grey-DEMATEL Approach Research Articles

Deterrents for corporate carbon disclosures: a study on Indian corporations using Grey-DEMATEL approach

PurposeGlobally, the landscape of corporate carbon disclosures (CCD) is continually evolving as societal, environmental and regulatory expectations change over time. The goal of this study is to examine the challenges faced by Indian firms’ corporate carbon reporting (CCR). The literature recognized the hurdles to reaching net zero emissions and decarbonization, which are equally applicable to carbon disclosure (CD).Design/methodology/approachThe scope 3 emission disclosure barriers (S3EDBs) identified from the literature were ranked, and their relationships were discovered using the “Grey-based decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory” (Grey- DEMATEL) technique.FindingsThe key findings are the S3EDBs, the most prominent barriers, their interrelationships and important insights for managers of organizations in prioritizing the action area for scope 3 CD. Eight S3EDBs were categorized in terms of cause and effect, threshold value is calculated as 0.78. “Quality, and reliability of data,” “Government policies and statutory requirement on emission disclosure” and “Traceability and managing supply chain partners” are the most prominent S3EDBs.Practical implicationsThe results will help industry people in countries with emerging economies that have significant scope 3 carbon footprints. The managers can plan to deal with top S3EDBs as a step towards decarbonization and ultimately fighting climate change (CC).Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to rank these barriers to CD so that industry practitioners can prioritize their actions. The core contribution of this research is to detect the most significant S3EDBs and their interdependencies.

Critical Factors Affecting Trust in the Wine Supply Chain in Greece: A Grey DEMATEL Approach

Background: Although trust is a well-studied topic in supply chain management, the case of the wine supply chain has not been adequately investigated. Methods: A hybrid approach combining qualitative and quantitative data analysis was adopted. The research was divided into two phases: (i) identification of critical factors based on the literature, and (ii) analysis of eight experts’ insights on those factors by employing the grey DEMATEL approach. Results: Fourteen factors that affect trust in the wine supply chain were identified based on the academic literature. From the analysis of the experts’ views, with the use of the grey DEMATEL approach, the factors were classified into two groups. The first group (nine factors) concerns the factors that affect the rest and the second group (five factors) concerns those which are affected by the former factors. Conclusions: The study of trust in the supply chain can be further improved by monitoring the trends in the sector and by engaging a wider audience of stakeholders. This approach can be applied to various regions in order to examine whether the situation is different from country to country. Stakeholders will have the necessary information to support their decisions and prioritize their objectives, aiming at improving the whole supply chain.

Evaluating Critical Success Factors for Acceptance of Digital Assistants for Online Shopping Using Grey–DEMATEL

Conversational digital assistants (CDAs), driven by artificial intelligence, are emerging innovative technologies to assist customers with online shopping. Despite the benefits of CDAs, customers resist their use for online shopping. Hence, studying what factors motivate consumers to adopt OSAs is necessary. The study first identifies twelve CDA acceptance factors through a literature review and expert opinion. It then uses a unique grey-DEMATEL method to evaluate the cause-and-effect relationships among the factors. The grey-DEMATEL approach effectively analyzes causal interactions among elements, overcoming the bias of imprecise human judgments in real life. The authors find that the critical cause factors that affect other factors of CDAs’ adoption are anxiety, trust, social presence, enjoyment, and humanness. Managers and policymakers can use the study’s findings to drive CDAs’ acceptance. The study uniquely identifies the critical success factors for CDAs’ acceptance for online shopping and analyzes their causal relations in a grey environment.

