Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802

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Journal of Cleaner Production

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Evaluating Sustainable Lean Six Sigma enablers using fuzzy DEMATEL:

A case of an Indian manufacturing organization
Pranay Sureshbhai Parmar *, Tushar N. Desai
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, 395007, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The survival of the manufacturing organizations has been challenged by global competition, dynamic
Received 14 April 2019 customer requirements, and limited natural resources. Manufacturing organizations need to adopt
Received in revised form innovative strategies to overcome such challenges. Lean Six Sigma is one of the key business strategies
26 March 2020
which has been employed by manufacturing organizations to improve their operational performance.
Accepted 18 April 2020
The integration of Sustainability with Lean Six Sigma has created interest among the researchers and
Available online 28 April 2020
practitioners to improve sustainable performance. For any manufacturing organization, it is critical to
Handling editor: Lee identify the enablers for the successful Sustainable Lean Six Sigma implementation. The purpose of the
present study is to identify and evaluate the enablers of Sustainable Lean Six Sigma. The enablers of
Keywords: Sustainable Lean Six Sigma in Indian manufacturing organizations have not been explored in past
Sustainable lean six sigma studies, which motivates the present case study. The enablers for Sustainable Lean Six Sigma imple-
Sustainability mentation were identified through the combined approach of literature review and experts’ opinions.
Enablers Fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory technique was applied to evaluate the enablers for
Multi-criteria decision making
Sustainable Lean Six Sigma implementation in an electric component manufacturing organization. The
Fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation
relationships among the prominent cause enablers and effect enablers are established through the causal
laboratory
Causal diagram diagram. The top management commitment and involvement was found as the most significant enabler,
followed by organizational readiness to implement Sustainable Lean Six Sigma, environmental man-
agement system. The present study is one of the initial studies to evaluate integrated (Sustainability and
Lean Six Sigma) enablers for Sustainable Lean Six Sigma implementation. The results of the present study
will assist the researchers and practitioners in implementing Sustainable Lean Six Sigma in
manufacturing organizations by understanding the mutual relationships among the enablers.
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The consumption of limited natural resources for the fulfillment
of human needs may lead to a shortage of resources in the near
future (Brundtland, 1987). It is necessary for human beings to use
the resources to fulfill their needs. Due to the global warming ef-
fects and other natural calamities on the planet, the researchers
and practitioners must think about the reduction in organizational
waste (DESA, 2018). The manufacturing organizations must take
care of the negative environmental impacts of their manufacturing
operations. The manufacturing organizations have been focusing
on high quality and defect-free products through different para-
digms such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Lean
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: pranayparmar7@gmail.com (P.S. Parmar).
Manufacturing (LM), Six Sigma (SS), Lean Six Sigma (LSS), Green
Manufacturing (GM), World Class Manufacturing, etc. These para-
digms do not consider the negative environmental impacts of the
manufacturing operations and products (Sagnak and Kazancoglu,
2016). Manufacturing organizations discharge harmful pollutants,
which lead to environmental degradation (Balatsky et al., 2015).
The limited availability of natural resources has compelled the or-
ganizations to reduce the wastage of resources such as electricity,
fuel, coal, water, etc. (Kattumuri, 2018).
Lean is a systematized methodology to eliminate wastes of all
non-value-added activities over constant improvement to produce
outstanding products (Womack et al., 1990). Six Sigma signifies a
“structured and systematic approach” for the reduction in process
variation (Hahn et al., 2000). There are various works of literature
that support the possibility of integrating LSS and their positive
influences on organizational performances. The poverty, inequality,
and environmental deprivation of the planet explore the need to

