Review of empirical studies in humanitarian supply chain management: Methodological considerations, recent trends and future directions

Humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) has gained much interest among academicians and practitioners in recent past. This paper aims to review empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 1995 and 2015. The articles are classified based on the author’s affiliation, methodology used, operational stage addressed in the study, type of disaster focused, etc., The review categorizes empirical studies based on the methodologies. The study also tracks the development and usage of various methodologies in the humanitarian logistics research. Furthermore, a comparative study on themes arising from the review of literature and the challenges faced by practitioners during operations under various disasters is mapped. Finally, the direction for future research in HSCM is discussed.