DOI: 10.1111/jbl.
12317
EDITORIAL
Logistics for a better world
I think that the discipline, as it matures, has to
have some social responsibility and say, ‘how
do we use logistics to make a better world?’
… At the end of the day when we stand up to
be counted, how have [we] made the world
a better place? And I think we can, we just
haven't done it yet.
—­Bud Lalonde
At a time when the Journal of Business Logistics (JBL) was
at a crossroads, two starry-­eyed Ph.D. students wanted to
understand more about the history and the maturity of
the field. What better way than to talk to the “visionaries”
of the logistics discipline (Davis-­Sramek & Fugate, 2007).
One of those visionaries was Bud Lalonde, the founding
editor of JBL and a forefather of the logistics and sup-
ply chain management (L&SCM) discipline (Goldsby &
Zinn, 2018). He offered us wisdom about how scholars
should use their research capabilities to address social
challenges. His words were quite profound at the time,
and they continue to shape our careers.
Since this “visionaries” article was published, the suc-
cession of JBL editors broadened the scope and reach of
the Journal. The current editor team is fortunate to have
the foundation to continue to call for a more comprehen-
sive body of knowledge about an expansive range of phe-
nomena. L&SCM scholars also have a unique opportunity
to extend our research, teaching, and service in ways that
inform business practice and provide insight into a more
extensive cast of stakeholders. There is the opportunity to
fulfill Dr. LaLonde's aspiration for the discipline to “make
the world a better place.”
We find it encouraging that over the last several years,
JBL has both called for and consistently published research
demonstrating these efforts. For instance, scholars have de-
signed studies to understand the unique challenges social
enterprises and microentrepreneurs face at the base of the
pyramid markets (Bals & Tate, 2018; Iyengar et al., 2021;
Pal & Altay, 2019). There has been encouraging work on
sustainable supply chain management related to procure-
ment decisions (Mukandwal et al., 2020), implementation
challenges (Nath et al., 2021), the impact of digitization
(Sanders et al., 2019), macrolevel factors like country risk
(Reinerth et al., 2019), new concept development like
294 | © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jbl
supply chain integrity (Castillo et al., 2018), and oppor-
tunities for future research (Carter & Washispack, 2018).
Likewise, JBL has published articles that challenge com-
monly held conceptions about sustainable supply chain
management (Davis-­Sramek et al., 2018; Sheffi, 2018).
Additionally, a focus on supply chain resilience has led
to articles about public–­ private collaboration (Gabler
et al., 2017) and the ability to “bounce forward” after a
disruption (Novak et al., 2021; Wieland & Durach, 2021).
JBL has also called for research that addresses modern so-
cial challenges related to women (Zinn et al., 2018) and
race (Esper et al., 2020)—­issues that significantly impact
supply chain practice. Finally, we look forward to a future
issue that includes the articles from the transformative
supply chain research special topic forum (STF), which
calls for research that emphasizes well-­being outcomes.
One area of inquiry that has been under-­researched
in JBL is humanitarian logistics, and we would like to see
this area of research become an essential focus. There is a
rich opportunity to examine the synergies between how
companies plan for and respond to supply chain disrup-
tions and how humanitarian organizations prepare for
and respond to natural or manmade disasters. For in-
stance, Kovács and Falagara Sigala (2021) note that struc-
tural flexibility, or the ability of the supply chain to adapt
or reconfigure in response to changes, is embedded in hu-
manitarian logistics research but is less understood in the
traditional business research domain.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, companies are assess-
ing how to build more resilient supply chains to mitigate
the financial consequences of a disruption (Sarkis, 2021).
Alternately, humanitarian organizations have approached
disaster situations quite differently because they focus
on saving lives (Kovács & Falagara Sigala, 2021). Both
must deal with uncertainty, turbulence, and complex
environments—­which require some levels of responsive-
ness, often realized through effective logistics and supply
chain management (Richey et al., 2022). What lessons can
each learn from the other?
