Analyzing the Legal and Business Dimensions for Socially Sustainable SMEs using

MCDM Approach

Shubhanshi Mittal, Shreya Gupta, Vernika Agarwal1

Amity International Business School, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, India
shubhimittal1994@gmail.com, shreyaguptaa17@gmail.com, vagarwal1@amity.edu

ABSTRACT
Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), given their sheer size and spread, can perform
a significant role in strengthening the idea of inclusivity and enhancing social sustainability
in industrial development. With a contribution of around 6.11% of manufacturing GDP and
around 24.6% service sector GDP, SMEs play a very vital role in enhancing the country’s
overall production networks, scale, and growth. It can be seen in the literature that the focus
of the studies is more towards the economic aspect, not much work has been done in
enhancing the social sustainability of SMEs. In this context, the present study aims to
enhance the social sustainability of SMEs in India. The foremost step in this direction is to
identify the prominent enablers of social sustainability and to understand the contextual
relationship between these enablers. The focus of the present study is to identify the enablers
or vital factors that influence the socially sustainable working of the SMEs and analyze the
relationship between the factors using the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approach.
The MCDM approach of interpretive structure modeling (ISM) is utilized in the present study
as it will aid in building the relationship diagram and to understand the degree of influence of
one enabler over others so that the stakeholders can focus on the most influencing enabler.
The study is validated for Indian SMEs situated in the northern part of the country.
Keywords: Social Sustainability, SMEs, ISM, Enablers, India

1. INTRODUCTION
Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a vital part in enhancing and
strengthening the overall financial backbone of the country. After globalization SMEs are
forced to compete with the global as well as in the domestic markets. Globalization has
forced SMEs to provide products with good quality, reduced cost, and a variety of products
with higher performance and improved technology (Singh et al. 2007). With globalization,
1
Corresponding Author
technological changes have enhanced performances and physical resources to generate ideas
that have helped in translating it to social and economic value. SMEs have played a
significant part in accomplishing goals like equality of income, poverty, regional imbalances,
etc. With the help of SMEs, there are over 6000 products that are being manufactured which
range from daily consumable goods to high tech goods (Vashisht et al. 2016). Also, the
results show that small and medium enterprises are proved to be successful in distributing
employment opportunities at minimum cost than large-scale enterprises. Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII) said that SMEs contribute about 6.11% GDP to the manufacturing
sector and 24.6% GDP to service sector and generate about 80 million employments, hence
plays a crucial role in India’s economy. Therefore, the government’s emphasis on the
development of SMEs has been increased. The initiatives are helping in strengthening the
SME structure. Some of the schemes offered by the government of India are given in table 1.
Table1: Prominent government schemes for MSMEs
NAME OF THE SCHEME YEAR DESCRIPTION
Prime minister employment 2008 Employment opportunity generation through
generation program (PMEGP) helping in setting up self-employment ventures
Market promotion & 2010 Focuses on marketing and promotion of khadi
Development Scheme (MPDA) and village SMEs.
Skill Upgradation & Mahila 2019- Promotes the growth of artisan women via
Coir Yojana (MCY) 2020 self-employment opportunities.
Lean Manufacturing Upgrade the manufacturing competitiveness of
Competitiveness for MSMEs MSMEs through lean manufacturing
techniques.

Besides, to these schemes, the SME Chamber of India has laid down an action plan which
majorly includes:
● Transformation as well as the transition of SMEs
● Ease of doing business for SMEs is the focus
● MSME sectors have reduced rate of interest
● Industrial plots in prime location allocated to SMEs
● Special power tariff for SMEs

