Application of fuzzy logic for social sustainability performance evaluation: a case study of an Indian automotive component manufacturing organization

Societal dimension of sustainability is gaining importance during the recent days to cope with recent advancements and Corporate Social Responsibility. In this context, this article presents an approach for social sustainability performance evaluation. The approach has been test implemented in an Indian automotive component manufacturing organization. Appropriate Social Sustainability indicators were identified based on literature. Social Sustainability index has been computed as (5.71, 6.99, 8.31) and by matching linguistic label the organization has been identified as 'Very Socially Sustainable'. The obtained index has been validated using conventional crisp technique and social sustainability index is found to be 6.98. The approach is efficient in measuring the strengths and weaknesses of an individual community or organization with reference to detailed set of indicators so as to identify the weaker attributes. The study provided systematic approach for measurement and analysis of social sustainability performance. The scientific value of the study is the contribution of a conceptual model for social sustainability performance evaluation, computation of fuzzy Social Sustainability Index and identification of weaker attributes. The results obtained using fuzzy approach has been validated with conventional crisp approach. 22 social sustainability attributes out of 60 are found to be weaker and appropriate actions were derived to improve the weaker attributes. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.