Green supplier selection criteria: From a literature review to a comprehensive knowledge base

Abstract

The supplier selection problem is one of the most important competitive challenges used by modern enterprises. Due to the fact that companies have to improve their practices in the management of a green supply chain that aims to respect green practices and technologies to increase sustainability, selecting the optimal green supplier is a challenging multi-dimensional problem. While most of the research has focused on the development and improvement of new methods, relatively limited attention has been paid to the identifying sets of criteria and capturing the domain knowledge. This issue is significant because a correctly identified set of criteria plays a vital role in supporting the decision-making process. The approach presented creates a gap between classical assumption of decision making and knowledge-based problem structuring. The current paper presents a methodological and practical background for capturing and handling knowledge about green supplier selection criteria, supported by a formal guideline for their appropriate acquisition. In addressing this research challenge, the aims of this paper are twofold: providing meta-analysis to reveal a collection of key data supported by a formal and trustworthy bibliometric analysis, and capturing knowledge in one place in the form of ontology for enabling selection and evaluation criteria of green suppliers is proposed. The proposed ontology is available for public use.