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Industrialisation has contributed to global environmental problems, especially in developed countries, but increasingly so in developing ones as well. The rising public concern for the natural environment is compelling business entities to revise their business models towards green lean (GL) management. Most manufacturing firms have realised that GL implementation is a critical factor that drives their success. Therefore, keeping in view the above said aspects, the purpose of this paper is to empirically assess the complementary impact of GL practices on environmental performance.

Data from a sample of 124 Indian manufacturing industries are analysed using a structural equation modelling technique.

Evidence suggests that GL practices such as top management commitment, government support, human resource management, health and safety of employees and public pressure and legislature have significantly positive effect on environmental performance of manufacturing industries.

The sample is limited to Indian manufacturing industries situated in northern region, with a low response rate.

Successful implementations of GL practices can lead to improved environmental performance. Manufacturing industries within emerging economies like India can improve on their GL practices by incorporating these findings into their business models, while research could be guided to focus their inquiries on this and related genres of scholarly work.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to empirically assess the complementary impact of GL practices on environmental performance within the Indian context.

Lean and green strategies are good options to increase the environmental and operational performance of manufacturing industries. The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) to implement green lean practices (GLPs) in manufacturing industries through the review of the literature and to develop a conceptual model after analysing the fundamental facilitating factors by using ISM-MICMAC approach.

The methodology consists of identifying 12 critical success factors (CSFs) for the green lean implementation by reviewing the relevant available literature. The views of eight experts are valued for inter-relationships of these factors. ISM-MICMAC approach is used for analysing the relations between factors and to develop a conceptual model for green lean implementation.

Twelve CSFs are identified through a review of the literature to adopt GLPs in manufacturing industries. This paper has established the relationships among 12 identified CSFs using the ISM methodology. This paper analyses the dependence power and the driving power of identified CSFs with the help of MICMAC analysis. “Top management commitment” and “Government support” are the most significant CSFs implement GLPs successfully.

The ISM model presented in this study is based on expert opinions. But expert opinions may be biased as these are based on their own judgements. However, the proposed ISM based model needs statistically validations. The ISM model in the present study may be tested in real-world situations of manufacturing industries where results obtained may be different.

This study may provide a useful input for academicians and managers of industries to differentiate between independent and dependent CSFs and their mutual relationships which would help them to focus on those key CSFs that are most significant to implement GLPs.

A conceptual ISM model of identified CSFs shows the different levels of these CSFs. This model may help the manufacturer to implement the green-lean strategies. It may also support policymakers towards adopting GLPs. Arranging CSFs in a hierarchy and to categorise the CSFs into different levels with the help of ISM-MICMAC is an exclusive effort in the area of green lean engagement.

In order to improve environmental performance, manufacturing companies around the world have started to seek green practices (GPs) to adopt in their operations. Environmental awareness of the stakeholders has put the pressure and changed the focus of manufacturers. The purpose of this article is to gather GPs used in manufacturing industries through a literature review. It also aims at exploring other elements related to GPs in manufacturing firms.

The paper is exploratory in its approach. After searching relevant research articles from the online database, a review of 103 research articles has been conducted in the area of GPs in manufacturing industries.

This work attempts to offer a comprehensive list of GPs by studying the detailed relevant literature. This paper concludes that the concern of the use of GPs within manufacturing organisations is rising fast around the world, and research in this area is of great interest throughout the world over the last decade.

This study has reported several earlier studies by searching the online database through some selected keywords only, but it has not performed a subjective overview for screening and choosing the research articles. This paper explores and gives a concise description of the GPs in manufacturing that will be helpful for further studies of green manufacturing (GM).

This study provides a comprehensive literature review of GPs in manufacturing industries. This review should give benefits to other scholars and practitioners interested in studying GPs related to manufacturing industries. It might represent new opportunities for relevant research that would contribute to more knowledge of GM being gained.

The purpose of this paper is to identify critical success factors (CSFs) for implementing Six Sigma framework affecting and influencing quality, operational and financial performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It also intends to guide researchers and practitioners in selecting appropriate set of CSFs for effective implementation of Six Sigma using analytical hierarchy process (AHP).

