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Forecasting product returns plays an important role in the operations of reverse logistics (RL). However, their contribution to sustainability performance is yet to be explored. The purpose of this paper is to explore the product returns in Indian electronics industry and examine the relationship of forecasting product returns with triple bottom line performance of RL.

In this study, based on past literature review, four hypotheses, relating to forecasting of product returns and its association with performance, were developed. A questionnaire was sent to 700 respondents from the Indian electronics industry. Overall, 208 received responses were found suitable for the research. The necessary statistical analysis was carried out to ensure the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. In order to test different hypotheses, partial least square path modelling (PLSPM) technique of structural equation modeling was utilized.

Measurement model had shown sufficient data fit for the modeling. PLSPM results reveal that the accuracy in forecasting product returns is positively associated with operational performance of RL. It also plays an important role in the sustainability efforts of an organization.

Managers can utilize results of study for exploring and emphasizing issues of product returns for improving RL performance. One of the limitations is that data are collected only from Indian electronics industry. Another limitation is that only product returns are considered for the operational and TBL performance of RL. In future, study may be carried out considering different factors in other sectors and countries.

The intent of forecasting product returns is considered to be operational efficiency. It can make significant contributions to the sustainability efforts of an organization. Review of the past literature indicates that research in the field of RL is in developing stage, and issues related to forecasting product returns are under-represented. The paper adds value to the few available articles on product returns.

Outsourcing has become a strategic decision for most of the organizations in the present context of globalization and circular economy. The objective of proposed study is to empirically investigate the relationship between the outsourcing benefits and triple bottom line (TBL)-based performance of reverse supply chain (RSC) comprising of economic, environmental and social factors.

In the present study, the partial least square path approach of structural equation modeling has been applied for testing hypotheses. A questionnaire was developed for collecting the information and responses from the experts of electronics industry, India. Measurement models were tested for ensuring the fitness of data for further applying partial least square path approach of SEM.

The results provide insightful information on outsourcing and RSC performance. It reveals that outsourcing decisions are important and have great influence on the economic, environmental and social performance of RSC.

The study will provide useful guidance to the organizations for outsourcing decisions. One of the limitations of the study is that it has considered data collected from the Indian electronics industry. Therefore, results may not be generalized.

The third-party service providers have core competencies, and they are the experts of providing RSC services. It is also apparent from the exploration of past research and theoretical background that there are limited number of studies focusing on the impact of outsourcing decisions in RSC performance specifically from the TBL perspective. Hence, the proposed study is an effort to explore the impact of outsourcing RSC activities on the performance of RSC from a sustainability perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the product disposition strategies in reverse supply chains and to develop a framework to prioritize these strategies for effective reverse supply chain implementation.

The disposition strategies, based on the literature review, were selected, and the fuzzy TOPSIS methodology had been applied for the prioritization of these disposition strategies. A case of cell phone manufacturing firm is discussed for the illustration and validation of the methodology. Three respondents from the firm helped in exploring the disposition strategies and data collection of the firm.

The results of the study show that dissemble and recycle is the most preferred disposition strategy for the firm. Redistribution of returned products after their refurbishing is second most prioritized disposition strategy. Landfill and incineration of cell phones is the last and least preferred option for the firm.

The study will provide useful guidance to the firm for disposition decision making of cell phones returned to the firm. It will help academicians and practitioners for evaluating, improving, and benchmarking the disposition strategies for the disposition of returned cell phones. One of the limitations of the study is that it only considers the single case of manufacturing firm. In future, more case studies may be carried out for generalization of the results.

It is evident from the literature review that there are very few studies on disposition decisions in reverse supply chain. Also, disposition strategies for cell phones are first time being explored and prioritized. Hence, this study can be viewed as an attempt to increase the level of awareness on reverse supply chain issues.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the various disposition alternatives and to develop a framework for the optimal disposition decisions in reverse logistics.

