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Being an efficient mechanism for the value of money, public–private partnership (PPP) is one of the most prominent approaches for infrastructure construction. Hence, many controversies about the performance effectiveness of these delivery systems have been debated. This research aims to develop a novel performance management perspective by revealing the causal effect of key performance indicators (KPIs) on PPP infrastructures.

The literature review was used in this study to extract the PPPs KPIs. Experts’ judgment and interviews, as well as questionnaires, were designed to obtain data. Copula Bayesian network (CBN) has been selected to achieve the research purpose. CBN is one of the most potent tools in statistics for analyzing the causal relationship of different elements and considering their quantitive impact on each other. By utilizing this technique and using Python as one of the best programming languages, this research used machine learning methods, SHAP and XGBoost, to optimize the network.

The sensitivity analysis of the KPIs verified the causation importance in PPPs performance management. This study determined the causal structure of KPIs in PPP projects, assessed each indicator’s priority to performance, and found 7 of them as a critical cluster to optimize the network. These KPIs include innovation for financing, feasibility study, macro-environment impact, appropriate financing option, risk identification, allocation, sharing, and transfer, finance infrastructure, and compliance with the legal and regulatory framework.

Identifying the most scenic indicators helps the private sector to allocate the limited resources more rationally and concentrate on the most influential parts of the project. It also provides the KPIs’ critical cluster that should be controlled and monitored closely by PPP project managers. Additionally, the public sector can evaluate the performance of the private sector more accurately. Finally, this research provides a comprehensive causal insight into the PPPs’ performance management that can be used to develop management systems in future research.

For the first time, this research proposes a model to determine the causal structure of KPIs in PPPs and indicate the importance of this insight. The developed innovative model identifies the KPIs’ behavior and takes a non-linear approach based on CBN and machine learning methods while providing valuable information for construction and performance managers to allocate resources more efficiently.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the philosophical changes which underpin research and practices in project management. This study is an attempt to challenge previous studies that have tried to explain this change in order to provide a better explanation.

The authors adopt a critical review research method to challenge previous explanations of the paradigm change and definition of communication. For this purpose, philosophical and social theories and concepts have been used.

This paper proposed changing the paradigm from modernism to postmodernism and the paradigm shift, which happens from postmodernism to participation, as a better explanation for the paradigmatic change in project management. Furthermore, the important role of communication has been illustrated in the participation paradigm.

For the first time in project management, the authors attempt to clarify the role of power in this paradigmatic shift, especially because this concept is an axial concept in postmodern philosophy and a neglected concept in project management literature. In addition, communicative action theory has been used with the aim of pursuing the influence of informal power in the participation paradigm and paving the way for confronting its emerging challenges in future studies.

Consumption of fossil fuels due to their non-renewability has always been one of the fundamental problems among energy-related issues. Major dependence of mining equipment and activities on energy, fuel and adequate fuel allocation has become of great importance in fuel consumption of mines. Therefore, this study aims to propose a model for optimal fuel allocation for mining industry.

In this study, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), as one of the well-known statistical methods, is used to model and analyze fuel consumption pattern in mine industry.

To show the applicability of the proposed model, the study investigates the model for a real mine in Iran. In this regard, real data of important factors affecting mine fuel consumption are collected. Results of statistical models construct a general formula to calculate the fuel consumption based on three main variables.

Policymaking is one of the important tasks in energy-related organizations. One of the main sectors that uses noticeable amount of fossil fuels is mining industry. Despite the government subsidy for mining in Iran, there is a significant price difference between the price of allocated fuel for mine and the price of the same fuel in the open market. Therefore, this study implements PLS-SEM approach to formulate the fuel consumption pattern under all possible fuel consumption indicators to enable policymakers to make reliable decision for future purposes.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a cradle-to-cradle (C2C) zero discharge production planning system with a fuzzy hybrid optimization model that uses fuzzy comprehensive evaluation to establish fuzzy indicators, and then defuzzify the fuzzy indicators to construct a fuzzy multiobjective programming (FMOP) model.

The FMOP model pursues overall satisfaction using a particle swarm optimization algorithm to produce the best output values for the maximum waste paper recovery rate, the condensate reuse quality and minimum total cost of the zero discharge production planning system.

Recovered waste heat is seldom recycled and consumed in Taiwan. There is a need to capture and utilize heat recovery and use it in the production process supply. In contrast, waste materials are used as resources to perform waste paper recovery and recycle the waste heat of evaporation collection in the production process.

This paper develops a system to establish the best output value for an overall high satisfaction level. According to the results, the waste paper recovery rate is 99.8 percent, condensate reuse quality water is 102.6 tons and the total cost of the zero discharge production planning system is NT$1,312,012.

This paper aims to propose a two-period model in which an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) decides the remanufacturability level of products in product design and unit patent licensing fee at the first period, and a third-party remanufacturer (3PR) that has been licensed by the OEM enters the remanufacturing market to compete with the OEM at the second period.

