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Stakeholders’involvement in
green supply chain: a perspective
of blockchain
IoT-integrated architecture
Santosh B. Rane and Shivangi Viral Thakker
Department of Mechanical, K J Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai, India, and
Ravi Kant
Department of Mechanical, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology,
Surat, India
Abstract
Purpose –Environmental sustainability has become a primary factor for organisations to compete globally.
Stakeholders’involvement with necessary commitment at the right stage of supply chain management (SCM)
plays a vital role in development of green supply chain. This paper aims to explore the involvement aspect of
stakeholders towards greening of the supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success
factors for stakeholder involvement in development of green supply chain and develop use cases for managers
and practitioners planning to implement recent technologies to support stakeholders’involvement.
Design/methodology/approach –After a thorough literature survey and interviews with experts from
industry and academia, the factors for involvement of stakeholders for greening the supply chain were
identified. A survey-based research has been used to collect primary data for effective people involvement in
development of green supply chain. The decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method is used for
ranking the critical success factors. Effective implementation of success factors using merits of blockchain and
internet of things (IoT) technologies are discussed. Use cases are developed for practitioners for using a
blockchain IoT-integrated architecture.
Findings –The results show that criterion C21 (cooperation with buyer for green initiatives) is the most
important for green supply chain, and criterion C5 (global customers) has least effect on greening the supply
chain. Involving stakeholders in the green product design ensures improved efficiency of the supply chain.
Merits of technologies like blockchain and IoT may be reaped successfully for incorporating critical success
factors to develop green supply chain.
Research limitations/implications –The research can further be extended by developing the research
model with hypothesis and conducting a survey for validation. Automobileindustry use cases are considered for
this research, and it may be further developed for different industry sectors like process industries, service, etc.
Practical implications –Managers can make use of these 22 critical success factors and capabilities of the
blockchain IoT-integrated architecture to successfully involve stakeholders. Practitioners/managers can
dramatically change SCM with respect to the response speed, accuracy of decision-making, data acquisition,
data storage and data accessibility, transparency, trust-building, opportunity of participation, communication
quality, freedomin payment basedon blockchainIoT-integrated architecture.Preventing pollution andconverting
the enterprises into green and sustainable organisations have created lot of concerns worldwide. This research
addresses the issue of green initiatives and the role of stakeholders in improving the green status of industry.
Originality/value –Though there is research on involving suppliers and customers in the supply chain
activities, there is a significant delay in integrating human resource management in the supply chain. This
research proposes integration of stakeholders using recent technologies for green supply chain. Use cases
developed for the automobile industry gives path to future research in this domain.
Keywords Green supply chain (GSC), Stakeholders’involvement, Human resource management, DEMATEL,
Blockchain IoT-integrated architecture
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Government framework or regulations may not be sufficient for organisations to invest in
green technologies, but involvement and pressure from supply chain stakeholders play an
Green supply
chain
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1477-7835.htm
Received 25 November 2019
Revised 21 March 2020
15 May 2020
22 June 2020
Accepted 5 July 2020
Management of Environmental
Quality: An International Journal
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1477-7835
DOI 10.1108/MEQ-11-2019-0248
important role in greening of supply chains (Yen, 2018;Ahmed et al., 2018). The feasibility of
industry policies for involving stakeholders needs careful consideration. Technology
development for collaborative supply chain is also a challenge that needs to be handled by the
organisations (Raut et al., 2019a,b,c). There are many factors affecting the involvement of
stakeholders in the supply chain, and most of the industries do not wish to disclose their
products and process to all the stakeholders (Guerci et al., 2016).
Customers’awareness level has increased because of global reach. Apart from high
quality and more value, they are equally concerned about environment impact of products.
Active involvement of customers is a critical element for green supply chain, as identified by
Anand and Gaur (2019). Sustainability of supply chain is driven by customers and suppliers
together (Kumar Malviya et al., 2018). The relationship between buyer and supplier is another
area of research taken up by few researchers like Thakker and Rane (2018). Manufacturing of
products using ecofriendly process is possible only if suppliers and employees collaborate to
develop technologies (Srivastava and Shree, 2019). Namagembe et al. (2019) and Song et al.
(2017) have also confirmed that the stakeholders’pressures are more vital as compared to
government norms.
For involving stakeholders to make greener supply chains, few authors have identified the
importance of perspectives of suppliers and customers (Grekova et al., 2016;Yalabik et al.,
2011). However, interdependency between these factors was not discussed much in the
literature. Hence, the present study is a novel research of identifying the determinants
influencing the involvement of all stakeholders in greening the supply chain. The objectives
of this research are as follows:
(1) Identification of critical success factors (CSFs) of human involvement for green
supply chain;
(2) Evaluation and ranking of CSFs based on survey results;
(3) Finding a cause-and-effect relationship between the factors;
(4) Leveraging the merits of blockchain and internet of things (IoT) for incorporation of
CSF for stakeholder involvement in green supply chain; and
(5) Managerial implications of the research and development of strategies based on an
blockchain and IoT architecture.
2. Literature survey
Literature pertaining to contribution of stakeholder involvement in greening the supply chain
was studied in detail. Literature search started with primary keywords like green supply
chain, blockchain, IoT, green human resource management (HRM) and multiple-criteria
decision-making (MCDM) methods followed by secondary keywords suppliers, customers,
stakeholders and DEMATEL (decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory). Peer-
reviewed technical papers from 2000 onwards were considered for research. Detailed
literature search is given in Appendix 1. Literature is divided into four sections as: green
supply chain, stakeholders of supply chain, DEMATEL method for ranking of factors and,
finally, recent technologies like blockchain and IoT for involving stakeholders through cloud
and smart devices for greening of the supply chain.
2.1 Stakeholders for green supply chain
A green supply chain has many stakeholders, starting from raw material suppliers,
employees, customers, logistics providers and so on (Mangla, 2019). The role of various
MEQ
stakeholders and their relational perspective are discussed in next subsections. There has
been research undertaken on some of the stakeholders’involvement in green supply chain,
but it lacks the overall integration of stakeholders, and challenges related to technology also
needs to be addressed.
