Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Operational defense sourcing: organizing military logistics in Afghanistan

Operational defense sourcing: organizing military logistics in Afghanistan Purpose – This paper aims to present a study on the organization of military logistics under “hot” conditions in an expeditionary crisis response operation. The authors' main research question is: in what way is armed forces logistics sourcing organized in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan? Design/methodology/approach – To answer their research question, the authors conducted a case study including field research at military sites in Afghanistan. The case study is focused on military organizations that operate in a hostile and ambiguous environment. The authors compare sourcing of three categories of support services, i.e. facilities management, maintenance & logistics and security. Findings – The authors' results include a systematic overview of the organization of command, logistic and accounting (sourcing) in the ISAF mission, involving multinational military partners and contractors. Second, the authors show how Canada, NATO, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the USA sourced the three categories of services mentioned in terms of sourcing profiles. Focusing on contracting, the authors outline which strategies NATO and the countries mentioned used in practice. And finally, differences and similarities are highlighted in the area of funding and accounting. Research limitations/implications – While the authors' study provides insight in the use of sourcing profiles identified in this paper, more research is necessary to identify criteria for explaining sourcing decisions of armed forces. Practical implications – The paper provides a systematic overview for practitioners and scholars and enhances manageability and policy development relevant for those who prepare, execute, monitor and evaluate missions. Originality/value – The authors' paper is one of the first to provide a systematic overview in operational defense sourcing relying on first‐hand field data. This area of study is fragmented and remains mostly closed for non‐military researchers. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management Emerald Publishing

Operational defense sourcing: organizing military logistics in Afghanistan

Download PDF
18 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/operational-defense-sourcing-organizing-military-logistics-in-FpudV3OOpt

References (58)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0960-0035
DOI
10.1108/IJPDLM-11-2011-0198
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to present a study on the organization of military logistics under “hot” conditions in an expeditionary crisis response operation. The authors' main research question is: in what way is armed forces logistics sourcing organized in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan? Design/methodology/approach – To answer their research question, the authors conducted a case study including field research at military sites in Afghanistan. The case study is focused on military organizations that operate in a hostile and ambiguous environment. The authors compare sourcing of three categories of support services, i.e. facilities management, maintenance & logistics and security. Findings – The authors' results include a systematic overview of the organization of command, logistic and accounting (sourcing) in the ISAF mission, involving multinational military partners and contractors. Second, the authors show how Canada, NATO, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the USA sourced the three categories of services mentioned in terms of sourcing profiles. Focusing on contracting, the authors outline which strategies NATO and the countries mentioned used in practice. And finally, differences and similarities are highlighted in the area of funding and accounting. Research limitations/implications – While the authors' study provides insight in the use of sourcing profiles identified in this paper, more research is necessary to identify criteria for explaining sourcing decisions of armed forces. Practical implications – The paper provides a systematic overview for practitioners and scholars and enhances manageability and policy development relevant for those who prepare, execute, monitor and evaluate missions. Originality/value – The authors' paper is one of the first to provide a systematic overview in operational defense sourcing relying on first‐hand field data. This area of study is fragmented and remains mostly closed for non‐military researchers.

Journal

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management – Emerald Publishing

Published: Mar 8, 2013

Keywords: Logistics; Sourcing; Crisis response operations; Armed forces; Interdependence of material; Financial and information flows; Supply network integration; Contractors during deployed operations

There are no references for this article.