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Purpose Circular economy (CE) has gained considerable attention from researchers and practitioners over the past few years because of its potential social and environmental benefits. However, limited attention has been given in the literature to explore the drivers and barriers in CE implementation in emerging and developing countries besides China. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify the drivers and barriers to implementing a CE in Pakistan’s automobile manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts an explorative approach to understand the drivers and barriers at the micro-level CE implementation in Pakistan’s automobile industry. The research design includes both qualitative and quantitative methods using a survey instrument and interviews to gather data. The use of the two main sources of data provides the opportunity for triangulation of the data to improve the validity of the findings, and enables greater inferences from the results. Findings This study shows that “profitability/market share/benefit” (30 percent), “cost reduction” (22 percent) and “business principle/concern for environment/appreciation” (19 percent) are the top three drivers. Similarly, “unawareness” (22 percent), “cost and financial constraint” (20 percent) and “lack of expertise” (17 percent) are the top three barriers in implementing CE principles in Pakistan automobiles industry. Research limitations/implications This study considers only Pakistan automobiles industry, and the practical implications potentially limit to emerging Asian economies. Originality/value This study is the first of its kind that has investigated the drivers and barriers of CE at the organizational level in the automobile industry of Pakistan. Thus, it helps to advance the understanding of the subject matter and enables the formulation of effective policies and business strategies by practitioners for upscaling CE and sustainability.

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In the era of industrialization, environmentalists are more concerned with the environment and so are continuously interested in investigating organizational factors that can facilitate the transition towards sustainability. This research systematically investigates the impact of supply chain partner's collaborative approach towards green practices on a firm's sustainability performance. Stakeholder and coordination theories are used to underpin the study. A structural equation modeling technique is adopted to analyze data collected from 126 green supply chain professionals working at various manufacturing firms operating in Pakistan using a survey questionnaire. The results indicate significant and positive impacts of institution pressure and customer monitoring on the adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices by organizations. This study also explains that organizational GSCM practices, external GSCM practices and performance measures have positive and significant relationships. These findings reveal that it is important for managers to address external GSCM pressures by adopting green practices and being a focal firm should undertake GSCM initiatives in collaboration with their suppliers and customers to achieve a holistic impact which ultimately leads to betterment in overall sustainability performance.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study, analyze and implement continuous improvement (CI) techniques in an interior design case company, which faces challenges in different departments that affect the case company performance. Design/methodology/approach The proposed methodology implemented in three departments of an interior design company in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). First, the authors analyzed and identified problems using Pareto chart and cause and effect diagram. After that, they improved identified problems using Kaizen, 5S, developed project selection form and modified organization chart. The result has been shown savings regarding money and time. Findings Successful implementation of the proposed methodology reduced project in pipeline time from 16 weeks to nine weeks, profit margin increased from 25 to 27 per cent, sales win ratio increase from 11 to 32 per cent, better project and financial forecasting and 92 per cent of tender submission deadline achievement. A habit of clean, tidy and organized workplace has been developed among workers. Originality/value Proposed solutions contributed significantly to saving time and effort spent to accomplish different tasks in the case company. The company approved the proposed solutions and implemented them, which show that these proposed solutions are feasible and practical. In addition to that, in literature, most of the CI applications are in the manufacturing or production sectors. This was the first study, which implemented CI techniques in an interior design company.

Purpose Existing supply chain (SC) performance models are not able to cope with the potential of intensive SC digitalisation and establish a relationship between decisions and decision criteria. The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated knowledge-based system (KBS) that creates a link between decisions and decision criteria (attributes) and evaluates the overall SC performance. Design/methodology/approach The proposed KBS is grounded on the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (fuzzy AHP), which establishes a relationship between short-term and long-term decisions and SC performance criteria (short-term and long-term) for accurate and integrated Overall SC performance evaluation. Findings The proposed KBS evaluates the overall SC performance, establishes a relationship between decisions (long-term and short-term) and decision criteria of SC functions and provides decision makers with a view of the impact of their short-term or long-term decisions on overall SC performance. The proposed system was implemented in a case company where the authors were able to develop a SC performance monitoring dashboard for the company’s top managers and operational managers. Practical implications The proposed KBS assists organisations and decision makers in evaluating their overall SC performance and helps in identifying underperforming SC functions and their associated criteria. It may also be considered as a tool for benchmarking SC performance against competitors. It can efficiently point to improvement directions and help decision makers improve overall SC performance. Originality/value The proposed KBS provides a holistic and integrated approach, establishes a relationship between decisions and decision criteria and evaluates overall SC performance, which is one of the main limitations in existing supply chain performance measurement systems.