Impact of lean and quality management practices on green supply chain performance: an empirical study on ceramic enterprises

Abstract

In the last three decades, lean and quality management practices have been employed by the manufacturing organizations but limited studies have analyzed impact of lean and quality practices on green supply chain performance. This study aims to understand the impact of lean and quality management practices on green supply chain (GSC) performance through an empirical investigation. The study also benchmarks the adoption of lean and quality practices and GSC performance for ceramic enterprises. The study adopts multivariate data analysis methods. Four hypotheses have been developed based on the critical analysis of literature. Data was collected from 233 ceramic enterprises, and hypotheses are tested through structural equation modeling and cluster analysis. The results indicate a higher level of implementation of quality practices than lean practices in ceramic enterprises. The statistical results show that the adoption of lean and quality management practices led to the enhancement in operational and environmental performances but a decrease in economic performance. Results also show that the adoption level of these practices is high in large size enterprises, and the GSC performance level is highest for large enterprises, medium for medium enterprises, and lowest for small enterprises. The sector and region-specific focus of the study limits its results from generalization.