In reverse logistics, once the products are collected and inspected, decision is to be taken regarding their disposition for reuse, re-manufacture or recycle or other possible alternatives. A combination of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach is proposed for the selection of best disposition alternative based on criteria economic benefits, environmental benefits, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder’s needs and reverse logistics resources.

A case of electronics firm was illustrated for the demonstration of the approach for the disposition of mobile phones. Returned mobile phones must be disposed for repairing or reuse in current business scenario, if possible. Otherwise, the firm may prefer to recycle them rather than dispose or remanufacture.

The study is limited to mobile manufacturing firm. Also, these findings may vary depending on the sector and products. Further, empirical studies and case studies can be carried out to validate the findings.

The proposed framework provides useful tool to the practitioners and researchers in decision-making for disposition in reverse logistics.

Very few studies related to disposition decisions in reverse logistics were found in the previous research literature review. The study will add value to the very limited research on reverse logistics disposition. Also, the AHP-Fuzzy TOPSIS approach is first time being used for the disposition decisions in reverse logistics.

The proposed article is aimed at exploring the opportunities, challenges and possible outcomes of incorporating big data analytics (BDA) into health-care sector. The purpose of this study is to find the research gaps in the literature and to investigate the scope of incorporating new strategies in the health-care sector for increasing the efficiency of the system.

Fora state-of-the-art literature review, a systematic literature review has been carried out to find out research gaps in the field of healthcare using big data (BD) applications. A detailed research methodology including material collection, descriptive analysis and categorization is utilized to carry out the literature review.

BD analysis is rapidly being adopted in health-care sector for utilizing precious information available in terms of BD. However, it puts forth certain challenges that need to be focused upon. The article identifies and explains the challenges thoroughly.

The proposed study will provide useful guidance to the health-care sector professionals for managing health-care system. It will help academicians and physicians for evaluating, improving and benchmarking the health-care strategies through BDA in the health-care sector. One of the limitations of the study is that it is based on literature review and more in-depth studies may be carried out for the generalization of results.

There are certain effective tools available in the market today that are currently being used by both small and large businesses and corporations. One of them is BD, which may be very useful for health-care sector. A comprehensive literature review is carried out for research papers published between 1974 and 2021.

Reverse supply chain (RSC) is one of the ways to handle product returns efficiently. Recovery of residual value from product returns also helps in achieving sustainability. Its successful implementation requires coordination among all the channel members involved in the activities, from the acquisition to collection to the disposition of returned products. This article aims to review the literature about coordination issues in the RSC.

A systematic literature review of 151 articles published during 2004–2021 is carried out. Theory, context and methodology (TCM) framework of the literature review is used to identify the research gaps for future research directions.

This study identifies the characteristics of RSC coordination. It includes channel structures; coordination mechanisms; performance measuring parameters; the methodology applied and explored industries. The review shows that game-theoretical modeling in RSC coordination is the most commonly used method to coordinate the channels. It was found that issues like disruption, fairness and corporate social responsibility are not explored in-depth and offer much potential for future research.

There are very limited studies on coordination issues in the RSC. The proposed articles add value by considering RSC issues from different strategic, government, consumers' behavior and functionality decision-making point of view.

The paper aims to incorporate the relationship of reverse logistics into the economic, environmental, and social sustainability, known as triple bottom line and developed a framework for reverse logistics performance evaluation.

The performance measures, based on triple bottom line approach, were selected, and fuzzy analytical hierarchy process and extent analysis approach was applied for estimating the weights, global weights of performance measures and hence, the reverse logistics performance index. Reverse logistics performance of three electronic companies were evaluated and compared for the demonstration of the methodology.

The results show that economic performance has highest performance index followed by environmental performance and social performance. “Recapturing value” and “return on investment” from economic, “minimum energy consumption” and “optimum use of raw material” from environmental and “community complaints” and “customer health and safety” from social perspective have higher performance indexes. Over all, “reduced packaging”, “use of recycled material” and “employee benefits” show very poor performance indexes.

The study will provide useful guidance to the academicians and practitioners for evaluating, improving and benchmarking the reverse logistics performance.

