In practice, as anyone observing the unfolding of a disaster will readily appreciate, there
are a plethora of challenges waiting for the responding agencies. Inevitably, therefore,
our selection will be partial – but it has been developed as a result of our research over
the last five years and had been informed through discussion with both practitioners and
members of the international humanitarian logistics group of academics working in this
field (www.humloggroup.org). It is also designed to highlight some of the key
differences between commercial and humanitarian supply networks, but at the same
time to demonstrate our central argument of the underpinning similarity between the
challenges facing the two communities.