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121802
0959-6526/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802
reduce the waste and achieving the sustainable growth of the or-
ganizations (Brundtland, 1987). It will lead the nation towards a
new era of sustainable development by considering social and
environmental factors. The organizations experience the burden of
minimizing the waste of natural resources as they have to satisfy
governmental regulations, customer demand, and stakeholder
policy. The manufacturing organizations need to identify the
innovative strategies that can bring the balance among economic
benefits, environmental protection, and the well-being of society
(McCarty et al., 2011). The Government of India has initiated a zero
defect - zero effect (ZED) program for the reduction of waste and
defects in manufacturing organizations, which can be achieved
through the systematic integration of Lean Six Sigma with Sus-
tainability (i.e. Sustainable Lean Six Sigma). It has become essential
to improve the level of sustainable performance by reducing the
waste of resources and consideration of the environmental and
social impact of the organizations (Garza-Reyes et al., 2016). The
existing resources are restricted, and the demand for the com-
modity is continuously increasing. Sustainable Lean Six Sigma
(SLSS) can be more effective in considering the environment and
social factors by optimum utilization of resources. It is much
required for organizations to start consideration of Sustainability to
make themselves sustainable. The SLSS focuses on the elimination
of negative environmental impacts through the reduction of
various wastes. As per the literature review, the implementation
scenario of integrated SLSS in developing countries is poor as
compared to developed countries (Cherrafi et al., 2016a). The pre-
sent study is one of the initial studies towards the implementation
of integrated SLSS enablers in developing countries like India. There
are few studies in the Indian context where the researchers have
attempted to explore some of the aspects of LSS together with
Green. Gandhi et al. (2018) prioritized the drivers for integrated
Lean-Green manufacturing; Kaswan and Rathi (2019) analyzed the
enablers of Green Lean Six Sigma (GLSS) using Interpretive Struc-
tural Modeling (ISM), and Pandey et al. (2018) identified the en-
ablers of GLSS using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). But these
previous studies have not prioritized the comprehensive set of
enablers for Indian manufacturing organizations, which can assist
the organizations in implementing SLSS. Identifying enablers for
SLSS implementation is vital and should be followed worldwide
from each country’s unique viewpoint. But only identification of the
enablers is not important, it is vigorous to realize the influencing
power of the enablers. It is also important to recognize the mutual
relationships among the enablers. The present study focuses on the
identification and analysis of the enablers of the integrated SLSS
approach. The above discussion provides motivation to identify and
to analyze the enablers for the adoption of SLSS in Indian
manufacturing organizations. The present study is a novel
approach to apply SLSS enablers in an Indian electric component
manufacturing organization. A total of twenty-six enablers were
identified after consulting the experts. The fuzzy Decision-Making
Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique was
employed to evaluate the selected enablers of SLSS for the
manufacturing organization.
Based on the above discussion, the present article attempts to
address the following research questions:
1. Which are the enablers for the implementation of SLSS in
manufacturing organizations?
2. How to prioritize the enablers using the Multi-criteria decision
making (MCDM) technique?
3. How to establish the contextual relationship among the
enablers?
The present article is organized as follows: A literature review
on enablers of SLSS; list of enablers identified through literature;
research methodology; explanation of the fuzzy DEMATEL tech-
nique and steps for the evaluation of the enablers; case study
analysis and data collection; results; and conclusion.
2. Literature review
2.1. Lean
The history of Lean begins with Henry Ford and Kiichiro Toyoda
for their contributions to continuous improvement and standard
work practices in automobile manufacturing (LEI, 1997). The
concept of Lean was introduced by Womack in 1991 in the book
‘The machine that changed the world’. Womack et al. (1990)
defined lean as a methodology to eliminate waste of all kind of
non-value-added activities and a systematic approach to improve
organizational performance. The waste identified in lean includes
inventory, transportation, waiting, overproduction, over-
processing, rework/rejection, and unnecessary motion. Tools such
as 5S, Kanban, Poka Yoke, Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Single
Minute Exchange of Die (SMED), Cellular Manufacturing, and Visual
Management are the basic tools of lean (Bhamu and Sangwan,
2014).
2.2. Six Sigma
The Six Sigma practice was first adopted by Motorola in 1987. It
can be defined as the systematic data-driven approach to reduce
process variation (Antony, 2011). Six Sigma (SS) is the measurement
of six standard deviations from the mean (arithmetic), which in-
dicates process output with less than 3.4 defects in million op-
portunities. SS implementations follow the Define, Measure,
Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) approach to solve most of
the problems. DMAIC offers a structured methodology for
improvement activities in achieving considerable improvements in
the organization. SS methodology aims to eliminate the root causes
of process variations, and it drives to reduce the defects by
improving the process. SS methodology integrates people with
process elements (Seow and Antony, 2004).
2.3. Lean Six Sigma
The integrated term of Lean and Six Sigma called ‘Lean Six
Sigma’ was initiated during the 2000s. LSS integrates the lean
principles with the Six Sigma methodology. Lean creates the value
of the products by eliminating the waste, and Six Sigma focuses on
the reduction in variation of the process. Various authors have
implemented LSS in different organizations and achieved good
results, such as the reduction in the cost and enhancement in the
quality of the products. Snee (2010) described LSS as the complete
package of tools and techniques for the generation of continuous
improvements. The integrative approach of LSS lowers the cost of
the organization and helps to solve problems of the organizations
(Shahin and Alinavaz, 2008). LSS also facilitates the practitioners in
reducing the consumption of energy and minimization in the
environmental waste of the material (Maleyeff et al., 2012). Antony
et al. (2017) proposed that integration of LSS and sustainability can
be encouraging future areas for practitioners and researchers.
2.4. Sustainability/sustainable development
Sustainability can be defined in many ways, such as fulfilling the
needs of the current generation without compromising the needs
of the future generation for their growth (Sharma and Ruud, 2003).
Some of the authors have considered green manufacturing as one
 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802
of the solutions for manufacturing organizations, which includes
the reduction of environmental effects of operation processes
(Salem and Deif, 2017). Green doesn’t consider the societal factor as
the strategic factor, but it only focuses on waste reduction and
saving in the resources (Garza-Reyes, 2014). Yanarella et al. (2009)
presented the difference between green and sustainability.
Conceptually green works for the environmental asset or economic
strength of the organization, while sustainability aims for the triple
bottom line (economic strength, environmental asset, and social
equity) approach. Green practice results in little incremental
progress, while sustainability marks large scale revolution in
organizational culture.
2.5. Integration of sustainability with Lean Six Sigma e Sustainable
Lean Six Sigma
In continuously increasing the global competitive market, the
environmental and social factor inclusion must be a part of any
organization; and accordingly, the practitioners and researchers
must become concerned about it. Earlier, Devane (2004) proposed a
Lean Six Sigma framework for sustainable improvement in the or-
ganization. Verrier et al., 2013 proposed a lean and green frame-
work considering environmental and social impacts. Verrier et al.
(2016) studied Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with consid-
eration of sustainability. Banawi and Bilec (2014) implemented the
framework based on Lean, Green, and Six Sigma in the construction
process and achieved excellent results by finding the total 16 causes
responsible for waste in the construction process. Cherrafi et al.
(2016a) suggested the benefits of integrating different techniques
by providing the theoretically integrated model on LSS. They pro-
posed that the integration of techniques could give benefit to the
organizations. Cherrafi et al. (2016b) found the success factors of
GLSS by surveying the 450 companies, including SMEs and multi-
nationals, both and proposed for more research on the integration
of Green, Lean, and Six Sigma. Cherrafi et al. (2017) successfully
implemented the framework based on GLSS and reduced the con-
sumption of resources from 20 to 40%. Kumar et al., 2016 estab-
lished the interrelationship between twenty-one barriers of GLSS
for product development in the automobile sector. de Freitas et al.
(2017) acknowledged 25 key impacts of LSS application through
organized literature review and suggested that LSS would be
capable of sustainable development in the organizations. Powell
et al. (2017) implemented LSS tools such as VSM e Value Stream
Mapping and DMAIC e Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and
Control in the Food processing industry of Norway and reduced the
wastage of milk. Ruben et al. (2017a) suggested the integrated
model of Lean and Sustainable systems and found the list of inte-
grated enablers for the industry. Antony et al. (2017) described the
expedition of LSS by identifying the critical ingredients of LSS, such
as dedicated management leadership, the involvement of top
leaders, cooperative organization, and a complete approach to
improvement. Barbara, 2016 proposed a conceptual integrated
model aligning sustainability concepts with the Lean process. The
cases reported in the LSS domain indicate that many firms have
gained benefits in terms of profit maximization, cost reduction,
lead time reduction, problem-solving, etc. by implementing LSS.
LSS reduces waste along with process improvements by reducing
the variation of the process, and sustainability emphasizes the
three pillars (Erdil et al., 2018). Integrating sustainability with LSS
will lead the organizations towards sustainable development.
Parmar and Desai (2019) provided a systematic literature review on
SLSS. In their literature, they found opportunities for the imple-
mentation of SLSS in the various sectors. From the above literature,
it can be concluded that the implementation of SLSS has received
increasing attention from the researchers and practitioners. The
3
present study discusses about the enablers of SLSS in an Indian
manufacturing organization. The present study also contributes to
the relationship development among the enablers through a causal
diagram presentation. The influencing enablers and influenced
enablers are explained with their significance. The present research
is unique to evaluate the enablers of SLSS for Indian manufacturing
organization with fuzzy DEMATEL.
3. Enablers of Sustainable Lean Six Sigma
In the literature, enablers are considered as factors that are
significant to adopt quality management along with organizational
goals and performance (Yadav and Desai, 2017). Various re-
searchers have discussed the enablers of LSS. Lande et al. (2016)
identified the enablers of LSS affecting and influencing the qual-
ity, operational, and financial performance of small and medium
enterprises. Raval et al. (2018) developed the hierarchical model to
understand the relationships among the LSS enablers. Sreedharan
et al. (2018) presented a review on critical success factors of TQM,
SS, Lean, and LSS. Pandey et al. (2018) proposed the concept of GLSS
and evaluated the enablers for the same. Kumar et al. (2015) pre-
sented a conceptual framework based on Sustainable Green Lean
Six Sigma and prioritized the critical success factors for the same.
Goyal et al. (2019) analyzed environmental sustainability enablers
using fuzzy DEMATEL. Kaswan and Rathi (2019) investigated the
enablers of GLSS and found management commitment as the most
critical enabler. Many researchers have put efforts to integrate LSS
with Sustainability to achieve good results. But still, the integrated
SLSS approach is in the growing stage, and developing countries
like India much needed to adopt this kind of strategy. One of the
reasons for not adopting this kind of strategy is the lack of
knowledge regarding enablers and barriers. Very few researchers
have explained the integrated methodology of SLSS. In the context
of this lack of research in the field of SLSS, the literature review was
carried out to identify the enablers of SLSS.
The enablers were identified from the extensive literature re-
view available on various databases such as Scopus, Science Direct,
Google Scholar, Web of Science, etc. The search strings used to
search the articles were: “Lean Six Sigma”, “Sustainability”, “Sus-
tainable Development”, “Green”, “Green Lean Six Sigma”, “Triple
bottom line”, “Green Lean”, etc. with the combination of Boolean
operators - ‘AND’ and ‘OR’. Initially, fifty-five enablers were docu-
mented through the literature review. During the finalization of the
enablers, the repeated enablers were separated and counted as
same. After experts’ opinions, a total of twenty-six enablers were
shortlisted. The listed enablers were further classified in different
five categories, such as (1) strategic, (2) operational, (3) people, (4)
external, and (5) government and standardization (Table 1). It is
vital to note that some of the SLSS enablers were revised separately
as no previous research in this direction had been attempted by the
researchers. The opinions from the experts helped to modify the
enablers, and they could become relevant for the implementation
in the organizations.
3.1. Research gap
An extensive review of relevant literature indicates that the
researchers and practitioners have implemented LSS in different
sectors for structured data analysis and problem-solving (such as
process variation and product defects). The integration of LSS and
Sustainability (i.e. SLSS) has received increasing attention from
researchers and practitioners. But still, the SLSS implementation
approach is in the growing stage. The only gap that appeared in the
literature was that SLSS implementation has not been explored
well in developing countries like India. In the context of this lack of
4 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802

