Sustainable Supply Chain

Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) is an evolving discipline, for which many theories are being proposed. It is dependent on other disciplines, of which organizational theories are of tremendous importance. One such theory that has great relevance to SSCM is Institutional Theory. The purpose of this study is to develop a model that relates the enablers of SSCM to Institutional Theory. This is achieved in three steps: First, SSCM enablers were identified through a literature review. These internal enablers go through certain external challenges when supply chain players practice Sustainability. Second, an attempt is made to explain these challenges from the perspective of Institutional Theory. The role of Institutional Isomorphism in regulating and creating a direction for achieving the sustainability goal is identified. Finally, a theoretical model is developed to describe the link between supply chain players, institutional isomorphism, and the support and participation of the top management in creating an enabling environment for legitimization of sustainable supply chain.

Modeling the Soft Skills of Green Procurement Professionals using Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach

Green procurement demands a creative attitude and innovation oriented culture which is still missing in many organizations. It is noted that most of the procurement professionals lack essential soft skills which are more important than hard skills. Human resource managers need to develop appropriate teaching methodologies for procurement professionals to enhance the essential soft skills. The purpose of this study is to identify the essential set of soft skills required for green procurement practices. Interpretive structural modeling approach was applied to find the interrelationships. This study also provides deep insight to human resource managers and will be helpful in developing training programs for procurement professionals.

Environmental Accounting for Industrial Growth and Sustainable Development in India

Environmental accounting is an important function that provides industry with a means to incorporate information with business decision making and business operations. This chapter evaluates the extent to which the process of environmental accounting can be applied as a solid foundation for industrial growth and sustainability. Having an environmental accounting system in place allows the industry to better manage environmental costs and to discover new opportunities to minimize environmental costs through environmental thinking to the industrial sector. Researchers have adopted systematic literature review as a methodology to generate strong knowledge base for the study. In this paper, the theoretical foundation of environmental accounting and reporting is discussed with reference to India. The insights gained will shed light on positive outcomes of adopting environmental accounting for sustainability and manufacturing management in the industrial sector of India.

An Empirical Study on Factors Leading to Employee Retention for Manufacturing Industry in India

The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of employee's retention in manufacturing organizations. The factors identified for the study are work culture, training, compensation, motivation of employee's for their profession, and employee's personality factors which are mediating through job satisfaction of employees. The study established statistically significant relationship between the factors and employee's retention with mediation effect of job satisfaction. Results revealed the importance of job satisfaction as a mediator in predicting employee's retention in manufacturing industry.

Sustainable Business Development by Responding to Climate Change

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report (2007) concluded that the globally averaged net effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of the sources of global warming. The Stern Report (2007) corroborates this statement and states that anthropogenic CO2 influences the climate and stresses that the cost of mitigating against climate change is significantly lower than the cost of climate change. The Tata group companies have been actively seeking out experiences of other global companies to develop an effective action plan against climate change. The present paper seeks to review the role of the Tata group in addressing and abating the climate change. It further looks at the various Tata group companies like Tata Chemicals Limited, Tata Steel Europe, Tata Communications and Tata Motors and their ways to stay the course towards sustainable development

Role of Sustainable Procurement in Sustainable Manufacturing Operations

Sustainable Procurement is an emerging concept in India in the recent times. It is imperative for the production firms to look the procurement activity as one of the strategic enabler for sustaining the business in the competitive global environment. Moreover, sustainability in India has been understood in multiple meanings and it is essential to bring the awareness on sustainable procurement and its impact on manufacturing. This chapter elucidates the key drivers of sustainable procurement along with a complete discussion on the importance of those practices in the Indian context. It also lists some of the key trends in the current business environment. The study endorses that manufacturing industry dominated by SMEs are highly reluctant to adopt sustainability as they lack awareness and perceive them as a cost escalation activity. It also reveals challenges faced by the firms and gives a conclusion on the future directions for sustainable procurement research in Indian context.

‘Green' Supply Chain Management

Operational practices of ‘green' supply chain processes within as well as across the firm boundaries are strongly linked with the firm performance. However, the desire for such practices is governed by external and/or internal factors. The challenge, therefore, for supply chain and operations managers is to design and develop an operations strategy that ensures the firms investments in such ‘green' initiatives. We develop a theoretical framework for resource allocation strategies for sustainable manufacturing operations that can be characterized as speculative, responsible, efficient, and sustainable resource allocation. This can aid managers in characterizing and controlling the firm's underlying operational processes and guide resource allocation decisions at strategic level.

