Multidimensional Assessment of Sustainability and Competitiveness in the Ceramic Tile and Natural Stone Industries: A Cross Country Comparative Study

Multidimensional Assessment of Sustainability and Competitiveness in the Ceramic Tile and Natural Stone Industries: A Cross Country Comparative Study | 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 Article Multidimensional Assessment of Sustainability and Competitiveness in the Ceramic Tile and Natural Stone Industries: A Cross Country Comparative Study Reza Yarahmadi, Ali Asghar Asadi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6920632/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 19 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The natural stone and ceramic industries represent two major competitors in the global building materials sector. This study adopts a multidimensional and integrative approach to conduct a comparative analysis of these two strategic industries across seven selected countries. It concurrently evaluates their economic, environmental, organizational, and industrial performance. The analysis combines traditional decision-making frameworks, including Life Cycle Costing (LCC), SWOT analysis, and Porter’s Five Forces, with advanced machine learning algorithms such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), K-Means clustering, and SHAP. Five key indicators, production cost, energy consumption, CO₂ emission intensity, water usage, and non-recyclable waste generation, were collected from authoritative international sources, normalized, and analyzed comparatively. The PCA results revealed that the first component reflects economic-energy pressure, while the second component represents environmental burden. K-Means clustering grouped countries into three structural categories: sustainable industrial economies, semi-sustainable states, and high-risk developing economies. SHAP analysis, used to interpret a multivariate regression model, identified CO₂ emissions as the most influential factor contributing to structural pressure, suggesting it should be prioritized in climate-related policymaking. LCC analysis further indicated that despite higher upfront installation costs, natural stone proves more cost-effective over a long-term horizon compared to ceramic tiles. On the organizational level, results showed that in advanced economies, the ceramic tile industry benefits from skilled human capital, technological adoption, and modern institutional frameworks. Conversely, the stone industry, especially in developing nations, faces persistent challenges such as unskilled labor, bureaucratic licensing, and cultural resistance to innovation. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Physical sciences/Engineering Sustainability Assessment Ceramic Industry Natural Stone Life Cycle Cost Machine Learning CO₂ Emissions Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Aug, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 21 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 19 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 16 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 16 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 16 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Jul, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 14 Jul, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 14 Jul, 2025 Editor invited by journal 14 Jul, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 10 Jul, 2025 First submitted to journal 09 Jul, 2025 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. 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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-6920632","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":486712097,"identity":"f85a2dea-aab9-4a52-a19a-ea8cfda3c1bb","order_by":0,"name":"Reza Yarahmadi","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Shiraz University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Reza","middleName":"","lastName":"Yarahmadi","suffix":""},{"id":486712098,"identity":"452b870d-0ad0-40aa-8fa6-5fa33e5c9839","order_by":1,"name":"Ali Asghar Asadi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shiraz University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ali","middleName":"Asghar","lastName":"Asadi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-18 08:08:30","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6920632/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6920632/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-16739-2","type":"published","date":"2025-08-21T16:28:55+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":89847140,"identity":"f0fc3b58-79cb-419a-9da4-b103b6751a2a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-25 16:41:05","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":909201,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Rmanuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6920632/v1_covered_9d79763d-7c32-427f-bc5f-09ef1e4d5d87.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Multidimensional Assessment of Sustainability and Competitiveness in the Ceramic Tile and Natural Stone Industries: A Cross Country Comparative Study","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Sustainability Assessment, Ceramic Industry, Natural Stone, Life Cycle Cost, Machine Learning, CO₂ Emissions","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6920632/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6920632/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe natural stone and ceramic industries represent two major competitors in the global building materials sector. This study adopts a multidimensional and integrative approach to conduct a comparative analysis of these two strategic industries across seven selected countries. It concurrently evaluates their economic, environmental, organizational, and industrial performance. The analysis combines traditional decision-making frameworks, including Life Cycle Costing (LCC), SWOT analysis, and Porter\u0026rsquo;s Five Forces, with advanced machine learning algorithms such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), K-Means clustering, and SHAP. Five key indicators, production cost, energy consumption, CO₂ emission intensity, water usage, and non-recyclable waste generation, were collected from authoritative international sources, normalized, and analyzed comparatively. The PCA results revealed that the first component reflects economic-energy pressure, while the second component represents environmental burden. 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