Evaluating green supplier development programs at a telecommunications systems provider

Green supplier development has become necessary as organizations increasingly compete on environmental supply chain capabilities. However, formal modeling tools to aid managers in evaluating green supplier development programs (GSDPs) are virtually non-existent. This paper introduces a formal structured managerial approach for organizations to help evaluate the influence relationships amongst GSDPs. Utilizing GSDP categorizations we acquire multi-functional managerial inputs within a telecommunication systems provider to evaluate the GSDPs. The managerial inputs are evaluated using a formalized grey-based DEMATEL methodology. Managerial and research implications of the proposed study and application, limitations and future research directions are also detailed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.