Mani et al. (2020) suggested that there is a helpful relationship between social sustainability
in SMEs and supply chain performances. As the large-scale enterprises are moving forward
towards sustainable development to improve their efficiency, save energy, stakeholders are
also pushing the SMEs towards sustainability. Sustainability in SMEs help in sustaining the
changing world and balancing the business from the economic, social, legal, and
environmental impact. The sustainable development in SMEs can be adopted easily as
compared to the big firms as SMEs have a much simpler structure. Sustainability programs
help SMEs to save in terms of reduction of energy, water consumption which will help to
reduce costs and increase profits.
Researches have shown that there are many factors apart from the government intervention in
SMEs that have an influence on the sustainable enhancement of SMEs like the
Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in times of recession can have diverging effects on the
working of SMEs (Soininen et al. 2012). Information and Communication Technologies
(ICT) impact the economic, social, and personal development of the SMEs and is hence
important to exploit the potential resources and outcomes which are beneficial for the
enterprises (Tarutè and Gatautis, 2014). Political economy is a major way of evaluation to
know the impact of SMEs’ policies. The current targets and results of the enterprises are
achieved with the help of policy effectiveness (Storey, 2008). Entrepreneurial knowledge and
performance have a positive effect on the SMEs and their dimensions. (Omerzel and
Antončič, 2008). Also, research done on Trans-national corporations can help in
technological innovation which will result in improved economic performance (Kumar et al.
2010. It is observed from the present studies by numerous researchers in the literature that the
main focus has been on the economic aspect for the working of SMEs (Amézquita et al.
2017) and not much study has been done in enhancing the social sustainability of SMEs. In
this study, the aim is to integrate the social sustainability with the legal and business
dimension of the working of SMEs in the northern part of India. Hence, the motivation
behind the present paper:
1) Is to understand the role of social sustainability in SMEs
2) to understand the contextual relationship within social sustainability factors for
SMEs.
Socially sustainability has now become a principal focus of many enterprises as human
rights’ is the first of six UN Global Compact’s social dimensions of corporate sustainability
as stated by United Nations Global compact. Apart from that, indulging in social
sustainability can open new niches for the enterprise or business like attracting new potential
investors or clients, the source for innovation of new products or services.
To tackle social sustainability concerning legal and business dimensions for SMEs, we saw
enablers with the help of industry experts and scholars. The study is done using the Multi-
Criteria Decision Making approach of Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and is
validated for Indian SMEs situated in the northern part of the country. ISM approach was
used, which is used to define the relationships between the enabler and socially sustainable
ways to cave path for the working of SMEs.
The paper is divided into following sections:
 Section 2 depicts review of literature
 Section 3 depicts research methodology
 Section 4 depicts case background
 Section 5 depicts case description
 Section 6 depicts results and discussion
 Section 7 depicts conclusion

2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The present section discusses the prevailing literature on SMEs, ISM application in
literature and economic, innovation and leadership dimensions.
2.1 SMEs
SMEs’ business case differs from that of large firms as they need particular attention to
include sustainability due to the increasing pressure of the stakeholders (Loucks et al.
2010). SMEs require different combinations of resources like equity, research and
development, industry knowledge, and expertise to move towards sustainable
development (Halme and Korpela, 2013). In this context, the prime step is to reduce
wastage by opting for lean manufacturing by the Indian manufacturing SMEs (Panizzolo
et al. 2012). Management of social sustainability is another challenge for these SMEs as
they must gain knowledge and expertise to properly implement and manage their human
resources while abiding the government norms. One way to achieve social sustainability
is by including internal cooperation of the top management commitment and external
infrastructure (Johnson, 2016). Corporate social responsibility and competition are
correlated when it comes to the SMEs involved. industry (Battaglia et al. 2014).
The major challenge faced by SMEs including lack of resources, high capital and
operating cost, and lack of expertise (Jaramillo et al. 2018) Broadly 175 barriers faced by
SMEs were identified via research equations and results in Scopus of previous studies
(Jaramillo et al. 2018. In India, manufacturing SMEs contribute a significant amount of
share when it comes to the manufacturing output of the country. And in these times, it is
 also important to be sustainable. The enterprises should use lean and green manufacturing
techniques to achieve the desired results (Gandhi et al. 2017). There are barriers as well
as enablers when it comes to employing circular business models by SMEs (Rizos et al.
2016). SMEs contribute highly too, worldwide economy. The study, sustainable supply
chain management (SCM) has a very important role in terms of; business, environment,
and social (Kot, 2018). Government intervention in terms of policy and environmental
practices positively influences the performances of Indian leather and chemical SMEs
(Das, 2019). In the literature, it can be seen that there is very limited work done in the
field of social sustainability in SMEs, which is the motivation behind the present work.

