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Resources Policy
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Analyzing the SSCM practices in the mining and mineral industry by

ISM approach
Peng Jia a,n, Ali Diabat b, K. Mathiyazhagan c
a
Transportation Management College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, China
b
Department of Engineering Systems and Management, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
c
Mechanical Engineering, ITM University, Gurgaon, India

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Sustainable development is a concept that attempts to shape the interaction between environment and
Received 21 November 2013 society, so that advances in wellbeing are not accompanied by deterioration of the ecological and social
Received in revised form systems which support life into the future. In this view, Indian mining and mineral industries, especially Small
25 December 2013
and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), are focused on developing their environmental performance through
Accepted 18 April 2014
integrating sustainability practices into traditional supply chain management. They struggle, however, in their
attempts to analyze and to identify influential sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices in order
Keywords: to increase sustainable performance. This paper analyzes and identifies dominant SSCM practices in the mining
SSCM and mineral industries with the help of Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM). The study uses three different
ISM
research phases: identification of SSCM practices from the literature, interviews with various department
Indian mining industries
managers of the Indian mining and mineral industries, and a survey conducted within the mining and mineral
industries. In this paper, 25 SSCM practices were considered in fewer than six categories. Finally, the approach
was applied to fifteen mining and mineral industries in India. The results of this study show that suppliers'
ISO14000 certification practice acts as an influential role over the recommended 25 SSCM practices. It is
inferred that environmental management certification is therefore essential to increase sustainability
performances in Indian mining and mineral industries.
& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction
Azapagic (2004) pointed out that minerals are essential to every-
day life; minerals play a central role in the numerous products we use.
Also, mining industries serve an important role in human life through
electrical power production. Hence, because both industries are
essential for human life, it is important to integrate environmental
issues into mining and mineral industries to ensure a pollution-free
environment. Mining and mineral industries provide vital raw materi-
als for many industries, including ceramics, construction, cosmetics,
detergents, drugs, electronics, glass, metal, paint, paper, and plastics.
But mining and minerals industries face challenges in their attempts to
maintain sustainability developments in traditional supply chain
management. Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) is a
concept to ensure sustainability in Traditional Supply Chain Manage-
ment (TSCM) (Kuik et al., 2010). In recent years Indian mining and
mineral industries play a notable role in the Indian economy (Muduli
et al., 2013a, 2013b) and they also face many pressures from govern-
ment regulations and foreign customers. Based on these points, there
n
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jiapeng@foxmail.com (P. Jia).
is no way for mining and mineral industries to escape the adoption
and analysis of sustainability in TSCM. Indian mining and mineral
industries need to think about adopting sustainability practices in
TSCM. In this regard, many industries have started to analyze the
environmental issues in Indian mining and mineral industries (Muduli
et al., 2013a). But because they did not focus on analyzing sustainable
practices, they have struggled to identify the influential SSCM practices
with the intent of improving sustainable performance. There is a
significant research gap in analyzing SSCM practices, and similarly,
there is no research to identify influential SSCM practices in Indian
mining and mineral industries. For this reason they have started to
think about developing the industry as it is one that strongly supports
the Indian economy financially. Consequently, the objective of this
study is framed to analyze SSCM practices in mining and mineral
industries.
The objective of this work is to identify the dominant SSCM
practice from the recommended SSCM practice list and to investigate
the essential and mutual relationship of the 25 practices for adoption
of SSCM in 15 mining and mineral industries in India using an ISM
technique and experts' judgments. The results might impact environ-
mental adoption in traditional supply chain management. It can also
be extended to all industries in India. The resulting discussions and
conclusions are achieved from an extensive survey, site visits, and

