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Low carbon supplier development: A fuzzy c-means and fuzzy formal concept analysis based analytical model

Sanjay Jharkharia (Department of Operations Management, Indian Institute of Management Rohtak, Rohtak, India)
Chiranjit Das (Department of Operations Management, Indian Institute of Management Rohtak, Rohtak, India)

Benchmarking: An International Journal

ISSN: 1463-5771

Article publication date: 20 December 2018

Issue publication date: 11 February 2019

525

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analytical model for low carbon supplier development. This study is focused on the level of investment and collaboration decisions pertaining to emission reduction.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors’ model includes a fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering algorithm and a fuzzy formal concept analysis. First, a set of suppliers were classified according to their carbon performances through the FCM clustering algorithm. Then, the fuzzy formal concepts were derived from a set of fuzzy formal contexts through an intersection-based method. These fuzzy formal concepts provide the relative level of investments and collaboration decisions for each identified supplier cluster. A case from the Indian renewable energy sector was used for illustration of the proposed analytical model.

Findings

The proposed model and case illustration may help manufacturing firms to collaborate with their suppliers for improving their carbon performances.

Research limitations/implications

The study contributes to the low carbon supply chain management literature by identifying the decision criteria of investments toward low carbon supplier development. It also provides an analytical model of collaboration for low carbon supplier development. Though the purpose of the study is to illustrate the proposed analytical model, it would have been better if the model was empirically validated.

Originality/value

Though the earlier studies on green supplier development program evaluation have considered a set of criteria to decide whether or not to invest on suppliers, these are silent on the relative level of investment required for a given set of suppliers. This study aims to fulfill this gap by providing an analytical model that will help a manufacturing firm to invest and collaborate with its suppliers for improving their carbon performance.

Keywords

Citation

Jharkharia, S. and Das, C. (2019), "Low carbon supplier development: A fuzzy c-means and fuzzy formal concept analysis based analytical model", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 73-96. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-03-2018-0074

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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