2.1.1 Customer involvement. Customer awareness, support and joint venture are critical
drivers in green supply chain (Guoyou et al., 2013;Anand and Gaur, 2019;Sarkis et al., 2011).
Customers’involvement in product design and development not only ensures that the needs
of customers are met. but also makes it a closed-loop supply chain (Anand and Gaur, 2019).
There are studies showing a positive relation between customer involvement and green
supply chain performance (Yalabik et al., 2011). Organisations need to respond actively to the
customers’expectations, as it has been found an important criterion in customer acquisition
(Zhu and Sarkis, 2004). Involvement of customers for greening the supply chain depends on
success factors like awareness and loyalty of customers, participation and involvement by
customers in green initiatives and global reach products.
2.1.2 Management perspective. Management can create pressure on suppliers by ensuring
that the suppliers have got the required environment certifications (Diabat and Govindan,
2011;Guerci et al., 2016;Gorane and Kant, 2015). The research in HRM shows that the
management perspective plays an important role in implementation of any new technologies
(Namagembe et al., 2019;Høgevold Nils et al., 2019). Motivation and rewards by management
increase the participation of employees in green initiatives (Zaid et al., 2018,Guoyou et al.,
2013). CSFs related to the management perspective include policy and openness by
management and efforts taken by management to collaborate with suppliers and customers.
2.1.3 Employee engagement. Motivating and engaging employees in green initiatives
results in improved performance and higher customer satisfaction (Srivastava and Shree,
2019;Zaid et al., 2018). Management support and rewards to the employees (Dandage et al.,
2019;Guerci et al., 2016) for their initiatives in reducing pollution or waste management
motivates them further to participate in trainings and take new initiatives for geen upply
chain. Success of engaging employees in green initiatives depends majorly on the skills of
employees and their willingness to work for new designs and products considering
environment impacts (Sancha et al., 2016,Kumar and Rahman, 2015).
2.1.4 Supplier commitment. Small- and medium-scale suppliers usually have limited
resources and are unable to adapt to ecofriendly ways of manufacturing (Namagembe et al.,
2019). They also lack technical knowledge and expertise required to develop green products
and processes. Cooperation from suppliers results in long-term association, and it gives better
performance of green supply chain (Thakker and Rane, 2018;Zaid et al., 2018;Sancha et al.,
2016). Commitment by suppliers for green initiatives requires investment in technology and
equipment (Kusi-Sarpong et al., 2019). International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)
certification and adhering to environment regulations are important factors for supplier
participation in greening the supply chain.
2.2 Blockchain and internet of thing for stakeholders of the supply chain
Blockchain technology is majorly used in finance sectors, but recently, real estate, supply
chains and energy sectors have realised the potential of this disruptive technology
(Abeyratne and Monfared, 2016). Blockchain uses data structure techniques to store and link
the data for every transaction created by the users (Rane et al., 2019). Internet of things,
popularly known as IoT, can give tremendous advantages in various activities of the supply
chain (Banerjee, 2015). For integration of all supply chain stakeholders, these two
technologies are used by few industries of developed nations. There are many advantages
of these two promising technologies, as given in Table 1.
Green supply
chain
Code Merit Sources
B1 Decentralisation: blockchain distributes the central authority among all the partners in the transaction; hence, there
is no overpowering in the ecosystem
Abeyratne and Monfared (2016)
B2 Digital signature: blockchain enables an exchange of transactional value using public keys by the mechanism of a
unique digital sign. A private key ensures ownership of code
Rane and Thakker (2019),Abeyratne and
Monfared (2016)
B3 Mining: in a distributed system, every user mines deep into the data, which is then evaluated according to the
cryptographic rules, and it also acknowledges miners for confirmation and verification of the transactions
Rane and Thakker (2019)
B4 Data integrity: blockchain uses complex algorithms and agreement while transactions are occurring. This ensures
data cannot be tampered with and thus remains unaffected, thereby reducing the risk of fraud
Rane and Narvel (2019);Rane et al. (2019)
B5 High-quality data: blockchain ensures complete, correct, accurate data with accessibility to the users whenever they
need it
Abeyratne and Monfared (2016)
B6 Transparency: the changes done in the transactions could be viewed publicly by all users, thus creating a level of
complete transparency. Moreover, all changes that are made in the transactions are immutable
Rane et al. (2019),Abeyratne and
Monfared (2016)
B7 Freedom in payment: with blockchain, there is a freedom in payment. Using bitcoin, it is possible to send and receive
money anywhere and anytime
Rane et al. (2019)
I1 Communication: IoT encourages the communication between devices, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication.
Physical devices always stay connected, and hence, the total transparency is obtained
Banerjee (2015);Abeyratne and Monfared
(2016)
I2 Automation and control: due to physical objects getting connected and controlled digitally and centrally with
wireless infrastructure, there is a large amount of automation and control with IoT
Rane and Thakker (2019)
I3 Efficient resource utilisation: with smart sensors and devices, the resource utilisation is optimised. IoT enables
efficient monitoring and control of resources
Banerjee (2015);Raut et al. (2019a,b,c)
I4 Minimise human efforts: as the devices of IoT interact and communicate with each other and do lot of tasks, human
efforts are minimised
Banerjee (2015)
I5 Rapid response: data on IoT clouds make it possible to monitor the systems in real time. This gives the company a
strategic advantage in monitoring market developments
Rane and Thakker (2019)
Table 1.
Merits of blockchain
(B) and IoT (I)
technologies
MEQ
Blockchain and bitcoins face hurdles in widespread adoption by organisations, as their
government regulation status is uncertain. Blockchain requires all stakeholders of a supply
chain to join hands and be a part of a blockchain-enabled supply chain (Rane et al., 2019). IoT
technology needs to prove that the entire IoT infrastructure is effective, efficient, secure and
resilient. It is required to find the implementation issues faced by the technologies and
develop the solutions and architecture for smooth integration of these two technologies in the
supply chain. The integration of stakeholders in the supply chain needs the architecture to be
transparent and secure so that manufacturers and suppliers can be on the same blockchain.
