Nonprofit Operations and Supply Chain Management: Theory and Practice

This book explores nonprofit organizations (NPOs) from an operations and supply chain management (OM/SCM) perspective. Traditionally, OM/SCM research has concentrated on for-profit businesses in sectors like retail and manufacturing. In contrast, nonprofit sectors such as food banks, nursing homes, educational institutions, social services, and humanitarian relief have been less studied but are the focus of this book.  The study of NPO activities forms the nascent and novel field of Nonprofit Operations and Supply Chain Management.

This distinctive book compiles research on the emerging field of NPO operations and supply chain management. From an operational perspective, it analyses how NPOs operate based on not-for-profit incentives, where some specific operational decisions such as fundraising, resource allocation, workforce scheduling, or transportation are studied in detail. From a supply chain perspective, the book highlights the diverse actors involved, including suppliers, donors, NPOs, and beneficiaries. It emphasizes the complexity of the donation channel in nonprofit supply chains, detailing various participants who either facilitate donation flow or ensure aid reaches beneficiaries. The book covers a range of topics from theoretical frameworks to practical applications, such as not-for-profit goals, ownership transitions, cash and in-kind donation management, and volunteer coordination in both offline and online environments.

This co-edited volume presents a collection of recent innovative research on nonprofit OM/SCM from top global scholars and practitioners. It is mainly aimed at graduate students and researchers in supply chain management, operations management, and operations research. Additionally, academics from other fields studying nonprofit organizations and professionals in the nonprofit sector will find it valuable.

Gemma Berenguer is a Ramón y Cajal Fellow and an Associate Professor of Management at Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M), Spain. She received her Ph.D. in Operations Research from the University of California, Berkeley, and was a faculty member at Purdue University before joining UC3M. Gemma’s major research topics are related to nonprofit supply chain management, sustainable operations, and supply chain design and has published in journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, M&SOM, Production and Operations Management, and Journal of Operations Management. She serves as senior editor for POM journal and an associate editor for Operations Research journal. Among different accomplishments, she has won the Skinner Best paper award at POM journal (2018) and was awarded the SOLA Informs Bi-annual Dissertation Award. Gemma serves as the VP Europe at POMS and was the 2023 President of the Public Sector Operations Research Section at INFORMS.

Milind G. Sohoni is a Full Professor and Chair of the OMS department at the School of Management, University at Buffalo (UB), the State University of New York. He received his Ph.D. in Operations Research at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA. Before joining UB, he was a full professor at the Indian School of Business (ISB), India. He also served as the Deputy Dean for Faculty and Research and the Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs at ISB.  Professor Sohoni’s major research areas include transportation and logistics (aviation, rail, and urban mobility), supply chain analytics, nonprofit operations, and healthcare operations. He teaches at the Masters, Ph.D., and Executive levels. He has published in leading journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, M&SOM, Production and Operations Management, and Transportation Science. He serves as a Senior/Associate Editor at Operations Research, M&SOM, and POM journals. Among different accomplishments, he has won the Aviation Application’s Best Dissertation Award
and an honorable mention for the G. B. Dantzig Best Dissertation Award. His work with Delta Air Lines was a finalist at the Wagner prize competition.  Professor Sohoni currently serves as the VP of Research for POMS India Society.