consent of the interview. The interviews were then transcribed, word for word, including both questions and answers, in order to preserve the data in its original form. Most interviews were conducted by two persons where one asked the questions and the other took notes which reduces the risk of misinterpretations (Eisenhardt, 1989). Once the transcription process was complete, a thematic analysis was applied, and the findings were coded into different categories. Finally, an additional interview was conducted with one of the respondents from the CO in Zimbabwe to validate the findings from the interviews. A summary of all interviews can be found in Table 3.

Position Duration Organization and Location

Program Analyst 75 min UNFPA Country Office _{Harare, Zimbabwe} Program Analyst 75 min UNFPA Country Office _{Harare, Zimbabwe} Management Information Systems Officer

Data Analyst at the Logistics Management Inventory System

60 min National Pharmaceutical Company (NatPharm) Harare, Zimbabwe

Supply Chain Management Advisor 60 min Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) Directory of Pharmacy Unit Harare, Zimbabwe

Logistics Manager 90 min Zimbabwe National Family Planning Committee _{Harare, Zimbabwe} Technical Director 60 min Confidential _{Harare, Zimbabwe}

M&E Officer 60 min Confidential _{Harare, Zimbabwe} Program Analyst 60 min UNFPA Country Office _{Harare, Zimbabwe}

Table 3: Overview of the semi-structured interviews conducted during the case study.

3.3. Research quality

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3.3.1. Reliability

Reliability is one of the pillars of foundation for the scientific community and is vital for all research, since it is a prerequisite for any theory to be accepted as a scientific truth. At its core, reliability is about ensuring consistency and making sure that any significant results are inherently repeatable (Yin, 2011). Therefore, it is of utmost importance that researchers record the procedures on how the study was conducted (Yin, 2011) so that others can replicate it and generate the same results.

Qualitative research is often seen as less reliable than quantitative research, as numerical data and arithmetic calculations leave little room for interpretation on behalf of the researcher. Conversely, qualitative research handles primarily non-numerical information, which makes it harder to separate the gathered data from human biases (Leung, 2015).

To improve the reliability during the literature review, a majority of the literature was

reviewed in parallel, by both the primary author and the co-author. Articles were summarized independently and later compared and the most relevant data was merged into a single

document. Initially, a wide time horizon was applied, and all selected articles were processed the same way, as described in section 3.2.1. The purpose was to limit the effect of each author’s individual selection bias and ensure a credible selection process. To further increase reliability, the gathered data was organized by topic and time which allowed efficient

handling and provided an overview of the progress. However, as replication of the literature review is dependent on the researcher’s preference of what is important in the context of the study, full reliability is impossible.

With regards to the pre-study, the reliability is lower as it was conducted in collaboration with UNFPA and PSB and consisted of both unstructured and semi-structured interviews, and many informal meetings with employees at UN City, Copenhagen. Replication of

unstructured interviews or ad hoc meetings is practically impossible, especially since the organization changes over time. Strategic objectives change, and with that, the mindset of the employees. What was regarded as important during the time the study took place might be considered superfluous in the future. To be able to accurately replicate the study under these conditions is certainly challenging and it lowers the reliability of the study (Collins & Hussey, 2015).

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tendencies of hidden agendas or a reluctance to share data (Blomkvist and Hallin, 2015). However, anonymity also reduces the possibility to replicate the study as it is not possible to validate their authority nor their competences (Hansson, 2007). This was partly addressed by providing the titles of all respondents, see Table 1, 2, 3.

3.3.2. Validity

Validity is a central concept concerning all research. It refers to the appropriateness of “the

tools, processes and the data” in a study (Leung, 2015). It also encompasses the suitability of the chosen methodology in the given context, the accuracy of the results and the

generalizability of the conclusions (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2015).

Internal Validity

Internal validity is a measure of the causal relationship between variables and results (Gibbert et. al., 2008). To ensure internal validity it is crucial to examine the phenomena through a variety of perspectives, all rooted in different scientific disciplines to ensure that no other researcher can come and say: “Wait a minute. There’s a totally different explanation for why

this happened” (Carlile & Christensen, 2004).