2.2 ISM Application in Literature

ISM has been used to develop interrelations between different enablers or barriers or factors
in the literature. The study by Kumar and Rahman (2017) suggested that the stakeholders,
supply chain partners and urge from customers, are crucial for establishing a socially
sustainable supply chain. Thamsatitdej et al. (2017) established three dimensions:
environmental, social, economic which are need to be related to eco-design practices with the
help of Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and Matriced’ Impacts Cruise's Multiplication
Appliquée a UN Classement (MIMAC). Yadav and Singh (2020) have used ISM with a fuzzy
analytic process to implement blockchain over the on-going methods being used in the supply
chain. Babu et al. (2020) established that supply chains have a complex structure which leads
to risk. ISM was used to find the interrelationship between these risks and the findings came
out that external risks have the most impact. Singh et al. (2020) in their study suggested that
the need for flexibility in the supply chain has increased to survive and to grow. ISM is used
to identify the enablers for supply chain flexibility (SCF). Kumar and Rahman (2017)
evinced that focal firms and sustainable supply chains are interrelated and have enablers. The
relation between them is established using ISM. Digalwar et al. (2020) asked the experts and
industrialists to analyze the data in the field of lean-agile firms of India for sustainable supply
chain practices and using ISM a hierarchical relationship between all the criteria was
obtained. The literature has studied various researches that concentrate on social
sustainability of various factors through ISM but the ISM technique in case of social
sustainability in SMEs is neglected so our study aims to concentrate on the study of social
sustainability in SMEs with the help of ISM technique.

2.3 ECONOMIC, INNOVATION AND LEADERSHIP DIMENSIONS

SMEs are being influenced by Trans-national corporations (TNC) through innovation and
economic aspects. TNC is expanding manufacturing opportunities to developing countries
that increase opportunities for SMEs (Kumar and Subrahmanya, 2010). Entrepreneurial
Orientation (EO) in the times of recession can have diverging effects on the working of
SMEs. (Soininen et al., 2012). When it comes to SMEs, the economic, social, and
environmental feature of proactive CSR has a relationship with vision, stakeholders, and
strategic proactivity (Torugsa et al., 2012). Furthermore, information and communication
technologies (ICT) have great potential to achieve desired outcomes in SMEs (Tarutė and
Gatautis, 2014). Internal innovation and technology adoption exist in SMEs and there is a
significant difference in the space of personal and organizational factors that form the basis of
difference of the two dimensions (Martínez-Román and Romero, 2017). The pressure builds
up in the enterprise due to the small size and with it come numerous resource-related barriers.
To overcome the same, internal knowledge and awareness of capabilities becomes important
(Akhtar et al. 2015). The other barriers faced by SMEs are related to the field of export. The
challenges need to be overcome to further broaden the prospects of exporting (Paul et al.
2017). The financial performance of SMEs indicates the turnover and growth of the business.
To strengthen the financials, a relation between social, environment, and operation practices
are established (Malesios et al. 2018). Even though the economic contribution of SMEs keeps
on increasing worldwide, there are certain financial pullbacks due to inefficiency in
leadership (Solanki. et al. 2020). Hence, the equilibrium between leadership and financial
growth needs to be achieved. (Madanchian and Taherdoost, 2019). In the literature, it can be
seen that the main focus was related to the economic, innovation, and leadership dimensions
of SMEs and not much study has been done in the field of social sustainability of SMEs.
Hence the main focus of our paper is put on the sustainability dimension of SMEs.
About the gaps stated above this study is centralized on the legal and business enablers of
SMEs on social sustainability. The SMEs pollute the environment and often hide this fact to
protect themselves from being caught and facing legal issues. Also, the water bodies are
being polluted because of the dumping of toxic waste into it. The study aims to concentrate
on the need to use legal and business enablers to protect the environmental conditions and
also produce desirable outcomes for SMEs. Also, it emphasizes the challenge to use an
appropriate legal structure for the social sustainability of SMEs.

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS
Legal and business dimension facilitators were identified to evaluate the social sustainability
score for the SMEs situated in the northern party of the country, India. A panel comprising
experts which include the secretary-general, the chairman from the reputed company, and the
stakeholders from ventures as well as academic scholars were consulted to further understand
the enablers in context to legal and business dimensions, which enhance the socially
sustainable working of the SMEs. After the discussion with the experts and the academic
scholars, a total of 9 enablers for enhancing the social sustainability of the SMEs were
finalized which are given in Table 2.
Table 2. List of a legal and business enabler for SMEs to attain social sustainability
NOTATION SUB- DESCRIPTION REFERENCES
S ENABLERS
SE1 Employee The training of the employees is Gandhi et al.,
training an important aspect of the (2018)
according to organization. The training should
industry be according to the standards
standards which are prescribed

