A fuzzy AHP approach for prioritizing sustainability drivers to implement industry 4.0 in reverse logistics
摘要
Driven by increasing demand for sustainability, companies across the globe have implemented Industry 4.0 technologies in their reverse logistics operations. E-commerce companies, in particular, have strategically implemented these technologies to optimize their reverse logistics operations and to enhance broader sustainability goals. However, the literature offers limited insight into specific sustainability drivers that motivated them to implement Industry 4.0 in their reverse logistics operations. Considering this gap, this study aims to identify and prioritize potential sustainability drivers for implementing Industry 4.0 in reverse logistics practices of e-commerce companies. An extensive review of existing literature and expert consultation identified and finalized 18 sustainability drivers for this study. These drivers were grouped into four main criteria: economic, environmental, social, and external, and examined through the theoretical lens of the dynamic capability view. A robust and reliable approach, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (F-AHP) with an extent analysis method, was used to prioritize major drivers and sub-drivers. The results of this study indicate that the economic sustainability driver is the most significant, followed by the external driver, while the social driver is the least important. The study is unique in integrating F-AHP with a dynamic capability view to prioritize sustainability drivers, extending the application of the dynamic capability view by linking four sustainability drivers (economic, environmental, social, and external) into three core capabilities (sensing, seizing, and transforming), offering theoretical contributions and practical insights to managers and policymakers. An outline of the study’s limitations and future research possibilities was provided in the last section, which might assist other researchers in exploring this topic further.