Building theory of green supply chain management using total interpretive structural modeling (TISM)

Theory building in green supply chain management (GSCM) has in recent years received increasing attention from academia and practitioners. There are numerous published studies that have adopted a quantitative research methodology for building and testing theories in the fields of green supply chain management or environmental supply chain management. The aim of our paper is to build a GSCM theory using total interpretive structural modelling. To achieve this we have used an exhaustive literature review and identified the enablers of and barriers to GSCM. After identifying these enablers and barriers, we developed a questionnaire and distributed this among leading manufacturing firms who have embraced green supply chain management or environmental supply chain management as a guiding philosophy. The enablers were converted into a structural self-interaction matrix and we have further, based on expert opinion of individuals identified from academia and industry, developed a total interpretive structural model. The model presents the complex relationships among enablers and can in future be statistically validated using a larger sample size. The present study is an attempt to contribute in the field of theory building in GSCM, which is the pressing call of the time. Finally, we conclude our research and identify numerous research opportunities which may help to take the current study to the next level.