Developing a hybrid methodology for green-based supplier selection: Application in the automotive industry

The green performance values of businesses are of great importance in terms of sustainability, which includes long-term economic, social, and environmental effects. Thus, today, enterprises and managers are increasingly interested in this issue, and related topics, including supplier selection, have been inserted into decision-making procedures. However, how to predict the effects of green performance criteria, which represent environmental sustainability, on social and economic sustainability remains unclear. In this regard, the main purpose of this research is to develop a supplier selection methodology considering green performance criteria by applying multiple regression analysis and the Evidential Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making (F-MCDM) method based on Dempster-Shafer Theory (DST), which are both powerful methods in statistical analysis and decision-making under uncertainty. In the first phase of the research, variables that significantly affect green performance have been determined by testing the eight generated hypotheses with multiple regression analysis. Then, the best supplier was determined using those green supplier selection criteria in the Evidential F-MCDM method. Since using environmentally hazardous paints in the production process continues, the automobile paint production sector has been chosen as the application area of this green-based supplier selection methodology. In this respect, green dynamic capacity, green purchasing, eco-design, investment recovery, and green product innovation variables have been inserted into the Evidential F-MCDM method as the determinant variables of green performance. This research reveals that integrating multiple regression and Evidential F-MCDM methods can be a hybrid methodology in supplier selection. Thus, a different perspective is introduced into the green supplier selection decision-making process by considering the effects of criteria in the MCDM model on green performance. This innovation enhances the criteria determination and selection processes in classical MCDM approaches. In addition, green dynamic capacity is the most critical criterion in supplier selection based on their green performance, especially in the scope of this research.