When risks need attention: adoption of green supply chain initiatives in the pharmaceutical industry

The pharmaceutical industry is very important in delivering life-saving products/services to society. There are many ways for materials/products/services concerned with pharmaceuticals to influence the environment; these include improper disposal of pills/tablets by patients, expired and unused medi...

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Published inInternational journal of production research Vol. 57; no. 11; pp. 3554 - 3576
Main Authors Kumar, Anil, Zavadskas, Edmundas Kazimieras, Mangla, Sachin Kumar, Agrawal, Varun, Sharma, Kartik, Gupta, Divyanshu
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Taylor & Francis 03.06.2019
Taylor & Francis LLC
Subjects
Analytic hierarchy process
Drugs
fuzzy AHP
fuzzy Delphi
green supply chain
India
Literature reviews
Pharmaceutical industry
Pharmaceuticals
risk
Sensitivity analysis
Sewage
Stability analysis
Supply chains
Sustainable development
sustainable production
Tablets
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Summary:The pharmaceutical industry is very important in delivering life-saving products/services to society. There are many ways for materials/products/services concerned with pharmaceuticals to influence the environment; these include improper disposal of pills/tablets by patients, expired and unused medications, improper release of drugs by pharmacies or household sewage mixed with surplus drugs. In view of this, the present work seeks to integrate green supply chain (GSC) concepts in the pharmaceutical sector in a developing economy Indian context. In so doing, managers need to determine the potential risks in adopting GSC initiatives to achieve sustainability in operational perspectives. In this sense, this work seeks to distinguish the potential risks in adopting GSC initiatives within the pharmaceutical industry. This work uses a literature review and fuzzy Delphi approach in finalising the risks. This research also uses fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for prioritisation of the risks under vague and unclear surroundings. According to the findings, cold chain technology and supply risks categories are highly prioritised. This work can assist practising managers and government authorities in effectively developing and managing GSC initiatives in line with sustainable development goals in the context of the pharmaceutical industry. Finally, a sensitivity test is applied to evaluate the stability of ranking of risks.
ISSN:0020-7543
1366-588X
DOI:10.1080/00207543.2018.1543969