Table 5 The gaps and future research... | Emerald Publishing

Table 5

The gaps and future research directions in the digitalization of HSCPM

The gaps	Detailed description of gaps	Possible research directions
Diversity of journal publications	1. The lack of studies in the digitalization of HSCPM in diverse journals	1. The contribution of research in various relevant journals (Fosso-Wamba et al., 2021)
Focus on the different disaster stages	2. The focus of the extant studies in the digitalization of HSCPM is in the response stage (Jahre et al., 2016)	2. The focus of future research in the digitalization of HSCPM especially in mitigation, preparedness and recovery stages (Banomyong et al., 2017; Behl and Dutta, 2019)
Research methods	3. The most current research methods used in the digitalization of HSCPM are single/multiple case studies and literature reviews (Heaslip et al., 2019; Kucukaltan et al., 2022)	3. Future research methods can employ empirical studies (e.g., action, participatory and pilot studies) (Agarwal et al., 2019; Anjomshoae et al., 2022; Marić et al., 2022)
Common understanding	4. The lack of common understanding regarding the digitalization approaches of HSCPM (Abidi et al., 2020)	4. Future studies that conceptualize and standardize the understanding of digitalization of HSCPM (Frennesson et al., 2021). Also, future studies can adapt the common understanding of the topics from the CSC field and involve experts in the digitalization field (Baharmand et al., 2021; Dennehy et al., 2021)
Links	5. The lack of detailed/in-depth investigation of the links between digitalization approaches to improve HSCPM concepts (Abidi et al., 2020; Perano et al., 2023) 6. The shortage of investigation of the links in several digitalization approaches to improve HSCPM 7. The lack of links between digitalization approaches per se (Perano et al., 2023) 8. The different focus of the links between what are studied in the literature and what is practiced in the HSC fields	5. The development of frameworks to investigate links between digitalization approaches and HSCPM as well as among digitalization approaches to improve HSCPM (Rasool et al., 2022; Perano et al., 2023) 6. Future studies are encouraged to deepen the investigation on the links between the digitalization approaches and HSCPM concepts, indicated by (✓) in Table 4. Rule of thumb: Focus first on green (✓) and then on yellow (✓) labels. 7. The links between digitalization approaches per se to improve HSCPM that can be investigated for future studies are shown in Figure 6. Rule of thumb: Focus first on the thicker lines and then the thinner lines 8. Future studies can open new research areas on links between digitalization approaches and HSCPM concepts, as indicated by (−) in Table 4. Rule of thumb: Focus first on the red (−) and then the white (−) labels
Benefits and challenges	9. The literature focuses on benefits and financial and organizational challenges, while practice focuses on other challenges (Schniederjans et al., 2016; CHA, 2023)	9. Future studies can consider developing a framework that considers the benefits but also the challenges (Jahre, 2017)
Considered perspectives	10. The literature focuses on technical and organizational (HSC actors) perspectives (Dubey et al., 2019) and the focus of practice is non-technical and on beneficiaries’ perspectives	10. Future studies can consider the focus of the current topic from the non-technical (e.g. human capital) and beneficiaries’ perspectives (Schiffling and Piecyk, 2014; Dubey et al., 2018b)
Effectiveness	11. There is a lack of research investigating the effectiveness of digitalization in HSCPM	11. Future studies can consider investigating centralized/decentralized digitalization effectiveness, contextual factors that affect the effectiveness and how to maintain the digitalization effectiveness of HSCPM (Gavidia, 2017; Villa et al., 2017; GICHD, 2023). Also, future studies can consider research methods in Research direction number 3 to conduct empirical studies
Application	12. The different focus on digitalization approaches of HSCPM are studied in the literature and used in practice, as well as the lack of investigation of the effectiveness of digitalization in HSCPM. As a result, this leads to the lack of application from literature to practice	12. Future studies can increase the relevancy of applications and prioritize the research on the digitalization approaches of HSCPM, as indicated in Table 4, following the rule of thumb in research directions 6–8