Table 1
List of enablers.

Category Code Enabler Description of enabler References

Strategic Factors SF1 Organizational Organizational culture can be defined as how employees Kumar et al. (2015); Kaswan and Rathi
(SF) culture, change, understand each other’s viewpoints well enough to agree (2019); Yadav and Desai (2017); Goyal
and improvement with them as genuine and make changes in the et al. (2019); Raval et al. (2018)
organization. These changes can be related to improvement
or learning-based activities.
SF2 Support and The support and commitment of top management can be Pandey et al. (2018); Cherrafi et al.
commitment of Top defined as support and commitment from the higher-level (2016b); Kumar et al. (2015); Kaswan
management authority to the employees for any kind of change in the and Rathi (2019); Cherrafi et al.
organization. It is vital for the implementation of a strategic (2016a); Gandhi et al. (2018); Goyal
program in the organization. The commitment from et al. (2019)
management helps to implement quality management
strategies. It also helps in the allocation of resources and
motivates employees’ enthusiasm to work.
SF3 Resource and skills The resources such as money, employee skills, and external Pandey et al. (2018); Cherrafi et al.
to facilitate the support (i.e. human resources, consultants, materials, etc.) (2016b)
implementation need to be facilitated for the implementation of the SLSS in
the organization. Implementation is the carrying out,
execution, or practice of a plan, model, and standard.
SF4 Firm’s reputation The firm’s reputation can be defined as the perception of the Cherrafi et al. (2016a); Raval et al.
community towards a particular firm. A firm’s reputation (2018)
consists of the information and feelings towards the firm
held by the people.
SF5 Funds allocation Funds allocation starts with the strategic planning of an Pandey et al. (2018); Yadav and Desai
organization by making goals and vision for the future. The (2017); Raval et al. (2018)
involvement of the management is important for the
appropriate division of the funds. The organization must
allocate adequate funds for projects such as SLSS to
accomplish goals.
SF6 Linking SLSS to Linking the SLSS program to business strategies helps the Pandey et al. (2018); Cherrafi et al.
business strategies organization to achieve the goals through the usage of (2016b); Yadav and Desai (2017);
strategy decisions by the top management. Kaswan and Rathi (2019); Raval et al.
(2018)
SF7 Quality of raw The quality of raw materials is the basis of high-quality Pandey et al. (2018); Cherrafi et al.
material products. As such, they should meet the essential (2016b); Kumar et al. (2015)
specifications and regulations. A good quality product leads
to customer satisfaction. Ensuring the quality of the raw
material may result in improved operational performance,
increased productivity, and better-finished products.
SF8 Skilled training Skilled training programs are the most important Pandey et al. (2018); Cherrafi et al.
programs requirements for implementing the SLSS in an organization. (2016); Yadav and Desai (2017);
An effective training program supports to manage change Kaswan and Rathi (2019)
and pursues the complete involvement of employees. A
skilled training program inculcates the required knowledge,
skills, and strategies in its employees.
Operational Factors OF1 Manufacturing The precise and accurate manufacturing facilities help to Pandey et al. (2018); Cherrafi et al.
(OF) facilities with good make defect-free products assuring customer satisfaction. (2016b)
quality Manufacturing facilities can help in making a high-quality
product.
OF2 Organizational Organizational readiness indicates the connection between Cherrafi et al. (2016b); Pandey et al.
readiness to employees, procedures, and management. The organization (2018); Kumar et al. (2015); Kaswan
implement SLSS should have procedures and individuals in place to and Rathi (2019); Raval et al. (2018)
coordinate the efforts and communicate changes. The
organization (people and management) will need to be
ready to learn and adapt to new techniques. The goal is on
transforming the organization and changing people’s
mindsets.
OF3 Focus on Focus on measurement and results helps to generate Cherrafi et al. (2016b); Pandey et al.
measurement and reliable data. These data can be further utilized for the (2018); Kaswan and Rathi (2019);
results effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation of the Raval et al. (2018)
SLSS.
OF4 Effective Effective scheduling can be done by a complete utilization of Pandey et al. (2018); Cherrafi et al.
scheduling machine/equipment and by reducing the lead time. Idle (2016b); Yadav and Desai (2017); Raval
time of the product during the manufacturing process is et al. (2018)
critical to challenge. Effective scheduling helps in reducing
the idle time, which leads to reduce costs with the improved
performance of the organization.
OF5 Green design The main aim of green design is to reduce the negative Pandey et al. (2018); Cherrafi et al.
practices environmental effect caused by a product. The green design (2016b); Goyal et al. (2019)
practice can be anywhere starting from the extraction of
raw material, complete manufacturing procedures,
packaging, dispatch, finished product consumption, and end
life stage.
OF6 Use of Transportation includes the movement of products from the Pandey et al. (2018); Cherrafi et al.
environment- manufacturing organizations to the customers having less (2016b); Goyal et al. (2019)
 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802 5

Table 1 (continued )

