Kumari Amrita, Chandra Prakash Garg and Saumya Singh
The contribution of women toward entrepreneurial activities has gained significant attention in recent years because of economic and social concerns, government support and…
Abstract
Purpose
The contribution of women toward entrepreneurial activities has gained significant attention in recent years because of economic and social concerns, government support and initiatives and increased education and awareness. Women’s entrepreneurial activity has increased and women-owned businesses can today be found in every sector of the economy, irrespective of region. In India, government bodies such as the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and several other organizations (private and NGOs) have adopted considerable measures to promote women entrepreneurship (WE). To improve WE, the critical factors of WE adoption need to be identified and evaluated. The purpose of this paper is to identify, prioritize and evaluate the critical success factors of WE adoption in Indian MSMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes a methodology based on fuzzy analytical hierarchal process to prioritize the critical success factors of WE adoption. A numerical analysis of Indian MSMEs is presented to demonstrate the use of the proposed method. This proposed method considered fuzzy framework, which can handle impreciseness and uncertainty. Sensitivity analysis is also performed to test the robustness of the proposed model.
Findings
Potential critical success factors are identified from relevant literature and validated by industry experts. This research finalize the critical success factors of WE adoption in Indian MSMEs under seven dimensions, so prioritization of identified critical success factors can be developed and insights relationship of factors would be explored. The results of the study found that individual, management and government dimensions take paramount importance while women aim to become entrepreneurs in Indian MSMEs.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to identifying evaluation factors; other factors have not been identified and categorized. Evaluation is one 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 women entrepreneurship. MSMEs could device these factors by applying the outcome of the study in their decisions with higher priority to implement women entrepreneurship culture.
Originality/value
Potential factors are identified from relevant literature and validated by industry experts. Indian MSMEs could device these factors by applying the outcome of the study in their decisions with higher priority to adopt women entrepreneurship.
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Aswin Alora and Mukesh K. Barua
The purpose of this paper is to identify, classify and prioritize supply chain risks faced by Indian micro small and medium manufacturing companies and to develop a comprehensive…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify, classify and prioritize supply chain risks faced by Indian micro small and medium manufacturing companies and to develop a comprehensive supply chain risk index.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data has been collected from 354 Indian micro small and medium enterprises on the different supply chain risks faced by them. An extensive literature review followed by expert's interview has been carried out in order to finalize the supply chain risks. A hybrid methodology consists of AHP and Fuzzy TOPSIS is applied for the data analysis. A sensitivity analysis has been done to check the robustness and consistency of the results.
Findings
Results depict the importance of supply side and financial side risks faced by manufacturing supply chains, thus adding to the ongoing academic debate on the importance of supply chain finance solutions.
Research limitations/implications
Study is limited to the scope of an emerging market. Generalization of results needs more systematic studies around the world in different supply chains.
Practical implications
Supply chain managers can consider the benchmark framed in this study in order to identify the health of their supply chain and to efficiently employ supply chain risk management strategies.
Originality/value
The current study is novel in developing a supply chain risk index using a hybrid AHP-Fuzzy TOPSIS methodology with a comprehensive list of 26 supply chain risks under 5 categories for an MSME supply chain. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study incorporating financial risks in the development of a supply chain risk index.
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Divesh Kumar and Chandra Prakash Garg
Sustainability in supply chain is gaining attention in recent years due to environmental concern, enforced legislation, green issues, social responsibility, etc. Sustainable…
Abstract
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.
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Aswin Alora and Mukesh K. Barua
Companies all over the world have recently started to adopt supply chain finance (SCF) solutions in their supply chains to reduce the payment defaults and simplify the bill…
Abstract
Purpose
Companies all over the world have recently started to adopt supply chain finance (SCF) solutions in their supply chains to reduce the payment defaults and simplify the bill settlement process. The purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritize the barriers to adopting SCF in micro, small and medium enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach
It employs a three-phase methodology to identify and prioritize the essential barriers to the implementation of SCF. An extensive survey has been carried out in 101 Indian MSMEs in India which identified 37 barriers under six heads in the first phase. Experts’ interview using the Delphi technique has been carried out in the second phase to finalize the barriers. The analytic hierarchy process methodology, with sensitivity analysis for validation, is used in the final stage to prioritize and rank the barriers.
Findings
Results show that financial and information technology barriers are prominent in SCF adoption followed by financial challenges. Among specific barriers, the disclosure of sensitive company information to competitor barrier acts as an essential barrier followed by poor technological capability of MSMEs.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to SCF adoption of MSMEs in a developing nation. Extensive research is required in order to derive a global trend.
