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Suppliers play an important role in achieving an organization's sustainability goals. By engaging sustainable suppliers, an organization gets clean and green materials to ensure that their end-products are environmentally friendly. Sustainable supplier selection is a challenging task as it involves a complex decision making process involving different objectives and organization priorities. We propose a combined AHP-TOPSIS multiple criteria decision-making approach to solve this problem considering the uncertainty involved and to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative data. In this research, ethics is taken as the fourth dimension of sustainability along with Triple Bottom Line, considering that ethics plays a crucial role in purchasing activity and supplier selection. These four dimensions for sustainable supplier selection criteria have been divided into 16 sub-criteria to evaluate the suppliers. The model is demonstrated by its application to select a sustainable supplier in a real world electronics case company. The results indicate that economic factors still dominate during sustainable supplier selection. In selecting a sustainable supplier, it is found that prominence is given to human rights, safety systems and occupational health, pollution control and resource reduction and consumption, code of conduct, and transparency in suppliers' business and accounting criteria, which covers the other dimensions of sustainability. The application of the proposed model demonstrates the evaluation of tangible and intangible sustainability criteria in selecting a supplier. The result provides a ranking for the suppliers by showing their distances from the positive ideal solution of a sustainable supplier.

Globalization has led organizations to think beyond economic benefit goals and move towards sustainable supply chains to address their business's societal and environmental concerns. An increasing number of companies are now committing to the cause of sustainability in their supply chain due to external pressures and foreseeing the rewards sustainable supply chains can deliver. The process of changing to a sustainable supply chain is complex, and certain enablers assist in achieving this effectively. This research aims to study the factors that act as enablers of sustainability in the electronics industries. Among these enablers, some have high causing influence while others exhibit high effecting influence. In this study, seventeen important enablers affecting the sustainability of the electronics supply chain in the Indian context have been identified from literature review and experts' opinions. The research helps in finding the causal and the effect enablers for implementing sustainable supply chain management. The interrelationship among these enablers is analyzed using a combination of Grey-DEMATEL methodology, and a diagraph depicting the causal relationship between enablers is established. Further, these enablers are ranked based on their degree of prominence. Results indicate that Government policies & legislations are the primary causal factor for sustainability, followed by culture related factors and Top Management commitment. The policy category enablers are seen to have a major causal effect on other enablers. The factor Health & safety standards have the highest net effect value. Top management commitment is the enabler demonstrating the highest correlation with other factors. Sensitivity analysis is performed to check the robustness of the results. The originality of this study stems from deriving a framework by identifying the enablers and their relationship for the implementation of a sustainable supply chain in the Indian electronics industry. The findings can help organizations to build a strategy and promptly evaluate the enablers to implement sustainability in their supply chains. The paper concludes by giving managerial implications of this research with possibilities of further research directions.

The concept of eco-efficiency is an important step in the move towards sustainable development. In the present day business, organizations have to take care of both the economic growth and environmental impact. Eco-efficiency determines the value of a product considering its environmental impact. In this research, the eco-efficiency requirements of an electronics industry are analyzed. The customer requirements (CRs) and design requirements (DRs) are identified for increasing the eco-efficiency in the industry. Seven CRs and fourteen DRs are identified for the electronics industry to improve eco-efficiency. An integrated Analytical Network Process (ANP) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is applied to prioritize the design requirements as per the customer's needs. QFD helps to incorporate the concept of the voice of customers for the design and development of products/services. The House of Quality developed translates the CRs to prioritize the DRs to improve eco-efficiency. The study encompasses the voice of customers in developing the sustainability performance of the electronics supply chain. It is found that design requirements to reduce greenhouse gases, air emissions, volatile organic compounds and carbon footprint is the most significant design parameter for eco-efficiency. The next design requirements with higher importance are Reduced use/consumption of resources, Use renewable energy like solar, State of the art innovative materials, Technologies for reducing use/consumption of energy, Green suppliers and green procurement, and Design for Environment. Focusing on these DRs aid in achieving the eco-efficiency goals of an organization. The paper contributes to the environmental sustainability aspect by identifying, prioritizing and creating a framework of requirements for eco-efficiency gains by an organization. The limitations and future scope of the study are also discussed.

In the past, industries were concentrating only on the economic aspects of a business. Many organizations are now addressing the social and environment impact of their supply chain for which they are adopting sustainability in their supply chain. The process of transformation to a sustainable supply chain will encounter some barriers which need to be eliminated or mitigated. To successfully manage these obstacles, it is crucial to know and study these barriers in specific context. This research aims to identify and analyse major barriers hampering sustainability implementation in the case of electronics industry in India. Through literature review and experts’ opinion eleven barriers are identified and classified into categories of Policy, Human resource and Technology. The hierarchical structure and interrelationship among these barriers is established using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) methodology. A major finding in this research is that lack of awareness on benefits of sustainability, lack of regulations and enforcement of environment standards and lack of commitment from top management are significant barriers in implementation of a sustainable supply chain. The driving and driven powers of these barriers and their interdependence is determined. Using MICMAC analysis, five barriers were recognized to be the driver variables, three barriers as dependent variables and three as linkage variables. The barrier lack of performance metrics/evaluation standards on sustainability is having strong dependence power and least driving power implying that it is highly influenced by other variables. It is found that most of the barriers in the policy category are independent with high driving and influencing power. The research draws attention to formulate targeted policies at both government and organizational level in the electronics industry for successful implementation of sustainable supply chain management. The modeling gives an insight to organizations in confronting barriers and to manage their resources in an efficient and effective way while making their supply chains sustainable. The paper concludes with findings and future scope of research being discussed.