Category Code Enabler Description of enabler References

friendly harmful effects on the environment. It plays a vital role in

transportation the global climate change and is also responsible for
emissions of greenhouse gases. Bringing environment-
friendly transportation into use will help to cope up with
the global climate problems and attain environmental
sustainability.
OF7 Project Project selection is the process of evaluating and choosing Cherrafi et al. (2016b); Pandey et al.
prioritization and projects that both line up with an organization’s goals and (2018)
selection maximize its performance. Prioritization refers to ranking
or scoring projects, based on certain criteria, to determine
the order of execution.
OF8 Reliable data Reliable data collection system that simplifies the data Kumar et al. (2015); Kaswan and Rathi
collection and collection and allows specific - structured information to be (2019); Raval et al. (2018)
retrieval system gathered; subsequently, it helps in data analysis. The data
retrieval system helps in identifying and extracting data
from a database and enables to fetch the data for analysis/
display.
OF9 Communication Good communication and information management system Cherrafi et al. (2016b); Pandey et al.
and information helps to create a positive culture in an organization. It is (2018); Goyal et al. (2019); Raval et al.
management related to the organizational activity. It collects information/ (2018)
idea/order from one or more place and shares/deliver it to
the respective department/worker. During the process of
communication, the data are generated and stored in the
system of the organization.
People Factors (PF) PF1 Education and skill An organization must have skilled employees that would Cherrafi et al. (2016a); Kumar et al.
of human resources lead to an effective SLSS implementation. A good human (2015); Kaswan and Rathi (2019);
resource is essential for the effective running of any Raval et al. (2018)
organization and its continued success in business. The
quality of human resources represents the company’s
efficiency in delivering quality service to its customers.
PF2 Employee Employee motivation and involvement are necessary for Pandey et al. (2018); Cherrafi et al.
motivation and maintaining a cooperative environment in the organization, (2016b); Kumar et al. (2015); Cherrafi
involvement which enables smooth flow of work. Appropriate et al. (2016a); Raval et al. (2018)
management practices may lead to employee’s complete
motivation to work in coordination with the team for
implementing SLSS effectively.
PF3 Reward and Liking SLSS to reward and recognition helps the Gandhi et al. (2018); Yadav and Desai
recognition of team management to attract the employees to make efforts for (2017); Raval et al. (2018)
members the successful implementation of SLSS and create more
interest in the employees to involve in the SLSS projects and
continuous improvement activities.
External Factors EF1 Consumer and Consumer and market request for green products helps the Cherrafi et al. (2016b); Cherrafi et al.
(EF) market request organization to make a direct involvement of consumer. (2016a); Yadav and Desai (2017); Raval
These products can be used for individual or can be shared et al. (2018)
with others. The consumer can make their own decisions
about how they will use the products.
EF2 Supplier The supplier’s involvement with the manufacturer is vital to Cherrafi et al. (2016a); Yadav and Desai
involvement SLSS implementation. Suppliers can be considered as the (2017); Raval et al. (2018)
source of research and development in an organization. The
involvement of the supplier can result in a better quality of
the product.
EF3 Stakeholder Stakeholder pressure can be defined as the ability and Gandhi et al. (2018); Kumar et al.
pressure capacity of stakeholders (such as local groups, government (2015); Goyal et al. (2019)
agencies, political parties, etc.) to affect an organization by
influencing its operational and managerial decisions.
EF4 Market increase The market increase can be defined as growth in the Gandhi et al. (2018); Cherrafi et al.
demand by the customer for the product over the period of (2016b); Goyal et al. (2019)
time. Market increase of a particular product can be slow
down if customers do not demand. Once the customer finds
the product as per price and usefulness, the market of that
particular product increases.
Government and GSF1 Environmental The environmental management system aims towards the Pandey et al. (2018); Goyal et al. (2019)
Standardization Management improvement of environment standard practices across the
Factors (GSF) System world. There are various activities for environment
management that may be implemented for effective
implementation of SLSS in the organization.
GSF2 Government rules Government rules and regulations are made by government Cherrafi et al. (2016a); Kumar et al.
and regulations authorities in order to control the way of actions done by (2015); Gandhi et al. (2018); Goyal
people or their behavior. et al. (2019)
6 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802
research in the field of SLSS, the present research is carried out to
evaluate the enablers of SLSS for an Indian manufacturing organi-
zation with fuzzy DEMATEL. The present study is also novel to
express the relationships developed among the enablers through a
causal diagram presentation.
3.2. Research methodology
Research methodology to explore the enablers of SLSS adoption
in the organization is as shown below (Fig. 1).
4. The MCDM technique
The direct application of SLSS in the organizations will lead to
creating disbelief in people’s mind related to the success of SLSS
execution. The implementation of SLSS requires a strategic balance
between the triple bottom line of the business, which requires
strategic decisions at every stage. Multi-Criteria Decision-Making
techniques provide strong decisions where the choice of the best
alternate is complex (Mardani et al., 2015). Sometimes human
Fig. 1. Research methodology to explore the enablers of SLSS.
decisions for preference become complex and ambiguous, in that
case, it is difficult to estimate the preference with an accurate nu-
merical value. It is coherent to use etymological terms to illustrate
the desired value and weight of the important elements. For
example, “very high”, “high”, “fair”, “low”, “very low”, etc. Fuzzy set
theory is a suitable technique to deal with ambiguity, uncertainty,
and subjectivity of data that can be efficiently stated in fuzzy lin-
guistic variables (Patil and Kant, 2013).
4.1. Fuzzy number theory
Zadeh (1965) proposed the fuzzy set theory and presented the
idea of the membership function. Fuzzy numbers can be defined as
a fuzzy set consisting of real numbers, which represent the
expansion of the plan of the confidence interval (Dubois and Prade,
1978). The fuzzy physiological characteristic is converted into direct
values to process a more variety of thoughts of people (Wu and Lee,
2007). The membership function of a fuzzy set specifies the degree
to which input belongs to a set. The output of a membership
function is always limited between 0 and 1, which is called the
 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802 7

value of the grade of membership. Triangular, Trapezoidal, and

Gaussian membership functions are convex, which start from the A ~ ¼ ð~l :~l ; m
~ A ~ 1 :m
~ 2 ; ~r 1 :~r 1 Þ (4)
1 2 1 2
zero declines at zero after reaching a maximum value. Here the
~ is having a membership function m ~ (X), with the For ~l1 ; ~l2 > 0; m
~1 ; m
~ 2 > 0; ~r 1 ; ~r 2 > 0
fuzzy set A A
following explanations: ~ ¼ ð ~l = ~l ; m
~ =A ~1 =m
~ 2 ; ~r 1 = ~r 2 Þ
A1 2 1 2 (5)
Explanation 1: Function is a constant plotting in the R to the  
interval of [0,1]. ~ 1 ¼ 1 1 1
A ; ; (6)
Explanation 2: mA~ (X) is convex fuzzy set with a number of X0,
1 ~l m ~ 1 ~r 1
1
which makes mA~ (X) ¼ 1 means it is the normalization of the
fuzzy set. ~  f ¼ ð a~l ; am
A ~ ; a~r Þ (7)