In this study, a significant number of small and medium manufacturing organizations have been extensively surveyed to ascertain the contributions made by CSFs toward successful deployment of Six Sigma. The evaluation and the ranking of the CSFs among others, as well as on an individual level have been worked out using AHP.

The research study reveals that 13 CSFs have scored 75.9% in the success index, which is a significant figure to consider the importance, as well as their contribution toward successful implementation of Six Sigma in Indian SMEs.

The study mainly remains confined to the CSFs for Six Sigma implementation in SMEs from Indian subcontinent.

This paper contributes to the knowledge of academicians, practitioners and project managers by providing an insight into the evolution of the CSFs for implementing Six Sigma paradigms in Indian SMEs. The study drastically reduces implementation hassles and simplifies execution for empirical studies. The findings are not restricted to India but are generalizable and can globally used in deciding determinants of Six Sigma framework.

The purpose of this paper is to examine various technological innovation influencers (TIIs) in small manufacturing firms. It introduces a study framework of technological innovation and evaluates the relevance of four TIIs to building and sustaining the competitiveness of Indian firms.

This research is based on an in-depth survey of 135 firms located in India’s Northern region. Multiple regression analysis was employed to examine the correlation between TIIs and manufacturing firm performance (MFP) for these firms.

The findings verify that entrepreneurial capability, technology infrastructure capability and government initiatives are the most important TIIs for small firms. The findings are also validated by using statistical t-test and canonical correlation analysis.

This study uses a single informant as the source of information on each firm. The study is limited to small-scale firms in the Northern region of India. Also, the study has been conducted excluding the service sector.

Recent studies have advocated various TIIs and discussed their impact on MFP. This paper examines the determinants of technological innovation in small manufacturing firms. It introduces a study framework of technological innovation and examines the relevance of four TIIs to building and sustaining the competitiveness of Indian firms.

Green Lean concepts offer methods for managing manufacturing organizations with the goal of improving organizational performance. Green Lean practices are good options to increase the environmental and operational performance of manufacturing industries. However, there are some barriers to implement Green Lean in manufacturing industries. This paper aims to identify these barriers by reviewing the literature and analyze inter-relationships amongst selected barriers.

This paper deals with the identification of barriers to the adoption of Green Lean practices in manufacturing industries. Using the DEMATEL approach and using the insights of experts, a cause and effect relationship diagram was generated through which the effect of barriers was analyzed.

Twelve barriers were categorized in terms of cause and effect, and the interrelationships of barriers were also analyzed. Threshold value is calculated as 0.134 and the values lower than a were eliminated to obtain the digraph. “Resistance to change,” “lack of top management commitment” and “lack of training to employees” are the most prominent barriers on the basis of their prominent score.

Analysis in the research is highly dependent on expert judgments and opinions may be biased. However, the initial matrix obtained from the experts is hindered by the ambiguity about some relationships. But this can be improved by using fuzzy and grey set theories. The barriers used for the analysis are not from a specific type of manufacturing industry.

The findings will help the manufacturing organizations to simplify the most important barriers, the least significant barriers and the relationships between these barriers. This Berlin knowledge will enable administrators to increase awareness of the barriers in Green Lean implementation. “The top management commitment” and “government support” are most important for the removal of barriers to Green Lean strategies.

Very few scholars have used the DEMATEL approach to examine the sequence of the barriers to Green Lean implementation. The present study attempts to incorporate the DEMATEL model to assess the sequence of barriers to the implementation of Green Lean. This study investigates the degree of influence of barriers on each other and categorizes the barriers into cause and effect groups. This study is also intended to pave the way for future research in the path of the elimination of barriers to Green Lean strategies.

The success or failure of any Six Sigma program/project depends on some critical factors. The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore critical success factors (CSFs) of Six Sigma from an extensive literature review of research articles published in the context of Six Sigma and propose a categorized list of vital CSFs.