Sustainable Supply Chain Management

In the recent years, interest in Sustainable Supply Chain Management has grown as the effects of global warming can be seen through various scientific researches. In a global economy as supply chains are spreading across continents – economic, social and environmental sustainability – commonly referred as triple bottom line (TBL) assumes significance. Focal firms in supply chain are held accountable for their economic performance by shareholders, social and environmental performance by society. Even the actions of members of their extended supply chain come under scrutiny. Growing global supply chains facilitate economic growth, improve standard of living of people and provide business opportunities to distant locations across the world. However, they have unfavorable environmental impact. In order to preserve natural resources for future generations, sustainability needs to be embedded across the supply chains. This literature review - covers different aspects of greening the supply chain. Supply chain is viewed as a system consisting of focal firm, chains of suppliers, distributors, logistics partners, retailers etc. Role of each member of supply chain in sustainability goals is discussed in detail. Extant literature has covered individual parts of supply chain, whereas this paper integrates this knowhow to facilitate learning all interrelated concepts in SSCM. Some of the supply chain companies have already taken proactive steps towards SSCM and have certified in ISO14000. Through extensive literature review, important factors which contribute for better environmental performance for an organization are studied and a model for designing and implementing SSCM strategy is presented.

Identifying Green Supply Chain Management Enablers in South African Mining Industry using Ecological Modernization Theory Approach

Green supply chain management is a popular practice in any world class organization. The traditional supply chain was managed with the objectives to reduce cost without focusing on environmental and social dimensions. However with passage of time institutional pressures has directed firms to design supply chain network which takes care of environmental and social dimensions as well. Green supply chain management concept has evolved gradually over a period of time. The main reason behind evolution of green supply chain management is conservation of natural resources which human beings ignored for long. Published reports show that major portion of the energy is supplied by fossil fuels and thereby depletion of natural resources is occurring at an accelerating rate with time. Industrial manufacturing report also suggest that demand for manufacturing products is likely to double by the year 2050. This will result in high generation of pollutants and gases. If the greenhouse gases emissions remain unchecked, then it will create a catastrophic effect by 2050. Globally manufacturers and industry associations are now acting proactively to conserve the natural resources and curb greenhouse gases emissions. The level of popularity of green supply chain management can be estimated from the high research output in leading operations journals such as IJPE, IJPR, Resources, Conservation and Recycling Journals. Green supply chain management is a concept that is also gaining popularity in the South African region. For many organizations in this region it is a process to exhibit their sincere commitment to sustainability. However, if green supply chain management practices are to be fully adopted by all mining and minerals industry in South Africa, a demonstrable link between such measures and understanding the role of associated variables is necessary. This paper endeavors to develop a green supply chain management model for mining and minerals industry in the South African region. The approach extends the domain of green supply chain research and produce theories that have greater explanatory power than the current practices. For this purpose a conceptual model was developed from literature review and data collected using a structured questionnaire mailed to a sample of 174 firms which are leading edge ISO14001 certified mining companies in South Africa. Data analysis is further performed through exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis. This paper presents the first empirical evaluation of the link between green supply chain management practices amongst a sample of mining and minerals companies in South Africa.

Sustainable Non Traditional Manufacturing Processes

Sustainable operations strategy, an important field of research for engineering optimization, is posing an increasing challenge to operations managers. Sustainable operations can become a key to competitive advantage. Consequently, there is a need for research for the complex interfaces between the dimensions of sustainable operations strategy. The companies need to accommodate environmental demands, emphasized by media and government, along with social aspect in day to day operations for formulating strategies. Non-traditional manufacturing processes involves mechanical, thermal, electrical or chemical energy or combinations of these energies but do not use a sharp cutting tools as required for traditional manufacturing processes. In this chapter a non-traditional machining process namely Electro chemical Machining (ECM) has been considered. Material Removal Rate (MRR) and Surface Roughness (SR) has been optimized using Taguchi, Grey Relation, Artificial Neural Network, Fuzzy Logic and Genetic Algorithm to achieve the best.