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2014.04.004
0301-4207/& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Jia, P., et al., Analyzing the SSCM practices in the mining and mineral industry by ISM approach. Resources
Policy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2014.04.004i
2 P. Jia et al. / Resources Policy ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎
interviews. This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 summarizes
literature support for this study and Section 3 presents the justification
for the research gap of this paper. Section 4 describes the case study.
Section 5 describes the methodology for a solution. Section 6 reveals
developed questionnaires for data collection, and Section 7 presents
the results of this study. Section 8 provides the conclusions and
remarks, managerial implications and limitations, and considers the
future scope of this research.
Background of research
Due to pressures from government regulations (Govindan et al.,
2014; Jayaram et al., 2012) and societies toward environmental
protections from pollution and from transport (Salimifard and
Raeesi, 2014), mining and mineral industries have started to adopt
environmental management practices in the last two decades
(Nikolaou and Evangelinos, 2010). Hilson and Murck (2000) explore
the needs of mineral resources of contemporary society and the
current debates about mining, because mining and mineral industries
are in a position to pursue the adoption of sustainability issues.
Nikolaou and Evangelinos (2010) analyzed the Strengths, Weakness,
Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) faced by the industry when
adopting environmental management practices from a Greek mining
and mineral perspective. They also highlighted the benefits and
challenges in adopting environmental management practices in
mining and mineral industries. These industries have benefited from
recent updates and new technologies and innovations such as
thickened tailings, dry stacking, and paste backfill which are used
to dispose waste and improve sustainable development. Generally,
sustainable development is a challenging process for researchers and
practitioners. It needs further analysis and it requires the support of
all levels of the organization, from top management and all lower
level laborers. Sustainable development is a concept that integrates
the needs of both the environment and society, so that advances in
wellbeing are not accompanied by the deterioration of ecological and
social systems which support life into the future (WCED, 1987).
Sustainable development is important and essential strategies are
incorporated into all actions related to the planning and management
of natural resources from economic, environmental, and social
perspectives (Muduli et al., 2013a; Kannan et al., in press). Analyzing
sustainability management is challenging for tailings and waste rock
disposal because several questions need to be considered. Is the
material inert? If not, is it stable and contained? The objective is to
minimize water and energy inputs and to reduce the surface waste
footprint with the larger goal of locating alternate uses. From an
Indian and global perspective many researchers and practitioners
have analyzed environmental and sustainability issues in TSCM of
mining and mineral industries. Specifically, many Indian researchers
contributed research on analyzing the barriers for green supply chain
management (GSCM) in mining and mineral industries through a
graph theoretic approach (Muduli et al., 2013b). Worldwide research
on sustainable and environmental issues in mining and mineral
industries, demonstrating practices similar to India, were broadly
summarized in the research gap section. This research gap section
clearly informs that there are no current research initiatives that
successfully analyze SSCM practices in an Indian context, and there is
no research specifically devoted to the identification of influential
SSCM practices in an Indian perspective.
Research gap
The primary focus areas of research on environmental practices
in Indian mining and mineral industries from different perspectives
include an such as analysis of barriers to GSCM (Muduli et al., 2013b),
Please cite this article as: Jia, P., et al., Analyzing the SSCM practices in the mining and mineral industry by ISM approach. Resources
Policy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2014.04.004i
the role of green issues (Muduli and Barve, 2011), sustainable
development of the Indian coal sector (Chikkatur et al., 2009), and
challenges of adopting environmental management practices (Barve
and Muduli, 2011). But these studies do not pursue SSCM practices in
Indian mining and mineral contexts, and no research for identifying
the influential SSCM practices exists. It should be apparent that a
significant research gap is present with the important objective of
improving environmental performance in mining and mineral indus-
tries. This paper fills that gap and brings a benchmark study in
analyzing SSCM practices in the Indian mining and mineral
industries.
Case study description
Corder et al. (2010) pointed out that integrating sustainable
development elements into the mining and mineral industries are
increasing in importance. Kumar et al. (2006) mentioned that SMEs'
contribution to Indian mining and mineral industries are notable and
that this sector contributes to the economy and employment.
More than 3000 SME mining and industrial units contribute about
50% of non-fuel mineral production to the Indian economy. Also,
these SMEs provide jobs for more than 300,000 people. Generally,
Indian SME owners have less awareness about technical and financial
capabilities for proper exploitation, mining development, mineral
extraction or processing, so it is more difficult for these owners to get
a clear idea about analyzing sustainability issues in TSCM in their
industries. Nevertheless, the goals of improving the environmental
performance and reducing pollution are critical. Perhaps the most
challenging problem for Indian mining and mineral industries is an
effective analysis of sustainable practices, so this paper gives a
solution to the above problem by exploring sustainability issues in
TSCM. We also examine SSCM practices from all available approaches,
under six categories, and we identify the most influential SSCM
practices from the recommended list. From the detailed literature
review and from discussions with industry experts, 25SSCM practices
have been identified and categorized under six groups based on their
meaning and similarities. Table 1 illustrates these SSCM practices
with appropriate references.
Solution methodology
This paper uses an ISM approach to identify the influential role
of 25 SSCM practices in an Indian mining and mineral context.
The importance of the ISM approach and steps for the ISM are
described below.
Interpretive structural modeling
In 1974, Warfield introduced the ISM approach to identify
interrelationships between factors from a recommended list
(Jindal and Sangwan, 2013; Kannan and Haq, 2007a; Kannan et
al., 2009). This approach was also used to identify the influential
role of factors from a recommended list, and it suggested the use
of expert opinions based on various management techniques such
as brainstorming, nominal technique, etc. to develop a contextual
relationship among variables. Attri et al. (2013) summarized that
