Assessment of hierarchy and inter-relationships of barriers to environmentally conscious manufacturing adoption
| Date | 04 October 2013 |
| Published date | 04 October 2013 |
| Pages | 297-307 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/WJSTSD-04-2013-0020 |
| Author | Varinder Kumar Mittal,Kuldip Singh Sangwan |
| Subject Matter | Public policy & environmental management,Environmental technology & innovation |
Assessment of hierarchy and
inter-relationships of barriers to
environmentally conscious
manufacturing adoption
Varinder Kumar Mittal and Kuldip Singh Sangwan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan, India
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop hierarchy and inter-relationship among barriers to
environmentally conscious manufacturing (ECM) adoption using an interpretive structu ral modeling
(ISM) technique. The paper will demonstrate how ISM supports policy makers in the government
and industry in identifying and understanding interdependencies among barriers to ECM.
Interdependencies among barriers will be derived and structured into a hierarchy in order to derive
subsystems of interdependent elements with corresponding driving power and dependency.
Design/methodology/approach – ISM was used to identifyhierarchy and inter-relationshipsamong
barriers to ECM adoption andto classify the barriers according to their driving and dependencepower
using MICMAC analysis. The barriers to ECM adoption are identified through the review ofliterature
followed by developing a model of barriers using ISM based on the inputsfrom experts from industry
and academia.
Findings – The main findings of the paper include the development of hierarchy and inter-relationship
and ISM model of barriers to ECM adoption. The developed model divided the identified barriers into five
levels of hierarchies showing their inter-relationship depicting the driving-dependence relationship. These
five levels have been classified into three categories – internal barriers, economy barriers, and policy
barriers category.
Originality/value – The developed ISM model is expected to provide a direction to the policy makers in
the government and industry and the top management of the organizations to leverage their resources in
timely manner to adopt ECM successfully.
Keywords Interpretive structural modelling, ECM barriers, Environmentally conscious manufacturing
Paper type Research p aper
1. Introduction
Manufacturing firms consume natural resources in highly unsustainable manner and
release large amounts of green house gases leading to many economic, environmental,
and social problems from global warming to local waste disp osal (Sangwan, 2011). But
the growth of manufacturing industry is essential, particularly in the developing and
emerging economies as this provides direct and indirect employment to the rising
population. This leads to the improvement in quality of life and prosperity in poor and
developing countries. The rising world population and the improving living standards
in developing countries have put pressure on the industry to grow which has impacted
the environment not only in these countries but globally. The emerging countries
like India and China have accelerated the industrial environmental impact through
their high economic growth. This is expected to continue until people in developing
countries have a decent living standard. Therefore, there is a strong ne ed, particularly,
in emerging and developing economies to improve manufacturing performance so
that there is less industrial pollution, less material and energy consumption, less
wastage, etc. One such potential system is environmentally conscious manufacturing
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/2042-5945.htm
WorldJour nal of Science, Technology
and Sustainable Development
Vol.10 No.4, 2013
pp. 297-307
rEmeraldGroup Publishing Limited
2042-5945
DOI 10.1108/WJSTSD-04-2013-0020
297
Hierarchy and
inter-relationships
of barriers
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