The methodology used is the systematic analysis of 64 different research publications and case studies from 34 different journals that are relevant in the context of Six Sigma by filtering, using keywords like Six Sigma and CSFs. This analysis leads to the exploration of a number of CSFs followed by their prioritization by using a Pareto analysis quality tool. These CSFs are then sorted into a proposed list of “vital few” and “useful many” CSFs groups in accordance to their frequency of occurrence.

The literature revealed 13 vital CSFs: management involvement and commitment, training, cultural change, communication, customer focus and requirements, organizational infrastructure and resources, project management skills, project prioritization and selection, understanding the Six Sigma methodology, tools and techniques, linking Six Sigma to business strategy, linking Six Sigma to customers, customer focus and requirements, quality data and reporting and linking Six Sigma to suppliers. The consideration of these CSFs will increase the success rates of a Six Sigma program/project in an organization.

The CSFs extracted spotlight only small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and do not consider large industries. This paper is confined to those articles that argued that the Six Sigma is beneficial to SMEs and does not consider the failure experience of the industries.

This paper identifies the CSFs for implementing Six Sigma that are comprehensive and potential to address the quality-related issues of industries. This paper also provides an extract of the relevant publishing to both the academicians and practitioners in the field of Six Sigma for implementing Six Sigma framework in an organization. This study is apparently the first of its kind on CSF assessment and categorization.

This paper aims to investigate the high temperature corrosion behaviour of ZrO₂-reinforced Cr₂O₃ matrix-based composite coatings on ASTM-SA213-T-22 steel at 900°C in molten salt environment. The different coatings were deposited by high velocity oxy fuel (HVOF) method.

Hot corrosion studies were conducted in simulated boiler environment in silicon carbide tube furnace at 900°C for 50 cycles on bare and HVOF-coated boiler steel specimens. Each cycle consisted 50 h of heating in the simulated boiler environment followed by 20 min of cooling in air. The weight change measurements were performed after each cycle to establish the kinetics of corrosion using thermogravimetric technique. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy techniques were used to analyse the corroded specimens.

The addition of 20 Wt.% ZrO₂ in Cr₂O₃ helped reduce corrosion rate by 89.25% as compared to that of uncoated specimen. The phase analysis revealed the presence of Cr₂O₃ and ZrO₂ phases in composite coating matrix, which may have prevented the base metal from interacting with the corrosive elements present in the highly aggressive environment and thus had increased the resistance to hot corrosion.

It should be mentioned here that high temperature corrosion behaviour of thermally sprayed ZrO₂–Cr₂O₃ composite coatings has never been studied, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is not available in the literature. Hence, present investigation can provide valuable information for application of ZrO₂-reinforced coatings in high temperature fuel combustion environments.

In the present age of globalization, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are consistently causative to productivity growth and, consequently, competitiveness and aggregate economic growth by providing the training opportunities, basic services and are believed to be especially effective job creators and enjoy the reputation of being sources of income. But technological progressions have increased greatly, the competition impelled by the globalization of the world economies and even MSMEs are no more protected to the challenges that the globalization brings about. It is a remarkable, and in certain instances, a worrying situation because MSMEs play an important role in most economies, including in India, in that they comprise the largest business block and offer the bulk of employment. The purpose of this paper is to assess the status of problems faced by MSMEs and study the technology innovation implementation (TII) dimensions in the selected small firms in the Northern region in India.

The methodology used for this study is a combination of literature review, expert opinion, comparative case study and a flexible systems methodology, SWOT and situation-actor-process-learning-action-performance analysis. Longitudinal studies of technology innovation at the two small firms have been conducted, and the case analysis and synthesis have been developed based on important inputs and insights shared by key personnel in the select firms.

The study finds that two different firms have faced similar kind of challenges in this competitive environment. Also the findings suggest that an effective TII can contribute to enhance manufacturing performance in MSMEs in India.

The research presents a better understanding of the problems that are preventing the successful implementation of technology innovation in small firms. Further, the two cases provide valuable insights into TII dimensions in two firms and highlight the methodology to be adopted by the companies toward their manufacturing performance enhancement.