Sustainable solid waste management system using technology-enabled end-of-pipe strategies

Ever Increasing accumulation of solid waste, attributed to population growth and rapid urbanization, is a serious issue for all nations. This creates hindrance in implementing sustainable solid waste management systems (SWMS), which contribute to socio-economic-environmental-operational (SEEO) benefits for the nations and their citizens. Limited understanding of various solid waste management (SWM) practices, their operational sequence, and other system constraints pose numerous challenges for the concerned authorities and policymakers. This paper provides a framework depicting three broad categories of strategies for managing solid waste: preventive, end-of-pipe (EOP), and environmental restoration. Among these, the research emphasizes on EOP strategies, being suitable alternative as per current requirements, to deal with massive amounts of generated waste. It further adopts Grey-DEMATEL approach to models the causal relationship among EOP strategies to identify the most influential strategy, which influences other ones. The model suggests waste segregation to be the major enabler for other EOP strategies, as it has maximum overall significance value (R + C) between 1.18 and 1.41 and it is the only one with positive value in “net-effect” computation (R–C), compared to other strategies with negative (R–C) values. This would enable concerned authorities to understand and follow the sequence of actions. Finally, a comprehensive framework is proposed for effective, efficient, and sustainable methods of handling different types of solid waste using technology-enabled EOP strategies. A case study is performed to demonstrate the significance of waste segregation towards SEEO benefits. It indicates that technology-based solutions at decentralized depots and establishment of biogas plant in the vicinity of garbage collection point leads to reduction in transportation cost and energy saving in efficient manner. The ground level implementation of our research in an Indian city resulted in the reduction of daily vehicle requirement from 25 to 20 vehicles, leading to approx. 25% savings in overall transportation costs thereby cutting exchequer's bill by up to $ 2820/month. It also reveals that mechanized and decentralized solutions were not effective for inert waste, its disposal to landfill was more suited alternative.

Circular Economy Reinforcement to Diminish GHG Emissions: A grey DEMATEL Approach

Circular Economy Reinforcement to Diminish GHG Emissions: A grey DEMATEL Approach

Examining the barriers to electric truck adoption as a system: A Grey-DEMATEL approach

Although the electrification of trucks can offer overall operation cost reduction and contribute to the decarbonization of transport, electric vehicles in the commercial sector are not widely adopted. Existing studies explore the barriers to truck electrification using qualitative or descriptive analysis. This study proposes that the barriers to electric truck (ET) adoption should be further studied as a system and examines their ranking and interrelationships to enhance policy decision making. Based on a literature review and feedback from experts, ten barrier groups were identified. Data was obtained from a stated preference survey that was distributed online to 74 truck fleet managers/owners in the United States (U.S.). A multicriteria decision-making approach was used that combines the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method (DEMATEL) with grey system theory. Additionally, a subgroup analysis was conducted to explore potential differences for ET adopters and non-ET adopters. Among other findings, the results indicate that the business model and partnerships, product availability, and charging time constitute the top cause factors. Addressing these barriers would also lead to or help address the most prominent barriers regarding operational reliability, grid resiliency, and customer acceptance and expectations. The subgroup analysis showed that ET adopters and non-adopters may not be viewed as one homogenous group, since differences were found in the ranking and interrelationships of barriers to ET adoption between these two groups. This study improves the theoretical rational for the barriers and can assist policymakers or other major stakeholders to frame and prioritize strategies for accelerating ET adoption.

A hybrid Grey-DEMATEL approach to identify barriers to the implementation of an end-of-life vehicle management system in Brazil

The automobile industry has drawn its attention to the treatment of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) because they have numerous components and materials, and they can become a good secondary source of resources. When these materials are properly recovered, their recirculation is an important aspect for sustainability and, consequently, for circular economy. Nevertheless, developing countries such as Brazil still have a delay regarding the management of these ELVs, since there are neither a direction nor regulations that encourage the implementation of this recovery industry. Given this scenario, this study aims to identify and analyze the barriers that influence the implementation of an ELV management system in Brazil. A systematic literature review was conducted initially to identify the categories and barriers, then a refinement and validation step was performed by two experts, which resulted in a set of 16 barriers. The hybrid approach Grey-DEMATEL was used to analyze the most influential barriers of the system, assigning them into causal and effect clusters. The questionnaires required by Grey-DEMATEL were answered by experts representing four perspectives, namely: organizational, environmental, academic and governmental. In addition, an analysis was conducted from a global perspective by the aggregation of the opinions of the four experts, and it was noted that the absence of specific legislation for the management of ELVs was classified as the barrier that most significantly impacts the implementation of an ELV management system in Brazil. Finally, some mitigation strategies were proposed to support stakeholders in solving this problem.

