A typology of services in disaster relief: evidence from two disaster relief chains

Delivery of services in disaster relief chains (DRCs) is inadequately addressed in literature. Disaster relief delivery and associated DRCs are often discussed in terms of the delivery of tangible goods such as medicine, food and water. Research on services within relief is relatively scant. Based on two empirical case studies of DRCs in Australia, this article: analyses the types of services delivered in each of the two DRCs; proposes a typology and classification of services within disaster relief; and advocates a reconceptualization of disaster relief through an enlargement of the scope of conventional perspectives and discourses on disaster relief to include services and its delivery. The research is useful for analysing, classifying and planning of services and its delivery in disaster relief. It also opens up new research directions for disaster logistics and operations management scholars in the area of services and service delivery in disaster relief