Case Study: Medical Surplus Recovery Organizations.

CASE STUDY: MEDICAL SURPLUS RECOVERY ORGANIZATIONS
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Case Study: Medical Surplus Recovery Organizations
The problem
The problem identified in the case study is a lack of operational expertise. Medical Surplus Recovery Organizations (MSROs) are often unable to match the supply of medical surplus products in developed countries with the demand of the same in developing countries. This challenge often arises from a lack of operational expertise in providing value for the recipients of medical surplus products. According to Zhang, et al. (2020), MSROs share their inventory information with recipients with the intention of matching recipients' needs with the available products. Also, recipients share information about their preferences so that MSROs can supply them with what is available. This strategy, however, inhibits efficiency in resource allocation because recipients may give incorrect information about their preferences so as to increase their chances of being supplied with medical products. As indicated by Atasu, et al. (2017), this lack of operational expertise encourages competition among the recipients, thus affecting the value provided by MSROs.
Why the Problem is Important
This problem is important to operation management because first, MSROs are not-for-profit organizations and their objective is not to maximize profits but to maximize the value created for the recipients (Atasu, et al., 2017). Therefore, efficient resource allocation is an important aspect of MSROs' operations. Also, because of their monetary constraints, MSROs have to maximize the value they provide to the recipients by shipping to them full containers of the medical surplus products. This often causes recipients to receive medical products they do not necessarily need at the expense of other recipients who would have greatly benefited from the products....