Prioritizing the factors for coordinated supply chain using analytic hierarchy process (AHP)

Purpose – Coordinated supply chain is concerned with managing dependencies between various members and joint efforts of all members to achieve mutually defined goals. The purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritize the factors for a coordinated supply chain. Design/methodology/approach – Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to prioritize the factors for a coordinated supply chain. By using AHP global desirability index of five strategic factors for coordinated supply chain their 23 sub‐factors have been calculated and compared. Findings – In this study 23 factors affecting coordination in a supply chain are considered. These factors are grouped under five strategic factors such as top management commitment, mutual understanding, relationship and decision‐making, flow of information and organizational factors. It is observed that the global weightage of top management commitment is highest among strategic factors and agreed vision and goal of supply chain members among sub factors. Research limitations/implications – AHP has some limitations. A major limitation is that the rating scale used in the AHP analysis is conceptual and there are chances of bias while giving relative weightage to different factors. Practical implications – Top management should strive for an agreed vision and a common goal among all members of the supply chain to have effective coordination. Originality/value – This study prioritizes factors for a coordinated supply chain in the Indian context and the findings will be significant while formulating strategies.