Appropriation of sustainability priorities to gain strategic advantage in a supply chain

Abstract

PurposeThe authors develop a methodology to select appropriate sustainable supply chain indicators (SSCIs) to measure Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the global supply chain.Design/methodology/approachSSCIs are identified by reviewing the extant literature and topic modeling. Further, they are evaluated based on existing SDGs and ranked using the fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method. Notably, the evaluation of indicators is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) process within a fuzzy environment. The methodology has been explained using a case study from the automobile industry.FindingsThe case study identifies appropriate SSCIs and differentiates them among peer suppliers for gaining a competitive advantage. The results reveal that top-ranked sustainability indicators include the management of natural resources, energy, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and social investment.Practical implicationsThe study outcome will enable suppliers, specialists and decision makers to understand the criteria that improve supply chain sustainability in the automobile industry. The analysis provides a comprehensive understanding of the competitive package of indicators for gaining strategic advantage. This proactive sustainability indicator selection promotes and enhances sustainability reporting while fulfilling regulatory requirements and increasing collaboration potential with trustworthy downstream partners. This study sets the stage for further research in SSCIs’ competitive strategy in the automobile industry along with its supply chains.Originality/valueThis study is unique as it provides a framework for determining relevant SSCIs, which can be distinguished from peer suppliers, while also matching economic, environmental and social metrics to achieve a competitive advantage.

Implementation of supply chain management practices and its effect on textile firm's performance at China: A mediation analysis

“…SCMP defines approaches and practices that best connect vendors, retailers, dealers, and even customers to meet the lengthy success goals for the firm's performance. The systematic literature review found that there is a relationship between SCMP and industry performance success (Kumar et al, 2020). According to Fekpe and Fiagbey (2021), that knowledge exchange is an essential factor for process sustainability, and it could be done with the help of quality and level of information technology because it allows a company to react quickly to evolving customer demands.…”

Multiple Criteria Decision Making for the Achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: A Systematic Literature Review and a Research Agenda

“…Table 6 summarizes the papers reviewed in this category, highlighting the methodological approaches and contexts of application of MCDM methods [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72].…”

“…In this category, most of the studies adopted compromise methods (TOPSIS and VIKOR, for example) [61,63,64,66,[69][70][71], whereas three employed a utility-based method (AHP) [62,64,65], two applied an outranking method (PROMETHEE) [68,69], and the remaining studies [60,67,71,72] used multi-objective methods (e.g., GP and MOLP). Finally, it should be emphasized that four studies [61,64,69,70] combined fuzzy logic with MCDM methods, and one of them [65] employed artificial intelligence algorithms (i.e., Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm and the Firefly Algorithm) to optimize objective functions for the intelligent allocation of energy to different contributors to surface water treatment plants in India.…”

“…The next sections refer to 13 single SDGs, classified according to Rockström and Sukhdev's taxonomy [33]. The findings concerning the three categories below are presented and discussed: 7 summarizes the reviewed papers related to SDG 8 [69][70][71][72][73][74], highlighting the methods, methodological approaches, and contexts of the MCDM applications. Most articles focused on decision problems concerning tourism activities [73,74,78] or multisectoral areas [75,76].…”

Reflective backward analysis to assess the operational performance and eco-efficiency of two industrial districts

“…In recent years, the manufacturing industry has undergone a substantial process of transformation, in order to cope with the needs of the digitalization of production processes imposed by the advent of Industry 4.0 (Ali and Aboelmaged, 2021; Frederico et al. , 2021) and the challenge of sustainability (Bag et al , 2021; Kumar et al. , 2020).…”