Modeling Impacts of COVID-19 in Supply Chain Activities: A Grey-DEMATEL Approach

The purpose of this study was to identify and exhibit the interrelationships among COVID-19’s impacts on supply chain activities. Based on a literature review and the manager’s input, twenty COVID-19 impacts were collected. An integrated approach of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and grey-decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (G-DEMATEL) was used to reveal the causal interrelationships among the COVID-19 impacts. Initially, a questionnaire survey was administered among 220 respondents for EFA. Based on the outcome of EFA, the twenty COVID-19 impacts were categorized into seven critical areas. Then, based on the experts’ inputs, G-DEMATEL was utilized to reveal the causal interrelationships among various COVID-19 impacts. The results indicate that disruption management, relationship management, and production management are the top three critical areas that need to be addressed in the COVID-19 crisis. Disruption in supply, ripple effect on supply chain operations, and obsolescence of machines were found to be the most influential impacts while disproportionateness between supply and demand, difficulty in demand forecasting, and reduced cash inflow were found to be the most influenced impacts. This study’s outcomes will help policymakers and supply chain managers develop strategies to restructure supply chain networks. This study is an original contribution to the analysis of COVID-19 impacts in the supply chain activities in India due to the use of EFA and G-DEMATEL. This study considers India only, and hence, the outcomes lack generalizability. A study considering multiple developing countries could generalize these findings.

Building resilience for sustainability of MSMEs post COVID-19 outbreak: An Indian handicraft industry outlook

The handicraft business constitutes concept selling rather than mere product selling, which is highly dependent on demand. Handicrafts' Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have an expanding market in developed countries. The impact of the pandemic on this industry is severe due to the industry's informal nature and seasonal demand. The survival and resilience of these handicraft MSMEs face many challenges in the post-COVID-19 outbreak. The focus of the present study is to understand and analyze the key challenges for building resilience in handicraft MSMEs by scrutinizing the existing literature and interactions with stakeholders. EFA and the Grey DEMATEL approach are used to analyze the challenges for the adoption of resilience. EFA is used to categorize the challenges into various dimensions. The study has divided the challenges for the inclusion of resilience into survivable, sustainable, and viable categories using EFA to plan for short- and long-term business growth. Grey DEMATEL is being utilized for understanding these contextual relationships for each resilience dimension. Grey systems theory is a methodology that enables the incorporation of improbability and vagueness into the analysis. Findings of the study revealed the influencing challenges for each of the dimensions such as competition from machine-made products, insufficient government support and incentives for export, and inefficient managerial concern and response to internationalization as the prominent challenges. The results of this study illustrate the causal relationships amongst the identified resilience challenges to the various stakeholders. These findings offer practical insights for the government to allocate resources and impose measures to ensure resilience, as well as understanding the cause-effect relationship. Managerial implications and Policy insights for building the resilience of handicraft MSMEs are discussed in detail.

