Exploring the Challenges to Adopt Green Initiatives to Supply Chain Management for Manufacturing Industries

Green initiatives have been widely introduced and have contributed to attaining sustainability and improving performance for supply chain management. However, only a few studies focus on green supply chain management (GSCM) practices in Vietnam. Hence, this work is the first study modeling the challenges in implementing green initiatives in the Vietnamese manufacturing supply chain. The authors aim to identify the fundamental challenges and evaluate the cross-interactions among them. The Interpretive Structural Model (ISM) method has been employed, based on experts' perspectives, to clarify which factor is the most potent challenge. Consequently, seven major challenge clusters have been identified, and they were divided into nineteen sub-challenges. Meanwhile, the authors evaluated their interrelationships based on the hierarchical structure diagram and the Matrice d'Impacts Croises Multiplication Appliquee a un Classement (MICMAC) analysis. It is observed that the Financial Costs elements group is the most difficult, followed by the lack of the Vietnamese government's green regulation and the lack of senior managers' support. The Information challenges cluster is considered as the middle bridge between the strong and weak elements. At the end of the diagram, two challenges are a lack of training courses about implementing GSCM and a lack of customer awareness and pressure about GSCM. Hence, these findings will become valuable suggestions for the top managers of Vietnamese manufacturers to make blueprint decisions.

Automated summary

This study is the first to model the challenges of implementing green initiatives in the Vietnamese manufacturing supply chain. The findings identify the most potent challenges, including financial costs, lack of government regulation, and lack of management support. The study also highlights the role of information challenges as a bridge between strong and weak elements.