Revisiting the Nexus Between Sustainable Supply Chain Management and the Performance of Steel Manufacturing Organizations: A Case Study From an Emerging Economy

Abstract

Notwithstanding the accretive volume of research on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) across multiple industrial segments, limited studies have shown concrete empirical evidence of SSCM performance evaluation (SSCMPE) of steel manufacturing organizations in the context of emerging economies such as India. This research attempts to evaluate the SSCM performance of four leading India-based steel manufacturing organizations. To this end, eight critical criteria were extracted from the literature and later verified by experts. Data were collected by developing a questionnaire and conducting interviews with the selected industry personnel. Next, this research employed an integrated multicriteria decision making (MCDM) approach, in which the objective weights of criteria were determined using the entropy method, and the case organizations were prioritized using the complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) method. Results reveal that <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">increase in scrap recycling</i> rate and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">reduction in resource consumption by designing products for effective utilization of resources</i> are the two most influential criteria for SSCM performance. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was performed to confirm the exactitude of the results. The distinctiveness of this research lies in considering environmental, operational, social, and economic issues in SSCMPE of the steel manufacturing organizations. The research findings may assist policymakers in formulating strategies for SSCM performance enhancement.