Assessing the enablers and barriers to quality and supply chain management based approach to sustainable operations in the manufacturing context

Abstract

Sustainability is becoming the prominent concept of focus for manufacturing research and practice. Various research streams are endeavouring to facilitate its integration and implementation to manufacturing organisations including approaches that use quality management and supply chain management. Sustainability integration is a complex matter for the manufacturing industry, identification of associated enablers and barriers proving fruitful to catalyse the transition of manufacturing organisations into sustainable operations and management practices. This research investigated the enablers and barriers to quality and supply chain management based integration of sustainability in manufacturing organisations through a focussed action research study. The key factors were noted as; integration to existing management systems and processes, familiarity and awareness level of sustainability concepts and terminology, absence of a minimum starter package for Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting standards, resource constraints, leverage over supply base, culture and human resource limitations, willingness to learn, commitment, support and engagement of leadership, management system maturity, change facilitation and championing, governmental subsidisation and support, and sustainability awareness of public and market.