the ISM technique was an interactive learning process where a set
of different and directly related elements are structured into a
comprehensive system model. In addition, ISM is a better
approach to solve the complexity of relationships with many
elements (Mathiyazhagan and Haq, 2013). Similarly, Ansari et al.
(2013) pointed out that ISM enables individuals or groups to
develop a map of the multiple relationships between many
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Table 1
SSCM Practices from literature.
Supplier
P1 Supplier's ISO14000 certification
P2 Supplier compliance auditing
P3 Sustainable packaging
P4 Asking suppliers to commit to waste reduction goals
P5 Using a life-cycle analysis to evaluate the environmental friendliness of
products and packaging
P6 Providing training to build suppliers' environmental management capacity
P7 Cooperating with suppliers for environmental objectives
Design
P8 Design of products for reduced consumption of material and energy
P9 Design of products to avoid/reduce use of hazardous products and/or their
manufacturing process
P10 Optimization of process to reduce solid/liquid waste/emission
P11 Designing products with biodegradable materials
P12 Designing products with recyclable materials
Management
P13 Maximizing use of renewable or recycled source materials
P14 Manufacuring from healthy raw materials in all probable end-of-life
scenarios
P15 Company-wide environmental audits
P16 Use of reverse logistics
P17 Commitment to GSCM from senior and middle level managers
Customer
P18 Cooperation from customers for eco-design and cleaner production
P19 Cooperation from customers for green packaging
Employee
P20 Environmental awareness training
P21 Environmental safety practices
Internal
P22 Reducing resource consumption during production
P23 Reducing wastage and spill-over during production
P24 Using recyclable packaging materials
P25 Using environment-friendly storage
(References: Font et al., 2008; Young and Kielkiewicz-Young, 2001; Ageron et al.,
2012; Carter and ad Rogers, 2008; Linton et al., 2007; Kleindorfer et al., 2005; Pagell
and Wu, 2009; Seuring and Müller, 2008; Mitra and Datta, 2013; Croom et al.,
2009; Piplani et al., 2008; Zailani et al., 2012; Alzaman, 2014; Brandenburg et al.,
2014; Govindan et al., 2013b, in press, d; Govindan et al., 2014; Santos et al., 2013).
elements involved in a complex situation. Generally, ISM is a
combination of three modeling languages – words, digraphs, and
discrete mathematics – to ensure a solution to a structure of
complex issues. This approach is used for an effective decision
making process. It is also used traditionally in management
studies. The researchers selected this approach because of its
benefits; direct and indirect relationships between variables based
on situations are revealed far more accurately than individual
factors taken in isolation (Cagno et al., 2014). Recently many
Indian researchers started using the ISM methodology in their
environmental related decision making. These areas include, for
example, pressures for supplier development (Govindan et al.,
2010); risk management (Govindan et al., 2012); GSCM
(Mathiyazhagan and Haq, 2013); barriers against GSCM
(Mathiyazhagan et al., 2013); GSCM practices for mining industries
(Muduli et al., 2013a); drivers for GSCM (Diabat and Govindan
(2011)); analysis of third party reverse logistics providers
(Govindan et al., 2013a), and modeling barriers for GSCM
(Mudgal et al., 2010). Currently, there is no research on the
identification of influential SSCM practices in the Indian mining
and mineral industries aided by ISM. For such reasons, the ISM
approach has been adopted in this research.
ISM steps are described below (Adopted from Kannan et al.,
2009 and Govindan et al., 2013a):
Step 1: Variables (SSCM practices) considered for the system
under consideration are listed.
Please cite this article as: Jia, P., et al., Analyzing the SSCM practices in the mining and mineral industry by ISM approach. Resources
Policy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2014.04.004i
3
Step 2: From variables identified in step 1, a contextual
relationship is established among variables to identify which
pairs of variables should be examined.
Step 3: A structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM) is developed
for variables, indicating pair-wise relationships among the
variables of the system under consideration.
Step 4: Reachability matrix is developed from SSIM and the
matrix is checked for transitivity. Transitivity of contextual
relation is a basic assumption in ISM. It states that if variable
A is related to B and B to C, then A is necessarily related to C.
Step 5: The reachability matrix obtained in step 4 is partitioned
into different levels.
Step 6: Based on relationships stated in the reachability matrix,
a directed graph is drawn and transitive links removed.
Step 7: The resultant digraph is converted into an ISM, by
replacing variable nodes with statements.
Step 8: The ISM model developed in step 7 is checked for
conceptual inconsistency and necessary modifications are
made. The above steps are shown in Fig. 1.
Questionnaire development
The questionnaire was developed after the objective and
purpose of this study was explained to experts from fifteen Indian
mining and mineral industries. Our study considered 25 SSCM
practices from the available literature review and from discussions
with industry experts. Whereas over 50 Indian mining and mineral
SMEs were approached, many declined due to their work sche-
dules, but fifteen showed tremendous interest in this research. We
arranged a two-hour presentation with the fifteen SME experts,
and we determined that these fifteen mining and mineral experts
had a very good awareness about their environmental perfor-
mance improvement. Each expert had more than ten years'
experience in the environmental, manufacturing, quality, design
and procurement departments. These experts were categorized
based on their designation as junior managers, executives, super-
visors, senior managers, or management representatives.
Data collection
After questionnaire development, industry experts were con-
tacted through the mail. After a month, we received their
responses based on repeated reminders through mail and phone.
More than three responses were received from each SMEs. All
individual responses from SMEs were consolidated with the help
of a judgment group. This judgment group was formed with the
help of fifteen experts from fifteen SMEs (one person from each
SME). For analyzing SSCM practices, we chose a contextual
relationship of a “leads to” type, meaning that one practice led
to another. Based on this, a contextual relationship between SSCM
practices was developed.
Step-by-step procedure in ISM methodology (adopted from
Kannan et al., 2009; Govindan et al., 2013a):
Step 1: Attributes for the system under consideration are listed.
Step 2: Contextual relationship is established among attributes
regarding which attributes pairs are to be examined.
Step 3: A Structural Self-Interaction Matrix (SSIM) is developed
for attributes, indicating pair-wise relationships among attri-
butes of the system under consideration.
Structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM)
Keeping in mind contextual relationship for each SSCM prac-
tice, the existence of a relation between any two practices (i and j)
4 P. Jia et al. / Resources Policy ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎

