An ISM-Based Correlational Study on Obstacles to Establishing Green Supply Chain in Small and Medium Size Enterprises and Prioritizing them Through ANP: A Case Study on Fars Cement Industry

As clients gain more awareness of environmental issues, governments codify stricter environmental regulations, while industries have to control their environmental effects on the supply chain. Nowadays, considering major investments in establishing cement manufacturing companies in Iran, as well as related job opportunities and other economic dimensions, the cement industry in the country has been following a rising trend. Despite these economic advantages, such companies inevitably contribute to environmental damages, which should be prevented considering environmental regulations. The present study is concerned with analyzing the obstacles to developing green chain supply of small and medium size enterprises in general, while it is specifically concentrated on Fars Cement Industry, Fars, Iran. To do this, primarily the obstacles to implementing GSCM are determined. Then, through the use of the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) the factors are prioritized and categorized. Results of this method showed that lack of technology and new materials and processes counted as the first output of the model, while it showed a suitable force for development. At the next step, Analytic Network Process (ANP) was used to determine the obstacles to establishing GSCM. Finally, the degree of significance of each of the obstacles was determined. Following the whole analysis, results of the study indicated that the obstacle promoting suppliers’ environmental awareness followed by lack of participation of high-ranking managers in adopting green supply chain showed a higher weight. To analyze the output data, Excel, MATLAB and SUPERDECISION were used. To enhance the applicability of the results observed in the study, the weight of the factors were analyzed by ANP. Furthermore, to interpret the degree of effectiveness of each factor in establishing GSCM, ISM was also used.