Private firms using production change for a good cause : A qualitative study of Swedish private firms in humanitarian logistics

Sammanfattning: Humanitarian logistics is an emerging phenomenon which have been increasingly recognized due to the increase of disasters, where little is still known about the role of companies operating in the private sector for this phenomenon. Furthermore, it is assumed that both natural and man-made disasters will increase in both the occurrence and the effect in the future, which enforces the need for practices and theories to deal with them more effectively. There were 1438 epidemic outbreaks between 2010-2018 according to the World Health Organization. During the COVID-19 pandemic shortages in the medical sector were evident, which had disastrous effects. During these difficult times companies from the private sector implemented drastic production changes to supply the disinfectant, hand sanitizers, and protective personal equipment that was missing. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how Swedish firms have implemented/ enabled drastic production change in case of humanitarian logistics during COVID-19, for the previously mentioned product types. Sweden was chosen as the empirical setting, as many contributions could be seen amongst the Swedish private companies, where the data collection was done with eight respondents in eight different companies being in multiple industries. By using a qualitative grounded theory approach, the findings suggest that the drastic production change for the private companies in terms of humanitarian logistics is influenced by five different factors. Firstly, its dependent on developing a social motive, with and without economic benefits. Secondly, was coordinating between external and internal stakeholders. Thirdly, was coordinating amongst existing and acquired resources and capabilities. Fourthly, was coordinating product change to legal requirements. Finally, was coordinating and reacting to disruptions through alternative production. This study contributes to humanitarian logistics in several theoretical ways. Initially, it brings new insights specific for private firms in their implementation and enablement for drastic production change. Furthermore, it also extends the knowledge for the private sector and their involvement in humanitarian logistics. Additionally, it also extends the knowledge specific to products for companies within the private sector related to disaster relief in humanitarian operations. Subsequently, the study also contributes with findings from Sweden, which is an empirical setting that has not been researched within the area previously. Moreover, the study also has practical recommendations which might be useful for future crisis scenarios. Where it was evident that the involvement of private firms in humanitarian logistics was driven both by social and economic motives. Additionally, private firms should also be aware of their existing resources and capabilities which could enable an alternative production when society needs it the most. Lastly, firms should not be intimidated by regulation and production requirements, as there have been a common force among stakeholders to solve such issues.