Cost centers, financial management

A profit center is an organizational unit responsible for the generation of revenue and the control of costs. It is expected to achieve the financial goals set forth in its business plan. Doing so or not doing so determines salaries, bonuses, and promotion potential. Profit center managers are held accountable for maximizing profits in their sphere of influence. 

Given that HA/DR delivery supply chains usually operate in highly uncertain environments, they must be engineered and executed in shorter periods of time so as to provide relief to the affected population as soon as possible (Ratliff 2007). Further, inventory management in HA/DR delivery supply chains is affected by unreliable, incomplete, or nonexistent information about lead times, demand levels, and locations (Beamon 2004). In terms of distribution network configuration, the number and location of distribution centers is uncertain. This makes cost assessment difficult in terms of planning financial flows. 

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