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Developing a causal model to evaluate the critical issues in reverse supply chain implementation

Kaustov Chakraborty (Department of Operations and IT, ICFAI Business School (IBS) Hyderabad, ICFAI Foundation of Higher Education (IFHE) University, Hyderabad, India)
Sandeep Mondal (Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, India)
Kampan Mukherjee (Indian Institute of Management, Kashipur, India)

Benchmarking: An International Journal

ISSN: 1463-5771

Article publication date: 1 October 2018

616

Abstract

Purpose

Approximately, 800m tons of e-waste is generated per year in India. Reverse supply chain (RSC) is the probable strategy to cope up with the issue. Setting up a RSC process is not popular in the Indian sector. There are several factors that basically control the profitability of such kind of business. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to develop a causal model among the identified issues and sub-issues for setting up a RSC in an Indian semiconductor manufacturing industry and then evaluate the critical issues based on the causal relations.

Design/methodology/approach

Decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method along fuzzy set theory is used to develop the causal framework among the identified strategical and tactical issues. According to the causal relations from DEMATEL, analytical network process is then used to identify the weights of the sub-issues.

Findings

The cause–effect interactions among the main issues show that legislations and regulations, market-related issues and organizational issue are the most significant strategic issues. Uncertainty in the acquisition time is the most significant tactical issue because it has a crucial impact on the quality and quantity of the used products. Based on the obtained causal relations of the main issues, it is identified that the reduction of waste, creation of new opportunity, market competition, cost reduction, change in technology and location, capacity and number of recovery facility are the major sub-issues in RSC implementation.

Practical implications

This study is conducted on the basis of the experts’ opinion from a semiconductor manufacturing industry, situated in the southern part of India. Therefore, this proves its practical implications.

Originality/value

The paper provides the detail illustration of the issues in the RSC process, and the prioritization of the issues based on the cause–effect relationships also provides some meaningful managerial insights.

Keywords

Citation

Chakraborty, K., Mondal, S. and Mukherjee, K. (2018), "Developing a causal model to evaluate the critical issues in reverse supply chain implementation", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 25 No. 7, pp. 1992-2017. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-12-2016-0181

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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