Sustainable Supplier Evaluation in Developing Countries
Mahyar Shahpouri Arani, Mohsen Alvandi, Mehdi Tolooie
Published in the International Journal of Integrated Supply Management, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2022, pp. 151-183.
https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJISM.2022.121952
Research focus
This paper proposes an integrated fuzzy multi-criteria decision-aiding framework for evaluating sustainable suppliers in developing-country supply chains.
Method
The framework combines FDelphi, FDEMATEL, FANP, and FVIKOR. The model supports criteria formulation, relationship analysis, criteria weighting, and final supplier ranking across social, economic, and environmental dimensions.
Key contribution
Many supplier-selection studies focus on isolated methods or final ranking only. This work treats supplier evaluation as a process: identify the right criteria, model interactions, calculate weights, and then rank suppliers.
Why it matters
Sustainable supplier selection is a complex analytics problem. It requires decision models that can handle uncertainty, competing objectives, expert judgment, and interdependent criteria. The framework is especially relevant where data and resources are limited but supply-chain sustainability pressure is high.