Table II

Characteristics of humanitarian operations that affects the purchasing of relief items

Characteristics of humanitarian operations affecting the purchasing of relief itemsCriteriaReference
The purpose of procurement in humanitarian operations is to ensure the supply of relief items needed to meet the demands of each disasterNo. 1. Impact of the lack of the item on providing humanitarian aidBlecken (2010), Torabi et al. (2018) 
Humanitarian organizations face intense competition for donationsNo. 2. Attractiveness of the item to receive donationsOloruntoba and Gray (2009) 
Donors have become increasingly demanding of the efficient allocation of resourcesNo. 3. Purchase volume (in financial terms)Van Wassenhove (2006) 
The purpose of a humanitarian organization is to provide humanitarian aid to disaster victimsNo. 4. Number of beneficiaries served by the itemErtem et al. (2010), Torabi et al. (2018) 
Humanitarian organizations usually operate in various disasters occurring in several different locationsNo. 5. Number of locations served by the itemTaupiac (2001), Torabi et al. (2018) 
Humanitarian organizations usually receive a high volume of gifts-in-kind donations, frequently used in disaster responseNo. 6. Volume of gifts-in-kind donations received and usedÇelik et al. (2012), Piotrowicz (2018) 
Humanitarian organizations tend to diversify their supply bases, promoting competitive bidding processes to avoid dependence on a single supplierNo. 7. Number of available suppliers in the marketHerlin and Pazirandeh (2012), Shokr and Torabi (2017), Torabi et al. (2018) 
 No. 8. Entry barriers to new suppliers in the market 
Demand for relief items is sudden, with large quantities and short lead times for different items, and difficult to forecastNo. 9. Difficulty of forecasting demand for the itemBalcik and Beamon (2008), Torabi et al. (2018) 
 No. 10. Suppliers’ flexibility (in coping with variations in demand) 
The lead time in humanitarian operations should be virtually 0 and can mean the difference between life and deathNo. 11. Lead timeBalcik and Beamon (2008), Shokr and Torabi (2017) 
Regions affected by disasters become remote, with limited transportation capacity and temporary installations along the chainNo. 12. Logistics complexity related to the item (storage and delivery conditions)Thomas and Kopczak (2005); Balcik and Beamon (2008), Shokr and Torabi (2017), Piotrowicz (2018) 

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