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Problem Formulation and Solution Mechanisms: A Behavioral Study of Humanitarian Transportation Planning

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  • Erica Gralla
  • Jarrod Goentzel
  • Charles Fine

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="poms12496-abs-0001"> When dealing with urgent, ill-defined problems, such as rapidly evolving emergency situations, operations managers have little time for problem formulation or solution. While the mechanisms by which humans formulate and solve problems have been described, mechanisms for rapid, concurrent formulating and solving are not well understood. This study investigates these mechanisms through a field study of transportation planning in a humanitarian response setting. The findings show that the problem is solved through greedy search and formulated through sensemaking, in which search enables updates to an evolving problem formulation, and the formulation directs and limits the search process. This study explores the implications of these findings for the development of better problem formulation processes and problem-solving strategies for urgent and ill-defined operations management problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Erica Gralla & Jarrod Goentzel & Charles Fine, 2016. "Problem Formulation and Solution Mechanisms: A Behavioral Study of Humanitarian Transportation Planning," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 25(1), pages 22-35, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:popmgt:v:25:y:2016:i:1:p:22-35
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/poms.2016.25.issue-1
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Erica Gralla & Zoe Szajnfarber, 2016. "Characterizing Representational Uncertainty in System Design and Operations," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(6), pages 535-548, November.
    2. Diehlmann, Florian & Klein, Miriam & Wiens, Marcus & Lüttenberg, Markus & Schultmann, Frank, 2020. "On the value of accurate demand information in public-private emergency collaborations," Working Paper Series in Production and Energy 51, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Industrial Production (IIP).
    3. Long He & Sheng Liu & Zuo‐Jun Max Shen, 2022. "Smart urban transport and logistics: A business analytics perspective," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(10), pages 3771-3787, October.
    4. Baharmand, Hossein & Comes, Tina & Lauras, Matthieu, 2019. "Bi-objective multi-layer location–allocation model for the immediate aftermath of sudden-onset disasters," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 86-110.
    5. Laura Laguna-Salvadó & Matthieu Lauras & Uche Okongwu & Tina Comes, 2019. "A multicriteria Master Planning DSS for a sustainable humanitarian supply chain," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 283(1), pages 1303-1343, December.
    6. Harwin De Vries & Luk N. Van Wassenhove, 2020. "Do Optimization Models for Humanitarian Operations Need a Paradigm Shift?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(1), pages 55-61, January.
    7. Gralla, Erica & Goentzel, Jarrod, 2018. "Humanitarian transportation planning: Evaluation of practice-based heuristics and recommendations for improvement," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 269(2), pages 436-450.
    8. Liu, Bingsheng & Sheu, Jiuh-Biing & Zhao, Xue & Chen, Yuan & Zhang, Wei, 2020. "Decision making on post-disaster rescue routing problems from the rescue efficiency perspective," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 286(1), pages 321-335.
    9. Hossein Baharmand & Diego Vega & Matthieu Lauras & Tina Comes, 2022. "A methodology for developing evidence-based optimization models in humanitarian logistics," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 319(1), pages 1197-1229, December.
    10. Tina Comes & Bartel Van de Walle & Luk Van Wassenhove, 2020. "The Coordination‐Information Bubble in Humanitarian Response: Theoretical Foundations and Empirical Investigations," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(11), pages 2484-2507, November.
    11. Maass, Kayse Lee & Trapp, Andrew C. & Konrad, Renata, 2020. "Optimizing placement of residential shelters for human trafficking survivors," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    12. Jónas Oddur Jónasson & Kamalini Ramdas & Alp Sungu, 2022. "Social impact operations at the global base of the pyramid," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(12), pages 4364-4378, December.
    13. Amodeo, Domenico C. & Francis, Royce A., 2019. "The role of protocol layers and macro-cognitive functions in engineered system resilience," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 1-1.
    14. Johannes Jakubik & Stefan Feuerriegel, 2022. "Data‐driven allocation of development aid toward sustainable development goals: Evidence from HIV/AIDS," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(6), pages 2739-2756, June.

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