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The construction industry consumes significant resources, emits considerable pollutants, and generates substantial waste. Green, Lean, Six Sigma (GLS) is an emerging paradigm to control waste, carbon footprint, resource conservation, non-value-added activities, and cost. However, limited focus has been given to the risks involved in GLS construction projects (GLSCPs). This research explored risk factors (RFs) to GLSCPs based on literature review and expert judgments. Brainstorming sessions were conducted to validate the RFs and establish mutual interactions among them through experts' opinions. A 4-level structural model was extracted through Interpretive structural modeling (ISM). The Matriced Impacts Croise's Multiplication Appliqée a UN Classement (MICMAC) was integrated to assess the 'driving' and 'dependence' power of the RFs. The results show that all RFs are crucial and impact GLSCPs, but the most critical are 'unstable inflation,' 'fluctuations in interest rate,' and 'fluctuations in exchange rate.' This study enhances managers' and policymakers' understanding of RFs associated with GLSCPs and supports effective risk management for successful GLS implementation in construction projects.

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In contemporary times of globalization, tourism and travel are among the fastest-growing economic sectors and are highly related to climate change; however, technological innovations as a powerful tool positively contribute to the environment. The present study examines the tourism receipt and CO2 emission relationship and the triple interaction effect of technological innovation, energy consumption, and tourism receipts on CO2 emissions in the short and long run. To achieve study objectives, we utilized panel data of 64 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries over the period of 1995 to 2019. Considering the cross-sectional dependence in the panel data set, we employed a series of econometric panel data estimation techniques-including the panel unit root tests, panel co-integration tests, and the generalized method of moments (GMM). The panel unit root results confirmed the level of stationarity, and the panel co-integration results verified the long-run relationship among study variables. The sys-GMM results indicate that tourism receipts and CO2 emissions have an inverse relationship for 64 BRI countries. In addition, the negative coefficients for joint interaction imply that tourism receipts, technological innovation, and energy consumption reduce CO2 emissions. Considering the theoretical underpinnings of the study outcomes, we discussed significant policy implications to reduce CO2 emissions and achieve sustainable tourism.

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Green Lean Six Sigma adoption (GLSA) is an emerging concept that enhances product quality, safety and the overall performance of the firms. Few studies attempted to explore and examine the DFs of GLSA towards creating a strong urge in the stakeholders for long-term economic, ecological and productivity advantages. Major 32 DFs were initially explored to fill this gap by conducting a literature review and semi-structured interviews with different experts. Then, using the Delphi method, 28 DFs pertinent to the construction industry of Pakistan were screened, and established a seven-stages structural model by employing the interpretive structural modeling (ISM) technique. Through Matriced' Impacts Croise's Multiplication Appliquee a UN Classement (MICMAC) method, the DFs were categorized into "autonomous," "dependent," and "linking" segments. The results signify that "energy efficiency," "government incentives," "waste minimization," "resources conservation and recycling," and "water efficiency" were the top five DFs for GLSA. Further, the comparison with other countries reveals that the most significant driving force, "government incentives," is substantial for GLSA in the emerging economy of Pakistan. This article enhances knowledge of significant DFs for GLSA, furnishing a considerable source for managers, professionals, and policymakers to encourage GLSA at a wider level.

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Reducing energy usage and promoting energy management practices remain hot issues in the construction sector. Construction firms are not interested to adopt energy conservation and management practices in their projects. Despite the successful integration of energy management practices in developed nations, their adaptability in developing countries, especially in Pakistan, is at a slow pace. Therefore, drivers to energy management practices need to be realized for its adoption. Based on this, the current study intends to evaluate the drivers of energy management practices adopted in the construction sector of Pakistan by using a four-stage methodology. Fuzzy Delphi method (FDM), interpretive structural modeling (ISM), and Matrice d'Impacts Croises Multiplication Appliques a un Classement (MICMAC) analysis were integrated with prioritizing essential drivers. Increased tax imposition on construction companies for energy usage and pollution contribution, promotion of investment subsidies for energy efficiency technologies, and increased enforcement of government rules and regulations regarding on-site energy management practices arose as significant drivers to adoption of energy management practices in the construction sector of Pakistan. These results will be helpful for policymakers to develop effective policies for integrating energy management practices in the construction sector. This study contributes significantly by developing a novel model of drivers affecting EMP adoption in the Pakistani construction sector. Further research might be expanded to other developing countries to validate current results.

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[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238743.].

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In the recent era, energy management practices (EMPs) have gained significant importance in developed countries, due to their cost efficiency and the potential to protect the environment. However, developing countries are not particularly serious about adopting and implementing sustainable construction practices, due to the different barriers that hinder them from doing so. Therefore, the complete adoption of effective EMPs is still at the initial stage. The objective of this study is to identify the barriers to EMPs adoption, in the construction sector of Pakistan. Initially, the barriers were identified from the earlier studies and screened by the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM). These screened barriers were then evaluated through the ISM. The results of the ISM show that there happens to be a "lack of communication and collaboration among project stakeholders," "attitudinal, cultural and behavioral resistance to adopt EMPs", "lack of top management support and interest in energy management issues," "no condition for implementing EMPs on construction site," and "lack of financing schemes to implement energy management technology," as the top barriers to EMPs adoption in the construction projects pertaining to Pakistan. Thus in this regard, this study empirically contributes to EMPs literature that is based on the developing countries and supports the policymakers in developing appropriate strategies to reduce energy consumption in construction projects-especially in developing countries.

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Firms need sufficient resources (tangible and intangible) and capabilities to build unique products due to customers' demands and choices, market competition and globalization. Despite sufficient resources, many firms cannot build new products according to the customers' preferences and market trends due to lack of marketing capabilities, lack of skilled marketing staff and lack of experienced managers. However, studies have not yet examined what types of intangible skills of marketing managers are prominent for building new products. This study examines the importance of the intangible skills; intellectual captial, financial literacy and business experience in new product development that results in sustainable competitive performance. We used a mixed-method approach; questionnaire (283) and interviews (16) for data collection and then applied structural equation modelling for testing the hypotheses. The results revealed that all the three intangible skills; intellectual captial, financial literacy and business experience significant influence new product development and sustainable competitive performance. However, considering the relative importance, financial literacy and intellectual capital are the most significant predictors of sustainable competitive performance and new product development respectively. Moreover, new product development fully mediates the path between intellectual capital and sustainable competitive performance while it partially mediates the link between financial literacy, business experience and sustainable competitive performance. Considering the importance of tangible resources, our study scrutinized that financial resources have a significant influence on new product development and sustainable competitive performance while technological resources do not play a significant role. This research recommends firms to emphasize on the improvement of intangible skills of the managers in order to build new products that result in sustainable competitive position. This study also recommends marketing managers to improve their financial skills and experience by participating in various seminars and workshops that can spur their new idea generation and new product development capabilities.

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