The analysis adds to the very few studies on triple bottom line aspects of reverse logistics and its performance evaluation. Also, fuzzy analytical hierarchy process and extent analysis is used first time being an efficient tool to tackle the fuzziness of the data involved in performance evaluation.

The circular economy concepts are useful for resource conservation, eliminating waste and enhancing the efficiency of production to improve the sustainability of the system. The application of CE in Indian manufacturing industry is in nascent stage. India’s manufacturing sector significantly contributes to the economic development of the nation; therefore, this study aims to identify and analyze the sustainability related challenges faced during the implementation of the circularity concept.

Comprehensive survey of literature and the use of Pareto analysis yield ten significant challenges which are further analyzed using fuzzy-Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory approach.

Findings revealed that noncompliance of environmental laws, revenue generation, design issues owing to technological limitations and less preference to refurbished and reused product are some of the major challenges to the CE practices in the manufacturing industry.

The results will help the researchers and practitioners in strategic decision-making for the improved application of circularity in the production process.

This paper contributes to the identification and prioritization of sustainability-related challenges faced during the implementation of a novel concept by a developing economy.

Spare Parts Management (SPM) and Industry 4.0 has proven their importance. However, employment of Industry 4.0 solutions for SPM is at emerging stage. To address the issue, this article is aimed toward a systematic literature review on SPM in Industry 4.0 era and identification of research gaps in the field with prospects.

Research articles were reviewed and analyzed through a content-based analysis using four step process model. The proposed framework consists of five categories such as Inventory Management, Types of Spares, Circularity based on 6Rs, Performance Indicators and Strategic and Operational. Based on these categories, a total of 118 research articles published between 1998 and 2022 were reviewed.

The technological solutions of Industry 4.0 concepts have provided numerous opportunities for SPM. Industry 4.0 hi-tech solutions can enhance agility, operational efficiency, quality of product and service, customer satisfaction, sustainability and profitability.

The review of articles provides an integrated framework which recognizes implementation issues and challenges in the field. The proposed framework will support academia and practitioners toward implementation of technological solutions of Industry 4.0 in SPM. Implementation of Industry 4.0 in SPM may help in improving the triple bottom line aspect of sustainability which can make significant contribution to academia, practitioners and society.

The examination uncovered a scarcity of research in the intersection of SPM and Industry 4.0 concepts, suggesting a significant opportunity for additional investigative efforts.

Industry 4.0 and circular economy are the two major areas in the current manufacturing industry. However, the adoption and implementation of Industry 4.0 and circular economy worldwide are still in the nascent stage of development. To address this gap, the purpose of this article is to conduct a systematic literature review on integrating Industry 4.0 and circular economy. Further, identify the research gaps and provide the future scope of work in this area.

Content-based analysis was adopted for reviewing the research articles and proposed a transition framework that comprises of four categories, namely, (1) Transition from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0 and integration with circular economy; (2) Adoption of combined factors and different issues; (3) Implementation possibilities such as front-end technologies, integration capabilities and redesigning strategies; (4) Current challenges. The proposed study reviewed a total of 204 articles published from 2000 to 2020 based on these categories.

The article presents a systematic literature review of the last two decades that integrates Industry 4.0 and circular economy concepts. Findings revealed that very few studies considered the adoption and implementation issues of Industry 4.0 and circular economy. Moreover, it was found that Industry 4.0 technologies including digitalization, real-time monitoring and decision-making capabilities played a significant role in circular economy implementation. The major elements are discussed through the analysis of the transition and integration framework. The study further revealed that a limited number of developing countries like India have taken preliminary initiatives toward Industry 4.0 and circular economy implementation.

The study proposes a transition and integration framework that identifies adoption and implementation issues and challenges. This framework will help researchers and practitioners in implementation of Industry 4.0 and circular economy.

Reviews of articles indicated that there are very few studies on integrating Industry 4.0 and circular economy. Moreover, there are very few articles addressing adoption and implementation issues such as legal, ethical, operational and demographic issues, which may be used to monitor the organization's performance and productivity.