SE2 Top The top-level is the strategic level Gandhi et al.,

management for the organization. If the top- (2018)
commitment level is committed to their work
then it is always a plus for the
enterprises.
SE3 Use of To fill the Communication gaps Kot et al., (2018)
information between employees and
technology departments use of technologies
is necessary
SE4 Building long- Channel partners know about the Kot et al., (2018)
term market strategies, distribution
relationships channel which can be effective in
with channel sealing your products
partners
SE5 Use of the “Just Reducing the inventory cost and Kot et al., (2018)
in Time” thus Availing of products
whenever needed
SE6 knowledge and To promote two-way Kot et al., (2018)
 info sharing communication and better
between partners partnership by sharing
information and knowledge and
therefore achieving organization
goals
SE7 adherence to International standards for quality Kot et al., (2018)
ISO 9000 assurance to maintain the
guidelines effective quality of the products
SE8 incorporation of Customer feedback help and Kot et al., (2018)
customer reshape the operations in the
feedback business
SE9 Adherence to ILO is the standard for the Gandhi et al.,
ILO standards laborers. It is important to adhere (2018)
to them to set principles and
rights at work.

3.2 ISM METHODOLOGY

Interpretive structural modeling is a methodology that helps in defining the relationships
among specific things, which describes an issue (Warfield et al., 1974). ISM is a technique
where the indirect and directly linked factors are arranged into a structured model (Sharma et
al. 2020). The ISM process coverts the ill-defined models into the clear defined model. It
proposes to use expert opinion for the development of the relationship between different
elements and helps to form a structural relationship between them. In this study, an ISM
approach is adopted to identify the driving power and dependence power of the legal and
business enablers. After identifying the legal and business enablers, the ISM methodology
covers the following points (Darbari and Agarwal, 2016):
1. Developing the structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM) for enablers. The matrix
shows the relationship directly between the enablers of SMEs. The direction of the legal
and business enablers are symbolized with the help of the following 4 symbols:

V- enabler k will improve enabler l;

A- enabler k will be improved by enabler l;
X- enabler k and l will help achieve each other and
O- enabler k and l are unrelated
 2. The Reachability matrix is organized with the assistance of a structural self-interaction
matrix (SSIM) table. SSIM table which is represented with the help of V, A, O, X is now
converted into binary numbers that are 0 and 1 with the help of the following instructions:

• If the (k,l) entry in the SSIM is O, then (k,l) and (l,k) entries in the reachability matrix
become 0 for both
• If the (k,l) entry in the SSIM is X, then (k,l) and (l,k) entries in the reachability matrix
become 1 for both
• If the (k,l) entry in the SSIM is Y, then (k,l) and (l,k) entries in the reachability matrix
become 1 and 0, respectively
• If the (k,l) entry in the SSIM is Z, then (k,l) and (l,k) entries in the reachability matrix
become 0 and 1, respectively.
Further, the final reachability matrix is constructed by incorporating all the transitivity in
the initial reachability matrix
3. By the final reachability matrix, the reachability set and antecedent set are obtained for
each of the legal and business enablers for social sustainability, and further the
intersection of these sets is derived from the final reachability matrix. The reachability set
consists of the enabler itself and the other enablers that it may impact. The antecedent set
consists of the enabler itself and the other enabler that may impact it. Therefore, the
intersection of the reachability and antecedent set is derived for all enablers. The first
level consists of the enablers where the reachability set and interaction set is the same.
After assigning the first-level enablers, the first level enablers are discarded from the
remaining variable list. And then the same procedure is done until the level of each
enabler is identified.
4. In the next step, we construct the ISM MODEL is drawn. The graph is drawn according
to the levels obtained by the level partitioning. The resulting graph is also called a
digraph. A review of the ISM MODEL is done by checking the inconsistency and then
making the necessary changes.

