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Sustainability performance assessment of an aircraft manufacturing firm

Alok Raj (Operations Management Area, Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Lucknow, India)
Samir K. Srivastava (Operations Management Area, Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Lucknow, India)

Benchmarking: An International Journal

ISSN: 1463-5771

Article publication date: 2 July 2018

1513

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a composite index (CI) to evaluate the sustainability performance of an aircraft manufacturing firm using Fuzzy Best Worst Multi Criteria (FBWM) decision-making approach. It identifies a wide range of sub-dimensions and their attributes to measure sustainability in a multi-echelon supply chain.

Design/methodology/approach

FBWM, a hybrid multi-criteria decision making method, relies on multiple sub-dimensions and attributes for assessment of sustainability. Sub-dimensions and attributes are identified from a detailed literature review and inputs from 17 experts. The weights are evaluated using best worst method (BWM). Quantitative measurements are very difficult for attributes like living conditions, noise emission, etc., so the performance of attributes are assessed using Fuzzy logic. The proposed methodology is validated with the case study of a single unit of an Indian aircraft manufacturing firm.

Findings

Economic concerns emerge as the most influential dimension of sustainability in the aerospace sector. The results reveal that the firm considered in the case study is “Very Sustainable.” Firm’s performance ratings are excellent in three out of 79 attributes considered for the study. Further, 24 weaker (least performing) attributes are identified with the help of fuzzy performance index. These require managerial action for improvements.

Research limitations/implications

The present study is based on inputs from a small group of managers in a single firm in India. It can be extended to a large group of executives in other firms like Boeing, Airbus, etc. for testing the validity of the proposed methodology and generalization of the findings.

Practical implications

Managers, consultants and audit agencies can use the proposed CI developed in this paper for evaluating the sustainability performance of a firm. It assists managers to identify weaker attributes for which they may plan and prioritize their activities for improvements.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to measure sustainability in an aircraft manufacturing firm. The paper proposes a novel framework based on fuzzy BWM, for assessing sustainability performance.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by DST-EPSRC Joint Project in the area of Advanced Manufacturing (Grant No. DST/RC-UK/08-AM/2012). The authors thank the 17 industry experts of the aircraft manufacturing firm who participated in discussions and interviews and subsequent validation of the methodology. This work would not have been possible without their cooperation and sharing of experiences, vision and expertise. The authors are grateful to the editor and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on an earlier version of this paper.

Citation

Raj, A. and Srivastava, S.K. (2018), "Sustainability performance assessment of an aircraft manufacturing firm", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 25 No. 5, pp. 1500-1527. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-01-2017-0001

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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