COVID-19 debunks the myth of socially sustainable supply chain: A case of the clothing industry in South Asian countries.

The recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has exposed the fragility of the clothing supply chain operating in South Asian countries. Millions of workers have become jobless and are staring at an uncertain future. The purpose of this research is to understand the reasons behind the lack of social sustainability in the clothing supply chain operating in South Asian countries and to suggest ways for an appropriate redressal. Interviews with experts have revealed that the dominant power of some brands in the clothing supply chain is the primary reason. Unauthorised subcontracting of clothing manufacturing and the use of contract labour are also responsible for violations in the 'code of conducts' of social compliance. Post COVID-19, a sustainable sourcing model that incorporates disruption risk sharing contracts between the brands and suppliers should be adopted. Unauthorised subcontracting of clothing manufacturing by the suppliers must be prohibited. Supplier selection and the order allocation policies of the brands should also be tuned to facilitate social security of workers. The participation of NGOs and labour unions should be encouraged so that community development initiatives reach the grassroots level.

Evaluating the Preparedness of Indian States against COVID-19 Pandemic Risk: A Fuzzy Multi-criteria Decision-Making Approach.

The preparedness of Indian states and union territories (UTs) against the COVID-19 pandemic has been evaluated. Ten parameters related to demographic, socioeconomic, and healthcare aspects have been considered and the performances of 27 states and three UTs have been evaluated applying the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process. Opinions of medical experts have been considered to ascertain the relative importance of decision criteria as well as subcriteria. The scores of various states and UTs in each of the decision subcriteria have been calculated by using the secondary data collected from authentic sources. It is found that Kerala and Bihar are the best prepared and worst prepared states, respectively, to combat COVID-19 pandemic. Karnataka, Goa, and Tamil Nadu have very good preparedness whereas Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Bihar have very poor preparedness. Maharashtra, the most affected state in India, has average preparedness. As around 650 million people are vulnerable due to the poor and very poor preparedness of their states, the country needs to make region specific mitigation strategies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and the preparedness map will be helpful in that direction.

Face masks to fight against COVID-19 pandemics: A comprehensive review of materials, design, technology and product development

The outbreak of COVID-19 has created renewed attention on research and large scale manufacturing of face masks. In the last two decades, usage of face masks for respiratory protection has gained increased importance as a measure to control the maladies and fatalities due to exposure to particulate pollutants and toxic pathogens. Numerous variants of surgical and high-performance respirator masks are available in the market, and yet the fibrous materials science researchers, manufacturers and public health agencies are making concerted efforts towards improvising them with respect to self-sterilisability, facial fit, thermo-physiological comfort, reusability and biodegradability, while maintaining or rather enhancing the filtration efficiency. This review article presents a compendium of materials, design and performance standards of existing face masks, as well as elaborates on developments made for their performance enhancement. The criticality of inculcation of good hygiene habits and earnest compliance to correct mask donning and doffing practices has also been highlighted. This review is expected to make valuable contributions in the present COVID-19 scenario when donning a face mask has become mandatory.

Supply chain viability in the context of COVID-19 pandemic in small and medium-sized enterprises: implications for sustainable development goals

PurposeThe recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has severely disrupted the operations of global supply chains (SCs) providing an opportunity for decision-makers to rethink and tune their existing strategies. To tackle the impacts caused by such a pandemic, this study aims to examine the contextual relations among the factors influencing supply chain viability (SCV) for achieving long-term Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Design/methodology/approachA decision-aid approach by integrating Pareto analysis, grey theory and total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) has been propounded. The proposed approach examines contextual relations among the factors for SCV for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in an emerging economy. This study contributes to theory, methodology and practice by exploring a new research problem in the context of the SCV and COVID-19 pandemic and by developing a new decision-aid approach.FindingsThe findings reveal that the creation of SC digital twin and transformation of SCs to supply networks would help the policymakers to deal with the “new normal.” Also, SC crowdfunding and policy development for health protocols are critical driving factors influencing SCV.Originality/valueThis research work is perhaps one of few initial attempts to advance the theoretical and practical understanding of SCV and to achieve SDGs in industries following a pandemic risk.

Prioritising risk mitigation strategies for environmentally sustainable clothing supply chains: Insights from selected organisational theories.

Recent outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has provided strong impetus to supply chain resilience research. In a volatile and uncertain business environment, resilience can be incorporated by developing and implementing effective risk mitigation strategies. In this research, risk mitigation strategies for environmentally sustainable clothing supply chain have been prioritised by considering their efficacy to mitigate various risks. Twelve risks and thirteen mitigation strategies, identified through literature review and experts' opinion, are considered as decision criteria and alternatives respectively. Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solutions (fuzzy TOPSIS) is implemented under a group decision making scenario for prioritising the strategies. Developing supply chain agility; multiple green sourcing and flexible capacities; adoption of green practices; building trust, coordination and collaboration; and alignment of economic incentives and revenue sharing are found to be dominant risk mitigation strategies for environmentally sustainable clothing supply chain. These strategies have been viewed through the lens of resource dependence, change management and transaction cost theories. Organisation desirous to build resilience in their supply chain can prioritise the risk mitigation strategies and adopt a portfolio of strategies based on the outcome of this research.

COVID-19 Debunks the Myth of Socially Sustainable Supply Chain: A Case of the Clothing Industry in South Asian Countries

The recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has exposed the fragility of the clothing supply chain operating in South Asian countries. Millions of workers have become jobless and are staring at an uncertain future. The purpose of this research is to understand the reasons behind the lack of social sustainability in the clothing supply chain operating in South Asian countries and to suggest ways for an appropriate redressal. Interviews with experts have revealed that the dominant power of some brands in the clothing supply chain is the primary reason. Unauthorised subcontracting of clothing manufacturing and the use of contract labour are also responsible for violations in the ‘code of conducts’ of social compliance. Post COVID-19, a sustainable sourcing model that incorporates disruption risk sharing contacts between the brands and suppliers should be adopted. Unauthorised subcontracting of clothing manufacturing by the suppliers must be prohibited. Supplier selection and the order allocation policies of the brands should also be tuned to facilitate social security of workers. The participation of NGOs and labour unions should be encouraged so that community development initiatives reach the grassroots level.