4 CASE BACKGROUND
SMEs are non-subsidized and self-reliant firms, which employ fewer employees in
comparison to the given number. Section 7 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) deals with the
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 (MSMED Act). The act
provides the classification of MSMEs/ SMEs in two parts, Manufacturing enterprises and
service enterprises. This classification is done based on investment size and the nature of the
activity undertaken.
when the investment in fixed assets is up to Rs 1 crore then it is micro, if it is up to 10 crore
rupees then it is small and when it up to 5 crore rupees then it is medium enterprise.
Similarly, when annual turnover does not exceed 5 crores it is micro, when it does not exceed
50 crores it is small and when it does not exceed 250 crores it is medium enterprise.
According to the SME Chamber of India, SMEs are the support pillars to financial
development in the country. Other than the financial dimension, SMEs prove to be a source
of employment generation, innovation, exports, etc.
The study by Mani et al. (2020), suggested that there is an effective relationship between
social sustainability in SMEs. As the large-scale enterprises are moving forward towards
sustainable development to improve their efficiency, save energy, stakeholders are also
pushing the SMEs towards sustainability. Sustainability in SMEs helps in sustaining the
changing world and balancing the business from the economic, social, legal, and
environmental impact. The sustainable development in SMEs can be adopted easily as
compared to the big firms as SMEs due to their simpler structure.
According to the UN Global Compact, social sustainability is about identifying the negative
and positive effects of managing the business on people. The kind of relationship that a
business enterprise maintain with its stakeholders is very crucial and the enterprises directly
or indirectly affect its employees, workers, customers, and local communities.
Despite government schemes like Skill Up gradation and Mahila Coir Yojana (2019), ISO
9000 guidelines, ILO standards, the concerns of SMEs towards legal and business dimensions
still poses a problem to work in a sustainable method. To identify enablers in the field of
LBD which help in the social sustainability of SMEs in India. This brings us to the following
objectives:
1. To help SMEs work in a sustainable manner keeping in mind the legal and business
environment.
2. To form an ISM model of legal and business dimensions to collectively work with
governmental guidelines.

5 CASE DESCRIPTION
The SSIM table for the given dimensions is shown in table 4. In the table, it is shown that the
Employee training according to industry standards (SE1) will help in improving the Use of
the “Just in Time” (SE5) so there is a relationship between SE1 and SE5 which is denoted by
V. In SE1 i.e. employees training according to industry standards and SE9 i.e. adherence to
government local tax, SE9 helps to improve SE1 so A relation help use of just in time to
denote SE9 and SE1. In the case of SE2 i.e. top management commitment and SE9 i.e.
adherence to government local tax both are unrelated so O is denoted for the relationship.

Table 4. SSIM
SE9 SE8 SE7 SE6 SE5 SE4 SE3 SE2 SE1
SE1 A O O O V O O O X
SE2 O O V O O V O X
SE3 O V O V O V X
SE4 O O O A O X
SE5 O A A O X
SE6 O O O X
SE7 V A X
SE8 O X
SE9 X

In the next step reachability matrix is formed by replacing V, A, O, X with “0” and “1”. Here
SE46 holds the value A which is substituted by 0 and therefore SE64 is updated by 1.
Similarly, SE15 holds the value V so it will be substituted as 1 and SE51 will be updated by
0. The cell with the value o will be updated by 0 and with the value X will be updated by 1

Table 5. Initial Reachability Matrix

  SE1 SE2 SE3 SE4 SE5 SE6 SE7 SE8 SE9

SE1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
SE2 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
SE3 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0
SE4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
SE5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
SE6 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
SE7 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
SE8 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0
SE9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
The final reachability matrix is prepared by incorporating the transitivity’s in the initial
reachability matrix. The final reachability matrix also represents the driving and the
dependence power of each enabler.

Table 6. Final Reachability Matrix

Driver
  SE1 SE2 SE3 SE4 SE5 SE6 SE7 SE8 SE9
power
SE1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2
SE2 0 1 0 1 1* 0 1 0 1* 5
SE3 0 0 1 1 1* 1 1* 1 0 6
SE4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
SE5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
SE6 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2
SE7 1* 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 4
SE8 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1* 4
SE9 1 0 0 0 1* 0 0 0 1 3
Dependence
3 1 1 4 7 2 4 2 4
power
‘*’ represents the change in initial transitivity table by incorporating the transitivity

The next table which is prepared is the Level partitioning table. In the table, the first column
represents the reachability set which shows the legal and business enablers its influences.
And the next column i.e the antecedent set shows the legal and business enablers influencing
it. The intersection set in which the intersection is equal to the reachability set is labeled as
Level 1 for example in the table below SE4, SE5 is at level 1.

