Leveraging Supply Chain Management for Inclusive Service Delivery in Developing Economies - Special Issue of Contributions to the 5th African Conference on Operations and Supply Chain Management

Dear Colleagues,

The notion of inclusive logistics and supply chain networks has become acknowledged in recent times and is perceived to be an important aspect in achieving logistics and supply chain networks of the future [1]. A major emphasis by both practice and academia has been the inclusion of marginalised groups at different stages of supply chains [1]. The term marginalised refers to individuals, households or groups which can be found in disenfranchised sectors of society and have been structurally denied access to resources, capabilities, and opportunities [2]. For example, with a supportive culture, supplier diversity in purchasing can become a source of competitive advantage for corporations giving minority or marginalised suppliers a chance to learn and build strategic alliances [3].

Through inclusive service supply chains, governments in developing economies can provide their citizens with access to social, economic and infrastructure services, irrespective of their location, income, occupation, sex, tribe or age. Inclusive supply chains can thus be more competitive, unlock innovation, provide access to new markets, deliver socioeconomic impact and drive sustainability practices.

In line with the Agenda 2063, which advocates for inclusiveness if African countries are to achieve economic growth and sustainable development, this call for paper provides a platform for authors to disseminate research findings that reflect how inclusiveness can be enhanced, implemented, and evaluated. The concept of inclusiveness is interpreted broadly and all articles that contribute to how African countries can achieve a just transition towards inclusive, eco-friendly and sustainably growing economies are welcome. Many levers are conceivable along this path and research that addresses current challenges of logistics and supply chain management in African countries and beyond is welcome [4]. Topics of interest include digital technologies such as digital supply chain twins [5], automation [6] and partial automatization of information processes [7], but also individual pathways of digitalization [8] for developing economies. Geopolitical and infrastructure initiatives [9] as well as trade agreements play a role here [10], as does the development of efficient intermodal logistics systems in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa [11], and much more.

To contribute to this Special Issue, authors are cordially invited to submit original papers, review articles, empirical studies and case studies to Logistics by 31 October 2023. This call is dedicated to the high-quality submissions of the 5^th African Conference on Operations and Supply Chain Management (ACOSCM) hosted from 5 to 6 September 2023 in Kampala, Uganda. However, authors that did not attend the event but want to contribute to this Special Issue topic are welcome to submit manuscripts as well. Manuscripts or papers responding to the title of the call, “Leveraging Supply Chain Management for Inclusive Service Delivery in Developing Economies”, can be submitted on the following topics (non-exclusive list):

· Developing sustainable logistics and supply chain management practices.

• Managing climate change in sustainable logistics and supply chain management.
• Promoting sustainable agro-logistics and supply chains in Africa.
• Integration of gender perspectives in health logistics and supply chain management.
• The role of renewable energy in logistics and supply chain management in Africa.
• Use of technology (digitization) of logistics and supply chain management.

· The role of circular economy in logistics and supply chain management.

• Leveraging commercial logistics and supply chain management.
• Understanding business management, global trade and logistics and supply chain management.
• Assessing regional, national and local government trade policies in logistics and supply chain management.

• Investigating healthcare, risk and resilience in health logistics and supply chain management.
• Integrating of gender perspectives in health logistics and supply chain
• Investigating the working of the public and private healthcare governance.
  

Prof. Dr. Joseph Ntayi
Dr. Benjamin Nitsche
Dr. Andre Kreie
Dr. Lester Brian Shawa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Logistics is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• inclusive logistics and supply chain
• sustainable logistics
• circular economy
• ago-logistics
• health logistics
• digitization
• gender
• resilience
• digitalization