Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Indian Manufacturing SMEs with an Interval Valued Fuzzy Framework | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Indian Manufacturing SMEs with an Interval Valued Fuzzy Framework Parul Sinha, Sujit Singh, Rajkumari Mittal, Abdul Latif Roshan, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7834945/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a key role in the economic growth of any country, but measuring their sustainability performance is a complex process because of the uncertain nature of sustainability indicators, the huge waste generated by SMEs, and dependence of SMEs on poorly recorded information. Pressure from various stakeholders and the benefits of measuring the sustainability performance of SMEs encourage them to measure and report the sustainability performance. Sustainability indicators are identified using the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework with a comprehensive look at environmental, economic, and social factors that affect an organization's sustainability. Identified indicators are statistically validated by performing the Mann-Whitney test associating the importance and applicability of these indicators. The interval-valued fuzzy inference system (IVFIS) has been employed successfully to manage the multi-dimensional attributes of sustainability indicators. A case study of an Indian SME illustrates how well the model works to assess sustainability performance and identify what makes it successful. It will guide the SMEs in assessing the environmental impact of their current practices and recommend ways in which they can change their processes to reduce waste in the future. The research will help policymakers, regulators, and SMEs to take smart practical steps in assessing and reducing the impact of current practices on environment and achieve sustainability goals like SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) across their operations and positively contribute to overall sustainability goals. This assessment of environmental impact and reduction in a waste generation by Indian SMEs will substantially improve the products and processes performance, subsequently leading to better ecological sustainability. Sustainability assessment small and medium enterprises interval-valued fuzzy Sustainability Development Goals sustainable manufacturing Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7834945","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":554302601,"identity":"ed07269a-f0f8-448c-b609-83acce7ec46c","order_by":0,"name":"Parul Sinha","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"GD Goenka University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Parul","middleName":"","lastName":"Sinha","suffix":""},{"id":554302604,"identity":"5d4bc99e-badb-40ad-92f3-bd5a52c15acf","order_by":1,"name":"Sujit Singh","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Woxsen 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