Identifying key performance factors for sustainability development of SMEs – integrating QFD and fuzzy MADM methods

Abstract

It has been confirmed that there exist significant and positive relationships between corporate social responsiveness and profitability. The improvement of sustainability management and performance for a company is an opportunity for a firm’s development and growth rather than a threat. Unlike large companies, it can be more difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to achieve sustainable enterprises, as shortage of resources is a common feature for most SMEs. Therefore, SMEs should effectively utilize their limited resources and prioritize their performance factors in terms of a balanced scorecard (BSC) approach in elaborating their sustainability development. In order to select important elements in the wide range of sustainability indicators suggested in the literature and launch performance factors for improving the sustainability of manufacturing SMEs, this research utilizes quality function deployment (QFD) approach as the basic structure, in which it combines with fuzzy Delphi method (FDM), modified fuzzy extent analytic hierarchy process (FEAHP) and technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) method to prioritize the performance factors. This integrated model is able to provide a manager to identify key performance factors and deploy the company’s resources in order to develop the sustainability included in the company.