[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceps/v46y2012i4p250-260.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An optimization model for volunteer assignments in humanitarian organizations

Author

Listed:
  • Falasca, Mauro
  • Zobel, Christopher
Abstract
One of the challenges facing humanitarian organizations is that there exist limited decision technologies that are tailored specifically to their needs. While employee workforce management models have been the topic of extensive research over the past decades, very little work has yet concentrated on the problem of managing volunteers for humanitarian organizations. This paper develops a multi-criteria optimization model to assist in the assignment of volunteers to tasks, based upon a series of principles from the field of volunteer management. In particular, it offers a new volunteer management approach for incorporating the decision maker's preferences and knowledge into the volunteer assignment process, thus allowing him or her to closely examine the tradeoffs between potentially conflicting objectives. Test results illustrate the model's ability to capture these tradeoffs and represent the imprecision inherent in the work of humanitarian organizations, and thus demonstrate its ability to support efficient and effective volunteer management.

Suggested Citation

  • Falasca, Mauro & Zobel, Christopher, 2012. "An optimization model for volunteer assignments in humanitarian organizations," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 250-260.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceps:v:46:y:2012:i:4:p:250-260
    DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2012.07.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038012112000353
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.seps.2012.07.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yi, Pengfei & George, Santhosh K. & Paul, Jomon Aliyas & Lin, Li, 2010. "Hospital capacity planning for disaster emergency management," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 151-160, September.
    2. Hesham Alfares, 2004. "Survey, Categorization, and Comparison of Recent Tour Scheduling Literature," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 145-175, March.
    3. Mehrdad Tamiz & Mohammed Ali Yaghoobi, 2010. "Nurse Scheduling by Fuzzy Goal Programming," Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, in: Dylan Jones & Mehrdad Tamiz & Jana Ries (ed.), New Developments in Multiple Objective and Goal Programming, pages 151-163, Springer.
    4. John Goodale & Gary Thompson, 2004. "A Comparison of Heuristics for Assigning Individual Employees to Labor Tour Schedules," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 47-63, April.
    5. Barbarosoglu, Gulay & Ozdamar, Linet & Cevik, Ahmet, 2002. "An interactive approach for hierarchical analysis of helicopter logistics in disaster relief operations," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 118-133, July.
    6. Venkataraman, R. & Brusco, M. J., 1996. "An integrated analysis of nurse staffing and scheduling policies," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 57-71, February.
    7. L N Van Wassenhove, 2006. "Humanitarian aid logistics: supply chain management in high gear," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 57(5), pages 475-489, May.
    8. Altay, Nezih & Green III, Walter G., 2006. "OR/MS research in disaster operations management," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(1), pages 475-493, November.
    9. Sheu, Jiuh-Biing, 2007. "An emergency logistics distribution approach for quick response to urgent relief demand in disasters," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 687-709, November.
    10. Gloria Simo, 2009. "Sustaining Cross-Sector Collaborations: Lessons from New Orleans," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 9(4), pages 367-384, December.
    11. Sheu, Jiuh-Biing, 2010. "Dynamic relief-demand management for emergency logistics operations under large-scale disasters," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-17, January.
    12. Janiak, Adam & Kovalyov, Mikhail Y., 2006. "Scheduling in a contaminated area: A model and polynomial algorithms," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 173(1), pages 125-132, August.
    13. Tzeng, Gwo-Hshiung & Cheng, Hsin-Jung & Huang, Tsung Dow, 2007. "Multi-objective optimal planning for designing relief delivery systems," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 673-686, November.
    14. Ernst, A. T. & Jiang, H. & Krishnamoorthy, M. & Sier, D., 2004. "Staff scheduling and rostering: A review of applications, methods and models," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(1), pages 3-27, February.
    15. Jotshi, Arun & Gong, Qiang & Batta, Rajan, 2009. "Dispatching and routing of emergency vehicles in disaster mitigation using data fusion," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 1-24, March.
    16. D. Parr & J. Thompson, 2007. "Solving the multi-objective nurse scheduling problem with a weighted cost function," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 279-288, November.
    17. Lynn Gordon & Erhan Erkut, 2004. "Improving Volunteer Scheduling for the Edmonton Folk Festival," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 34(5), pages 367-376, October.
    18. Rommelfanger, Heinrich, 1996. "Fuzzy linear programming and applications," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 512-527, August.
    19. A Janiak & M Y Kovalyov, 2008. "Scheduling jobs in a contaminated area: a model and heuristic algorithms," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 59(7), pages 977-987, July.