3. Research methodology
Many MCDM methods are used for ranking and conceptual study of parameters in green
supply chain. In the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a hierarchy considers the distribution
of a goal among the elements being compared and judges which element has a greater
influence on that goal. The VIKOR method introduces the ranking index based on the
particular measure of “closeness”to the ideal solution by using linear normalisation. The
Technique of Order Preference Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method considers
that the chosen alternative should have the shortest distance from the ideal solution and the
farthest distance from the negative-ideal solution. The ELECTRE method selects the best
action from a proposed set of ones based on the multi-attribute utility theory.
Compared with these MCDM methods, the decision-making trial and evaluation
laboratory (DEMATEL) method has many advantages for this study: (1) it analyses the
influence of factors on each other and can be used to make cause-and-effect relationships in
the decision-making problem (Gandhi et al., 2016), (2) it enables the decision maker to clearly
understand which factors have mutual influences on one another, (3) the DEMATEL method
is also used to find out the critical evaluation criteria and measure the weights of evaluation
criteria (Raut et al., 2019a,b,c). Hence, DEMATEL was selected for the analysis of CSFs in
this case study. Fu et al. (2012) have explained the steps of DEMATEL, which are given in
Appendix 2.
4. Research framework
The research framework is divided into four parts. A systematic literature survey was carried
out by categorically reviewing papers related to the involvement of stakeholders in
developing the green supply chain, MCDM methods for ranking of factors and, finally,
advances in technologies to incorporate the factors in supply chain. The next section of the
paper deals with identification of the research problem based on the gaps found through the
literature survey. Section 3 of the paper illustrates the solution methodology. The use of
the DEMATEL method for ranking of factors is explained in detail with the analysis. Finally,
the solution and strategies are developed based on the blockchain and IoT architecture
proposed for the research problem (Figure 1).
5. Data collection
The population of this study consists of academicians, manufacturing firms and valuable
customers from India and across the globe. The supply chain managers, directors and academic
experts of leading organisations having experience varying from 5–26yearswererequestedto
undertake the survey. For effective involvement of customers, employees, suppliers and
management in green supply chain, a survey questionnaire was created, as given in Appendix 3.
Reliability test was done to ensure the accuracy of questions and consistency of
questionnaire. Cronbach’s alpha value was found as 0.788, which is within the range of
Green supply
chain
0.6–0.8, hence acceptable as per range of reliability. The questionnaire was then sent to
experts for their opinion and their review comments. Around 110 emails were sent to experts
containing the survey questionnaire (Appendix 3). We received 30 surveys (after rigorous
and repetitive follow-up) completely filled in all aspects, which were considered for further
analysis (Table 2).
6. Analysis and results
As explained in Section 4, the steps for DEMATEL were applied on the data collected through
the survey instrument. A direct relation matrix (Table 3) was developed based on the ranking
given by experts for influence of one factor on others. The direct influence matrix (Table 4)
was found by multiplying Table 3 values with factor S. Finally, the total relation matrix was
obtained by using equation (3).
The sum of rows and columns gives factors Rand C, respectively, which were used to find
the cause and effect factors. Success factors having values of R-Cas negative are considered
Review of publications on
Involv ement of
Stakehol ders in Green
supply chain by article
retrieving and full-text
analysis
Research g ap and
research objective
Identification of Critical
success factors for
involvi ng Stakeh olders in
green supply chain
Constr uct direct
relation matrix based
on survey results
Construct Total
influence m atrix
Development
of BIoT
Integrated
architect ure
Construct Normalised
direct rel ation matri x
Literature Exploratory
Analysis
DEMATEL
Analysis
Literature Review
Problem description
Solution
Methodology
Solution
Create survey for
evaluation of success
factors on Likert scale
Find cause an d effect
relation between the
factors
Result s are
approved by
experts?
Panel of E xperts for
approva l of survey a nd
results
No
Yes
Case studies and strategies
development using BIoT
architect ure
Figure 1.
Research methodology
framework
MEQ
Code CSF Description Sources
Customers’involvement
CSF1 Awareness level of customers Customers’understanding and awareness of environment-
friendly design and manufacturing and impact of the product
on environment
Zaid et al. (2018),Yalabik et al. (2011),Guerci
et al. (2016)
CSF2 Encouragement and support by customers Encouragement and support by customers by preferring
organic and green products
Yalabik et al. (2011),Guoyou et al. (2013),
Kiefer (2019)
CSF3 Customers’willingness to pay more for
green products
Customers willing to pay more for a green product in spite of
getting other options at lower cost
Yalabik et al. (2011),Guoyou et al. (2013)
CSF4 Customer participation in environment-
related trainings
Participation of customers in trainings conducted by industries.
Involvement of customers in green initiatives by industries
Zaid et al. (2018),Yalabik et al. (2011),Zhu
and Sarkis (2007)
CSF5 Global customers Global customers with different geographical locations having
more knowledge and demands of green products
Yalabik et al. (2011),Guerci et al. (2016)
CSF6 Loyalty and satisfaction of customers Brand loyalty and satisfaction of customers for the product or
service are critical factors for success
Yalabik et al. (2011),Guerci et al. (2016)
Management perspective
CSF7 Top management commitment and
involvement
Involvement and commitment from management for green
supply chain activities
Zaid et al. (2018),Guoyou et al. (2013),Guerci
et al. (2016),Gorane and Kant (2015),Mangla
et al. (2015)
CSF8 Effective advertisement and marketing
campaign by management towards green
efforts of organisation
Marketing campaigns and advertisement by organisations to
ensure global reach and more customer engagement
Guoyou et al. (2013),Guerci et al. (2016)
CSF9 Openness in policy towards greening by
managers
Transparent policies and open discussion with employees
about greening activities
Buysse and Verbeke (2003),Guoyou et al.
(2013),Gualandris and Kalchschmidt (2016)
CSF10 Rewards by management for green
initiatives
Rewarding suppliers appropriately with long-term associations
and supplier development initiatives
Kumar and Rahman (2015),Sarkis et al.
