Disaster Management

What are NGOs :-

A non-governmental organization (NGO) is any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is organized on a local, national or international level. Task-oriented and driven by people with a common interest, NGOs perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of information. Some are organized around specific issues, such as human rights, environment or health. They provide analysis and expertise, serve as early warning mechanisms and help monitor and implement international agreements. Their relationship with offices and agencies of the United Nations system differs depending on their goals, their venue and the mandate of a particular institution.

(http://www.ngo.org/ngoinfo/define.html;10-11-2006)

INTRODUCTION:-

Indonesia Ache :-

Aceh, the northern-most province of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, suffered terribly in the tsunami of December 2004. The water washed over 800km of coastline, killing 169,000 people and leaving 600,000 homeless. In several areas, no buildings, roads, or trees were left standing. Large areas of land were permanently lost. Sumatra was then hit by an earthquake on 28 March 2005, killing almost another 1,000 people on Nias island.

After the disaster the world responded generously and the aim of aid agencies working there was to make life in coastal Aceh eventually better for all, regardless of wealth or gender. In a region afflicted by poverty and conflict this represented an unprecedented opportunity.

[http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/conflict_disasters/downloads/bn_tsunami_twoyears.pdf]

The damage, including long-term economic damage, has been estimated at more than $4.5bn. Across the province 2,240 schools and 2,676 bridges were destroyed and over 100,000 wells were contaminated by salt water or left in need of repair.

A quarter of Aceh's population lost their jobs and the unemployment rate rose from 6.8 per cent to around 30 per cent.10 Small businesses, labourers, small-scale farmers, and fishing communities were worst hit. About 70 per cent of the small-scale fishing fleet was destroyed.

Over 150,000 hectares (1,500 sq km) of agricultural land11 were made unfit for growing crops after being inundated with salt water and mud. Within three weeks rice crops were yellowing in the fields, and, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, up to 15 per cent of western Aceh's agricultural land may be permanently lost

[http://www.fao.org/ag/tsunami/assessment/assess-damage.html ; 15-11-2006]

Operations Management:-

All operations produce goods and services by devising processes which transform or change the state or condition or location of something to produce outputs. This transformation process which takes inputs then transform them producing outputs to satisfy organization's and customer's needs, is the basics of every operation in any type of organization (N. Slack, S. Chambers, R. Johnston, Operations Management, 2004).

Operations take different shapes and forms depending on customer expectation, the strategic target of the organisation involved, volume of their output, variety of output and even variation in demand. Slack , 2003

In order to achieve these goals , it's the duty and responsibility of the operations manager that all the things go in the right direction and he makes ensure that the objectives are meeting efficiently and effectively and also able to respond quickly to a sudden change or hindrance that might cause resistant in the achievements of the desired objectives.

In response to a disaster situation like tsunami, it's the duty and responsibility of the operations managers of various NGOs that how they organize , harmonize, and carry out their activities and duties in the disaster areas.

It will include , identifying the needs and desires of the victims of disaster ,the objectives of different NGOs not collide with each other and all work with unity , make sure desired objectives are achieving by time , every victim is getting equal response without discrimination of race , gender , religion etc , availability and constant supply of materials like ,staff , medicines, food , water , shelter , information should be regular and it is reaching to the needed victims, (the end user) is also the responsibility of operations manager. They should also be flexible enough to respond to a sudden change in the environment cause by either internal or external factors.

After a brief intro about the Operations management and what operations managers perform, lets talk about Ð''performance objectives' (Slack 2004) , which includes

Cost : producing cheaply to deliver a low price to the customer

Quality: delivering characteristics that will lead the customer to perceive the product/ service as of high quality.

Speed: delivering the product/service quickly

Dependability: delivering when you say you will

Flexibility: being able to change the type or range of product or service and how and when the product or service is delivered.

(Ian holden 2006 Ð''Operations Management & Logistics', p.no 7)

STRATEGY:

Strategy is more than a single decision , it is

"The total patterns of decisions and actions that positions the organization in its environment and that are intended to achieve its long-term goals"

Slack N et al (ibid)

Strategy in simple words is define as set of action plans to achieve goals and objectives.

For an operations manager , strategy is a critical term as it is the basis of concepts , plans by which the operations manager is able to provide goods and services to the end user , customers.

There are different NGOs involve in the Tsunami disaster relief program with different backgrounds , size and objectives.

They vary from UNICEF to Medicine Sans Frontiere , Oxfam , Christian Aid,