Recent research in the humanitarian logistics literature
has highlighted several core L&SCM phenomena, such as
outsourcing (Gossler et al., 2020), exchange relationships
(Shaheen & Azadegan, 2020), and coordination mecha-
nisms (Ruesch et al., 2022). At the microlevel, the litera-
ture addresses essential questions about decision-­making
(Comes et al., 2020) and risk-­taking (Shaheen et al., 2021).
J Bus Logist. 2022;43:294–296.

LOGISTICS FOR A BETTER WORLD
Overall, we think that phenomena can be more fully ex-
plored by including how humanitarian logistics organi-
zations and their supply chains approach and respond to
L&SCM challenges.
WH E N H UMAN ITAR IAN
LOG I ST I C S HIT S CLOSE TO H O ME
My (Beth's) family has been closely involved with the ter-
rifying journey to freedom for one Afghan family. Laal
worked as an interpreter for U.S. personnel for more than
a decade. We got to know this family when he served
as my husband's interpreter in Afghanistan. Laal's wife,
Asya, was an activist who advocated that Afghan girls
should be allowed to receive formal education. They have
three beautiful children who want to be engaged in the
everyday things that every child deserves.
Throughout the 20 years that the United States had a
military presence in Afghanistan, thousands of interpret-
ers worked alongside military personnel. In return for
their service, these Afghans were promised the oppor-
tunity to relocate to the United States under the Special
Interest Visa (SIV) program. In the aftermath of the U.S.
withdrawal, most interpreters—­and their families—­were
left behind. They remain in constant danger because of
their loyalty to the United States during a tragic humani-
tarian crisis. World Vision, an international humanitarian
aid organization, recently reported that the Afghanistan
crisis is becoming the worst in the world, with half of the
population facing a life-­threatening level of food insecu-
rity (Omer, 2022). The report also noted that the crisis is
having a massive impact on women and children: 1 mil-
lion children are on the brink of starvation.
After 9 months of being hunted by the Taliban and liv-
ing in terror, Laal and his family were finally evacuated.
As I write this, they are on a U.S. military base in Doha,
Qatar. With significant support from the local community,
our plan is for the family to resettle in Auburn before the
end of the summer.
This positive outcome was only possible because we
received help from Task Force Argo, a volunteer organi-
zation orchestrating life-­saving logistics for Afghans like
Laal. This organization has successfully demonstrated
the fundamental elements of logistics (e.g., transpor-
tation, distribution, order processing, and ground op-
erations) and strategic supply chain management (e.g.,
collaboration, coordination, integration, and informa-
tion sharing) in a transformative fashion. During this
journey, Task Force Argo joined a broad coalition of like-­
minded organizations called #AfghanEvac, which allows
these organizations to collaborate on all of the necessary
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   295
logistics activities, including ground support, evacua-
tion, and resettlement efforts. Seeing these extraordinary
humanitarian logistics efforts firsthand has been a bless-
ing and a privilege.
Glenn and I decided to publish this personal narrative
because the implications of humanitarian logistics have
touched so close to home.
As we reflect on Dr. LaLonde's visionary perspective
for JBL from more than 15 years ago, we want to encour-
age the community to consider, “how do we use logistics
to make a better world?” We are a discipline grounded in
practice, so how do we continue to extend our reach to
create a positive societal impact? Since becoming editors,
we have seen significant momentum in this direction, and
we want to specifically encourage humanitarian logistics
research that contributes theoretical and practical value to
the L&SCM field.
IN THIS ISSUE
This issue focuses on the STF, “Artificial Intelligence,
Robotics, and Logistics Employment.” We appreciate the
contribution and service from the two guest editors of
this STF, Matthias Klump from Georg-­August-­University
of Göttingen and Caroline Ruiner from the University of
Hohenheim. The STF resulted in four peer-­reviewed ar-
ticles that are included in this issue. In the invited edi-
torial by the two guest editors, each of the four papers is
introduced. As with any STF, we encourage researchers to
continue to grow streams of research in this vital research
area.
Happy reading!
Beth Davis-­Sramek
Robert Glenn Richey
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
Email: beth.davis@auburn.edu
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