Practical implications
The current research contributes to the stakeholder theory and transaction cost economics. Observations made in the current research can encourage organizations to incorporate stakeholders’ concerns into the adoption of SCF solutions. The study provides a more in-depth view of such challenges and a benchmark, which will help companies to adopt SCF solutions more effortlessly. Moreover, policy makers across the world can explore these serious issues and amend or introduce new policies to facilitate companies’ implementation of supply chain financial solutions.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which identified and prioritized SCF adoption barriers of MSMEs in a developing nation. This study is also novel in adopting a hybrid analytical hierarchy process-sensitivity analysis for ranking the SCF barriers in an MSME context. SCF studies often emphasize only on the reverse factoring aspect of SCF. The current study considers many innovative aspects of SCF, such as pre-shipment financing, dynamic discounting, inventory financing, collaborative logistics, etc.
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Amir Karbassi Yazdi, Peter Fernandes Wanke, Thomas Hanne and Eleonora Bottani
This paper aims to assess and prioritize manufacturing companies in the healthcare industry based on critical success factors (CSFs) of their reverse logistics (RL). The research…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assess and prioritize manufacturing companies in the healthcare industry based on critical success factors (CSFs) of their reverse logistics (RL). The research involves seven medical device companies located in the Tehran Province, Iran.
Design/methodology/approach
To identify and prioritize companies based on CSFs of RL, the study proposes a three-phase decision-making framework that integrates the Delphi method, the best-worst method (BWM) and the Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) method with Z-numbers. The weights required for this method are obtained by a variant of the BWM based on Z-numbers, denoted as Z-numbers Best-Worst Method, or ZBWM. Since decision-makers face an uncertain environment, Z-numbers, which are a kind of fuzzy numbers, are applied.
Findings
First, after customizing CSFs by the Delphi method and obtaining 15 CSFs of RL, these are ranked by the hybrid BWM-ARAS method with Z-numbers. Results reveal which company appears to perform best with respect to their RL implementations. Based on this result, healthcare device companies should choose the highest priority company based on the selected RL CSFs and results from using the BWM-ARAS method with Z-numbers.
Originality/value
The contribution of this paper is using a hybrid ARAS-BWM method based on Z-numbers. Each of these methods has some merits compared to other similar methods. The combination of these methods contributes a new approach for prioritizing companies based on RL CSFs with high accuracy and reliability.
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Himanshu Gupta and Mukesh Kumar Barua
Innovation is a prerequisite for economic and technological growth of any organization. Identifying enablers of innovation can help managers accelerate the process of economic…
Abstract
Purpose
Innovation is a prerequisite for economic and technological growth of any organization. Identifying enablers of innovation can help managers accelerate the process of economic growth. The purpose of this paper is to identify the prominent enablers of innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that can help overhauling organizations and benefit them economically.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive literature review and expert’s opinions have been applied to identify enablers of innovation. A case of automotive component supplier is considered for conducting the research. A coalescence of Grey and DEMATEL methodologies has been incorporated to first rank the enablers of innovation based on their importance and then identify the causal relationship among these enablers by characterizing enablers into causal and effect groups.
Findings
A few important enablers, namely, entrepreneur traits, knowledge management, resources for innovation, and linkage capabilities, have been identified as prominent enablers for successful innovation in SMEs.
Practical implications
This paper identifies enablers of innovation in SMEs and the causal relationship between these enablers. The identified enablers and the causal relationship between these enablers will help managers of small organizations in selecting the enablers that need to be focused on, which, in turn, can drive other enablers of innovation, thus saving time and resources of the organizations.
Originality/value
This paper uses a novel Grey–DEMATEL methodology to identify the causal relationship among enablers and also contributes to the literature on innovation by identifying enablers of innovation in SMEs.
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Tagreed Ali and Piyush Maheshwari
Blockchain technology, renowned for its decentralization, security, reliability, and data integrity, has the potential to revolutionize businesses globally. However, its full…
Abstract
Blockchain technology, renowned for its decentralization, security, reliability, and data integrity, has the potential to revolutionize businesses globally. However, its full potential remains unrealized due to adoption barriers, necessitating further studies to address these challenges. Identifying these barriers is crucial for businesses and practitioners to effectively tackle them. This systematic review analyzed 70 eligible studies out of 1944 gathered from various databases to understand and identify common blockchain adoption barriers. The Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework was the most popular theory used in these studies. Despite differences in variable definitions, financial constraints, lack of stakeholder collaboration and coordination, and social influences like resistance to change and negative perceptions emerged as the top three barriers. The supply chain domain had the highest number of studies on blockchain adoption. Notably, there was a significant increase in studies addressing blockchain adoption in 2023, comprising 34.2% of the total reviewed studies. This review provides a comprehensive overview of identified barriers, serving as a valuable foundation for future research. Understanding these challenges allows researchers to design targeted studies aimed at developing solutions, strategies, and innovations to overcome obstacles hindering blockchain adoption.
