The following paper assesses the relationship between electricity consumption, economic growth, environmental pollution, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development in Kazakhstan. Using the structural equation method, the study analyzes panel data gathered across various regions of Kazakhstan between 2014 and 2022. The data were sourced from official records of the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan and include all regions of Kazakhstan. The chosen timeframe includes the period from 2014, which marked a significant drop in oil prices that impacted the overall economic situation in the country, to 2022. The main hypotheses of the study relate to the impact of electricity consumption on economic growth, ICT, and environmental sustainability, as well as ICT’s role in economic development and environmental impact. The results show electricity consumption’s positive effect on economic growth and ICT development while also revealing an increase in pollutant emissions (emissions of liquid and gaseous pollutants) with economic growth and electricity consumption. The development of ICT in Kazakhstan has been revealed to not have a direct effect on reducing pollutant emissions into the environment, raising important questions about how technology can be leveraged to mitigate environmental impact, whether current technological advancements are sufficient to address environmental challenges, and what specific measures are needed to enhance the environmental benefits of ICT. There is a clear necessity to integrate sustainable practices and technologies to achieve balanced development. These results offer important insights into the relationships among electricity consumption, technology, economic development, and environmental issues. They underscore the complexity and multidimensionality of these interactions and suggest directions for future research, especially in the context of finding sustainable solutions for balanced development.

This study sought an innovative quality management framework for Chinese Prefabricated Buildings (PB) projects. The framework combines TQM, QSP, Reconstruction Engineering, Six Sigma (6Σ), Quality Cost Management, and Quality Diagnosis Theories. A quantitative assessment of a representative sample of Chinese PB projects and advanced statistical analysis using Structural Equation Modeling supported the framework, indicating an excellent model fit (CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.06). The study significantly advances quality management and industrialized building techniques, but it also emphasizes the necessity for ongoing research, innovation, and information exchange to address the changing problems and opportunities in this dynamic area. In addition, this study’s findings and recommendations can help construction stakeholders improve quality performance, reduce construction workload and cost, minimize defects, boost customer satisfaction, boost productivity and efficiency in PB projects, and boost the Chinese construction industry’s growth and competitiveness.

Sustainability has become a generalized concern for society, specifically businesses, governments, and academia. In the specific case of universities, sustainability has been approached from different perspectives, some viewing it from environmental practices, management initiatives, operational criteria, green buildings, and even education for sustainable development. This research focuses on sustainability as a managerial practice and investigates how it affects the performance of five private universities in Medellin, Colombia. For this purpose, a literature review using a mixed sequential approach, including bibliometric and content analysis, was initially conducted. In the s second phase, more than 5000 responses from students, professors, and employees of the five mentioned private universities were collected. A previously validated instrument for both sustainability and performance was applied in the quantitative phase, and a novel dimensionality of the constructs was proposed by conducting an exploratory factor analysis using the SPSS software. Results were then processed through a structural equation analysis with the Smart PLS software. The impact of sustainability on university performance is verified, making some managerial recommendations.

Reusable bags have been introduced as an alternative to single-use plastic bags (SUPB). While beneficial, this alternative is economically and environmentally viable only if utilized multiple times. This study aims to identify the determinants influencing the use of reusable bags (RB) over single-use plastic bags (SUPB) within the framework of ecological impact reduction, employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The focus is on understanding how attitudes (AT), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) collectively guide consumers towards adopting reusable bags as a pro-environmental choice. The focus is on understanding how attitudes (AT), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) collectively guide consumers towards the adoption of reusable bags as a pro-environmental choice. Data were collected through a survey administered to 814 consumers in Lahore, employing both regression analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to assess the impact of AT, SN, and PBC on reusable bag consumption (RBC). The TPB framework underpins the hypothesis that these three psychological factors significantly influence the decision to use RBs. Both regression and SEM analyses demonstrated that AT, SN, and PBC positively affect RBC, with significant estimates indicating the strength of each predictor. Specifically, PBC emerged as the strongest predictor of RBC (PBC2, β = 0.533, p < 0.001), highlighting the paramount importance of control perceptions in influencing bag use. This was followed by AT (β = 0.211, p < 0.001) and SN (β = 0.173, p < 0.001), confirming the hypothesized positive relationships. The congruence of findings from both analytical approaches underlines the robustness of these techniques in validating the TPB within the context of sustainable consumer behaviors. The investigation corroborates the TPB’s applicability in predicting RBC, with a clear hierarchy of influence among the model’s constructs. PBC’s prominence underscores the necessity of enhancing consumers’ control over using RBs to foster sustainable consumption patterns. Practical implications include the development of policies and marketing strategies that target the identified determinants, especially emphasizing the critical role of PBC, to promote broader adoption of RBs and contribute to significant reductions in plastic waste.

This study examines the contentment and commitment of rural residents from three different perspectives. The first is environmental management, followed by municipal services and finally territorial planning. The study’s objective is to analyze the causal relationships between the expected quality and perceived quality concerning perceived value, satisfaction and citizen loyalty to provide tools for decision-making to public managers. This research proposes a structural equation model to evaluate and validate five hypotheses. For this study, household-level surveys were implemented to a population sample of 450 families in the rural area of Tenguel in Ecuador. The results suggest that the public policies exercised by territorial managers significantly influence citizens’ perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty, which impacts social welfare. This research shows that there are deficient areas that negatively impact perceived locality, which decreases the perceived value. Such as firefighting service, municipal police, veterinary services, preservation of historical and cultural assets and activities, and facilities for community use.