Strategies for an integrated US industry response to a humanitarian disaster

This thesis focuses on developing strategies to improve coordination between private businesses, relief agencies, and the government in order to deliver more efficient and effective disaster relief during major national disasters within the United States. We approached the study of humanitarian disaster relief using three contexts - (1) it focuses on disaster relief for "major disasters" which are defined as an event or events that are sufficiently large in scale and impact that overwhelm local response capacity and resources, (2) the study is confined to the geographical context of the U.S. and (3) it uses the Hurricane Katrina disaster for the insights and lessons learned. Based on literature research, interviews, and case studies, we were able to develop a framework for developing effective partnerships between private corporations, NGOs and relief organizations that would help strengthen disaster relief efforts. We also developed recommendations for further improvements in disaster relief supply chains and other supporting public initiatives.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Authors dc:creator

• Lam, Sheau Kai
• Melofchik, Vanessa

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Edgar Blanco.

• Engineering Systems Division.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40102

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/40102