(2010),Diabat and Govindan (2011)
CSF11 Ensuring green labelling and use of green
packing material
Management encouraging and adopting returnable packaging
like boxes and fillers and using green labels for their products
Guerci et al. (2016),Zhu and Sarkis (2007)
CSF12 Recycling and reuse efforts of organisation Recycling the components and reusing thereafter to ensure
minimal wastage and landfill
Sarkis et al. (2010),Zhu and Sarkis (2007)
CSF13 Motivation by organisations’sales network Sales network of the industry to motivate the sales employees
and customers for preferring green and ecofriendly products
Zaid et al. (2018),Buysse and Verbeke (2003),
Sarkis et al. (2010)
(continued )
Table 2.
CSFs for effective
stakeholder
involvement in green
supply chain
Green supply
chain
Code CSF Description Sources
CSF14 Emphasis on green purchasing by
management
Preferring green suppliers for raw material and semi-finished
products. Criteria and ranking of green supplier selection
Zaid et al. (2018),Buysse and Verbeke (2003),
Gualandris and Kalchschmidt (2016)
CSF15 Efforts for green supplier development Green supplier development by training, technology sharing,
financial aid for research and development (R&D) of greening
drive
Sancha et al. (2016),Kumar and Rahman
(2015),Dalvi and Kant (2017)
Employee engagement
CSF16 Participation of employees in green product
trainings
Employees’participation in the trainings related to green
product design or recycling and reuse
Guoyou et al. (2013),Guerci et al. (2016),
Srivastava and Shree (2019)
CSF17 Skills of employees for green product
development
Use of alternative materials and processes for making
environment-friendly products during their complete lifecycle
Zaid et al. (2018),Guoyou et al. (2013),Guerci
et al. (2016),Dandage et al. (2018a,b)
CSF18 Responsibility taken by employees for green
performance
Self-motivation and sharing the responsibility of sustainable
and green supply chain
Zaid et al. (2018),Guoyou et al. (2013),Sarkis
et al. (2010)
Supplier commitment
CSF19 Involvement of suppliers in green product
development
Involving supplier right at the design stage and throughout the
new product development to enable the suppliers to adopt
environment-friendly practices
Zaid et al. (2018),Sancha et al. (2016),Kumar
and Rahman (2015),Gualandris and
Kalchschmidt (2016)
CSF20 Trainings attended by suppliers for
ecofriendly manufacturing
Training the suppliers for sharing knowledge about
advancement in products and processes for making them
ecofriendly
Sancha et al. (2016),Kumar and Rahman
(2015),Guoyou et al. (2013),Sarkis et al. (2010)
CSF21 Cooperation with the buyer for green
initiatives
Cooperation by suppliers in terms of supplying the required
raw material, attending trainings based on green initiatives
Sancha et al. (2016),Kumar and Rahman
(2015),Guoyou et al. (2013),Gualandris and
Kalchschmidt (2016)
CSF22 Investment by suppliers for using green
materials
Green materials are usually costly as compared to traditional
ones because they are not available readily. Suppliers may have
to invest more in procuring raw material that is green and
sustainable
Kumar and Rahman (2015),Guoyou et al.
(2013),Gualandris and Kalchschmidt (2016),
Kusi-Sarpong et al. (2019)
Table 2.
MEQ
CSF CSF1 CSF2 CSF3 CSF4 CSF5 CSF6 CSF7 CSF8 CSF9 CSF10 CSF11 CSF12 CSF13 CSF14 CSF15 CSF16 CSF17 CSF18 CSF19 CSF20 CSF21 CSF22 RRþCR-C
CSF1 0.08 0.07 0.09 0.08 0.09 0.09 0.1 0.11 0.09 0.11 0.09 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.17 0.1 0.09 0.1 0.09 0.14 0.17 0.09 2.2 4.05 0.35
CSF2 0.07 0.08 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.1 0.09 0.11 0.1 0.07 0.08 0.17 0.16 0.1 0.09 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.09 0.09 2.07 4.11 0.03
CSF3 0.07 0.07 0.09 0.06 0.08 0.09 0.09 0.1 0.09 0.1 0.1 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.16 0.08 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.08 1.87 3.84 0.1
CSF4 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.05 0.08 0.09 0.09 0.08 0.09 0.07 0.16 0.05 0.08 0.14 0.17 0.09 0.07 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.15 1.89 4.04 0.26
CSF5 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.06 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.07 0.07 0.06 0.08 0.16 0.07 0.09 0.07 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.06 1.65 3.74 0.44
CSF6 0.06 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.1 0.1 0.07 0.08 0.1 0.07 0.07 0.06 0.08 0.07 0.1 0.14 0.07 0.15 0.13 0.07 0.07 1.95 4.14 0.24
CSF7 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.14 0.07 0.06 0.09 0.07 0.14 0.06 0.08 0.14 0.09 0.08 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 1.78 3.9 0.34
CSF8 0.09 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.11 0.1 0.11 0.1 0.16 0.1 0.16 0.07 0.09 0.08 0.11 0.1 0.1 0.12 0.11 0.16 0.14 2.41 4.6 0.22
CSF9 0.09 0.11 0.11 0.1 0.1 0.11 0.09 0.11 0.11 0.12 0.07 0.08 0.07 0.09 0.09 0.11 0.1 0.11 0.09 0.09 0.08 0.08 2.11 4.32 0.1
CSF10 0.09 0.09 0.1 0.09 0.14 0.11 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.16 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.18 0.18 0.1 0.18 0.1 0.18 0.18 0.16 0.16 2.86 5.39 0.33
CSF11 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.08 0.09 0.08 0.1 0.09 0.1 0.08 0.07 0.05 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.08 0.16 0.15 0.07 0.07 1.93 4.01 0.15
CSF12 0.08 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.1 0.11 0.1 0.09 0.1 0.18 0.09 0.14 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.09 0.07 0.08 0.07 0.07 0.07 2.04 4.39 0.31
CSF13 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.18 0.1 0.08 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.08 0.06 0.08 0.09 0.06 0.08 0.09 0.08 0.16 0.08 0.08 0.08 2.01 3.88 0.14
CSF14 0.09 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.11 0.1 0.11 0.1 0.15 0.1 0.18 0.09 0.17 0.17 0.11 0.07 0.09 0.18 0.08 0.08 0.07 2.45 4.89 0.01
CSF15 0.09 0.09 0.11 0.1 0.1 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.12 0.18 0.14 0.09 0.1 0.06 0.18 0.14 0.08 0.07 2.31 4.89 0.27
CSF16 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.18 0.14 0.11 0.14 0.07 0.16 0.07 0.09 0.08 0.07 0.12 0.16 0.07 0.07 2.15 4.34 0.04