The gaps	Detailed description of gaps	Possible research directions
Diversity of journal publications	1. The lack of studies in the digitalization of HSCPM in diverse journals	1. The contribution of research in various relevant journals (Fosso-Wamba et al., 2021)
Focus on the different disaster stages	2. The focus of the extant studies in the digitalization of HSCPM is in the response stage (Jahre et al., 2016)	2. The focus of future research in the digitalization of HSCPM especially in mitigation, preparedness and recovery stages (Banomyong et al., 2017; Behl and Dutta, 2019)
Research methods	3. The most current research methods used in the digitalization of HSCPM are single/multiple case studies and literature reviews (Heaslip et al., 2019; Kucukaltan et al., 2022)	3. Future research methods can employ empirical studies (e.g., action, participatory and pilot studies) (Agarwal et al., 2019; Anjomshoae et al., 2022; Marić et al., 2022)
Common understanding	4. The lack of common understanding regarding the digitalization approaches of HSCPM (Abidi et al., 2020)	4. Future studies that conceptualize and standardize the understanding of digitalization of HSCPM (Frennesson et al., 2021). Also, future studies can adapt the common understanding of the topics from the CSC field and involve experts in the digitalization field (Baharmand et al., 2021; Dennehy et al., 2021)
Links	5. The lack of detailed/in-depth investigation of the links between digitalization approaches to improve HSCPM concepts (Abidi et al., 2020; Perano et al., 2023)6. The shortage of investigation of the links in several digitalization approaches to improve HSCPM7. The lack of links between digitalization approaches per se (Perano et al., 2023)8. The different focus of the links between what are studied in the literature and what is practiced in the HSC fields	5. The development of frameworks to investigate links between digitalization approaches and HSCPM as well as among digitalization approaches to improve HSCPM (Rasool et al., 2022; Perano et al., 2023)6. Future studies are encouraged to deepen the investigation on the links between the digitalization approaches and HSCPM concepts, indicated by (✓) in Table 4. Rule of thumb: Focus first on green (✓) and then on yellow (✓) labels.7. The links between digitalization approaches per se to improve HSCPM that can be investigated for future studies are shown in Figure 6. Rule of thumb: Focus first on the thicker lines and then the thinner lines8. Future studies can open new research areas on links between digitalization approaches and HSCPM concepts, as indicated by (−) in Table 4. Rule of thumb: Focus first on the red (−) and then the white (−) labels
Benefits and challenges	9. The literature focuses on benefits and financial and organizational challenges, while practice focuses on other challenges (Schniederjans et al., 2016; CHA, 2023)	9. Future studies can consider developing a framework that considers the benefits but also the challenges (Jahre, 2017)
Considered perspectives	10. The literature focuses on technical and organizational (HSC actors) perspectives (Dubey et al., 2019) and the focus of practice is non-technical and on beneficiaries’ perspectives	10. Future studies can consider the focus of the current topic from the non-technical (e.g. human capital) and beneficiaries’ perspectives (Schiffling and Piecyk, 2014; Dubey et al., 2018b)
Effectiveness	11. There is a lack of research investigating the effectiveness of digitalization in HSCPM	11. Future studies can consider investigating centralized/decentralized digitalization effectiveness, contextual factors that affect the effectiveness and how to maintain the digitalization effectiveness of HSCPM (Gavidia, 2017; Villa et al., 2017; GICHD, 2023). Also, future studies can consider research methods in Research direction number 3 to conduct empirical studies
Application	12. The different focus on digitalization approaches of HSCPM are studied in the literature and used in practice, as well as the lack of investigation of the effectiveness of digitalization in HSCPM. As a result, this leads to the lack of application from literature to practice	12. Future studies can increase the relevancy of applications and prioritize the research on the digitalization approaches of HSCPM, as indicated in Table 4, following the rule of thumb in research directions 6–8

Source: Table created by author