    20. Haghani, Ali & Oh, Sei-Chang, 1996. "Formulation and solution of a multi-commodity, multi-modal network flow model for disaster relief operations," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 231-250, May.
    21. Niklas Kohl & Stefan Karisch, 2004. "Airline Crew Rostering: Problem Types, Modeling, and Optimization," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 223-257, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maria E. Mayorga & Emmett J. Lodree & Justin Wolczynski, 2017. "The optimal assignment of spontaneous volunteers," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 68(9), pages 1106-1116, September.
    2. Maria Drakaki & Gyöngyi Kovács & Panagiotis Tzionas, 2023. "No one stands alone: partnerships for community resilience," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 116(2), pages 1433-1462, March.
    3. Gutjahr, Walter J. & Nolz, Pamela C., 2016. "Multicriteria optimization in humanitarian aid," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 252(2), pages 351-366.
    4. Abualkhair, Hussain & Lodree, Emmett J. & Davis, Lauren B., 2020. "Managing volunteer convergence at disaster relief centers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    5. A. Anaya-Arenas & J. Renaud & A. Ruiz, 2014. "Relief distribution networks: a systematic review," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 223(1), pages 53-79, December.
    6. Cao, Cejun & Liu, Yang & Tang, Ou & Gao, Xuehong, 2021. "A fuzzy bi-level optimization model for multi-period post-disaster relief distribution in sustainable humanitarian supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    7. Lee, Deishin & Sönmez, Erkut & Gómez, Miguel I. & Fan, Xiaoli, 2017. "Combining two wrongs to make two rights: Mitigating food insecurity and food waste through gleaning operations," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 40-52.
    8. Sperling, Martina & Schryen, Guido, 2022. "Decision support for disaster relief: Coordinating spontaneous volunteers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 299(2), pages 690-705.
    9. Kaur, Milan Preet & Smith, Safron & Pazour, Jennifer A. & Duque Schumacher, Ana, 2022. "Optimization of volunteer task assignments to improve volunteer retention and nonprofit organizational performance," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    10. Rodríguez-Espíndola, Oscar & Albores, Pavel & Brewster, Christopher, 2018. "Disaster preparedness in humanitarian logistics: A collaborative approach for resource management in floods," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 264(3), pages 978-993.
    11. Gabriel Zayas‐Cabán & Emmett J. Lodree & David L. Kaufman, 2020. "Optimal Control of Parallel Queues for Managing Volunteer Convergence," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(10), pages 2268-2288, October.
    12. Wang, Qingyi & Reed, Ashley & Nie, Xiaofeng, 2022. "Joint initial dispatching of official responders and registered volunteers during catastrophic mass-casualty incidents," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    13. Barιş Ata & Deishin Lee & Erkut Sönmez, 2019. "Dynamic Volunteer Staffing in Multicrop Gleaning Operations," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 67(2), pages 295-314, March.
    14. Farasat, Alireza & Nikolaev, Alexander G., 2016. "Signed social structure optimization for shift assignment in the nurse scheduling problem," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 3-13.
    15. Andersson Granberg, Tobias & Pilemalm, Sofie, 2020. "Evaluation of new first response initiatives in emergency services," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    16. Andrew S. Manikas & James R. Kroes & Thomas F. Gattiker, 2016. "Metro Meals on Wheels Treasure Valley Employs a Low-Cost Routing Tool to Improve Deliveries," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 46(2), pages 154-167, April.
    17. Pingping Cao & Jin Zheng & Mingyang Li & Yu Fu, 2023. "A Model for the Assignment of Emergency Rescuers Considering Collaborative Information," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-26, January.
    18. Vahideh Manshadi & Scott Rodilitz, 2022. "Online Policies for Efficient Volunteer Crowdsourcing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 6572-6590, September.
    19. Degel, Dirk & Wiesche, Lara & Rachuba, Sebastian & Werners, Brigitte, 2014. "Reorganizing an existing volunteer fire station network in Germany," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 149-157.
    20. Pravin Kumar & Rajesh Kr Singh, 2022. "Application of Industry 4.0 technologies for effective coordination in humanitarian supply chains: a strategic approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 319(1), pages 379-411, December.
    21. Matinrad, Niki & Granberg, Tobias Andersson, 2023. "Optimal pre-dispatch task assignment of volunteers in daily emergency response," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PB).
