Divesh Kumar

A fuzzy AHP and fuzzy multi-objective linear programming model for order allocation in a sustainable supply chain: A case study

Supplier selection is a critical process in sustainable supply chain management. Increased pressure from stakeholders has forced companies to search for methodologies that help in arriving at intelligent supplier selection decisions. This is a unique study as it illustrates how to optimise orders among various suppliers while taking into consideration all three dimensions of sustainability – economic, social, and environmental. Previous studies have mostly relied on simple ranking of suppliers on the basis of past performance for selection. Those studies that did emphasise on optimisation of orders among suppliers, did not consider all three dimensions of sustainability. To establish an improved sustainable supply chain, this study uses integrated fuzzy AHP and fuzzy multi-objective linear programming approach for order allocation among suppliers. fuzzy AHP has been used for weighing various factors such as quality, lead time, cost, energy use, waste minimisation, emission, and social contribution, and weights of the factors have been considered for developing linear programming. Demand has been taken as a fuzzy variable in this model. The case of an Indian automobile company has been taken as illustration.

Evaluating sustainable supply chain indicators using fuzzy AHP: Case of Indian automotive industry

Purpose Sustainability in supply chain is gaining attention in recent years due to environmental concern, enforced legislation, green issues, social responsibility, etc. Sustainable supply chain (SSC) has revolved around the various dimensions including economy, environment and societal factors since its inception. The purpose of this paper is to identify, prioritize and evaluate the indicators of SSC so that organizations can cultivate strategies to implement them on priority. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes a methodology based on fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to prioritize the indicators of SSC. A numerical analysis of Indian automotive industry is presented to demonstrate the use of the proposed method. This proposed method considered fuzzy framework that can handle impreciseness and uncertainty. Sensitivity analysis is also performed to test the robustness of the proposed model. Findings Potential indicators are identified from relevant literature and validated by industry experts. This research finalizes the SSC indicators under three dimensions so that prioritization of identified indicators can be developed and the insights relationship of factors would be explored. The results of the study found that environmental and social dimensions of sustainability contribute more toward the sustainability. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to identify evaluation factors and other factors have not been identified and categorized. Evaluation is done by experts in this area so it is natural that views of decision makers may be subjective and vary with regard to industry type, priorities, resources, etc. Practical implications This study will help industry to identify, evaluate and prioritize factors for successful implementation of sustainability in their supply chain. Automotive companies could device these factors by applying the outcome of the study in their operations with higher priority to integrate sustainability in their supply chain. Originality/value These factors are identified to implement sustain ability into supply chain practices for automotive industry.

Modelling relationship marketing strategies for sustainability adoption

The relationship among the supply chain partners has been advocated by previous researchers for the sustainability adoption across supply chain. This research paper investigates the interrelationships among the relationship marketing strategies in industrial environment. This would help in formulating the strategy for maintaining the relationship with the supply chain partners for sustainability adoption. ISM MICMAC methodology has been used for the modelling and clustering purpose. This paper identifies that awareness among the supply chain partners has the maximum driving power for enabling sustainability adoption in the supply chain. The maximum dependency relationship marketing strategy is order allocation among the supply chain partners for optimising the sustainability performance of the supply chain.

Modeling the CSR barriers in manufacturing industries

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and rank the various barriers of the CSR implementation in Indian manufacturing companies. Further, this paper also studies interaction of different barriers. Design/methodology/approach The study was carried out using an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach to analyze the interaction among different barriers for corporate social responsibility (CSR) implementation in manufacturing companies in the Indian context. Findings In the present study, ten CSR implementation barriers were identified through an extensive literature review followed by the expert’s opinion. The present study outlines that lack of money and consumer’s passive attitude towards CSR are the major barriers in CSR implementation in Indian manufacturing companies. On the other hand, top management commitment, lack of knowledge about CSR and lack of skills for CSR implementation are barriers which occur due to the investment required in term of time and consumer’s passive attitude. Originality/value The present study is helpful to both academicians and practitioners by providing a model of CSR barriers. This study is important in the context of India which is a developing economy and this development is exerting pressure on the corporations to adopt CSR in their practices. This ISM-based model of barriers of CSR implementation in the manufacturing sector will help practitioners and managers to have enhanced knowledge about these barriers and to concentrate on important barriers to implement CSR activities in their organizations in an efficient manner.

Understanding the trends of marketing research and its future directions: a citation analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the scholarly contributions to the field of marketing by analyzing top ten journals of marketing. Design/methodology/approach The marketing journals were selected using SciMago marketing journal list, and SCOPUS database was used to identify the publications of the journals. A total of 9,190 articles were analyzed having 562,322 citation references. Methodologies like Wordle and Gephi were used to understand the most researched keywords and co-citation analysis among top five researchers. This paper also captured the information on most cited article along with author, most published author, most publishing country, most publishing university, the year with maximum publications and most used keywords. Findings The analysis indicates that “Kumar, V.” is most published author, that is, 68 publications, the most cited article is “On the evaluation of structural equation models” by Bagozzi and Yi (1988) with 6989 citations. The USA contributed the highest 6,720 publications, while University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School topped the list with 235 articles. In 2009, highest publication work was done by publishing 382 articles. “Game theory”, “Pricing” and “Advertising” are most used keywords which have been discussed in the literature. Research limitations/implications This analysis will help researchers in understanding the growth in the field of the marketing in recent years and possible direction it could take in future. However, this paper considered only top ten marketing journals as listed in SciMago marketing journal list; therefore, future researchers may incorporate more research journals to get a clearer picture of the field of marketing. Originality/value This paper is one of the first attempts in recent time to understand the research work in the field of marketing considering top ten journals.

Analyzing enablers of sustainable supply chain: ISM and fuzzy AHP approach

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.

An ISM approach for modelling the enablers of sustainability in market-oriented firms

Rising environmental concerns and the need for preserving resources for future generations have forced market oriented organisations to integrate sustainability into their strategies. The article aims to explore and prioritise those enablers which are essential for incorporating sustainability into market orientated firms. This study posits that integration of sustainability can help market oriented firms achieve a competitive advantage in the long run. Investigation of literature was done and discussions with experts were carried out to identify, select, and retain key enablers. ISM and MICMAC analyses were carried out to identify and classify key market oriented sustainability enablers that could create a competitive advantage for firms based on their direct and indirect relationships with each other. Legislation and pressure from civil society are the most critical enablers of sustainability in a market oriented firm. Researchers can further explore the generalisability of sustainability enablers identified in this study, across various industry.