List of SSCM practice Literature review

Establish contextual relationship

(Xij) between variables (i, j) Experts’ opinion

Develop a structural self- Develop reachability matrix

interaction matrix (SSIM)

Partition reachability matrix into different levels

Develop reachability matrix in conical form

Remove transivity from diagraph Develop diagraph

Is there any Yes

Replace variable nodes with conceptual
relationship statements inconsistency?

No
Represent relationship statement into model
for SSCM practices

(Modified from Kannan et al, 2009; Kannan and Haq, 2007)

Fig. 1. Flow chart to prepare an ISM model for SSCM practices. (Modified from Kannan et al., 2009; Kannan and Haq, 2007b).

and associated direction of the relation is questioned. Four
symbols denote the direction of the relationship between practices
(i and j):
V: Practice i will help achieve practice j;
A: Practice j will helps achieve practice i;
X: Practice i and j help achieve each other; and
O: Practices i and j are unrelated.
The SSIM for SSCM practices in the adoption of SSCM is given in
Table 2.
Initial reachability matrix
In this step, a reachability matrix is developed from SSIM. The
SSIM format is converted into an initial reachability matrix format
by transforming information from each SSIM cell into binary digits
(i.e., ones or zeros). This transformation is done with the following
rules (Kannan et al., 2009; Govindan et al., 2013a; Mudgal et al.,
2009):
 If an entry in the cell (i, j) in SSIM is V, then cell (i, j) entry
becomes 1 and cell (j, i) entry becomes 0 in the initial reach-
ability matrix.
 If an entry in the cell (i, j) in SSIM is A, then cell (i, j) entry
becomes 0 and cell (j, i) entry becomes 1 in the initial reach-
ability matrix.
 If an entry in the cell (i, j) in SSIM is X, then entries in both kills
(i, j) and (j, i) become 1 in the initial reachability matrix.
 If an entry in the cell (i, j) in SSIM is O, then entries in both the
cells (i, j) and (j, i) become 0 in the initial reachability matrix.
Following these rules, the initial reachability matrix is given in
Table 3.
The final reachability matrix for SSCM practices, shown in
Table 4, is obtained by incorporating transitivities as enumerated
in Step 4 of the ISM methodology. The final reachability matrix
then consists of entries from pair-wise comparisons and some
inferred entries.
Level partitions
Reachability and antecedent sets for each criterion was
obtained from the final reachability matrix (Warfield, 1974). The
reachability set of individual criteria consists of the factor itself
and other variables which help to achieve it, while its antecedent
set consists of the variable and other variables which might help in
achieving it (Diabat and Govindan, 2011; Muduli et al., 2013a).
Subsequently, the intersection of these sets is derived from all
variables. The variable for which reachability and intersection sets
are the same is made the top-level variable in the ISM hierarchy.
After the identification of top-level elements, they are discarded
from other remaining variables (Mathiyazhagan et al., 2013).
In this paper, 25 SSCM practices with their reachability set,

