Ranking Chinese SMEs green manufacturing drivers using a novel hybrid multi-criterion decision-making model

Abstract

While the rapid development of Chinese manufacturing SMEs has contributed significantly to economic growth, it has also resulted in environmental pollution and resource abuse problems. To resolve these problems, Chinese manufacturing SMEs need to accelerate their implementation of comprehensive green manufacturing (GM); However, this is a complex and arduous task as it involves government, enterprise and societal considerations. Therefore, it is has become imperative to identify Chinese manufacturing SMEs green drivers. Focusing on the current situation in China and using a combination of previous research and expert views, this paper comprehensively examines the development of SMEs in China to deconstruct the green driver dimensions. The identified drivers are then evaluated using a novel hybrid multi-criterion decision-making methods (MCDM), the evaluation criteria weights calculated using fuzzy DEMATEL and fuzzy TOPSIS employed to rank the green drivers. It was found that technology innovation, customer demand, incentives, regulations, supply chain pressure and public pressure were the most significant drivers for the implementation of GM in Chinese manufacturing SMEs. Finally, some managerial implications are given to assist the government, enterprises and the public focus on a few crucial drivers to ensure that the green transformation of Chinese manufacturing SMEs is scientific and efficient.