Analysis of enablers for implementation of sustainable supply chain management - A textile case

Industries currently face pressure on environmental initiatives from both government regulations and global competition in addition to customer pressure. Hence, organizations are forced to implement sustainable practices to improve their environmental performance over economic performance. The Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) system is a concept which ensures environmentally friendly practices in traditional supply chains. Industries in developing countries such as India face pressure from various perspectives to adopt SSCM in Traditional SCM. In this regard, the objective of this study has been fixed to analyze the enablers for implementing SSCM into Indian industries. This study is essential for Indian industries, and especially for textile industries, to market products in the World Trade Organization and huge market opportunities. There are many enablers for adopting SSCM into TSCM, but these enablers do not ensure similar impact in all industries and countries; in fact, where SSCM is adopted the system varies according to culture and the country's regulations. Hence, industries essentially need to identify influential enablers to adopt SSCM. This study aims to identify influential enablers for SSCM by using Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) from 13 recommended enablers in five Indian textile units located in south India. ISM results reveal that five enablers dominate an industry's practices, and those five enablers include Adoption of safety standards, Adoption of green practices, Community economic welfare, Health and safety issues, and Employment stability. The result of this study shows that safety perspective enablers provide additional motivation when compared to the other enablers for SSCM adoption. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.