Analyzing organizational barriers towards building postpandemic supply chain resilience in Indian MSMEs: a grey-DEMATEL approach

PurposeThis study aims to identify the barriers to building supply chain resilience and assess the contextual relationship between them in the Indian micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector for the post COVID-19 era.Design/methodology/approachBarriers to supply chain resilience were extracted from the extant literature and were evaluated using the grey sets and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach from strategic, tactical and operational business perspectives. The responses from experts on the identified barriers were collected through a structured questionnaire. The prominence-net effect results obtained after the DEMATEL application helped identify the most prominent barriers, their net cause and effect, and their correlation with each other.FindingsA total of 16 barriers to resilience, identified from the literature, were considered for analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the lack of flexibility is the most critical causal barrier to building a resilient supply chain. Lack of planned resource management was also found to be an influential barrier. The study also identified the supply chain design, need for collaboration and technological capability as important factors for the MSME sector to focus on.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to assessing barriers to the supply chain resilience of MSMEs in India. More extensive research may be needed to reveal the global trend.Practical implicationsThe study is significantly important for the MSMEs looking to establish resilient supply chains. Managers can use the findings to identify the weak links in the supply chain for strategic and tactical planning and can take corrective actions.Originality/valueThe study pinpoints the key linkages between barriers that impede MSMEs to make their supply chains resilient and robust to mitigate the impact of future disruptions and adversities. The work may be used by practitioners to further their attention on the significant challenges.

Modeling of factors affecting investment behavior during the pandemic: a grey-DEMATEL approach

The study intends to examine the cause-and-effect relationship between Covid-19 and the factors affecting investment behavior in a South Asian economy. The investment behavior is considered as an MCDM problem. To address this problem, the study employs MCDM approach i.e., a blend of both DEMATEL and Grey theory due to its potential to deal with subjective judgments of investors. The results indicate that Covid-19 is the leading cause behind financial stress, psychophysiological health outcomes, investors' perception about the market, and investors' strategy. Among sub-factors, portfolio allocation is the most influenced sub-factor. Alteration in portfolio is a major challenge for emerging countries which have become attractive destinations for global investors. Overall, the significant contribution of the paper is to establish the interlinkages among the factors affecting investment behavior, given the uncertainty triggered by the pandemic. Although the literature provides evidence on this problem during normal situations, analysis of investment behavior during severe crisis is still lacking. The research will be immensely useful to different stakeholders such as government, policymakers, financial advisors, and investors in making their strategic or operational decisions.

An analysis of barriers affecting implementation of sustainable supply chain management in electronics industry: a Grey-DEMATEL approach

PurposeWorld over organizations are focusing on sustainable goals, where along with economic success their role in protecting the planet and people are becoming important. Whilst transforming the supply chain into a sustainable one, there would be some barriers which might hinder this process. This paper aims to study these barriers in the context of the electronics industry so that organizations can better implement sustainable supply chain programs.Design/methodology/approachIn this research, barriers affecting sustainability implementation in the electronics supply chain are shortlisted from literature review and experts’ opinion. Using the combined methodology of Grey DEMATEL, the causal factors, the effect factors and degree of prominence of barriers is found out. The overall relationship among barriers is established by a diagraph. Sensitivity analysis is performed to check the robustness of the results.FindingsIt is found that lack of regulation and guidance from authorities is the primary causal barrier affecting operations of sustainable supply chain management. There are five barriers which fall in the influenced group and among them, complexity in measuring and monitoring sustainability practices has the largest net effect value on the implementation of a sustainable supply chain. The barrier having the highest correlation with other barriers is the high cost for disposal of hazardous wastes. The implications of these findings on managers and academicians is explored in the study.Research limitations/implicationsIn this research, the number of barriers shortlisted is limited to 11 in the context of the electronics supply chain. More factors could be added in future research based on the industry being studied.Originality/valueThe research analyses 11 barriers under categories of policy, technology, financial and human resources in the Indian electronics industry by evaluating the cause and effect group of barriers. These results can guide policymakers of the electronic sector and industry for mitigating barriers during the implementation of sustainable programs.

