Hierarchical Decision Modeling Approach for Risks Prioritization in Sustainable Supply Chains

Abstract

The growing realization to impede increasing consumption of resources has called the concept of sustainable/reverse supply chain (RSC) to the fore. The recent literature has reported benefits of sustainable/reverse supply chain which include direct benefits such as reduction of cost, reclaiming value of used products, and profits in secondary markets and indirect benefits such as gaining customer confidence, enhancing the green image of the organization, compliance of regulations, etc. Despite these reported facts, organizations are still hesitant in incorporating sustainable practices due to risk associated with sustainable/reverse supply chain. To address these issues, this paper presents a novel approach to identify these risks associated with RSC and to provide a framework which can help the upcoming organizations in the successful implementation of sustainable/reverse supply chain practices. The aim of this research is to consider the risk issues directly affecting the sustainable/reverse supply chain and to model the hierarchical relationship among them using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) based on their criticality, driving, and dependence power. This paper provides an important insight into the sustainable/reverse supply chain.