To address the internal validity of the study, the interviewees were selected in order to ensure a wide variety in terms of experiences, skill sets and positions, both at PSB in Copenhagen and at the UNFPA CO in Zimbabwe. The objective was to obtain a broad view of the research area, encompassing multiple perspectives and viewpoints. Issues that were raised during discussions or interviews were compared to the issues found in the literature and the existing data that was provided by the UNFPA. Lastly, the use of a wide variety of literature, where information was collected from different journals, books, reports, presentations and internal documents further strengthened the internal validity.

Construct Validity

Construct validity denotes the extent to which a procedure provided an accurate observation of the studied phenomenon (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994). In essence, it is a measure of how well a study investigates what it claims to investigate (Gibbert et al, 2008). Research based on case studies has historically been criticized for not developing a well-considered set of

measurements and instead relied on subjective judgements (Yin, 1994). The effect of this problem is particularly salient when data is gathered through unstructured interviews and informal meetings. As there is no clear structure, the interviewee can freely sway from the initial question and give rise to imperfections (Collins and Hussey, 2014).

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Collecting data through both interviews and internal documents also increased the construct validity by means of method triangulation (Denscombe, 2010), a process in which the same phenomenon is studied using different methods (Yin, 2009).

External Validity

External Validity applies to the accuracy with which findings or results can be transferred to other situations other than the one originally studied (Yin, 1994). Most qualitative studies, meant to investigate a certain issue or a specific phenomenon in a particular context are difficult to generalize (Yin, 1994). The problem is that case studies often are based on interviews and it might be impossible to capture all aspects of the phenomenon.

The problem is particularly pronounced when it comes to semi-structured interviews due the inherent lack of standardization in the data collection process. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2015) presents three biases that need to be considered; interviewer bias, interviewee bias and participation bias. The first bias relates to the tone of non-verbal behavior of the interviewer and how that can affect the respondent’s answers (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2015). This is a difficult bias to address but as all interviews in Zimbabwe were conducted by two

interviewers, with one author participated via skype (usually without video), this bias was partially addressed.

Interviewee bias can result from the respondent’s perception about the interviewer or from the anticipation of interviewer bias (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2015). In order to counteract this effect, the authors were intentionally very open with the purpose of the study, but also what was not the purpose of the study, in order to ensure that the respondents understood the precise scope of the research.

Participation bias can occur when the selection sample is affected by the study itself, e.g. due to time constraints, only certain people will participate and thus skewing the selection process (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2015). Due to the great interest in the study from Zimbabwe, the participation bias was initially not considered to be a problem. However, once the co-author arrived in Zimbabwe it became clear that the political turbulence was a factor that needed to be addressed. As stated in section 3.3.1, all respondents were given anonymity. The authors also made an effort to avoid sensitive topics to increase the level of trust between the authors and the respondents.

It should be noted that although qualitative studies cannot claim static generalizability, i.e. general causal relationships cannot be proven (Blomkvist and Hallin, 2015), they can capture new and different dimensions of a phenomenon, something is hard in quantitative studies. As the research is based on a single case study, the generalizability is considered to be lower than if the research included several cases.

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context-sensitive and in-depth insights on supply chain visibility in a Low- and Middle-Income Country.

3.4. Ethical considerations

In this research, the ethical considerations are considered as crucial, since the information involves a number of actors and confidential information. A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) was created by UNFPA PSB and signed by the authors at the start of the thesis. An NDA is a legal contract that outlines that confidential information, data or knowledge that is captured during the study only can be shared between certain stakeholders, as agreed in the contract.

Throughout the research, the authors made sure to explain the purpose of the research for the participants, all of whom had the choice to deny participation in the study. As advised, all participants were also offered both confidentiality and anonymity (Collins and Hussey, 2009). The full consent of all interviewees was obtained prior to each interview, both with regards to taking notes during the interview and recording the interviews.

Prior to the case study in Zimbabwe, government approval for the study was obtained from the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC). Before each interview conducted in Zimbabwe, all interviewees also signed the Informed Consent Form, illustrated in Appendix

A. Furthermore, all sources were anonymized, so that none of the participating individuals

could be distinguished.

