Identifying critical failure factors of green supply chain management in China’s SMEs with a hierarchical cause–effect model

Abstract

Compared to large companies, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in China are more likely to fail in developing green supply chain management (GSCM). Capturing its failure factors could be useful for managers and policymakers to decide how green supply chains can be successfully designed and developed. Meanwhile, these factors can include complex interrelationships. Properly dealing with them can help identify the critical factors which can assist decision-makers to efficiently manage green supply chains. This study thus proposes a comprehensive framework to explore and understand failure factors of GSCM in China's SMEs to improve the opportunities of GSCM in China. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) are combined and applied to identify critical failure factors through translating interrelationships in a hierarchical cause-effect model. The results indicate that collaboration and support are the most critical perspectives for GSCM, and these two perspectives also interrelated with each other and affect the perspectives of knowledge, technology and economy to varying degrees. Moreover, the critical failure factors include lack of top management support, poor guidance from authorities, difficulty in supplier selection and inadequate supplier commitment. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to check the robustness. Conceptual and managerial implications are discussed.

Identifying Crucial Attributes of Sustainable Operation for Scientific Instrument Platforms With a Fuzzy Synthetic Cause-Effect Model

“…As a common target strategy in the current development stage, open and sharing (C16) indeed promotes the SIP self-actualization and has a strong influence on C3. To strictly implement the goals, however, top management (C3) with enough attention and participation is the key to resolving all obstacles in organizational change (Gao et al, 2022; Wijethilake et al, 2023). Therefore, it is urgent to reconcile the relationship between top management commitment and diverse stakeholder pressures (Wijethilake et al, 2023).…”

“…Wang et al, 2021b). Then, the FSE modified by the entropy weight method is combined with DEMATEL, which can meet the related needs of the identification of key factors and quantification of the influence level (Gao et al, 2022;Tseng et al, 2019;Yazdi et al, 2020). In other words, the combination of the modified FSM and DEMATEL enables decision analysis to identify crucial factors based on the semantic preference logic of hierarchical model visual causal association.…”

“…DEMATEL, developed by the Science and Human Affairs Program of the Battelle Memorial Institute of Geneva between 1972 and 1979, is an effective method for analyzing the interrelationships between proposed attributes considering classification and importance (Gao et al, 2022; Kumar & Dixit, 2018; Lin & Tzeng, 2009). However, the original DEMATEL method cannot solve the problem of hierarchical structure, cannot guarantee the reliability of the data that directly affect the matrix, and cannot deal with incomplete information in the analysis process (Cui et al, 2019).…”

Application of fuzzy methods in green and sustainable supply chains: critical insights from a systematic review and bibliometric analysis

“…Vagueness and uncertainties associated with different parameters and areas in SSCM and GSC management are fluctuations in products demand due to consumers' environmental awareness and knowledge, raw material costs, environmental emissions, high energy consumption, waste management, CO2 emissions, product recovery with green sustainable criteria, transportation of perishable food products, social factors like lost working days, job opportunities, human judgments in decision-making, etc. (Ahmadini et al, 2021;Gao et al, 2022;Malviya and Kant, 2020). In this way, under changing business conditions and rising uncertainties, parameters associated with SSC and GSC management are highly uncertain.…”

Adopting blockchain technology to enhance green supply chain integration: The moderating role of organizational culture

“…There are many reasons for the undesirable phenomena. Distrust is regarded as one of the most critical factors causing GSCI failure (Agi & Nishant, 2017; Carfora et al, 2019; Gao et al, 2022; Hoejmose et al, 2012; Zhu et al, 2017). Due to the interorganizational features of GSCI, green supply chain members' low competence level, information opacity, different cultures and languages, geographical distance, and other factors will lead to the distrust among supply chain partners (Alamdari et al, 2022; Grimm et al, 2014; Muduli et al, 2020).…”