Decentralized supply chains - with a greater number of hubs and depot locations – are designed to be more responsive to disasters around the globe by getting primary relief items such as food, water and medicines to beneficiaries quickly. This case explores the centralized vs. decentralized tradeoff for the secondary support supply chain of an international humanitarian organization (IHO).

Managing projects in decentralised organisations is challenging. IHO is a medium-sized international humanitarian organisation. To improve fleet management in IHO, the goal is to implement vehicle tracking technology. A successful pilot project is followed by a failed rollout. The case examines the managerial and organisational issues affecting the project’s performance.

This case describes the relief supply chain in the initial 72 hours following a large-scale natural disaster. Taking the earthquake in Armenia as an example, we use the Fritz Institute Framework, published in 2005, to draw a parallel between two response systems: the Colombian government response and the National Society of the Red Cross, part of the Red Cross Movement based in Geneva.

Denmark-based Kjaer Group had supplied vehicles and services to humanitarian fleets since 1977. In 2005, in an effort to differentiate their value proposition from that of other suppliers to the sector, they devised an integral fleet management solution, thereby moving from a product to a service based offering (servicising) for their customers.