Analysing barriers of sustainable transportation systems in India using Grey-DEMATEL approach: A supply chain perspective

ABSTRACT Sustainable transportation systems are the need for sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). This study presents a model to analyse the causal relationship and prioritisation of the barriers that exist within sustainable transportation systems in India. Appropriate barriers were identified based on the literature survey and as well as discussions with experts and decision-makers. The model addresses barriers to all major dimensions of sustainable transportation systems, namely economic, social-political, environmental, and technical. A total of 22 barriers were identified, and causal relationships among these barriers were envisioned by adopting the Grey-based decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) methodology. The Grey-based method can be used to handle uncertainty and ambiguity in decision-making. And, DEMATEL is adopted for identifying cause-effect relationships among several barriers to understand the problem properly. The application of the introduced model has been presented. The results reveal that the model effectively assesses and analyzes the barriers of sustainable transportation systems and has practical relevance.

Exploring critical success factors influencing adoption of digital twin and physical internet in electronics industry using grey-DEMATEL approach

Digital twin and physical internet adoption based on advanced digital technologies is gaining significance in the recent times. Digital twin is one of the enabling technologies that link actual physical system with its virtual depiction using advanced digital technologies. In order to leverage its potential, firms have instigated to adopt digital twin and physical internet for real-world applications. Although researches on impact of information technology in supply chains exists, a study on the modelling aspects by analysing critical success factors for adoption of digital twin and physical internet is limited. We have addressed this gap by developing a structural model for identifying the inter-relationships and cause effect parameters of critical success factors for adoption of digital twin and physical internet. Thirteen critical success factors were shortlisted based on literature review and in consultation with experts. An integrated Grey- based, decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL)is used to visualize the causal relationships among critical success factors and verified by applying the proposed model in an electronics manufacturing firm. Sensitivity analysis has been done to check accuracy of results and robustness of the study. The results reveal that top management commitment and support and long, medium and short term planning are the most influential factors impacting the adoption of digital twin and physical internet in electronics industry. Findings of this research provide insights for supply chain managers and academicians by identifying the cause and effect group critical success factors for effective adoption of digital twin and physical internet.

Critical diversity dimensions influencing effective diverse workforce: a grey-DEMATEL approach

Critical diversity dimensions influencing effective diverse workforce: a grey-DEMATEL approach

A grey-DEMATEL approach for analyzing factors critical to the implementation of reverse logistics in the pharmaceutical care process.

There is an increasing interest in product recovery, closed-loop supply chains, and reverse logistics (RL) for mitigating environmental impairment. Although RL is becoming a mandatory policy in developed countries, it is still in an embryonic stage in some industrial sectors of emerging economies. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) identify the critical factors to the successful implementation of RL in the Brazilian pharmaceutical care process (PCP) and (2) determine the cause-and-effect relationships among them. We use snowball sampling to select the relevant RL studies and deductive reasoning and classification to identify the critical factors and a grey decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) to evaluate the cause-and-effect relationships among them. The study revealed management, collaboration, information technology, infrastructure, policy, financial and economic, end-of-life management practices, and logistic performance factors as the most relevant factors to the successful implementation of RL in the Brazilian PCP. The end-of-life management practices were identified as the most critical factor, and information technology was identified as the least critical factor. We further determined the end-of-life management practices and policy have the strongest casual relationship. The municipal PCP coordinators can use the findings of this study to formulate mitigating strategies to identify and eliminate barriers to the successful implementation of RL in the Brazilian PCP.

Analyzing Barriers for Developing a Sustainable Circular Economy in Agriculture in China Using Grey-DEMATEL Approach

The agricultural economy, as an integral branch of the global economy, covering the whole supply chain of agricultural production including cultivation, processing, distribution and consumption, is of great importance to realizing a sustainable circular economy and ecological development. As a traditional agricultural country, China has experienced a series of problems such as a serious waste of resources and a fragile ecological environment during its agricultural economic development. With the background of “the Belt and Road Initiative”, major progress has been witnessed in both ecological development and agricultural circular economy in China. However, the development of circular agriculture in China has to deal with barriers from different stakeholders. This research identifies critical barriers for the government, farmers, and the enterprises to develop circular agriculture. The causal factors, effect factors, and the center of factors are identified and the correlation between the barriers is described using the Gray-DEMATEL method. Based on the analysis results, several policy suggestions are proposed for the government. This paper provides a feasible framework for decision-making to support the development of a sustainable circular economy in agriculture in China.