This paper analyzes the OEM's optimal decisions of remanufacturability level in the product design and unit patent licensing fee at the first period, as well as the OEM's and the 3PR's optimal decisions of selling prices at the second period, under two scenarios that the remanufacturing is constrained or unconstrained by the collected quantity available at the end of the first period, by making use of game theory.

The study finds that the OEM will choose high remanufacturability in product design only when the unit cost saving of remanufacturing or unit production cost of new products exceed certain thresholds.

The study is the first attempt to simultaneously integrate product design and patent licensing in remanufacturing. It provides useful insights for OEM managers who face competition from 3PRs and may use their product design strategies to deter 3PRs and may protect patent of products by levying patent licensing fees from 3PRs.

Managing risks is becoming a highly focused activity in the health service sector. In particular, due to the complex nature of processes in the pharmaceutical industry, several risks have been associated to its supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the risks occurring in the supply chains of the pharmaceutical industry and propose a decision model, based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, for evaluating risks in pharmaceutical supply chains (PSCs).

The proposed model was developed based on the Delphi method and AHP techniques. The Delphi method helped to select the relevant risks associated to PSCs. A total of 16 sub risks within four main risks were identified through an extensive review of the literature and by conducting a further investigation with experts from five pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh. AHP contributed to the analysis of the risks and determination of their priorities.

The results of the study indicated that supply-related risks such as fluctuation in imports arrival, lack of information sharing, key supplier failure and non-availability of materials should be prioritized over operational, financial and demand-related risks.

This work is one of the initial contributions in the literature that focused on identifying and evaluating PSC risks in the context of Bangladesh. This research work can assist practitioners and industrial managers in the pharmaceutical industry in taking proactive action to minimize its supply chain risks. To the end, the authors performed a sensitivity analysis test, which gives an understanding of the stability of ranking of risks.

The purpose of this study is to address a critical gap in the existing literature on business excellence implementation. While various studies have examined different aspects of business excellence, there is still a lack of comprehensive research on the optimal organizational excellence architecture (OEA) for an award-winning business excellence journey. The absence of a unified framework has led to inconsistent practices across organizations. The aim of this research based on data collected from 50 organizations across 17 countries is to address this gap and present a refined OEA model.

This study employed quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Member organizations from the Global Excellence Model (GEM) Council participated through an online survey administered via the Qualtrics software platform. Quantitative data were analyzed using the SPSS and Microsoft Excel software tools, while content analysis techniques were applied to the qualitative data to gain detailed insights.

The findings refine and extend the OEA model. These contributions lead to a refined OEA definition and open avenues for future research, enriching the current understanding of BE implementation.

This study introduces a novel concept of OEA to the literature on business excellence implementation. The refined OEA model provides a fresh perspective on the critical components necessary for an award-winning business excellence journey. This research offers significant value to both practitioners and academics by presenting a unified approach to BE implementation, effectively addressing the previously identified gap in BE research.

Although there are many challenges and constraints for construction organization operation and performance in a post-conflict condition, there is insufficient construction project management literature. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify a framework to understand and determine critical constraints and opportunities in a post-conflict condition facing local construction firms in Afghanistan. The proposed framework is composed of three major steps: identify and determine key performance indicators; identify challenges impacting organization operation and performance in post-conflict condition; determine critical constraints and opportunities based on prioritized performance measures; and organizational strength and weakness factors.

The strength, weakness, opportunities and threat matrix analysis has been used to determine post-conflict condition constraints and opportunities. Then the analytical hierarchy process has been used to prioritize the measures and identify the constraints and opportunities facing construction companies in a post-conflict situation. The mix-research method is applied to this study to analyse qualitative variables and quantitative variables obtained from the experts’ opinions and 51 filled questioners.

The study shows that there are a total of 11 critical constraints and three essential opportunities for construction companies that industry practitioners and policymakers should take into account while formulating the organizational strategy.

The developed framework will benefit construction companies in improving their performance and operation in after-conflict conditions.

This paper is the first to provide a comprehensive conceptualization of the challenges and constraints for construction organization operation and performance in a post-conflict condition. It also offers a novel conceptual framework to understand and determine critical constraints and opportunities in a post-conflict condition facing local construction firms in Afghanistan.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of financial development on the economic growth of jurisdictions with systemically important Islamic finance.

The authors use several estimation methods. The primary analysis is based on the LSDVC method using a sample of 23 countries covering the period of 2000–2019.

The findings suggest that the financial sector may not be a significant factor in determining economic growth, or that it may decrease it depending on the proxy used. These results are in line with recent studies and robust across different estimation specifications and methods used.

Finance practitioners may reconsider the way they conduct their daily activities as their impact on economic growth is fading away. Similarly, policymakers should consider the role that financial development plays in economic growth alongside other factors that may influence its impact. It may be necessary to examine the moderating effects of institutional development on the relationship between finance and growth and consider the channels through which financial development can contribute to economic growth. Additionally, it would be useful to study the impact of Islamic finance on economic growth using different data sources.

Although the topic has been explored using different data sets and focusing on different samples, it has not been explored considering the impact of Islamic finance development on economic growth. Given the global appeal of the Islamic finance industry, it is worth investigating its significance for economic growth.