CSF17 0.08 0.11 0.09 0.1 0.11 0.11 0.1 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.11 0.11 0.1 0.11 0.1 0.11 0.11 0.07 0.11 0.07 0.08 0.17 2.31 4.46 0.16
CSF18 0.14 0.17 0.06 0.14 0.06 0.17 0.07 0.11 0.14 0.13 0.07 0.14 0.12 0.06 0.06 0.08 0.09 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.05 0.06 2.16 3.96 0.36
CSF19 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.17 0.09 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.09 0.08 0.08 0.16 0.17 0.1 0.1 0.09 0.08 0.17 0.17 0.06 2.38 4.93 0.17
CSF20 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.16 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.1 0.09 0.11 0.09 0.14 0.07 0.08 0.07 0.08 0.08 0.07 0.14 0.07 0.07 0.07 2.03 4.37 0.31
CSF21 0.12 0.14 0.13 0.12 0.12 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.14 0.12 0.12 0.11 0.16 0.12 0.13 0.11 0.1 0.17 0.16 0.13 0.18 2.9 4.96 0.84
CSF22 0.1 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.12 0.11 0.12 0.11 0.1 0.1 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.1 0.09 0.1 0.1 0.1 2.35 4.41 0.29
C 1.85 2.04 1.97 2.15 2.09 2.19 2.12 2.19 2.21 2.53 2.08 2.35 1.87 2.44 2.58 2.19 2.15 1.8 2.55 2.34 2.06 2.06 47.81
Table 3.
Total influence matrix
Green supply
chain
effect factors, and the ones having positive values are considered cause factors. The threshold
value obtained by averaging the factors of total influence matrix is 0.098781 using equation
(5). The Inter dependency matrix is obtained by excluding the values lesser than the threshold
value. This ensures that only significant relations are in the matrix. All success factors were
ranked as per R-Cvalues in ascending order.
7. Discussion and strategy development
The total relation matrix gives the direct and indirect effect of all factors by finding
parameters ðRþC;R−CÞ. The cause and effect factors are found based on values of R-C.A
positive value of R-C indicates it is a cause factor, which means the factor may be a cause to
other critical factors. A negative value of R-C means the factor is an effect factor. Cooperation
with buyer for green initiatives is highest point in the casual relation diagram, which
indicates that it is the most significant factor influencing all other factors. The cause-and-
effect diagram helps in identifying the position and influence of factors on each other
(Figure 2).
The results of DEMATEL analysis are in line with past research results chain (Grekova
et al., 2016;Dalvi and Kant, 2017;Thakker and Rane, 2018), indicating supplier cooperation
and involvement as most critical factors for greening the supply. Global customers are least
critical, which confirms the results of studies by other researchers like Yalabik et al. (2011)
and Guerci et al. (2016).
7.1 Strategy development based on blockchain internet of things-integrated architecture
For implementing 22 CSFs pertaining to the involvement of stakeholders for the development
of a green supply chain, a framework is required. Technologies like blockchain and IoT are
Rank RC
Cause–effect
group criteria CSF Name of CSF
1 0.76 Cause C21 Cooperation with buyer for green initiatives
2 0.44 C22 Investment by suppliers for using green materials
3 0.39 C19 Involvement of suppliers in green product development
4 0.35 C1 Awareness level of customers
5 0.29 C18 Responsibility taken by employees for green performance
6 0.25 C17 Skills of employees for green product development
7 0.13 C12 Recycling and reuse efforts of organisation
8 0.13 C13 Motivation by organisations’sales network
9 0.06 C8 Effective advertisement and marketing campaign by
management towards green efforts of organisation
10 0.04 C14 Emphasis on green purchasing by management
11 0.03 C2 Encouragement and support by customers
12 0.1 Effect C9 Openness in policy towards greening by managers
13 0.1 C3 Customers willingness to pay more for green products
14 0.23 C20 Trainings attended by suppliers for ecofriendly manufacturing
15 0.23 C11 Ensuring green labelling and use of green packing material
16 0.24 C6 Loyalty and satisfaction of customers
17 0.26 C4 Customer participation in environment-related trainings
18 0.27 C15 Efforts for green supplier development
19 0.33 C10 Rewards by management for green initiatives
20 0.38 C16 Participation of employees in green product trainings
21 0.42 C7 Top management commitment and involvement
22 0.46 C5 Global customers
Table 4.
Ranking of CSFs
MEQ
apt for applications where multiple parties are involved. Figure 3 presents the blockchain
IoT-integrated architecture for involving all stakeholders in the supply chain framework. In
this section, case studies of some crucial activities related to the automobile industry are
developed to show the use of blockchain technology to leverage the implementation of IoT for
integrating stakeholders in a green supply chain (Tables 5 and 6).
7.2 Implications of the research
This research work analyses the CSFs for the involvement of stakeholders in the
development of a green supply chain. The blockchain IoT-integrated architecture plays an
important role and gives a roadmap to industries and academicians for further industry-
specific research and implementation.
Managers can make use of these 22 CSFs and capabilities of blockchain IoT-integrated
architecture to successfully involve stakeholders in the development of a green supply chain.
There will be a dramatic change in supply chain management with respect to response speed,
accuracy of decision-making, data acquisition, data storage and data accessibility,
transparency, trust-building, opportunity of participation, communication quality, freedom
in payment based on blockchain IoT-integrated architecture.
Managers may initiate involving employees and suppliers in the supply chain and then
finally collaborate with customers for making green and sustainable supply chain. Use cases
of the automobile industry demonstrate few challenges that the industry can overcome using
a blockchain IoT-integrated architecture for smooth information flow.
8. Conclusion
Stakeholders are becoming more aware of environment-friendly products and processes.