Identification of critical factors in construction and demolition waste recycling by the grey-DEMATEL approach: a Chinese perspective.

The extensive waste produced in construction and demolition activities affects the ecological environment, impeding green development in countries worldwide, including China. China has paid increasing attention to managing construction and demolition waste (CDW). However, most of the existing research only qualitatively studies the factors affecting the recycling of CDW and does not reveal the critical factors. Therefore, based on stakeholder theory and the grey-DEMATEL method, this paper aims to identify and quantitatively analyze the critical factors in CDW recycling from the perspective of China. This paper drew the following conclusions: (1) Stakeholders in China's CDW recycling mainly include the government, CDW production units, and CDW recycling units. (2) Public policy, government subsidies, media promotion, human resources, cost, environmental awareness, technological innovation, and supply chain management are the eight dimensions with 13 factors that constitute CDW recycling in China. (3) For the total relations between factors affecting the recycling of CDW in China, the most influential factor is specific legislation and regulations. The factor with the highest degree of prominence is environmental awareness. The factor with the largest net cause value is the rationality of disposal and landfill charges. The factor with the largest net effect value is experienced construction workers. (4) The critical factors in China's CDW recycling include specific legislation and regulations, mandatory degree of normative standards, environmental awareness, the supply of raw materials for CDW recycling units, and the sale of remanufactured products. Finally, this paper identifies the following management implications: (1) the government should prioritize the task of improving specific legislation and regulations, with a focus on a mandatory degree of normative standards. (2) CDW production units should put the task of improving environmental awareness high on their agenda, with a focus on the supply of raw materials for recycling units. (3) CDW recycling units should prioritize the issue of the sale of remanufactured products. This paper also provides a theoretical basis for revealing the critical factors of CDW recycling in other countries or regions.

Positioning strategy implementation barriers: a decision making approach based on resource-based theory

The first aim of this paper is to present the issue of apparel retailing in India with the simultaneous determination of barriers to positioning strategy implementation. Second, measure the causality, comparative strength and network structure of the barriers in the way of successful strategy implementation. Key barriers identified with the help of literature review from peer-reviewed papers and validated by experts. Grey theory employed to refine the opinions collected from experts then employed DEMATEL to quantitatively calculate the importance, causality, comparative strength and effect in the interaction among barriers. This paper has identified 17 implementation barriers of competitive positioning strategy which hinders successful implementation of strategy in the apparel retail stores. Further, cause/effect relationships among these barriers have been developed using grey-DEMATEL approach. This research is highly noteworthy for apparel retailers to position their stores in the competitive market and eradicate the main barriers with the help of systematic approach.

Examination Corporate Social Responsibility Factors for Supply Chain Management Implementation using GREY-DEMATEL Method

The main purpose of this article is to analyze corporate social responsibility issues in supply chain management implementation. Corporate Social Responsibility is an important activity for organizations to enhance their names socially, economically and environmentally. Analyzing CSR factors in industries is a key and critical factor. This paper aims to present a GREY-DEMATEL approach to identify CSR factors for supply chain management implementation. Nineteen CSR factors were considered from literature surveys and Industry expert’s opinions. A direct relationship matrix among factors was arrived at from two different experts with a sound knowledge of social, environmental and economic backgrounds in the auto components manufacturing sector. GREY-DEMATEL approach was used to examine pivotal relationships among factors of CSR issues in successful supply chain management. Based on the relationship matrix, Industrial Relations, Corporate governance, Feminist labour issues, Discrimination and Energy conservation play a major role among factors. Finally, the study concludes with the limitations and the future work of CSR factors in the supply chain implementation process.