If the aforementioned circumstances are satisfied by the The group decision making is preferred to arrive at the final
numbers, then they are called fuzzy numbers. The triangular shapes score or decision based on the inputs of more than one individual.
indicate fuzzy numbers, and trapezoid shapes denote fuzzy in- In the group decision making process, the final decision is reached
tervals. If one got good results with the triangular membership from the exchange of information and ideas among the group
functions, one doesn’t need to use the more advanced functions. members those are having expertise in different portions of the
The triangular membership function is used for the present study problem. The final decision attained by the group is normally
with the fuzzy DEMATEL technique. considered as a more acceptable judgment as compared to a single
individual. The TFNs (followed by membership function), which
represents different criteria such as NO, VL, L, H, VH according to
4.2. Triangular fuzzy membership function the intensity of the factors or criteria. Different values are recom-
mended as per the above criteria, such as 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1
Triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs) can be defined as a number (Fig. 2).
followed by three points representation as TFNs ¼ mA~ (x) ¼ A ¼ (~l; m;~
~r ). The membership function and characteristics of the TFNs are 4.3. Fuzzy DEMATEL technique
expressed by Fig. 2 and Eq. (1). Where mA~ (x) is called the mem-
bership function of A,~ which is, x 2 R. The existing value m ~ (x) 2 [0, The objective of the present study is to evaluate the enablers in
A
1], where mA~ (x) refers to the degree of x attributed to A~. the context of causal relations. For the fulfillment of this objective,
8 various techniques are available such as the AHP, ISM, total inter-
>
> 0; xl pretive structural modeling (TISM), and DEMATEL. Among these
>
>
>
> xl
techniques, AHP could not determine the relationships between
>
>
< ; lxm enablers, and ISM/TISM could not provide quantified relationships.
mA~ ðxÞ ¼ m l (1) To quantify the relationships in complex situations, DEMATEL can
>
> rx
>
> ; mxr be selected as the best technique (Khan et al., 2019). DEMATEL al-
>
> r m
>
> lows multidimensional relationships as compared to AHP (Kirkire
:
0; xr and Rane, 2017). Conventional DEMATEL can only deal with
certain situations but fails to uncertain situations. This limitation of
A denotes a fuzzy set, ‘x’ is a number of elements of a set A, while
the DEMATEL can be solved by using a fuzzy set theory. Khan et al.
l, m, r are the real numbers. According to the extension principle
(2019) explain the advantage of using the fuzzy DEMATEL tech-
and the characteristic proposed by Zadeh (1965), the TFNs are
nique as it can deal with limited information and can use with a
denoted as A ¼ (~l; m;
~ ~r ) and the operational laws of the two TFNs are
~ ¼ (le ; m ~ ~ ~ ; ~r ) are performed as small sample size/number of experts. The fuzzy DEMATEL tech-
denoted as A 1 1 f1 ; re1 ) and A2 ¼ (l2 ; m 2 2
nique was proposed by Wu and Lee (2007). They applied fuzzy
follows:
DEMATEL to develop global managers’ competencies. Chen et al.
~ ¼ ð ~l þ ~l ; m
~ þA ~1 þm
~ 2 ; ~r 1 þ ~r 2 Þ (2008) applied the fuzzy DEMATEL in linguistic information
A1 2 1 2 (2)
method to evaluate hotel service quality. Tseng (2009) developed
the cause and effect model to evaluate service quality expectations.
A ~ ¼ ð ~l  ~l ; m
~ A ~1 m
~ 2 ; ~r 1  ~r 2 Þ (3)
1 2 1 2 The DEMATEL technique was invented in Geneva Research
Centre of the Battelle Memorial Institute (Gabus and Fontela, 1972).
DEMATEL technique is an effective method for building and eval-
uating a model and relations among elements of a number of
present alternatives (Si et al., 2018). The matrices or diagraphs
portray the causal relationship between the factors/elements of the
system; all the factors/elements are separated into two clusters,
namely causal group and effect group. The structural relationship
among the elements helps to find a path to solve complicate system
problems by understanding the complex causal relationship and
severity of influences of them on another. Fuzzy DEMATEL tech-
nique has been utilized by many researchers. Some of the appli-
cations of fuzzy DEMATEL such as identification of critical success
factors of knowledge management adoption in the supply chain
(Patil and Kant, 2013); modeling the enablers of green innovation in
manufacturing organizations (Gupta and Barua, 2018); evaluating
the barriers in the adoption of halal certification (Khan et al., 2019);
Fig. 2. Membership function of TFNs. identifying causal relationships in mobile app issues (Pandey et al.,
8 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802

Table 2 Table 3
Fuzzy Linguistic Scales for the important weights. Details about experts.

Linguistic variable Triangular fuzzy number Sr. No. Expert Designation Experience (years) Department/role

No influence (NO) (0, 0, 0.25) 1 Managing Director 25 System Management

Very low influence (VL) (0, 0.25, 0.5) 2 Technical Director 29 Technical Management
Low influence (L) (0.25, 0.5, 0.75) 3 Production Head 22 Production
High influence (H) (0.5, 0.75, 1.0) 4 Development Head 17 Development
Very high influence (VH) (0.75, 1.0, 1.0) 5 Consultant 18 Consulting

2019); model development based on green supply chain manage-  k indicates the number of experts, and n indicates the number
ment performance (Kazancoglu and Sagnak, 2018); developing of factors. Character ‘~’ is placed above a symbol which rep-
supplier selection criteria (Chang et al., 2011); analyzing key factors resents a fuzzy set.
for product promotion (Gao et al., 2018); analyzing uncertain Step 4: De-fuzzify the Triangular Fuzzy Numbers (TFNs) to a
influential factors for sustainable supply chain (Lin et al., 2018); crisp value.
identifying critical success factors for lean manufacturing (Seleem
et al., 2017); identifying the influential indicators towards sus- A fuzzy aggregation method is required to handle any problem
tainable supply chain adoption (Li and Mathiyazhagan, 2018); with vagueness. For converting the human judgment of fuzzy
evaluating the green supply chain management practices (Lin, linguistic-based on TFNs, a Fuzzy aggregation method with defuz-
2013); Segmenting critical success factors of the humanitarian zification is required. During the defuzzification of the fuzzy output
supply chain (Yadav and Barve, 2018). set, a specific crisp element is selected to convert the fuzzy
From the above comprehensive literature, it can be concluded numbers into the crisp numbers called as best non-fuzzy perfor-
that for the evaluation of problems in the context of relationships mance value (BNP) and this BNP number is helpful in ranking and
and decision making, the DEMATEL is a good technique. As per the comparing each alternative. The de-fuzzification procedure can be
human point of view, it is determined that decision factors are of two types, the first one is converting the fuzzy numbers into
usually judged subjectively by using this technique. In DEMATEL, crisp scores (CFCS), and the second one is the centroid method or
the relationships and interactions among cause and effect factors Centre of Gravity method. The Centre of Gravity method is not
are converted into the structural model, as stated in previous sec- helpful in differentiating between two dissimilar shapes fuzzy
tions. This technique is adopted to identify the relationships among numbers, which can be converted in the same crisp number using
the enablers of SLSS implementation in the Indian manufacturing the centroid method (Wu and Lee, 2007). The TFNs are denoted in
organizations. the form of triplets i.e. set of three real numbers, which are l, m, and
r, where l  m  r. Presuming that XijK ¼ ðlij ; mij ; rij Þ, in which ‘i’
4.4. Steps to solve fuzzy DEMATEL have an impact on factor ‘j’ given by the kth expert as the fuzzy
evaluation. The defuzzification can be completed through CFCS,
Step 1: Selecting the team of experts who have practiced this which contains a set of four processes, and at the end, the best non-
research field. fuzzy performance value (called as crisp value) is obtained. The
process is as given below:
A decision group of five experts was formed, which consisted of
two senior-level management experts, two technical experts, and 4.4.1. Standardization of fuzzy numbers
one environmental standard implementation consultant. All these
experts of the decision group were having a different field of
 
expertise such as management, technical, environment, and human min
lkij  lk
resource (Table 3). These experts were involved in different l  k  K ij
decision-making positions with experience of more than fifteen xlkij ¼ (8)
Dmax
min
years.
 
min
Step 2: Design the fuzzy linguistic scale based on the deter- mkij  lk
l  k  K ij
mined factors. xmkij ¼ (9)
Dmax
min
Each expert of the decision panel has to provide his input for  
different factors. Each expert’s qualitative judgment about the min
rijk  lk
mutual impact of SLSS enablers was taken over the pairwise com- l  k  K ij
xrijk ¼ (10)
parison matrix using linguistic variables. Here, the values of lin- Dmax
min
guistic variables can be positive or negative. In the present study,
the positive values of linguistic variables are considered to show Where Dmax k k
min ¼ max rij  min. lij
the impact of the enablers (Luthra et al., 2016). For pairwise com-
parison, a five-point fuzzy linguistic scale is designed (Table 2) for
experts to evaluate the interrelationships among the enablers (Lin, 4.5. Calculate left and right normalized values
2013).