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Kumar Srinivasan, Vineet Kumar Yadav, Anish Kumar, Balaganesh Margabandu, Janish Selvaraj and Anshu Kumar
This paper aims to assist managers and food supply chain practitioners in efficiently implementing lean and green (LG) practices for sustainability. Examining barriers to LG…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assist managers and food supply chain practitioners in efficiently implementing lean and green (LG) practices for sustainability. Examining barriers to LG practices, as well as prioritizing mitigation strategies in the food supply chain, are all part of this work.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a combination of literature review and expert team inputs, this paper investigated the LG barriers and their solutions under PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal) framework. To prioritize them, this work used the fuzzy best worst method (fuzzy BWM) with the fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (FTOPSIS).
Findings
From the fuzzy BWM, the economic barriers were identified as the most significant. From the FTOPSIS approach, top management expertise and commitment to adopting LG practices were identified as the best solution for overcoming the barriers.
Practical implications
This paper discusses the barriers and solutions for successfully implementing LG techniques from the real-time food supply chain. The practitioners and food chain managers welcomed the methodology for its use in prioritizing the barriers to LG practices. Conclusions drawn from this work were found to be realistic.
Originality/value
The original contribution of this study is to present the model framework for barriers and solutions of LG practices in the dairy supply chain using the hybrid MCDM technique.
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Deepak Agrawal, Sumit Gupta, Chandni Dusad, Amit Vishwakarma, M.L. Meena, G.S. Dangayach and Sandeep Jagtap
The circular economy concept in the healthcare supply chain can demote using single-use devices by reprocessing, reusing or recycling. India is the most populous country in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The circular economy concept in the healthcare supply chain can demote using single-use devices by reprocessing, reusing or recycling. India is the most populous country in the world and has numerous challenges to implementing a circular economy in the healthcare supply chain. The objective of this study is to identify and analyse the roadblocks to circular healthcare supply chains in the Indian context.
Design/methodology/approach
The contribution of the manuscript is to the healthcare supply chain in adopting a circular economy and prioritizing the roadblocks using Fuzzy FUCOM and Fuzzy Bonferroni Mean Operator. A sensitivity analysis is performed to check the robustness of the results obtained.
Findings
The finding of this study suggests that regulatory roadblock is a more important roadblock in adopting the circular economy in the healthcare supply chain. It is expected that the government should formulate precise and consistent guidelines for the implementation of a circular economy in the healthcare supply chain. In addition, for faster implementation, tax rebate policy should be framed for the industries that are taking the initiative to implement a circular economy in their system.
Practical implications
This study explores and prioritizes twenty secondary roadblocks categorized into five primary roadblocks that will enhance the motivation of healthcare industries to become green and circular and contribute to the sustainability in healthcare sector. The government agencies should also take initiatives to create awareness about the circular economy among all the stakeholders.
Originality/value
This research is beneficial for policymakers, researchers, and industrial practitioners and is recommended based on current findings to facilitate the implementation of a circular economy in the healthcare sector.
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Amit Kumar Yadav and Dinesh Kumar
Each individual needs to be vaccinated to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the shortest possible time. However, the vaccine distribution with an already strained…
Abstract
Purpose
Each individual needs to be vaccinated to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the shortest possible time. However, the vaccine distribution with an already strained supply chain in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) will not be effective enough to vaccinate all the population in stipulated time. The purpose of this paper is to show that there is a need to revolutionize the vaccine supply chain (VSC) by overcoming the challenges of sustainable vaccine distribution.
Design/methodology/approach
An integrated lean, agile and green (LAG) framework is proposed to overcome the challenges of the sustainable vaccine supply chain (SVSC). A hybrid best worst method (BWM)–Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking According to COmpromise Solution (MARCOS) methodology is designed to analyze the challenges and solutions.
Findings
The analysis shows that vaccine wastage is the most critical challenge for SVSC, and the coordination among stakeholders is the most significant solution followed by effective management support.
Social implications
The result of the analysis can help the health care organizations (HCOs) to manage the VSC. The effective vaccination in stipulated time will help control the further spread of the virus, which will result in the normalcy of business and availability of livelihood for millions of people.
Originality/value
To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study to explore sustainability in VSC by considering the environmental and social impact of vaccination. The LAG-based framework is also a new approach in VSC to find the solution for existing challenges.