Examining critical success factors for environmental sustainability in supply chain a case study

Abstract

Bangladesh is a country of emerging economy characterized by growing industrialization. However, huge environmental pollution takes place due to this rapid growth of industrialization. To control the significant increase ofpollutants, industriesneed to move towards environmentally sustainable supply chain management (ESSCM) practices. This thesis aims to identify and analyze the critical success factors (CSFs) behind the successful implementation of ESSCMfor the readymade garment (RMG) industry of Bangladesh. This thesis has identified fourteen CSFs to implement ESSCM through a detailed literature review. Then, these factors have been reduced to ten, which are most relevant to the Bangladeshi RMG factory according to the case study conducted in four garment manufacturing factories. After that, a structural model is suggested using the Total Interpretive Structural Modeling (TISM) technique to understand the contextual relationships among these CSFs and to determine their interdependence to implement ESSCM. Subsequently, this structural model has been validated and updated with the opinions of ten academic experts from five renowned universities.In addition, the MICMAC analysis method has been implemented to determine the importance of CSFs based on their driving power and dependence. The findings of this studyshowthat the implementation of ESSCM practices is greatly influenced by government policies and top management supports,which are the most dominating CSFs that act independently but influence other CSFs either directly or indirectly. Furthermore, some other factors are also considered to be significant includingeco design of products, ISO 14000 certification of suppliers, pressures from consumers, and training and skill development. The findings are expected to assist industrial managers to concentrate on the CSFs to implement the ESSCM practices more effectively in the RMGindustryof Bangladesh.