Organisations are deploying environment-friendly practices and using them as unique
selling prepositions to attract the customers. This research work identified and analysed the
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4 C5
C3
C13
C1
C2
C22
C21
C17
C8
C10
C18
C7
C12
C15
C11
C12 C19
C20
C4 C7 C8
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
03.7 3.8 3.9 4 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7
Figure 2.
Cause-and-effect
diagram of critical
factors
Green supply
chain
Stakeho lders usi ng
Blockc hain- IoT
Cloud Network Supply c hain Netwo rk
Suppliers
Custome rs Securit y
Gateway
Provide r Cloud
Portal S ervice Supply c hain
User Directory
Employees
Edge Services
Block chain User
Server Runtimes Transformat ion
& Conne ctivity
Enterprise Applications
API Management
Peer Cloud
Block chain User
Appl icat ion
Mobile
Wallet
Blockchain Admin
& Ops Services
Member ship Con sensus Ledger Smart Cont ract
System
Integration
Supply chain data
Web Events
CLI
Information Govern ance Infrastructure Se curity Security M onitoring & Intelligen ce
Figure 3.
Blockchain IoT-
integrated architecture
for involving all
stakeholders in
supply chain
MEQ
Code Utilisation of merits of blockchain and IoT Information flow with BIoT-integrated architecture
CSF1 Transparency, rapid response Customers’integration through blockchain ensures that they are aware about green product design and related
characteristics from the start, as it offers transparency of data, and IoT ensures rapid response rate, real-time
data updates and fast resolution of queries
CSF2 High-quality data, rapid response Complete, authentic and correct data are available to customers on blockchain, and a quick response by
management to the voice of customers using IoT devices encourages customers to involve and support the
industries
CSF3 Data integrity, communication Tamperproof data and transparency in blockchain transactions ensure customers’trust in the management.
Communication through IoT devices eliminates errors and third-party commissions
CSF4 Decentralisation, digital signature Decentralised supply chain with blockchain offers an equal opportunity of participation to all customers in all
environment-related training and green product development
CSF5 Freedom in payment Freedom in payment ensures global reach of industries, as customers can pay with bitcoins, and transactions
can happen without any geographical or cultural barriers. Digital signatures make the contracts safe for all the
parties
CSF6 Data integrity, transparency, efficient
resource utilisation
Data and transactions stored on blockchain are a single version, which creates trust in customers. Transparency
and efficient utilisation of resources ensures satisfaction in customers
CSF7 Transparency, decentralisation,
rapid response
Management gets a strategic advantage for monitoring market trends using IoT tracking devices and become
more committed for greener supply chains
CSF8 Decentralisation, rapid response efficient
resource utilisation
Decentralised authority with blockchain gives a chance to employees and management to participate and
effectively advertise the efforts for development of green supply chain. IoT and smart devices ensure tracking of
marketing data and effective use of sensors
CSF9 Data integrity, rapid response Policies for the development of green supply chain are accessible to all through smart contracts and
transparency in a supply chain network. Optimisation and openness in policies are possible with IoT remote
access
CSF10 Freedom in payment Management may reward the employees and suppliers for their green initiatives with bitcoins. This encourages
more stakeholders to participate and initiate green practices
CSF11 Automation and control, efficient resource
utilisation
Large amount of automation and control devices make green labelling possible. Smart devices help tracking the
packages through their lifecycle, and it enables efficient use of resources through data tracking on IoT
CSF12 Efficient resource utilisation, minimise
human efforts
IoT tracking helps to recollect and reuse the products after end of life. Organisations may take help of smart
sensors to track and collect the used products back to recycle and reuse. This ensures a closed-loop supply chain
CSF13 Communication, rapid response M2M communication of IoT devices helps in real-time sales data across the sales network without human
intervention for rapid response and unbiased communication. Minimum efforts are required by the sales
department in documentation and growth of network
(continued )
Table 5.
Utilisation of merits of
blockchain and IoT for
enabling CSF of
stakeholder
involvement
Green supply
chain
Code Utilisation of merits of blockchain and IoT Information flow with BIoT-integrated architecture
CSF14 Transparency Data integrity and complete transparency in purchasing ensure no fraud, and organisation can involve
suppliers in the design stage to ensure green purchasing as a key criterion for supplier selection
CSF15 Digital signature, rapid response Digital signature and smart contracts for supplier involvement are essential efforts that a buyer firm can take to
develop green suppliers. Supplier database may be stored on IoT cloud for knowledge base generation
CSF16 Automation and control, efficient resource
utilisation
Full automation and control technologies by incorporating IoT devices ensure employees are engaged at all
time. With IoT cloud services, trainings can happen globally for all employees
CSF17 Transparency, minimise human efforts Green product development becomes easy with concurrent product design feature on an IoT platform.
Employees get benefit by attending global trainings and connecting with suppliers and customers worldwide
CSF18 Decentralisation Decentralisation of authority ensures all stakeholders’equal involvement and participation in green product
design and development
CSF19 Decentralisation, digital signature Blockchain allows the supplier to participate in green product development, and the buyers can have digital
contracts with suppliers for data integrity. Transparent supply chain encourages suppliers to get involved in
supply chain activities
CSF20 Communication, efficient resource utilisation Suppliers can attend training on IoT clouds and get aware of ecofriendly methods and materials. Smart sensors
and devices can connect the supplier and buyers with global trends in green products
CSF21 Transparency, rapid response Transparency in supply chain because of blockchain ledger makes suppliers more cooperative and trustworthy.
Fast response by firms in handling the queries of suppliers helps in long-term relationships
CSF22 Digital signature, efficient resource
utilisation
Green materials are costlier than traditional ones, but IoT and bitcoins ensure the suppliers invest in globally
available material at best price with support from the buyer firm
Table 5.
