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At present, sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has gained a great momentum in this competitive business world for any kind of industry. Leather industry (leather, leather products, and footwear) is the second export earning sector of Bangladesh which is scrambling to implement SSCM in its working cycle. There are lot of challenges that are creating barriers for this industry owners in establishing sustainability practices in their supply chain management. There is lack of enough research in identifying the challenges of SSCM for leather industry of Bangladesh. That’s why, it is very imperative to identify the challenges of SSCM for leather industry in Bangladesh which will guide the industry owners to combat these challenges. In this research, we have not only identified the challenges of SSCM for leather industry but also evaluated the relationship among them. Besides, a priority list of identified challenges is depicted through which the industry owners can easily find out the major and minor challenges. Five industrial experts were selected from export-oriented leather and footwear factories in order to sort out the appropriate challenges. Decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique was applied to assess the relationship among identified 18 challenges and divided them into two groups such as cause and effect. The casual challenges are lack of knowledge and experience, lack of technical expertise, corruption, social unawareness, lack of acceptance of new technology, lack of training on SSCM, poor organizational culture, market competition and uncertainty, lack of commitment from top management and lack of integration of IT system. On the other hand, lack of eco-literacy among supply chain stakeholders, financial constraints, lack of government rules and regulations, cost of sustainability, limitations of capacity, lack of management initiatives for reverse logistics, demand for lower price and lack of energy and waste management policy were identified as effect group challenges. This study will help the decision-makers of leather industry in formulating strategic policies to address these challenges for in implementing SSCM in leather industry that will drive these sectors toward sustainable development.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted global business operations. Most importantly, practitioners of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been facing devastating economic shocks emanated from the COVID-19 pandemic. The purposes of this study are to explore the business status of SMEs, business sustenance period, types of problems faced by the practitioners and impact on production volume, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For these purposes, primary survey data from 284 SMEs in Bangladesh are collected in this study. The survey data are descriptively analyzed using appropriate graphs. This study finds that SMEs are facing several problems such as demand fall (92.96%), cancellation of orders (85.56%), liquidity crisis (74.30%), delayed transportation (72.53%), unsecured working environment (68.31%), raw material shortage (63.73%) and employees’ absenteeism (62.67%). The SMEs face beyond 40% decrease in production volume against the pre-pandemic year. Furthermore, this study formulates several strategic measures, which will certainly guide policymakers and practitioners to combat the COVID-19 economic shocks for the SMEs and also for other industries.

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Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) create more employment opportunities and thus, contribute to the national economy of a country. Footwear SMEs have been identified as an emerging economy in Bangladesh, which is facing several challenges. Very few studies focused on the challenges of SMEs’ business growth. However, until now, no literature particularly focused on the challenges of footwear SMEs and discussed how to tackle these challenges. To fill this research gap, we use the Fuzzy Delphi Method and fuzzy analytical hierarchy process, to find out the degree of importance of critical challenges of footwear SMEs. In our study, 16 critical challenges are identified among which lingering in cash flow (F3), fierce market competition (E1), access to finance (F2), unfavorable bank loan policy (F1), and poor supply chain management (E2) have been ascertained as the top five critical challenges, respectively. This study contributes to the existing literature of SMEs by identifying five new challenges from the context of the footwear industry. Furthermore, we suggest some possible measures to overcome the identified challenges. This study can guide the government, practitioners, and SME policymakers to address these challenges for the growth of any SME sector.

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Despite its ample opportunity to value addition to national economy, the sector faces enormous image crisis at home and abroad because of non-existent green practices in the supply chain. The tenet of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) practices is to diminish or obviate wastages, greenhouse gas emission, and energy consumption and promotes reuse, recycle, remanufacture and reverse logistics. The study was designed to identify the barriers for implementing Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) practices in Footwear Industry of Bangladesh. A two round Delphi study approach was conducted from five industrial experts and five academic experts to identify the common barriers. The study identified twenty two barriers whereas the lack of commitment of management is the paramount. Financial constraint, lack of energy management & wastage management as well as lack of source of eco-friendly materials are the second most important barriers. The internal barriers and regulations & awareness barriers were classified as the top source and features barriers respectively. The study result may provide insight to the management in formulating strategies and tactics to implement green practices in footwear industry for sustainability. KEY WORDS: barrier, GSCM, footwear industry, Bangladesh, Delphi IDENTIFICAREA BARIERELOR PENTRU PUNEREA ÎN APLICARE A GESTIONĂRII LANŢULUI DE APROVIZIONARE ECOLOGICĂ (GSCM) ÎN INDUSTRIA DE ÎNCĂLŢĂMINTE DIN BANGLADESH: ABORDARE UTILIZÂND METODA DELPHI REZUMAT. Industria de încălţăminte este cel deal doilea sector ca mărime la nivelul veniturilor din exporturi din Bangladesh, contribuind la venituri de 1,234 miliarde de dolari în perioada 2016-2017. În ciuda oportunităţilor sale ample de a aduce valoare adăugată economiei naţionale, sectorul se confruntă cu o criză imensă a imaginii în ţară şi în străinătate din cauza lipsei de practici ecologice în lanţul de aprovizionare. Principiul practicilor de gestionare a lanţului de aprovizionare ecologică (GSCM) este de a diminua sau de a evita pierderile, emisiile de gaze cu efect de seră şi consumul de energie, promovând reutilizarea, reciclarea, recondiţionarea şi logistica inversă. Studiul a fost conceput pentru a identifica barierele în calea implementării practicilor de gestionare a lanţului de aprovizionare ecologică (GSCM) în industria de încălţăminte din Bangladesh. S-a realizat un studiu pe baza metodei Delphi în două etape, condus de cinci specialişti din industrie şi cinci specialişti academici pentru a identifica barierele comune. Studiul a identificat douăzeci şi două de bariere, dintre care lipsa angajamentului conducerii este cea mai importantă. Constrângerile financiare, lipsa gestionării energiei şi gestionarea deşeurilor, precum şi lipsa sursei de materiale ecologice sunt barierele de pe locul doi ca importanţă. Barierele interne şi cele privind reglementările şi conştientizarea au fost clasificate drept sursa principală a acestora. Rezultatul studiului poate oferi managerilor o perspectivă referitoare la formularea de strategii şi tactici...