Please cite this article as: Jia, P., et al., Analyzing the SSCM practices in the mining and mineral industry by ISM approach. Resources
Policy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2014.04.004i
 P. Jia et al. / Resources Policy ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎ 5

Table 2
Structural Self-Interaction Matrix (SSIM).

Practices 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

1. V V V V V V V A A V V V A V V V V V A V O V V V
2. V A V A A V V V A V V A V A X V V V O A A A V
3. A V V V V V V X V V A O V A V O V V A V A V
4. A V V A V V A A O V V A A V O V A A V V V
5. A A A V A V A A V A V V V A V A O A A O
6. O O V V V A O O V O V V V V O V O O O
7. V O A V V V O A O O V O V A A V V V
8. O V V A V V A A O A O V A A V O O
9. V A O A V V O A A A V V A A A A
10. O A V O V V O V O V V V V V A
11. A A V A A V V A V O A V A A
12. V A O V V V O O A A O V O
13. O V O O O V V A V A X V
14. V V A V A O V A V O A
15. X A V X V V V V O O
16. V A A O O A V V A
17. V V V V X O O O
18. O O A V V V V
19. O A A O A O
20. V O V O O
21. O V V O
22. V V V
23. V A
24. A

Table 3
Initial Reachability Matrix.

Practices P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12 P13 P14 P15 P16 P17 P18 P19 P20 P21 P22 P23 P24 P25

P1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1
P3 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
P4 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0
P5 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
P6 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0
P7 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
P8 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0
P9 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1
P10 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0
P11 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
P12 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
P13 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0
P14 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1
P15 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1
P16 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
P17 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1
P18 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
P19 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
P20 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1
P21 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
P22 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
P23 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
P24 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0
P25 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

antecedent set, intersection set, and levels are given in Table 5. The
level partition of 25 practices was iterated in four levels. From
Table 5, we can observe that suppliers' ISO14000 certification (P1)
practice is on the fourth level. In addition, environmental manage-
ment certification ISO14000 acts as a key role in improving
sustainability performance.
Formation of ISM based model
From the final reachability matrix, a structural model is
generated and given in Fig. 2. The relationship between practices
j and i is shown by an arrow pointing from i to j. The resulting
graph is called a digraph. Removing transitivities as described in
the ISM methodology, the digraph is finally converted into an ISM
model for SSCM practices.
MICMAC analysis
Matriced Impacts ‘croises-multipication applique’ and class-
ment (cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification)
is abbreviated as MICMAC. The MICMAC principle is based on the
multiplication properties of matrices (Diabat and Govindan, 2011;
Kannan et al., 2009). It is a graphical representation of enablers in
four clusters, namely: Independent, Linkage, Autonomous, and
Dependent. The purpose of MICMAC analysis is to analyze drive
power and dependence power of the enablers. This is done to

Please cite this article as: Jia, P., et al., Analyzing the SSCM practices in the mining and mineral industry by ISM approach. Resources
Policy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2014.04.004i
6 P. Jia et al. / Resources Policy ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎

Table 4
Final Reachability Matrix.