Step 3: Generate the direct-relation matrix A ¼ [ aij ]

xmkij
 Here, aij indicates the direct impact of factor i on factor j. xlskij ¼   (11)
 For i ¼ j, the diagonal elements are set to zero. 1 þ xmkij  xlkij
 For each expert, a n  n non-negative matrix can be estab-
Zij ¼ zekij
k
lished as:f
 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802 9

( )
xrijk X
n
xrskij ¼   (12) C¼ tij (20)
1 þ xrijk  xmkij i¼1 1n

Where i ¼ 1, 2, 3 … n.
Where j ¼ 1, 2, 3 … n.

4.6. Calculate the total normalized value Step 9: Using Eq. (21) as given below, the priority weight (W)
can be obtained.
Pn
h   i j¼1 R þ C
xlskij 1  xlskij þ xrskij W ¼ Pn Pn (21)
xkij ¼   (13) i¼1 j¼1 R þ C
1 þ xrskij  xlskij
Here, R þ C represents all impacts followed by the factor i. Also,
R þ C represents the importance value of factor i within the entire
system.

4.7. Compute the crisp value

5. Case analysis and data collection

The case organization XYZ is an ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:

BNPijk ¼ minlkij  xkij Dmax (14) 2015 certified electrical components manufacturing organization
min
located in Gujarat, India. The organization manufactures a large
The classical set or crisp set is one that dispenses scores of series of electrical products such as different types of terminal
memberships of either 0 or 1 to objects within their space of blocks, interface modules, switches with specializations, bus bars,
discourse. Then find the initial direct relation matrix Z ¼ [aij ] where etc. for the Indian railways and other large-scale organizations. The
Z is ‘n * n’ non-negative matrix, aij indicates the direct impact of organization is supported by the latest high-tech machines to
factor ‘i’ on factor ‘j’; and when i ¼ j, the diagonal elements aij ¼ 0. manufacture products and tools. The continuous research and
development activities are carried out to improve the quality of
Step 5: Find the combined score by averaging the crisp scores of products. To implement the SLSS in manufacturing organizations,
all kth experts, the enablers identified through literature have been evaluated
through the fuzzy DEMATEL technique.
1 XK
l k One of the significant advantages of using the fuzzy DEMATEL
aij ¼ BNPijk (15) technique is that it can deal with limited data under vagueness, and
K
k
Where k is the number of experts. it can be applied with a small group/number of experts (Khan et al.,
2019). Earlier Goyal et al. (2019); Luthra et al. (2016); Kazancoglu
Step 6: Normalization of the direct-relation matrix. The et al. (2018) and Khan et al. (2019) have applied fuzzy DEMATEL
normalized direct-relation matrix D calculated as, with five or less than five experts. In the present study case orga-
nization, a decision group of five experts was formed, which con-
D¼A  S (16) sisted of two senior-level management experts, two technical
experts, and one environmental standard implementation consul-
Where, tant. All these experts of the decision group were having a different
field of expertise such as management, technical, environment, and
1 human resource (Table 3). These experts were involved in different
S¼ max Pn
(17)
a decision-making positions with experience of more than fifteen
1in j¼1 ij
years.
From the literature survey, a total of twenty-six enablers of SLSS
implementation were identified. After a discussion with the deci-
Step 7: Calculate the total relation matrix. sion group, these enablers were finalized as the evaluation criteria
within five factors, such as Strategic factors, People factors, Oper-
T ¼ DðI  DÞ1 (18) ational factors, External factors, Government, and Standardization
factors. The experts were interviewed and asked to evaluate the
As shown in Eq. (16), D denotes the ‘Direct Relation Matrix’ causal relations between twenty-six enablers based on the fuzzy
found by normalization of the initial direct-relational matrix
through Eq. (17) and Di ¼ T represents the ‘Total Relational Matrix’
between each pair of system factors obtained via a formula of Eq. Table 4
Initial matrix for expert 1.
(18).
SF1 SF2 SF3 …. …. EF4 GSF1 GSF2
Step 8: Calculate the row sum (R) and column sum (C) of the SF1 0 H H …. . …. . H VH VH
matrix T by Eq. (19) and Eq. (20) correspondingly. SF2 H 0 H …. . …. . VH VH VH
8 9 SF3 L H 0 …. . …. . H VH H
<Xn = …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. .
R¼ tij (19) …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. .
: ; EF4 H VH H …. . …. . 0 VH H
j¼1
n1 GSF1 VH H H …. . …. . VH 0 H
GSF2 VH H H …. . …. . H VH 0
10 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802

linguistic scale (Table 2). The expert’s linguistic assessments were Table 6
obtained (Table 4). These linguistic assessments were then replaced Fuzzy initial-direct relation matrix e F for expert 1.

with corresponding TFN (Table 5). The linguistic assessments were SF1 SF2 SF3 …. …. EF4 GSF1 GSF2
aggregated to crisp values by using Eq. (2). The crisp values SF1 0.000 0.867 0.867 …. . …. . 0.867 0.967 0.967
represent the extent to which enablers have direct impacts on each SF2 0.867 0.000 0.867 …. . …. . 0.967 0.967 0.967
other. The fuzzy initial direct-relation matrix (F) was derived SF3 0.750 0.867 0.000 …. . …. . 0.867 0.967 0.867
(Table 6). The average fuzzy value matrix of all five experts was …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. .
…. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. .
calculated (Table 7). The total relation matrix was calculated
EF4 0.867 0.967 0.867 …. . …. . 0.000 0.967 0.867
(Table 8). GSF1 0.967 0.867 0.867 …. . …. . 0.967 0.000 0.867
Table 9 is about the rankings of the enablers; R is the value of GSF2 0.967 0.867 0.867 …. . …. . 0.867 0.967 0.000
raw sum, and C is the value of column sum, and ReC value is
calculated to find out the cause group enablers and effect group
enablers. Based on the value of R þ C scores, the enablers are Table 7
ranked. Average fuzzy value matrix of all five expert.