    22. Dalal, Jyotirmoy, 2022. "Food donation management under supply and demand uncertainties in COVID-19: A robust optimization approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PA).
    23. Paret, Kyle E. & Mayorga, Maria E. & Lodree, Emmett J., 2021. "Assigning spontaneous volunteers to relief efforts under uncertainty in task demand and volunteer availability," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    24. Willems, Jurgen & Walk, Marlene, 2013. "Assigning volunteer tasks: The relation between task preferences and functional motives of youth volunteers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 1030-1040.
    25. Escallon-Barrios, Mariana & Noham, Reut & Smilowitz, Karen, 2024. "Dual mode scheduling in volunteer management," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. A. Anaya-Arenas & J. Renaud & A. Ruiz, 2014. "Relief distribution networks: a systematic review," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 223(1), pages 53-79, December.
    2. Yiping Jiang & Yufei Yuan, 2019. "Emergency Logistics in a Large-Scale Disaster Context: Achievements and Challenges," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-23, March.
    3. Wilson, Duncan T. & Hawe, Glenn I. & Coates, Graham & Crouch, Roger S., 2013. "A multi-objective combinatorial model of casualty processing in major incident response," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 230(3), pages 643-655.
    4. Mauro Falasca & Christopher Zobel & Cliff Ragsdale, 2011. "Helping a Small Development Organization Manage Volunteers More Efficiently," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 41(3), pages 254-262, June.
    5. Caunhye, Aakil M. & Nie, Xiaofeng & Pokharel, Shaligram, 2012. "Optimization models in emergency logistics: A literature review," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 4-13.
    6. Najafi, Mehdi & Eshghi, Kourosh & Dullaert, Wout, 2013. "A multi-objective robust optimization model for logistics planning in the earthquake response phase," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 217-249.
    7. Özdamar, Linet & Ertem, Mustafa Alp, 2015. "Models, solutions and enabling technologies in humanitarian logistics," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 244(1), pages 55-65.
    8. Van den Bergh, Jorne & Beliën, Jeroen & De Bruecker, Philippe & Demeulemeester, Erik & De Boeck, Liesje, 2013. "Personnel scheduling: A literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 226(3), pages 367-385.
    9. Li, Xiaoping & Batta, Rajan & Kwon, Changhyun, 2017. "Effective and equitable supply of gasoline to impacted areas in the aftermath of a natural disaster," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 25-34.
    10. Berkoune, Djamel & Renaud, Jacques & Rekik, Monia & Ruiz, Angel, 2012. "Transportation in disaster response operations," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 23-32.
    11. Zhongzhen Yang & Liquan Guo & Zaili Yang, 2019. "Emergency logistics for wildfire suppression based on forecasted disaster evolution," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 283(1), pages 917-937, December.
    12. Yisha Xiang & Jun Zhuang, 2016. "A medical resource allocation model for serving emergency victims with deteriorating health conditions," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 236(1), pages 177-196, January.
    13. Ertem, Mustafa A. & Buyurgan, Nebil & Pohl, Edward A., 2012. "Using announcement options in the bid construction phase for disaster relief procurement," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 306-314.
    14. N Görmez & M Köksalan & F S Salman, 2011. "Locating disaster response facilities in Istanbul," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 62(7), pages 1239-1252, July.
    15. Yi Feng & Shaoze Cui, 2021. "A review of emergency response in disasters: present and future perspectives," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 105(1), pages 1109-1138, January.
    16. Zhou, Yawen & Liu, Jing & Zhang, Yutong & Gan, Xiaohui, 2017. "A multi-objective evolutionary algorithm for multi-period dynamic emergency resource scheduling problems," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 77-95.
    17. Nagurney, Anna & Flores, Emilio Alvarez & Soylu, Ceren, 2016. "A Generalized Nash Equilibrium network model for post-disaster humanitarian relief," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 1-18.
    18. Rodolfo Modrigais Strauss Nunes & Susana Carla Farias Pereira, 2022. "Intellectual structure and trends in the humanitarian operations field," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 319(1), pages 1099-1157, December.
    19. Lu, Chung-Cheng & Ying, Kuo-Ching & Chen, Hui-Ju, 2016. "Real-time relief distribution in the aftermath of disasters – A rolling horizon approach," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 1-20.
    20. Samuel Fosso Wamba, 2022. "Humanitarian supply chain: a bibliometric analysis and future research directions," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 319(1), pages 937-963, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:soceps:v:46:y:2012:i:4:p:250-260. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/seps .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.