EurOMA Early Career Researcher Networking Grant for Aline Seepma and colleagues

Assistant Professor Aline Seepma, together with Nonhlanhla Dube and Isabell Storsjö received the EurOMA Early Career Researcher Networking Grant at the 30th EurOMA Conference in Leuven (Belgium). This grant of € 5000 will facilitate research visits and data collection for research that studies the European refugee crisis through the lens of Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSCM).

Aline Seepma is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business’ (FEB) Department of Operations, Nonhlanhla Dube obtained her PhD at FEB last year and is currently a lecturer at Lancaster University (UK) and Isabell Storsjö is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Turku (Finland). The purpose of Seepma, Dube and Storsjö’s project, titled “The European refugee crisis through the lens of OSCM: From crisis response to value creation in refugee supply chains", is to develop a framework for understanding and improving the value streams for supporting refugees, taking into consideration the different logics and assumptions at the intersection of the humanitarian, public service, and operations and supply chain management spheres.

Considering (judicial and regulatory) contexts

To achieve appropriately designed refugee service supply chains, one must not only evaluate the flows and subordinate processes, but also consider the jurisdiction, regulatory context and public interest in individual states, and scrutinize operational assumptions about refugee flows. Hence, this project aims to examine how different stakeholders in refugee supply chains (in different European countries) pursue social value. The researchers also investigate how different operational logics of key actors in the refugee supply chain setting impact OSCM decisions and established alignment improvement approaches.

Seepma, Dube and Storsjö are grateful to the European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) for awarding them this grant, that enables them to join forces to explore avenues for value creation in the context of the European refugee crisis. Dube: “Although we do not settle the debate of whether the crisis is real or imagined, we combine our expertise to earnestly and intently engage with the legal, social, and political issues underlying processes and outcomes for refugees in different countries. We will begin by investigating the similarities and differences between the UK, Finland, and the Netherlands. We look forward to working with stakeholders in academia and practice on this quest for truly durable solutions for refugees, their hosts, and the places they consider home.”

About EurOMA

At the 30th EurOMA conference, Seepma was also appointed as a new board member in the EurOMA Board for three years. EurOMA is an international network of academics and practitioners from around the world who have a common interest in the continuing development of Operations Management. EurOMA is a European-based network with rapidly growing international links, whereby members can share their ideas, knowledge, and experience. It is a communication network that bridges the gap between research and practice.

Questions? Please contact Aline Seepma.