MEQ
Challenge Solution Key stakeholders Information flow Benefits
Transportation
and logistics
delay
Delivery delay and
managing logistics are key
challenges faced by the
automobile industry, as it
creates heavy losses
Delay in deliveries and
wrong shipment are the
effects of lack of close
coordination in team
members, inaccurate
decision-making, lack of
real-time data related to
transport resources
(carriers data, material
handling equipment,
stakeholders in transport),
etc. GPS helps in finding
the position in real time
and can be utilised to
optimise route and
delivery time. IoT sensors
like position and
temperature provides
information about
shipment, and blockchain
adds transparency in
transactions. Architecture
facilitates transparency,
precision, speed of real-
time data collection, which
leads to efficient and
effective transport and
delivery management
The proposed solution
involves stakeholders like
automobile original
equipment manufacturer
(OEM), suppliers,
customers and truck and
logistics operators. The
stakeholders are
connected and involved in
the process through
blockchain
The information provided
by IoT sensors is stored in
the blockchain network,
which is accessible by
stakeholders having smart
contracts. Radio-frequency
identification (RFID)
sensors and GPS track real-
time location and give
continuous visibility to
manufacturers. Once the
shipment is sent, customers
can also track it using
smart contracts and
collaborative access. The
truck driver can see the
real-time maps and send
signal on the network for
any route modifications
Integration of IoT with
Blockchain helps in
optimising the routes and
maximising fuel
efficiency of trucks. It
ensures the on time
delivery and tracking of
products right from the
raw material till the end
user
Reverse logistics
for automobile
components
Tracking the automobiles
after end of their lives is a
big challenge for
automobile industries.
Reverse logistics is
possible with IoT sensors
and RFID tags. The
devices can track products
Industry, customers, scrap
dealers, logistics
companies are the
stakeholders involved
The data gathered from the
IoT devices will help to
improve forecasting of
delivery times, fleet
The blockchain and IoT
network gives
information about the
product, which is used for
(continued )
Table 6.
Key challenges and
solutions for the
automobile industry
supply chain
Green supply
chain
Challenge Solution Key stakeholders Information flow Benefits
Usually, the components
are taken by scrap dealers
or in dumping
at all stages of its life with
respect to temperature,
humidity, etc. and return
to the origin after end of
life
availability and routing
efficiency. Customers and
manufacturers could be
integrated on an IoT
platform to access supply
chain data. Blockchain and
RFID tags give information
about the end of life of
product to all concerned
stakeholders, including
supplier, manufacturer and
government authorities
recycling or reuse of
products. This ensures
that the firm maintains a
close-loop supply chain,
thereby causing
minimum impact on the
environment
Vehicle
registration
system
Registration of a new
vehicle or registration
transfer of a used vehicle is
a time-consuming process
that requires the buyer (or
the dealer on behalf of the
buyer) to submit multiple
online or paper forms.
Processing of the transfer
by the government
registrar requires checks of
the vehicle against multiple
third-party databases for
outstanding finance,
insurance write-offs, stolen,
scrapped, etc.
Design, analysis and
material-related
information could be
shared on a blockchain
network, which eliminates
failure of system and
creates a sustainable
business. Autonomous
cars, smart parking and
automatic traffic control
are some of the
applications of blockchain
IoT in the automotive
industry
Manufacturer, dealer,
licence-issuing company,
lessee, end-users and scrap
merchants are involved in
the ecosystem
A blockchain-based system
would enable greater
transparency and the
different permissioned
parties to get an end-to-end
view of the process. The
manufacturer will update
the vehicle details on the
blockchain, which will be
accessible by dealers. Once
the vehicle is registered
with a customer, the
records are maintained on
the blockchain server
accessible to other
stakeholders like insurance
company, maintenance
providers, etc. Shared
ledger and smart contracts
Overall processing time
for registrations would
be reduced, generating
cost savings for all
parties involved. A
vehicle registration
ecosystem when coupled
with blockchain and IoT
ensures tamperproof
records of data
transactions and
maximum efficiency for
all stakeholders
(continued )
MEQ
Challenge Solution Key stakeholders Information flow Benefits
make the information flow
transparent and updated
Warranty and
maintenance of
automobiles
Insurance frauds, use of
counterfeit components as
spare parts and lack of
documentation records
related to warranty and
maintenance of
automobiles are challenges
faced by manufacturers as
well as insurance
companies
Blockchain in architecture
could eliminate 30% of the
total warranty costs,
which are due to poor
practices. This could be
done by implementing a
warranty management
system in which all claims,
spare parts stock and time
spent repairing vehicles
are recorded within a
single database. IoT in
architecture will facilitate
real-time data acquisition
during use and
maintenance of
automobiles
Insurance agency,
customers, servicing
stations, manufacturer
Depending on their status,
stakeholders can read or
have access to this
database, and the processes
could be evaluated as a
whole to see where
inefficiencies can be
removed. Traceability and
control at each stage
ensures maintenance of
automobiles is done by
authorised service centres
so as to avoid use of
counterfeiting parts
Data integrity and up-to-
date records are a very
crucial part of the
automotive industry.
This is achieved to a
great extent by
blockchain and IoT-
integrated architecture
Green supply
chain
major CSFs that facilitate effective stakeholder involvement in development of a green
supply chain. The 22 shortlisted CSFs were sent to experts for comparative rating and,
finally, were ranked using the DEMATEL method. The merits of blockchain and IoT, along
with CSF, are used for effective involvement of stakeholders in green supply chain
management. A blockchain IoT-integrated architecture helps in seamless integration of all
stakeholders across the supply chain for speed of interaction, accuracy of data, tamperproof
records. The architecture demonstrates the application of these advanced technologies for
involving stakeholders in the development of green supply chain through the use cases of the
automobile sector.
Though 22 CSFs were considered, there could be more parameters of human involvement
that may be explored for future studies. The results of this study may be further evaluated by
taking industry-specific cases and conducting research at the global level. Different ranking
methods like interpretive structural modelling may be used for finding a relation between
CSFs. Each success factor may be explored further to implement it phase-wise in the industry.
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MEQ
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Appendix
Appendix 1.
Literature survey
Thorough literature search was done to find all suitable references and articles for this research.
Table A1 shows search engines used and papers downloaded from 2000 onwards to focus on recent
trends in the area. International and peer-reviewed journal papers were selected for literature survey.
Figure A1 shows the number of papers referred journal-wise. Figure A2 shows the papers referred for
involvement of stakeholders in supply chain.