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4. LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents a review of the literature in the area of Supply Chain Visibility and humanitarian supply chain operations in Low- and Middle-Income countries. The purpose is to break down the concept of Supply Chain Visibility and to describe the nature of humanitarian operations in order to create a solid base of knowledge that can aid in the empirical data collection. The chapter also serves as a tool to delimit and structure the empirical findings that were collected during the pre-study and the case study. It also acts as the basis for the theoretical frameworks that were selected.

4.1 Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a comprehensive concept and a variety of perspectives of SCM have been proposed by different researchers. Some argue that multiple organizations have to be involved to form a supply chain (Holmberg, 2000) while other researchers claim that a supply chain is formed when geographically dispersed facilities are connected through material flows (Shapiro, 2001). Regardless of which perspective that is applied, at its core, SCM describes the process of interconnecting organizations, people, technology and information through certain activities, and encompasses the management of the entire ecosystem that comes together in order to deliver products from point A to point B (Yadav, 2015). The objective is to facilitate the interactions between suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and customers, in order to fulfil the demand at the lowest possible cost (Heaney, 2011). Therefore, SCM can be described as a systematic approach with the goal of optimizing, not only transports, inventory handling and distribution, but rather the entire apparatus from raw material to delivery (Hoover et al. 2001), with the end goal of delivering the right product, at the right time, to the right consumer at the right cost.

In the quest for optimizing the management of a supply chain, the literature on SCM distinguishes between three flows that managers must consider when managing a supply chain: material flow, information flow and cash flow (Van Wassenhove, 2006). Material flow covers the raw material or input, starting at the original supplier and ending at the final

consumer. Information initially flows in the opposite direction, starting when a customer places a purchase order with information such as volume, product type, delivery date etc. However, information can flow in both directions as actors across the supply chain

communicates and make arrangements for the delivery of materials and products. The cash flow moves in the opposite direction to the material flow and commences once the customer pays the provider. A generic supply chain with associated flows is illustrated in Figure 5.

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However, managing supply chains is becoming increasingly difficult. Division of labour, outsourcing, global trade and the emergence of new markets have made today’s supply chains multi-tiered and more complex than ever before (Cheung et al., 2017; Edmonds and Iqbal, 2016). The result is more pipeline inventory and longer lead times (Heaney, 2011) which has made supply chains more fragile (Manners-Bell, 2017).

This development has highlighted the need for closer ties between supply chain partners, as the performance of a company can no longer be evaluated in isolation. The mode of

competition in the global market has changed from “company vs company” to “supply chain

vs supply chain” (Caridi et al., 2010a). Each organization can be viewed as a cog in a larger

machinery and it is the performance of the machine that matters. Integration of supply chain partners is therefore a key factor when trying to improve supply chain operations and to allow for better control over the different flows within the supply chain.

4.2 Supply Chain Visibility

Supply Chain Visibility (SCV) is an ambiguous concept and multiple interpretations of the notion have been proposed in the literature, which can be one reason for why many

organizations find it difficult to operationalize and realize it (Cheung et al, 2017). Therefore, an in-depth literature review of different definitions of SCV has been conducted. A consistent interpretation of the notion and its attributes will allow for a better understanding of the concept (Francis, 2008).

4.2.1. Definitions of Supply Chain Visibility

During recent years, Supply Chain Visibility (SCV) has become a popular buzzword (Butner, 2010). This has spurred a number of researchers to try and define SCV which has resulted in a variety of definitions (Caridi et al., 2010a). A diverse set of definitions may cause confusion and provide a foundation for misconceptions and cannot be considered beneficial for organizations trying to attain SCV (Cheung et al, 2017). However, as the concept of SCV is complex and incorporates processes, people, technology, information- and material flows (Zhang et al., 2008), it is not surprising that a variety of definitions have been proposed. In an attempt to display the diversity of the concept, three different interpretations that still distinguish from one another in some key areas, are presented below.

Some researchers adopt a pure logistics perspective on the notion of SCV. For example, Fontanella (2007) defines SCV as “the transparent view of time, place, status and content”. This definition primarily focuses on the status of inventory related activities, i.e. “where is

my stuff?”.

