Analysis of Supplier Development Strategies for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

Because of increasing pressures from government, non-government organizations, and stakeholders, companies are forced to implement climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives. Suppliers have great impact on a company’s performance and its supply chain’s performance. Managing risks and incurred costs related to climate change at the supplier end becomes a necessary task for companies. Supplier development is one of the most important key strategies for companies to stay competitive in the market. This study pioneers in proposing a Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method-based framework to identify influential supplier development strategies related to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The DEMATEL method evaluates supplier development strategies to find the most influential strategy to improve suppliers’ performance and provides a novel approach to arriving at decision-making information in climate change adaptation and mitigation. The applicability of the framework is examined through a real-life case study of an Indian electronic manufacturing company. The results obtained show that top management support, continuous monitoring and feedback, and information sharing supplier development strategies are revealed to be the most influential strategies. The identified interrelationships among supplier development strategies can offer insights for managers to better understand cause–effect relationships in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation.