Modeling drivers for successful adoption of environmentally conscious manufacturing

Purpose – This paper aims at developing an interpretive structural model of drivers for environmentally conscious manufacturing (ECM). It will demonstrate how interpretive structural modeling (ISM) supports policy makers in the government and industry in identifying and understanding interdependencies among drivers for ECM. Interdependencies among drivers will be derived and structured into a hierarchy to derive subsystems of interdependent elements with corresponding driving power and dependency. Design/methodology/approach – ISM has been used to identify hierarchy and inter-relationships among drivers for ECM adoption and to classify the drivers according to their driving and dependence power using MICMAC analysis. The drivers for ECM adoption are identified through the review of literature followed by developing a model of drivers using ISM. Findings – The main findings of the paper include the development of an ISM model of drivers for ECM adoption. The developed model divided the identified drivers into five levels of hierarchies showing their inter-relationship and depicting the driving-dependence relationship. These five levels have been classified into four categories – awareness, external, organizational and benefits. Originality/value – The developed ISM model is expected to provide a direction to the policy makers in the government and industry and the top management of the organizations to leverage their resources in a timely manner to adopt ECM successfully.