Evaluation of antecedents to social sustainability practices in multi-tier Indian automotive manufacturing firms

In the current time, social sustainability is directed by market turbulence and growing societal and environmental awareness among customers and employees. Manufacturing industries with multi-tier supply chains, especially in developing nations, such as India, are plagued with various social issues, as it employs large manpower. The present study attempts to identify the key social sustainability practices (SSP) and the method to evaluate SSP in multi-tier manufacturing firms. The approach was pilot tested in Indian manufacturing industry. A total of 16 SSP were identified through the process of literature survey and discussions with the domain experts. Furthermore, based on five practitioners' inputs, the relationship between various practices of social sustainability is modelled using Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM). The vagueness in the model and identified relationships are compensated by experts' (practitioners') validation. The practices are classified on the basis of driving and dependence power by adopting the MICMAC analysis. Customer management, information sharing, corporate sustainability reporting and standardisation, and monitoring practices are found to be the most influential practices that drive social sustainability in multi-tier automotive chains. Production managers could adopt these SSP to establish supply chain social sustainability in multi-tier global supply chains and achieve strategic advantage over others.

Automated summary

Currently, social sustainability is influenced by market turbulence and increasing societal and environmental awareness. This study focuses on social sustainability practices in the manufacturing industry and proposes an evaluation method. Through literature review and expert discussions, 16 key practices were identified. Based on input from practitioners, a relationship model was developed. The model and relationships were validated by experts. Using MICMAC analysis, the practices were classified. Some practices were found to have significant influence on driving social sustainability in supply chains. Production managers can adopt these practices to establish social sustainability in global supply chains and gain strategic advantage.