Table 7. I-Iteration

  REACHABILITY ANTECEDENT INTERSECTION LEVEL

SET SET
SE 1, 5, 1, 7,9 1  2
1
SE 2, 4, 5, 7, 9 2 2  5
2
SE 3, 4. 5, 6, 7, 8 3 3  6
3
SE 4 2, 3, 4, 6 4 1
4
SE 5 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 5 1
5
SE 4, 6 3, 6, 6  2
6
SE 1, 5, 7, 9 2, 7, 8 7  4
7
SE 5, 7, 8, 9 3, 8 8  5
8
SE 1, 5, 9, 2, 7, 8, 9 9  3
9

To obtain the next enabler SE4 and SE5 are excluded from the table and new reachability,
antecedent, and intersection sets are identified. The second table has SE1 and SE6 which are
at Level 2. The process continues until each enabler is defined by a Level. A total number of
6 iterations was carried out. The level partitioning helped in the preparation of the ISM model
and for making the digraph.

6 RESULT DISCUSSION
From the final reachability matrix, the diagram has resulted, which is presented in the form of
the ISM model as disclosed in figure 1. Out of all the legal and business enablers identified
for the socially sustainable working of SMEs, ‘use of communication technology to increase
the efficiency of communication’ (SE3) is the most independent enabler. It is also the most
important enabler which will be most helpful to SMEs to achieve sustainability keeping in
mind the legal and business dimension. ‘Use of communication technology to increase the
efficiency of communication’ (SE3) will further lead to better top management commitment
(SE2) and better incorporation of customer feedback (SE8). On the other hand, those on top
like ‘Building long term relationship with channel partners’ (SE4) and ‘Use of just in time’
(SE5) are the most dependent factors and hold the least importance as compared to other
dimensions, when it comes to achieving sustainability.
Figure 1. ISM model

Therefore, the aim of SMEs should be to work in a sustainable method keeping in mind the
enablers in the legal and business dimension to get recognition and sustainably achieve
desired results. With the help of Table 6, MICMAC analysis is formed as depicted in table 2.
All the 9 legal and business enablers are positioned in 4 quartes; linkage, dependant,
autonomous, independent. In quadrant I that is, the linkage quarter, there is an absence of
enablers. This is an indication of successful identification of legal and business dimensions,
as a presence in the quarter I would have created hindrances for SMEs in achieving
sustainability. In quarter II i.e. ‘dependent quarter’, there are top management commitment
(SE2) and use of information technology to increase the efficiency of communication (SE3)
which signifies that they have high dependent power. This means that even without directly
focusing on these enablers, sustainability can be achieved by SMEs as they are highly
dependent on other dimensions of legal and business development. The autonomous quarter
includes employee training according to industry standards (SE1), building long terms
relationships with channel partners (SE4), knowledge and info sharing between partners
(SE6), adherence to ISO 9000 guidelines (SE7), incorporation if customer feedback (SE8)
and adherence of ILO standards (SE9) these enablers have the power to influence or be
influenced. So, whenever there is a change in any of the legal and business enablers, it will
affect the other enablers and vice versa. The last quarter i.e. the independent quarter which
has use of just in time (SE5) is the key strategy as it won't influence any other enabler if there
is a change in it to achieve sustainability.

Figure 2. classified of Strategies (MICMAC)

7 CONCLUSION
Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), given the sheer size and spread they have, can
play an exceptional part in strengthening idea, inclusivity and enhancing the social
sustainability in industrial development play a very paramount part in amplifying the
country’s overall production networks, scale and growth with a contribution of around 6.11%
of manufacturing G.D.P and around 24.6% service sector G.D.P. Even though it is very
difficult for SMEs to work in a sustainable manner considering the legal and business
dimension. Achieving sustainability has always posed a problem for the authorities working
in SMEs. The aim is to answer the two questions mentioned in the paper: Is it to acknowledge
the part or role of social sustainability in SMEs and to understand the contextual relationship
within social sustainability factors for SMEs.
This is the reason why the problem has been addressed in the paper. To overcome these
problems, 9 legal and business enablers have been discerned with the aid of experts which
include the secretary-general, the chairman from the reputed company, and the stakeholders
from ventures as well as academic scholars. ISM technique along with MICMAC analysis
has been implemented to get the result that can be of use to the authorities and enterprises.
Our study can be used by SMEs situated in northern India. The results can be changed by
managers and researchers depending upon the enterprises and dimensions. In the future,
optimized models can be generated based on the results.

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