Role of Circular Economy Factor to Achieve Supply Chain Resilience

This research work tries to investigate critical circular economy (CE) factors to understand if CE practices (CEP) can transform manufacturing units and help in making a resilient supply chain. In this line, authors have utilised five dimensions namely technical, financial, market, management and regulatory and environment. Authors have used mixed method research design in a sequential manner where qualitative is done prior to quantitative method. We have collected data from 25 experts from five firms situated in Badi (India). Analytic Hierarchy Processing (AHP) is used to find critical factors under each dimension. Finally, we have used Interpretive Structure Modelling (ISM) to find system actuator. This article sheds light on how CEP impact supply chain. Further, the results emphasize that “optimal pricing for remanufactured products” and “creates green image of remanufactured products” (under market dimension) are ranked two most critical factors while “Firm’s available resources is a source of advantage in this competitive business scenario” (under market dimension) are the least critical (Refer Table 1). ISM analysis highlights that “Integrated management systems and processes with the supply network” and “creates green image of remanufactured products” are system actuators. The study was conducted in a pharmaceutical manufacturing hub (Badi) of India which helps in generalizing the implications in similar sector and economy setting. However, countries like China have different resource availability and different governance regulations, hence future studies in this area should aim to address the limitations with self-reporting techniques, while also considering cultural differences that may affect supply chain resilience. Longitudinal & cross sectional surveys can be conducted to provide robust results in future works. This paper offers integrative and holistic implications for practitioners as well academicians looking for ways to improve resilience in supply chain. The findings suggest that companies should focus on building CEP. Customer willingness to pay for critical remanufactured spares which are obsolete in the market is also important to achieve sustainable results in long run. This study contributes to the existing literature by examining five dimensions and twenty-seven factors of CEP leading to resilient supply chain. The paper also adds new insights into the role of management systems and processes with the supply network as the key actuator for resilient system.