Affiliation:
1. University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
Abstract
Decision making on relief distribution is a complex multidisciplinary task in humanitarian logistics. It incorporates decision makers from different but related problem areas. The failure to perform assigned decision-making tasks in any area makes the entire system unstable and delays the relief distribution process. An organized, well-planned, and practical decision support system (DSS) can assist practitioners in making rapid decisions on delivering relief items. Hence, DSS researchers in humanitarian logistics require rigorous thinking, close and critical analysis, and the identification of challenges to conduct research or validate the generated knowledge properly. To perform such complex knowledge-based tasks, the philosophical understanding of DSS in the humanitarian context is necessary. After analyzing the commonly used philosophical paradigms, this research identifies the pragmatic approach as the adequate support for solving decision-making problems in relief distribution during large-scale disasters.
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