A stakeholders’ perspective on barriers to adopt sustainable practices in MSME supply chain

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swayam Sampurna Panigrahi ◽  
Nune Srinivasa Rao

Purpose Enterprises face the wrath of the government for taking part in environmental conservation and adoption of sustainable initiatives along with customer demands. Therefore, enterprises are forced to adopt sustainable supply chain practices (SSCPs), which leads to competitive advantage. Now, sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) is a management process that promotes the adoption of eco-friendly activities in conventional supply chains (SCs). Enterprises in India are under tremendous pressure to include SSCPs into their conventional SCs. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the barriers for the implementation of SSCPs into Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Design/methodology/approach This study aims to identify critical barriers for adoption of SSCPs in the textile MSME SCs located in Eastern India, Odisha with the help of interpretive structural modeling (ISM). Findings The paper develops a framework for the evaluation of barriers to the adoption of SSCP in the textile SC. This paper also provides appropriate suggestive measures to deal with the barriers and overcome the same to attain a sustainable textile SC. Research limitations/implications Opportunities exist for extension of this research on wider geographical area. In addition to this, some other quantitative modeling approaches can be applied, like analytical hierarchy process, to prioritize the barriers. Practical implications The framework offers help to SC managers in their decision-making process by enabling them to analyze the barriers and ways to overcome them. Originality/value The paper deals with a particular geographical area where such kinds of studies are rare. The proposed framework provides a foundation for further research.

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 601-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Navin K. Dev ◽  
Ravi Shankar

Purpose – The modern business community understands the importance of long-term satisfaction of consumer. Enabling the consumer to return products is a significant part of the equation. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the sustainable boundaries in terms of their relationship toward greening a supply chain. Design/methodology/approach – Using interpretive structural modeling the research presents a hierarchy-based model to realize the driving power and dependence of sustainable boundary enablers. Findings – The research shows that there exists a group of enablers having a high driving power and low dependence requiring maximum attention and of strategic importance while another group consists of those variables which have high dependence and are the resultant actions. Practical implications – This classification provides a useful tool to supply chain managers to differentiate between independent and dependent variables and their mutual relationships which would help them to focus while making strategic, tactical or operational decisions as and when required while designing a green supply chain. Originality/value – This research assumes importance in context of greening a supply chain when globally enterprises are getting a lot of pressure from consumers as well as the regulatory measures from the government. Sustainability demands that the resources be used in lean manner through information coordination with all partners in a supply chain. The findings of this study would help delineate those variables that should to be necessarily considered to design a sustainable supply chain.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 498-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Divesh Kumar ◽  
Zillur Rahman

Purpose This paper aims to intend to help focal firms which are keen to develop a sustainable supply chain by identifying enablers, in knowing the interrelationships involved and in ranking the enablers. Design/methodology/approach Interpretive structural modeling and fuzzy MICMAC were used for the modeling and clustering of the enablers and fuzzy analytical hierarchy process has been used for the ranking purpose. Findings Awareness about sustainability incentives, pressure from stakeholders, support from supply chain partners and demand from customer for sustainable products were found very important for developing a sustainable supply chain. Research limitations/implications This research will help practitioners to appreciate the importance of the enablers to focus on the making sustainability adoption feasible across the supply chain. This would also facilitate focal firm management to develop a sustainability culture across the supply chain. Originality/value Similar work has not been carried before in which interaction among enablers and their priorities were analyzed using hybrid methodologies in developing country context.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manish Mohan Baral ◽  
Rajesh Kumar Singh ◽  
Yiğit Kazançoğlu

PurposeNowadays, many firms are finding ways to enhance the survivability of sustainable supply chains (SUSSCs). The present study aims to develop a model for the SUSSCs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachWith the help of exhaustive literature review, constructs and items are identified to collect the responses from different SMEs. A total of 278 complete responses are received and 6 hypotheses are developed. Hypotheses testing have been done using structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsMajor constructs identified for the study are supply chain (SC) performance measurement under uncertainty (SPMU), supply chain cooperation (SCCO), supply chain positioning (SCP), supply chain administration (SCA), supply chain feasibility (SCF) and the SUSSCs. From statistical analysis of the data collected, it can be concluded that the considered latent variables contribute significantly towardsthe model fit.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study contributes to the existing literature on disruptions and survivability. The study can be further carried out in context to different countries and sectors to generalize the findings.Practical implicationsThe research findings will be fruitful for SMEs and other organizations in developing strategies to improve survivability during uncertain business environments.Originality/valueThe study has developed a model that shows that the identified latent variables and their indicators contribute significantly toward the dependent variable, i.e. survivability. It contributes significantly in bridging the research gaps existing in context to the survivability of SMEs.