SF1 SF2 SF3 …. …. EF4 GSF1 GSF2

6. Results SF1 0 0.927 0.907 …. . …. . 0.887 0.947 0.583
SF2 0.867 0 0.887 …. . …. . 0.927 0.887 0.723
After getting approval from the decision group and calculating SF3 0.637 0.867 0 …. . …. . 0.883 0.907 0.907
the total relation matrix, a causal diagram was formed (Fig. 3). The …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. .
…. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. .
horizontal axis indicated by the R þ C column describes the EF4 0.927 0.927 0.907 …. . …. . 0 0.947 0.907
importance of enablers. Correspondingly, the relative column of GSF1 0.927 0.820 0.863 …. . …. . 0.907 0 0.867
ReC is plotted on the vertical axis, which represents the labeling of GSF2 0.887 0.887 0.907 …. . …. . 0.820 0.883 0
cause and effect group. The causal diagram provides an under-
standing of the analysis of the critical enablers of SLSS imple-
mentation. Through the causal diagram, the complexity of the case Table 8
becomes easier to capture, and it helps to make profound decisions Total relation matrix.
(Lin, 2013). According to the relative importance and position of the SF1 SF2 SF3 …. …. EF4 GSF1 GSF2
different enablers, the researchers and practitioners can find the
SF1 0.735 0.833 0.787 …. . …. . 0.814 0.828 0.728
influenced and influencing enablers. This will lead to the adoption SF2 0.773 0.788 0.784 …. . …. . 0.813 0.823 0.732
of the SLSS in manufacturing organizations. No such research has SF3 0.730 0.793 0.710 …. . …. . 0.777 0.790 0.710
been carried out in the literature to develop relationships of SLSS …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. .
enablers for the Indian manufacturing organization. The results …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. .
EF4 0.732 0.784 0.741 …. . …. . 0.724 0.779 0.699
obtained from the present study are discussed in three sections,
GSF1 0.741 0.790 0.749 …. . …. . 0.776 0.746 0.707
such as prioritization of the enablers based on R þ C score, classi- GSF2 0.730 0.782 0.741 …. . …. . 0.762 0.776 0.657
fication of the enablers into cause and effect group, and significant
enablers for decision-making explanations to the managers.
organization should pay attention to the performance of these
6.1. Rankings of the enablers based on R þ C score enablers, while effective scheduling (OF4 - with the score of 34.419)
has been found as the least significant enabler. More enablers with
The order of the enablers is evaluated through the degree of least significant values of R þ C scores are green design practices
importance of R þ C. The identified values of a total of twenty-six (OF5), project prioritization and selection (OF7), quality of raw
enablers on the R þ C scale (Fig. 4) will be helpful to find out the material (SF7), reliable data collection and retrieval system (OF8),
most important enablers. For the present case study organization, communication and information management (OF9), and
support and commitment of top management (SF2 - with the score manufacturing facilities with good quality (OF1). Through the
of 39.985) has been found out as the most important enabler fol- analysis of the research, it is exposed that most of the enablers are
lowed by the organizational readiness to implement SLSS (OF2), related to human resources and top management. Kaswan and
environmental management system (GSF1), organizational culture, Rathi (2019) analyzed the enablers of GLSS using interpretive
change, and improvement (SF1), market increase (EF4), focus on structural modeling, and they identified the top management
measurement and results (OF3), funds allocation (SF5), and commitment as the most significant enabler. Similarly, Yadav and
resource and skills to facilitate implementation (SF3). These en- Desai (2017) also highlighted that top management support is a
ablers have a significant positive impact on the SLSS implementa- significant enabler to implement LSS. This research is also sup-
tion as their R þ C scores are more than other enablers. The case ported in earlier findings of Indian case studies (Raval et al., 2018;

Table 5
Value Matrix for expert 1.

SF1 SF2 SF3 …. …. EF4 GSF1 GSF2

SF1 0 (0.5, 0.75, 1) (0.5, 0.75, 1) …. . …. . (0.5, 0.75, 1) (0.75, 1, 1) (0.75, 1, 1)

SF2 (0.5, 0.75, 1) 0 (0.5, 0.75, 1) …. . …. . (0.75, 1, 1) (0.75, 1, 1) (0.75, 1, 1)
SF3 (0.25, 0.5, 0.75) (0.5, 0.75, 1) 0 …. . …. . (0.5, 0.75, 1) (0.75, 1, 1) (0.5, 0.75, 1)
…. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. .
…. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. . …. .
EF4 (0.5, 0.75, 1) (0.75, 1, 1) (0.5, 0.75, 1) …. . …. . 0 (0.75, 1, 1) (0.5, 0.75, 1)
GSF1 (0.75, 1, 1) (0.5, 0.75, 1) (0.5, 0.75, 1) …. . …. . (0.75, 1, 1) 0 (0.5, 0.75, 1)
GSF2 (0.75, 1, 1) (0.5, 0.75, 1) (0.5, 0.75, 1) …. . …. . (0.5, 0.75, 1) (0.75, 1, 1) 0
 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802 11

Table 9 supported in earlier findings of an Indian case study (Kaswan and

Final rankings of the enablers. Rathi, 2019). The managers need to create a strong environmental
Enabler R C RþC ReC Ranking management system to reduce the environmental waste of the
SF1 19.517 19.088 38.605 0.429 4
organization. The Government of India announced the National
SF2 19.458 20.528 39.985 1.070 1 Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) to reduce environmental
SF3 18.602 19.365 37.967 0.763 8 carbon waste (Government of India (GoI), 2008). The increase in
SF4 19.040 18.310 37.349 0.730 12 demand of a particular product will increase the business of an
SF5 18.339 19.883 38.221 1.544 7
organization. The Government of India have started the strategies
SF6 18.035 18.692 36.727 0.657 16
SF7 18.660 17.128 35.789 1.532 23 such as Make-in-India for the growth in the manufacturing sector
SF8 18.669 18.217 36.886 0.452 14 (Government of India, 2015).
OF1 18.524 17.346 35.870 1.179 20
OF2 19.094 20.089 39.183 0.995 2
OF3 19.438 18.839 38.277 0.599 6 6.2. Classification of enablers into cause group and effect group
OF4 18.147 16.272 34.419 1.876 26
OF5 16.653 18.951 35.604 2.297 25 The enablers have been classified into two groups (i.e. cause
OF6 18.271 18.551 36.822 0.281 15
group and effect group) based on their value of ReC scores
OF7 18.473 17.134 35.606 1.339 24
OF8 18.598 17.253 35.851 1.345 22 (Table 9). From a total of twenty-six enablers, fourteen enablers
OF9 18.704 17.165 35.868 1.539 21 having a positive value of ReC scores are identified as the cause
PF1 18.348 17.743 36.091 0.606 19 group enablers, and the remaining twelve enablers having a
PF2 18.838 18.585 37.422 0.253 10
negative value of ReC scores, are identified as the effect group
PF3 18.356 18.552 36.908 0.196 13
EF1 19.204 18.178 37.382 1.025 11 enablers.
EF2 18.546 18.890 37.436 0.345 9 The enablers listed in the cause group indicate that the perfor-
EF3 17.610 18.881 36.491 1.271 18 mance of these enablers will decide the success of the imple-
EF4 18.302 20.057 38.359 1.756 5 mentation of the SLSS. These enablers are influencing enablers to
GSF1 18.558 20.373 38.931 1.815 3
implement SLSS (Fig. 5). Among all the enablers of cause group,
GSF2 18.294 18.206 36.500 0.088 17
“organizational culture, change, and improvement” (SF1) has the
highest degree of influential impact power of R equals to 19.517,
which means that organizational culture, change, and improve-
Gandhi et al., 2018). The implementation of SLSS will not be
ment (SF1) has the highest impact on other enablers of the cause
possible without the management support and commitment. The
group.
researchers and practitioners need to focus on the human-related
Table 10 and Table 11 represent various indicator checks for the
enablers rather than technical enablers for the effective imple-
cause group enablers and the effect group enablers. The enablers
mentation of the SLSS. The management must consider ‘the orga-
listed in the effect group indicate that these enablers are influenced
nizational culture, change, and improvement’ as a vital enabler to
by other enablers (Fig. 6). The case organization should focus on the
successfully implement SLSS in the organization. Cultural change
prominent cause enablers such as effective scheduling (OF4),
can be done through proper training and education for the people
communication and information management (OF9), quality of raw
(Cherrafi et al., 2016a). The Government of India has initiated
material (SF7), reliable data collection and retrieval system (OF8),
programs like zero effect zero defect and Lean manufacturing
and project prioritization and selection (OF7) and, the organization
Competitiveness Schemes (LMCs) for the manufacturing organi-
has been advised to monitor the implementation level of these
zations to support this kind of enabler. The organization’s readiness
enablers on a constant basis. Similarly, the prominent enablers of
to implement SLSS is a vital enabler for the success of the SLSS in
effect group are green design practices (OF5), environmental
the organization. This enabler of organizational readiness also
management system (GSF1), market increase (EF4), funds

Fig. 3. Causal diagram of SLSS enablers.

