The supply chain initiatives can be described as a set of activities performed by the firms for smooth functioning of the holistic supply chain system with the socio-economic and environmental needs in a long term period. The traditional supply chain management (SCM) practices replaced in favor of the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) initiatives in most of the Asian industries. Nowadays, the adoption of sustainable supply chain initiatives (SSCIs) is critical for the organization to mitigate risk, handle complexities, and business dynamics of the global outsourcing. For managing supply chains smoothly, it is the very important for industries to integrate supply chains through networks designed for achieving higher business volume. This synergistic linking of sustainable supply chain practices moves the organization towards the building of the competitive edge in the global market.
Categories of Barriers | Codes | Key Barriers in Adopting (SSCI) | Brief Descriptions | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sustainable Outsourcing (SO) | SO1 | Facing problems in maintaining sustainable suppliers | With sustainability perspective, industries find it difficult to maintain sustainable suppliers as the interest of supplier is different in the entire supply chain | [8,34,38,39] |
SO2 | Complexity in monitoring suppliers’ eco-practices | Due to conservative managerial styles, it’s difficult mitigate the eco-friendly practices of suppliers | [34,40,41] | |
SO3 | Lack of buyer-supplier partnerships based on environmental aspects | Due to lack of compliance and implementation of ISO 14,001 standards, firms face challenges to keep buyer-supplier partnerships | [42] | |
SO4 | No proper focus of Govt. to support (SSCI) | Government is not so much concerned to develop eco-friendly regulations and policies for industries operating in special industrial zones | [21] | |
SO5 | Lack of distinction and appreciation system for vendors | The industries are silent and not taking interest to educate the personnel of suppliers for adopting sustainable concepts | [43] | |
SO6 | Trust deficit in maintaining sustainable relationship with sustainable supplier | Lack of trust on developing sustainable relationship with supplier in long run | [30] | |
Sustainable Production and Distribution (SPD) |
SPD1 | Usage of toxic and polluted raw material inside the factory premises | The application of contaminated raw material in operational process leads towards the toxic finished product which eventually decrease the market value of the product | [31] |
SPD2 | Involvement of key Customers in new product development |
During product development the inclusion of key customer is crucial in designing new product | [44,45] | |
SPD3 | Adequacy for disposal of the waste | Industries have no proper drainage system for disposal of the wastage | [23,46,47] | |
SPD4 | Stock availability for performing the operations in a sustainable ways | Due to lack of awareness in the market, producer find it difficult to arrange contamination free stock for operational functions | [48] | |
SPD5 | Waste minimization In production process | Implementation of lean six sigma concept can reduce the wastage in production phase | [49] | |
SPD6 | Requesting compliance statements | Organizations are unable to comply particular rules and regulations set by the Government bodies and international authorities | [34] | |
SPD7 | Lack of flexibility in operations and production and process | Operational flexibility and production capacity is poor; still all organization are not well-integrated computer-controlled | [47,50] | |
Sustainable Competitiveness and Innovation (SCI) | SCI1 | Gain competitive advantage to keep the competition in market | Industries are facing rapid changes and competition in the market, due to the competitive advantage companies are unable to attract new customers at a faster rate than its competitors. | [8,51] |
SCI2 | Develop an appropriate database management system for maintenance of products | Industries need to struggle for developing a sustainable database system for recording of products. Maintaining highly hazardous material involves the probability of financial loss | [52] | |
SCI3 | Analyzing SSCM practices of Competitors | Industries are incapable to analyze the SSCM practices of competitors | [53] | |
SCI4 | Development of R&D Department for research, innovation and commercialization of Products | Existing R&D cell in the industries are not fully functional; there is a need to restructure the R&D cell for innovation of products | [2,33,54] | |
Sustainable Buyer-Supplier Relationship (SBSR) |
SBSR1 | Collaborations with buyer and supplier | With sustainable perspectives, industries have lack of collaborations with suppliers | [55,56] |
SBSR2 | Development of supplier of son on the basis of sustainability attributes | Lack of awareness of selecting supplier on the basis of sustainability attributes | [57] | |
SBSR3 | Providing awareness to SC partners for SSCM | Supply chain actors are generally unaware of sustainable practices | [58] | |
SBSR4 | Providing access to supplier in getting design specification | Industries are inefficient to provide design specification to the supplier | [59] | |
SBSR5 | Perform sustainable procurement functions in a supplier context only | Due to lack of sustainable supplier, the industries are dependent traditional supplier to procure the hazardous raw material | [60] | |
SBSR6 | Provide assurance to deliver sustainable raw material | Lack of assurance of sustainable raw material disturb the entire supply chain | [61,62] | |
SBSR7 | Providing rewards /incentives to buyer and suppliers |
There is no proper reward system developed by the Govt. bodies. | [63] | |
Sustainable Marketing and Organizational Culture (SMOC) |
SMOC1 | Providing awareness about Sustainable products | Lack of awareness about sustainable products | [12] |
SMOC2 | Acquiring customer satisfaction and loyalty | Facing difficulty to acquire customer satisfaction and loyalty | [64] | |
SMOC3 | Difficulty in finding markets for sustainable customers | Present industrial mindset and practices incapable of finding markets for sustainable customer | [65] | |
SMOC4 | Complexity in establishing culture for producing sustainable products | Industries reluctant to establish culture for producing sustainable products | [66] | |
SMOC5 | Lack of awareness about marketing constraints | Market plays a dynamic role towards sustainable supply chaint; as a diversified consumer mindset exist in the market | [67] | |
SMOC6 | Lack of employees awareness regarding sustainable practices | Inadequate awareness of employees about benefits of SSCM practices | [68] | |
SMOC7 | Providing awareness to employees about Production benefits | Inadequate awareness of employees regarding production benefits of SSCM practices | [69] | |
SustainableKnowledge Sharing (SKS) | SKS1 | Sharing awareness regarding forward and reverse logistics implementation | Industries are not well aware about forward and reverse logistics practices in terms of sustainability | [70] |
SKS2 | Sharing business Information with Supply chain partners to avoid disruptions | Facing difficulty in sharing business information with supply chain actors to avoid supply chain disruptions | [71] | |
SKS3 | Difficulty in maximizing the information sharing process | Supply chain member encounter difficulties in sharing information of funds, material and manpower | [72] | |
SKS4 | Sharing sustainable supply chain concepts | Industries lack belief in sharing sustainable supply chain concepts within holistic supply chain | [73] | |
SKS5 | Discouraging disbeliefs about environmental benefits | Industries are reluctant to believe on the ecological benefits of sustainability | [74] | |
Sustainable Technology (ST) |
ST1 | Adoption of eco-technology for producing products | Industries face fear in adopting sustainable supply chain as if technology fail to implement then it will create financial loss | [32,75] |
ST2 | Improvement of technological and cleaner production activities | There is a lack of human resources and technological capabilities in the industries | [14,76] | |
ST3 | Adoption of technology to conserve energy consumption | Organizations have not enough resources to design technology which reduce energy consumption | [14,77] | |
ST4 | Adopting reverse engineering techniques to design used products | Inability to design the reuse products by adopting reverse engineering technique | [78] | |
ST5 | Use technical experts to handle the automation digital activities | Lack of skilled labor to operate the digital equipment’s | [79,80] | |
ST6 | Adoption of emerging technology, Material, information and process | Employees reluctant to adopt new technology, material and follow the process | [81,82] |
This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/su13137278