Author(s):  
Kumari Amrita Tripathi ◽  
Saumya Singh

PurposeThis paper aims to study the impediments and difficulties that prevent Indian women from becoming entrepreneurs.Design/methodology/approachData were obtained through a survey involving 15 experts. Based on the feedback provided by the experts, ten relevant barriers in the context of Indian micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were chosen. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data. These ten barriers create obstruction for Indian women as entrepreneurs. These barriers were ranked, and causal relationships among them established using interpretive structural modeling andMatrice d’Impacts croises-multiplication appliqúean classment(cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) (ISM–MICMAC) approach.FindingsThis study identifies, on the basis of extant literature and experts’ opinion, ten barriers to female entrepreneurship. These barriers were ranked, and causal relationships among them established using the ISM–MICMAC approach. On the basis of ranking, women can move forward in MSMEs after removing these obstacles and it will have good results.Research limitations/implicationsIn this research, with literature reviews and experts opinion, ten barriers have been identified for women’s entrepreneurship and have been used to build the model.Practical implicationsTo bring Indian women forward in the field of entrepreneurship, both the society and the government should work together, and efforts should be made to overcome the obstacles coming in the way of entrepreneurs.Social implicationsFemale entrepreneurship in India faces many problems including negative attitude of authorities and society toward women. The society and authorities have no format or model for Indian women to move forward in the entrepreneurship sector.Originality/valueThis study seeks to identify, on the basis of a thorough review of literature and expert opinion, major barriers to female entrepreneurship in the context of Indian MSMEs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Lu ◽  
Jinliang Chen ◽  
Hua Song ◽  
Xiangyu Zhou

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how cloud computing assimilation reduces supply chain financing (SCF) risks of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This study also investigated the mediating roles of internal and external supply chain integration between cloud computing assimilation and the SCF risks of SMEs, as well as the moderating role of environmental competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from surveys of SMEs located in China. Multiple regression analysis was used to validate the proposed theoretical model and research hypotheses. Findings The findings show that cloud computing assimilation could reduce the SCF risks of SMEs directly. The results also indicate that both internal and external supply chain integration mediate the relationship between cloud computing assimilation and SCF risks. Furthermore, environmental competitiveness inhibits the effects of cloud computing assimilation on SCF risks. Originality/value To our best knowledge, this is the preliminary study to explore the role of cloud computing assimilation in reducing the SCF risks of SMEs. Also, this study attempted to investigate the process by which cloud computing assimilation affects the SCF risks of SMEs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shampy Kamboj ◽  
Shruti Rana

PurposeThe main objective of this paper is to study the role of supply chain performance (SCP) as a mediator between big data-driven supply chain (BDDSC) and firm sustainable performance. In addition, the role of firm age as a moderator between BDDSC and SCP as well as between SCP and firm sustainable performance has also been explored.Design/methodology/approachThe 200 managers of medium or senior level positions in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) located at Delhi-NCR have been contacted. Further, collected data have been confirmed with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In this paper, structure equation modeling (SEM) has been employed to empirically check the proposed hypotheses and their relationships.FindingsThe findings confirmed that SCP mediates the link between BDDSC and firm sustainable performance. Additionally, firm age moderates the association between BDDSC and SCP as well as between SCP and firm sustainable performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe role of SCP and firm age between BDDSC and sustainable performance have been examined in the context of MSMEs in Delhi-NCR and thereby limit the generalization of results to other industries and country contexts.Originality/valueThe present study adds to the existing literature via recognizing the blackbox using SCP and firm age to comprehend BDDSC and firm sustainable performance relationship.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 731-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anand Jaiswal ◽  
Cherian Samuel ◽  
G. Abhishek Ganesh