12 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802

Fig. 4. Prioritized enablers based on R þ C value.

Fig. 5. Cause group enablers based on ReC value.

Table 10
Cause group enabler description.

Cause group enablers e causer enablers

Sr. Indicator check Description

No.

1 The highest degree of Influential
impact power R
2 Highest ReC score in the group
3 Lowest ReC score
4 Highest R þ C score
SF1 e the organizational culture, change, and improvement factor has the highest degree of the influential impact power R,
which is 19.517, which indicates that SF1 enabler is greatly influencing the other enablers of the group.
OF4 - effective scheduling enabler has the highest value of the ReC value equals to 1.876, which indicates that OF4 is least
influenced by all other enablers.
GSF2 - government rules and regulations enabler has the least value of the ReC equals to 0.088, which means that GSF2 enabler
is highly influenced by the other enablers.
SF1 e the organizational culture, change, and improvement has the highest R þ C score equals to 38.605, and this enabler has
the potential to improve the system, and it requires the attention of the management.

allocation (SF5), and stakeholder pressure (EF3). The key perfor-
mance indicators for evaluating the implementation level of the
prominent cause group enablers need to be monitored. The key
performance indicators for the prominent effect group enablers
need to be identified to observe the performance of the enablers.
6.3. Significant enablers for decision-making explanations to the
managers
In the present study, the enablers were evaluated based on the
value given by the different experts. The present study
 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802 13

Table 11
Effect group enabler description.

Effect group enablers e receiver enablers

Sr. Indicator check Description

No.

1 The highest degree of Influential
impact power R
2 Highest ReC score in the group
3 Lowest ReC score
4 Highest R þ C score
SF2 - support and commitment of top management factor has the highest degree of the influential impact power R, which is
19.458, SF2 enabler is the most effective enabler for the implementation of SLSS in the organization.
PF3 - reward and recognition of team members enabler has the highest value of the ReC value equals to minus 0.196, which
means that it is highly influenced by all other enablers.
OF5 - green design practices enabler has the least value of the ReC equals minus 2.297, which means that OF5 enabler is least
influenced by the other enablers.
SF2 - support and commitment of top management has the highest value of R þ C value equals to 39.985, and this enabler is
most important as compared to other enablers.

Fig. 6. Effect group enablers based on ReC value (values are negative).

demonstrates the relations between the enablers of SLSS imple-
mentation for the manufacturing organizations. The causal diagram
represents the relationships between enablers and clarifies the
importance of the enablers for the ease of implementation of SLSS.
For the managers, the provided result will be helpful in imple-
menting the SLSS in manufacturing organizations. The significant
enablers are discussed below:
i. The enabler SF2 e support and commitment of top man-
agement is revealed as the top enabler in this study. This
research is also supported in earlier findings of Indian re-
searchers (Gandhi et al., 2018; Kaswan and Rathi, 2019). The
managers need to work with the support of top manage-
ment. The implementation of SLSS will not be possible until
the management is not committed to improvement.
ii. The enabler OF2 e organizational readiness to implement
SLSS is the second-highest enabler found in the result. The
managers need to spread awareness of the SLSS before
implementation. The proper training to the staff regarding
SLSS may lead to creating the readiness for SLSS imple-
mentation. The government of India has initiated manage-
ment development programs (MDP) to develop the skills of
the managers (Government of India, 2015).
iii. The enabler GSF1 e environmental management system is
also one of the significant findings through the analysis. The
environmental system must be concrete to ease the
implementation of the SLSS. The strong system will give a
good performance to reduce waste. The managers can hire
consultants to create a strong environmental management
system.
iv. The enabler SF1 e organizational culture, change, and
improvement has the highest degree of influential impact
power, which means that for the successful implementation
of the SLSS, this enabler plays a vital role. The managers can
put their efforts to involve the human resources for making
the changes in the organizations (Cherrafi et al., 2016a). The
Government of India has initiated programs like ZED and
LMCs for the manufacturing organizations to support this
kind of enabler.
v. In the causal group enablers, OF3 e focus on measurement
and results has the second-highest degree of influential
impact power on the organization. For the implementation
of the SLSS, focus on data measurement, and the result can be
considered as a significant factor. The managers should
concentrate on this enabler as sometimes the wrong data
may lead to generate disturbance in implementation.
vi. The enabler EF4 e the market increase is also critical to SLSS
execution. The increase in the demand for the product will
increase the business of an organization. The supportive
policies by the government will encourage organizations in
several tax relaxations (Malek and Desai, 2019). The
14 P.S. Parmar, T.N. Desai / Journal of Cleaner Production 265 (2020) 121802
strategies like Make-in-India has been initiated by the Gov-
ernment of India.
7. Conclusion
The complex business model and stakeholders’ pressure seek
the kind attention of the manufacturing organizations towards
environmental and social aspects. The manufacturing organizations
must find ways to control the waste and defects in their production
with consideration of the social and environmental factors. In the
present study, twenty-six enablers have been identified through
the literature extracted from various databases. Fuzzy DEMATEL
technique was used to identify the relationship among the en-
ablers. The causal model was developed for the understanding and
analysis of interactions between the enablers.
The present study is a novel concept to evaluate the enablers of
SLSS for an Indian manufacturing organization. Earlier, no research
has been carried out to find the relations among the enablers of the
integrated methodology of SLSS for Indian manufacturing organi-
zation. The relationships among the enablers will help the man-
agers to frame the effective strategies and policies for successful
SLSS implementation. The most influencing enablers found out as
the support and commitment of top management (SF2), environ-
mental management system (GSF1), organizational culture, change,
and improvement (SF1), market increase (EF4), and organizational
readiness to implement SLSS (OF2). It will require efforts to
implement these enablers as it deals with human resources rather
than technical aspects. Making defect-free products by reducing
waste will lead to the optimum utilization of the resources.
Accordingly, this study will help to achieve the goals of the United
Nations of sustainable development.
In this article, it is also important to point out the limitations of
the research. The present study is based on the experts’ opinions,
which can be subjective in nature. The present study was con-
ducted for the general applicability of Indian manufacturing orga-
nizations. Only one case organization was considered with expert
opinions to evaluate the enablers. The results may vary for the
other countries, different sizes of organizations/industries, in-
dustries with different domains, etc. In the future, researchers may
apply other techniques such as ISM, AHP, fuzzy matrice d’impacts
s multiplication applique
croise s a
 un classement (MICMAC), etc.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Pranay Sureshbhai Parmar: Conceptualization, Methodology,
Software, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Investigation,
Visualization, Software, Validation, Writing - review & editing.
Tushar N. Desai: Supervision.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121802.
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