Practices P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12 P13 P14 P15 P16 P17 P18 P19 P20 P21 P22 P23 P24 P25

P1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P7 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P8 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P9 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P10 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P12 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P13 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P14 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P15 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P16 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P17 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P18 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P19 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0
P20 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P21 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P22 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P23 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P24 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
P25 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

identify key enablers that drive the system in various categories.
Based on the driving and dependence powers, enablers, in the
present case, are classified into four categories as follows (Kannan
et al., 2009):
1. Autonomous Quadrant: This Quadrant has weak driving power
and weak dependence. They are relatively disconnected from
the system, with which they have few links. The links may be
very strong. This is represented in Quadrant-I.
2. Dependent Quadrant: This category includes enablers which
have weak driving power, but strong dependence power. They
are placed in Quadrant-II.
3. Linkage Quadrant: These have strong driving power and
dependence power and are placed in Quadrant-III. They are
unstable and so action on them will affect others and include a
feedback effect on them.
4. Independent Quadrant: These have strong driving power but
weak dependence power and are represented in Quadrant-IV.
It is observed that a variable with a very strong driving power,
called a key variable, falls in the category of independent or
linkage criteria. The driver power and dependence power of
each of these SSCM practices are shown in Table 6. More details
of the final, full ISM model for SSCM practices are given in
Fig. 3, where all SSCM practices come in the Linkage Quadrant.
It is shown that all SSCM practices have equal driving and
dependent power. All SSCM practices are mentioned in differ-
ent colors based on their driving and dependent powers.
Results and discussion
Increasing global warming, the availability of fewer resources
and more pollution, has made industries think about integrating
environmental issues into their traditional activities. Specifically,
these steps are essentially needed in the Indian mining and
mineral industries because of heavy pollution. Due to these
reasons, Indian SMEs were positioned to analyze environmental
friendly practices. Similarly, Muduli et al. (2013a) mentions that
Indian mining and mineral industries are involved in environmental
practices due to stricter environmental regulations. This paper
analyzes SSCM practices and identifies the key role of practices to
improve environmental performance by experts' opinion from Indian
mining and mineral SMEs. The results of this study were visually
summarized in Figs. 2 and 3. In Fig. 2, the ISM formation model for
25 SSCM practices was summarized in four levels. From Table 6
values, the driver-dependence power diagram obtained from a
MICMAC analysis gives valuable insights into the relative importance
and interdependencies among the 25 SSCM practices. A clear visual
interpretation of this study's results is given in Fig. 3 with different
colors. The results and discussion of this study are summarized in
four categories:
Autonomous practices (Quadrant-I): Generally, the autono-
mous practices variable have weak driving and weak dependence
power. SSCM practices in this quadrant have not had much driving
role for SSCM improvements. From the results of this study, there
are no SSCM practices in this autonomous quadrant. It shows that
all considered SSCM practices do not have notable driving and the
dependence power to improve sustainable development in mining
and mineral industries.
Dependent practices (Quadrant-II): Dependent quadrant is next
to the autonomous quadrant. SSCM practices in this quadrant have
less driving power and higher dependence power; this quadrant
practice has weak driving but strong dependence power, and our
results confirm these findings. Similar to the autonomous practices
of Quadrant-I, these practices do not vary in this quadrant.
Linkage practices (Quadrant-III): All 25 SSCM practices fall in
this quadrant where quadrant practices have strong driving power
and strong dependence power. Of the 25 SSCM practices, fewer
than six categories have equal driving and dependent power.
Environmental safety practices (P21) occupy the lowest position
in this linkage quadrant compared to the recommended 25
practices. It shows that environmental safety practices are com-
mon and essential for every mining and mineral industry, so it
appears in the lower position of the linkage quadrant. This practice
does not improve sustainability in mining and mineral SMEs.
Suppliers' ISO14000 certification (P1) acts as a key practice to
improve the sustainable performance. Because this practice has
the high driving power and less dependence power. Remaining

Please cite this article as: Jia, P., et al., Analyzing the SSCM practices in the mining and mineral industry by ISM approach. Resources
Policy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2014.04.004i
 P. Jia et al. / Resources Policy ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎ 7

Table 5
Level Partitions for SSCM practices.

Practices Reachability set Antecedent set Intersection set Iteration

no. &
level

P2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P16 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
20 21 22 23 24 25 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P19 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
20 21 22 23 24 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P20 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P21 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P22 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P23 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P24 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 I
20 21 22 23 24 25 20 21 22 23 24 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 II
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 22 25
P9 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 II
20 21 22 23 24 25 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 20 21 22 23 24 25
P10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 II
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 II
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 II
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 20 21 22 23 24 25
P25 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 II
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 20 21 22 23 24 25
P8 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 III
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
P1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 21 IV
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 23

P2 P3 P4 P5 P7 P11 P13 P14 P15 P16 P17 P19 P20 P21 P22 P23 P24

P6 P9 P10 P12 P18 P25

Design of products for reduced consumption of material and energy (P8)

Suppliers’ ISO14000 certification (P1)

Fig. 2. ISM framework for SSCM practices.