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A third interpretation of SCV, supported by Tohamy et al. (2003) define SCV as “the ability

to access or view relevant data or information as it related to logistics and the supply

chain”. In alignment with the second view of SCV, this interpretation emphasizes the ability,

i.e. an organization's capacity to access and share information, rather than solely focusing on the level of insights into the logistics apparatus, as the first interpretation does. This

definition also looks deeper into the characteristics of the information and emphasizes the

relevance of the information. This aspect is also addressed by other researchers, stating that

an increased availability of the information might provide a false illusion of visibility (Bartlett et al., 2007). Proponents of this approach stress that visibility in the supply chain is determined by the relevance of the information that is shared, rather than just the volume of information. They focus on information attributes such as accuracy, trustworthiness,

timeliness and if the information is in a readily usable format (Bailey and Pearson, 1983; Mohr and Sohi, 1995; Gustin et al., 1995; Closs et al., 1997).

An important observation made by Barratt and Oke (2007) is that SCV is a potential outcome of information sharing among trading partners within a supply chain. Information sharing should therefore be seen as the activity that can result in the realization of SCV (Barratt & Oke, 2007). In other words; information sharing is a prerequisite for SCV. The characteristics of the information, and the shared volume, will then determine the level of SCV that can be attained.

However, Cheung et al. (2017) argue that information sharing, and strong relational ties are not enough to achieve SCV. These aspects are only necessary conditions, but alone, not sufficient to guarantee supply chain visibility (Cheung et al, 2017). Instead, they argue that information sharing is a two-party process, including the sharing part (the generator) and the receiving part (the utilizer). Most research focuses on the sharing part, but it is in the eyes of the receiving part that visibility is realized. Without correct, accurate and readable information,

relevant to the receiver, no visibility can be gained regardless of the amount of information

that is shared. This is referred to as the duality of SCV (Cheung et al., 2017). This argumentation is in alignment with the third definition presented by Tohamy et al. (2003), but it subjects the concept of SCV to an even stricter definition where the receiving part must obtain information with the correct properties for his/her specific needs. In essence, the information has to be tailored to the specific needs of the receiver in order to fully realize SCV, which proves that the relevance of the information is highly context sensitive (Cheung et al., 2017).

For this thesis, the definition put forward by Tohamy et al. (2003); “the ability to access or

Supply Chain Visibility in the Humanitarian Context During the Last Mile of Delivery

Supply Chain Visibility in the

Humanitarian Context During

the Last Mile of Delivery

A case study at the United Nations

Population Fund in Zimbabwe

GUSTAV SÄLLSTRÖM

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MINA ASGHARI

Supply Chain Visibility in the

Humanitarian Context During the Last

Mile of Delivery

-A case study at the United Nations Population

Fund in Zimbabwe

By

Gustav Sällström

With Contributions From

Mina Asghari

Insyn i Leverantörskedjan Inom den

Humanitära Sektorn Under Det Sista

Ledet i Logistikflödet

-En Fallstudie vid Förenta Nationernas

Befolkningsfond i Zimbabwe

Av

Gustav Sällström

Med Bidrag Av

Mina Asghari

Table of Contents

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background

1.2. Problematization

1.3. Purpose

1.4. Research Question

1.5. Expected Contribution

1.6. Delimitations

1.7. Limitations

1.8. Outline

2. RESEARCH SETTING

2.1. United Nation Population Fund

2.2. Procurement Services Branch

3. METHODOLOGY

3.1. Research Process

3.1.1. Pre-study at PSB, UNFPA Copenhagen, Denmark

3.1.2. Case study at UNFPA Harare, Zimbabwe

3.1.3. Final study at KTH Stockholm, Sweden

3.2. Data gathering methods

3.2.1. Literature Review

3.2.2. Interviews

3.3. Research quality

3.3.1. Reliability

3.3.2. Validity

Internal Validity

Construct Validity

External Validity

3.4. Ethical considerations

4. LITERATURE REVIEW

4.1 Supply Chain Management

4.2 Supply Chain Visibility

4.2.1. Definitions of Supply Chain Visibility