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a solution for greening the supply chain of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by minimising the vehicular pollutant emission in the logistics network. Design/methodology/approach The paper proposes an optimisation model to reduce the pollution emission in the logistics of supply chain network in SMEs. The work considers vehicle routing and selection of suppliers, manufacturers and assemblers according to the availability of various Bharat Stage Emission Standards type vehicles. Introsort sorting based selection algorithm is used to solve the problem. The proposed solution is implemented using C++ on an experimental data set for analysing the model. Findings The outcome of the study is a pollution optimisation model for logistics of SMEs. The finding shows an approach to reduce total vehicular pollution emission in the logistics network in meeting the demand. The model is tested over an experimental study, and the result findings show which supply chain entities, type of environmental standard vehicles and vehicle routes are selected for the specific demand. Research limitations/implications The proposed model is confined to pollution optimisation with limited parameters only and does not consider cost and other factors that can be included in future work. Practical implications The work can be used for limiting pollution in logistics system as the corporate social responsibility of enterprises. Originality/value Proposed work presents a sustainable and green solution for pollution control in logistics activities of the SMEs.


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Zamberi Ahmad

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the international business strategy, key driving factors and the major barriers that may hinder the internationalisation progress of Malaysian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – Based on the aims of the study, the paper encompasses both quantitative and qualitative data. For quantitative data, structured questionnaires were used, and a total of 216 SMEs that engaged in international business participated using purposeful sampling, covering all the states in Peninsular Malaysia. For the collection of qualitative data, the study involved in-depth interviews with 25 owners/managers of SMEs. Findings – The findings indicate that the motives of SMEs for international expansion are varied, and that SMEs still face many institutional challenges, which have prevented them from making a greater contribution. Research limitations/implications – Due to lack of resources, firms from West Malaysia were included. West Malaysian firms may well possess characteristics concerning the challenges and issues to internationalisation that are unique to their region. Originality/value – The paper addresses a knowledge gap in respect of the internationalisation process of SMEs in the context of Southeast Asia. The findings of this paper will have relevance for policymaking and supportive measures at the government level to create an environment that will stimulate the competitiveness of SMEs in their attempts for internationalisation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1110-1122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhijit Majumdar ◽  
Sanjib Sinha

PurposeSmall and medium enterprises (SMEs) of Indian clothing industry have become one of the most important cogs of global fashion supply chain. However, the implementation of green practices is still in the nascent stage. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the important barriers of green supply chain management in Indian clothing SMEs.Design/methodology/approachA total of 36 barriers related to green supply chain management (GSCM) practices were identified through exhaustive literature review. Then ten important barriers were shortlisted through questionnaire survey among supply chain practitioners using five-point Likert scale. Finally, interpretive structural modeling technique was used to decipher the contextual relationships among these barriers.FindingsComplexity of green process and system design and lack of support from regulatory authorities were found to be the barriers having the maximum driving power. Lack of consumer support and high investment and low economic benefits were also found to be important barriers in the way of green practices implementation in clothing SMEs. In contrast, lack of reward systems for suppliers, uncertainty of green outcome, lack of green materials, process and technology and lack of flexibility to switch over to green system were the dependent barriers.Originality/valueThe important barriers of GSCM practices in Indian clothing SMEs have been identified and analyzed. The finding will be helpful in making the Indian clothing SMEs environmentally sustainable by eliminating the important barriers.


2011 ◽  
pp. 2086-2105
Author(s):  
Yu Chung William Wang ◽  
Michael S.H. Heng

Many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been under pressures from large firms to implement Business-to-Business e-commerce (B2B e-commerce) information systems. However, these SMEs have faced various challenges to do so in the supply chain. This chapter explains the role of Taiwanese government in supporting SMEs in implementing e-commerce by analysing the interactions of government teams with current projects, and challenges of Taiwanese SMEs. Discussions and analyses focus on the government help in setting up infrastructure, B2B e-commerce implementation, and interfirm interactions among SMEs and larger firms. The Taiwanese government has been promoting its global logistic strategy for economic development which stresses supply chain integration by bridging information flows among overseas enterprises, domestic large firms, and local SMEs. Government projects related to this strategy are intended to anchor SMEs’ growing needs in linking B2B e-commerce with large firms. Our analyses and proposal dwell on how government can further bridge the gaps between the intrinsic barriers of SMEs and the interactions with larger firms in B2B e-commerce implementation.


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