Search
engines
Primary
keywords
Secondary
keywords Year
Papers
downloaded
Papers shortlisted for
further study
Google
Scholar
Green supply
chain
Customers 2000–2005 10 01
Scopus HRM Suppliers 2006–2010 13 07
Science
Direct
Stakeholders Green HRM 2011–2015 34 19
Emerald
Insight
MCDM
methods
Blockchain-IoT
integration
2016–2020 84 61
Blockchain DEMATEL
IoT Success factors
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Others (< 2 papers)
Journal of Cleaner Production
Management of Environmental Quality: An
International Journal
International Journal of Production Research
International Journal of Production Economics
Business Strategy and the Environment
Supply Chain Management: An International
Journal
Journal of Operations Management
Benchmarking: An International Journal
Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management
Resources, Conservation and Recycling
International Journal of Managing Projects in
Business
Number of Papers
Name of Journals
Table A1.
Literature search table
Figure A1.
Journal-wise number of
peer-reviewed papers
referred
Green supply
chain
Appendix 2.
Steps for the DEMATEL method
The authors have developed the required matrices and done the necessary calculations for finding cause
and effect factors, but due to word constraint limits, all tables are not given in the paper. Readers may
contact the authors for a detailed analysis using DEMATEL.
(1) Pair-wise direct relations matrix: If there are mvariables (i.e. CSFs in the present study), A
k
is the
m3m matrix obtained by filling the matrix entries by five levels of influence with values based
on influence of factor a
i
on factor a
j
. These values are obtained by survey results:
A¼
a11 a12 ... ... a1m
... ... ... ... ...
ai1aij ... ... aim
am1amj ... ... amn
(1)
(2) Normalising the direct relations matrix: The matrix m3m is then normalised, and a direct
relation matrix Nis found from the direct relation matrix by multiplying Aby S, where Sis
calculated as:
S¼min(1
max iX
m
j¼1
jaijj;1,max jX
m
i¼1
jaijj;)(2)
(3) Total relation matrix: Using the normalised direct influence matrix X, the total influence matrix
T¼½tij3nis then computed by summing the direct effects and all of the indirect effects by:
T¼XþX2þX3þ...Xh¼XðIXÞ−1(3)
when h→∞
(4) Determining the influential relation map (IRM): At this step, vectors Rand C, representing the
sum of the rows and the sum of the columns from the total influence matrix T, are calculated, as
per following the equations:
Customers, 5
Suppliers, 3
Management , 2
Employee, 2
Combination of
Multiple
Stakeholders,
HRM, 13
Number of papers referred based on Stakeholders
Figure A2.
Peer-reviewed journal
papers referred based
on stakeholders
considered for the
research
MEQ
R¼½rinx1¼"X
n
j¼1
tij#nx1
C¼½Cj1xn ¼"X
n
i¼1
tij#1xn
(4)
Let i¼jand i;j∈f1;2;...ng;the horizontal axis vector (RþC) named “Prominence”illustrates the
strength of influences that are given and received of the factor. The vertical axis vector (RC) is called
“Relation”, which shows the net effect that the factor contributes to the system.
(5) Calculation of the threshold value (
α
): Computation is done by the average of the elements in
matrix T, as computed by equation (3). This calculation aims to eliminate some minor effects
elements in matrix T.
α
¼P
n
i¼1P
n
j¼1
½tij
N(5)
where Nis the total number of elements in the matrix T. It is required to set up the threshold value to
eliminate minor errors. For this, only the effects that have value more than threshold value are selected
for the final mapping of data set (rþc,rc).
Appendix 3.
A questionnaire-based study was emailed to the participants who agreed to be a part of this research.
The respondents were asked to rank the variables on a five-point Likert scale (where “1”means not likely
and “5”means most likely). They were asked to rank the 22 criteria of HR involvement for making
greener supply chain based on the current status of people and customer involvement at their industry
and also give relative ranking and importance of criteria with respect to each other.
Sr. No Criterion 1 2 3 4 5 Remarks
Customer perspective
1 Awareness level of customers
2 Encouragement and support by customers
22 Investment by suppliers for using green materials
Table A2.
Excerpt from
questionnaire
Green supply
chain
About the authors
Dr. Santosh B. Rane, PhD and ME, is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Reliability
Expert and CII-Certified Supply Chain Executive. Dr. Santosh Rane is working as a
Dean Academics in Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Mumbai. Dr. Rane has over 25
years of quality improvement and problem-solving experience in various industries.
He is also a Corporate Trainer and Consultant. He has conducted workshops on lean six
sigma, just in time (JIT), reliability engineering, project management, kaizen-led
Iinnovation, TPM, SMED and other relevant domains. He has driven improvement in
the areas of human resources (HR), sales and marketing, supply chain, production,
reliability, operations, back office, quality and project management, among others. He is an Editorial
Board Member for the International Journal of Supply Chain and Inventory Management (Inderscience
Publishers). He is a Reviewer for the Journal of Production and Manufacturing Research (Taylor
Francis), International Journal of Supply Chain and Inventory Management (IJSCIM, Inderscience
Publications), International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage (Inderscience Publications),
Benchmarking: International Journal (Emerald publication). He has also worked as an Advisory
Committee Member for many international conferences.
Prof. Shivangi Viral Thakker is working as an Assistant Professor in K J Somaiya
College of Engineering, Mumbai, and is a Doctoral Student in the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, SPCE, Mumbai, India. Her current areas of research are
green procurement, green supply chain management and artificial intelligence. She is
a CII-Certified Supply Chain Executive. She has publications in international journals
and conferences and has received research grant from Mumbai University for her
research work. She has completed Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Shivangi Viral Thakker is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
shivangiruparel@somaiya.edu.
Dr. Ravi Kant is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Industrial Systems Engineering (ISE)
Programme of Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, and is an Associate Professor
in the Mechanical Engineering Department of the S. V. National Institute of
Technology (SVNIT), Surat, India. He received his PhD degree from Motilal Nehru
National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), Allahabad, India. He has about ten years of
teaching and research experience and more than 25 papers published in peer-reviewed
journals. His areas of interest include decision sciences, supply chain management,
knowledge management, total quality management and six sigma.
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