Please cite this article as: Jia, P., et al., Analyzing the SSCM practices in the mining and mineral industry by ISM approach. Resources
Policy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2014.04.004i
8 P. Jia et al. / Resources Policy ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎

Table 6
Dependence power and Driving power.

Practices P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12 P13 P14 P15 P16 P17 P18 P19 P20 P21 P22 P23 P24 P25 Driving power

P1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P7 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P8 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 24
P9 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 23
P10 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P12 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P13 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P14 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P15 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 24
P16 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 23
P17 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P18 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25
P19 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 21
P20 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 24
P21 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 24
P22 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 24
P23 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 24
P24 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 23
P25 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 24
Dependence power 18 25 25 25 25 21 25 24 24 24 25 24 25 25 25 25 25 24 25 25 25 25 25 25 24

Fig. 3. Driving Power and Dependence Power Diagram.

practices have occupied the place in linkage quadrant according to
driving and dependence power.
Independent practices (Quadrant-IV): In the fourth quadrant,
no practices appear. It shows that all the SSCM practices have
reasonable dependence and driving power.
Conclusion and remarks
Indian mining and mineral industries started to adopt SSCM
practices in their TSCM. But they struggle to identify which
practices provide more impact to improve sustainability in their
respective industries. This paper presents a study undertaken
among 15 mining and mineral industries in India. It identifies
the key motivating SSCM practice from the recommended 25
practices under six categories. A result of this study infers that
Indian mining and mineral industries have notable awareness
about adopting sustainability practices to develop environmental
improvements over economic improvements. Also, this study
infers that analyzing and identifying influential SSCM practices is
crucial for researchers, based on industry experts. With the ISM
approach, influential SSCM practices are identified through
experts' opinion.
From the ISM formation diagram, it is concluded that 25
practices are formed in four levels based on their driving and
dependence power. Many SSCM practices have more dependence
power over driving power and so, for this reason, seventeen
practices occupied the top levels: P2, P3, P4, P5, P7, P11, P13,
P14, P15, P16, P17, P19, P20, P21, P22, P23, and P24. Of the 17
practices, all management practices are present, but SSCM

Please cite this article as: Jia, P., et al., Analyzing the SSCM practices in the mining and mineral industry by ISM approach. Resources
Policy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2014.04.004i
 P. Jia et al. / Resources Policy ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎
practices give less impact to improve sustainable development.
Similarly, employee and internal category practices occupy the top
levels. There are six practices in the next level: P6, P9, P10, P12,
P18, and P25. The majority of practices at this level come under the
design category. It is inferred that the design category SSCM
practice gives notable impact to improve sustainability issues
compared to the previous top level practices. The third level
includes only one practice, (P8). This practice gives a positive
impact compared to previous top two levels. Due to fewer
resources, the design of minimal consumption of material and
energy is essential for industries. Due to this reason, this practice
occupies the next two key practices, (P1). Finally, suppliers’
ISO14000 certification (P1) practice acts a key practice from the
listed 25 practices of this study. Environmental certification of
suppliers is important to produce environmentally friendly
products. Many researchers infer that suppliers are playing
an important role to improve sustainable development
(Mathiyazhagan et al., 2013; Muduli et al., 2013a; Govindan
et al., 2013a, 2013b, 2013d, in press; Mudgal et al., 2010). If
suppliers adopt environmentally friendly practices, then the final
product from industry will be an environmentally suitable product
(Mathiyazhagan et al., 2013). This study considered only 25 SSCM
practices under six categories. More practices with more cate-
gories were not considered. There is a wide scope in future
research to rank the remaining essential practices.
Acknowledgment
This research was supported by National Natural Science
Foundation of China (No.71303026), the Scientific Research Foun-
dation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Educa-
tion Ministry (46th, [2013]693), the Fundamental Research Funds
for the Central Universities (No. 3132014218). The Major Program
of the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant no. 13&ZD147).
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Please cite this article as: Jia, P., et al., Analyzing the SSCM practices in the mining and mineral industry by ISM approach. Resources
Policy (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2014.04.004i