USING A COMBINED APPROACH OF QUALITATIVE & MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MAKING (MCDM) APPROACH IN ORDER TO PRESENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAINS MODEL IN PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY

Abstract

Purpose of this research is to study criteria of sustainable supply chains in petrochemical industry. The research approach was both explorative and explanatory by using mixed methodologies for collection and analysis of data. It started with qualitative meta- synthesis of criteria of sustainable supply chains in former publications by using MAXQDA software. Afterwards, the identified criteria were quantitatively analyzed based on Delphi-fuzzy, DEMATEL and analytic network process (ANP) methodologies. Therefore, in this step the questionnaires was completed by 23 experts of Petrochemical industry, who were selected by purposive sampling. In total, fifteen criteria of sustainable supply chains were identified and classified. In the quantitative analysis, the three criteria of "organization & corporate-centric", "environmental management" and "environmental pressures" were rated as the most critical criteria. This study highlights the importance of criteria as well as the strength of interrelationships among criteria of sustainable supply chains in petrochemical industry. The research results can be beneficial for decision makers to prioritize their resources, actions, and strategies in steering supply chains sustainable development.

Keywords

• sustainable supply chain
• mix approach
• meta-synthesis
• analytic network process (anp)
• dematel