When strategies matter: Adoption of sustainable supply chain management practices in an emerging economy’s context

Abstract

Over the past few years, a growing concern has been noticed among society, government and non-government organisations for conserving the environment and adopting Sustainable Supply Chain management (SSCM) practices. However, it is not simple for industries to develop sustainability in their business operations and activities especially in emerging economies. In this sense, the purpose of present research is to recognise and analyse various strategies to implement SSCM practices in Indian context. Present research has recognized nine key strategies. Due to qualitative nature of research, Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) methodology integrated with fuzzy MICMAC analysis to further refine the hidden relationship between strategies has been attempted. The identified SSCM strategies have been categorized based on their dependence and driving power. ISM methodology offers merely binary relationship among strategies, whereas fuzzy MICMAC analysis gives accurate investigation related to dependence and driving power of strategies. Findings reveals that ‘Management involvement, support and commitment’; ‘Understanding of the sustainability impacts of their supply chain’ and ‘Establishing a vision and objectives for supply chain sustainability’ are the strategies with the topmost independence powers. The developed model will help in uncovering the interaction and dependence among the identified strategies in implementation of SSCM practices from industrial viewpoint. The inputs of experts from academia and Indian automotive manufacturing firms have been used in this research. The present work will facilitate automotive and related firms in prioritisation of strategies and managing resources in a most sustainable way in an emerging economy context.