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Training is described as a structured intervention that is aimed at enhancing and improving key elements vital in individual performance. In other words, training and development consist of set of strategies, policies, lessons, tools and procedures designed to enhance the members or the employees at the organization. This study examined the effect of training strategies on the employees' performance in the Libyan construction companies. The population of this study consisted of the employees who worked in the construction companies in the eastern and central parts of Libya. A substantial literature review was done to obtain the information on training strategies and the development of human resources. A total of 400 designed structured questionnaires were distributed randomly to employees such as managers, heads of departments, technicians and workers in the selected companies. Of these, 243 questionnaires were duly completed and returned, yielding a response rate of 60.8%. As results, it was found that the perception level towards training strategies was high (mean=3.34, sd=0.62). The results showed that there were significant relationships between all dimensions of training strategies and objective achievement. Training from the point of view of the trainers was found to have strong relationship with objective achievement (r=0.620, p<0.01), followed by administrative and supervisory services (r=0.589, p<0.01), curricula of training program (r=0.529, p<0.01) and trainers (r=0.418, p<0.01). There were also significant relationships between motivation and desire to change with training objective achievement.

Solid waste management in Malaysia has become an increasingly important task of local government authorities over the recent years as a result of urban population growth, industrialization and an increase in quantity and variation in the types of waste generated. For this reason the government of Malaysia through the Ministry of Housing and Local Government has taken various measures to promote recycling amongst its population. However, a recycling program is only successful if households support and actively participate in it. Recently, a nationwide campaign was launched to get the people to recycle their wastes more often, more frequently and with greater commitment to quality. Despite these efforts little has been achieved due to the lack of participation from the households. This paper identifies the attitudes of Malaysian households towards recycling of solid wastes. The analysis is based on results of household interviews conducted in the city of Ipoh in Malaysia between May and August 2006. A large percentage of the sample (87%) disagrees with the current recycling campaigns and nearly all respondents considered that the campaigns were not being effective in changing householder attitudes and behaviour. According to the majority of those interviewed Malaysian solid waste recycling systems need a lot of improvements; more legislation is needed together with enforcement; and there needs to be a clearer focus on the reason for the recycling system and campaigns before any program is set up.

Objective - The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between capital regulation and risk-taking by the banks of Pakistan.  Design - This study was conducted on all the commercial banks of Pakistan and data were collected from the year 2005 to 2016.  Findings - This study concluded the significant positive relationship between regulatory capital and risk-taking by banks in Pakistan. The findings of this study play a key role in the implementation of capital regulations in the banks of developing countries.  Policy Implications - In the light of this study, the regulators must revise their implementation process of the Basel Accord capital regulations in the banks of developing countries. The prime intention of regulators are only on to maintain the minimum capital ratios but must be conscious of other important elements of capital regulation implications.  Originality - This study is one of the first attempts that investigated the crucial role of regulatory capital towards risk-taking in the Pakistani context.

Considering the country governance, market concentration and financial market dynamics are key explanatory indicators, this study has examined the stability trends in commercial banks of Pakistan. Overall sample of 28 banks is considered, adding both conventional and Islamic banks into consideration for the panel regression models like fixed effect and random effect. Findings for overall sample indicates that both stability measures in the form of z-score ROA and ROE are significantly and negatively affected by poor control over corruption, regulatory quality, market concentration, financial market development and increasing non-performing loans. For conventional banking, key determinants of financial stability are control over corruption, political instability, market structure and credit risk. For Islamic banking firms, corruption and government effectiveness, capital adequacy ratio, market structure and financial market development are significant determinants, affecting Z measures of stability. However, through lending interest rate, we do not find any significant relationship with both stability measures. Study findings are very useful for country officials, risk officers, and other stakeholders in financial markets who want to explore the relationship between country governance and financial market dynamics in the economy of Pakistan. In addition, study has experienced various limitations like non-consideration of bank-based and macroeconomic risk factors, international trends in banking and their influence on domestic banks of Pakistan, which could be reconsidered in coming research.

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This study aimed at identifying competency components of project managers of small to medium-sized firms in the Palestinian construction industry and ranking them according to their degree of importance. A postal questionnaire survey was administered to 150 construction companies in Nablus, Tulkarm, and Jenin, which are located in the West Bank. A total of 109 questionnaires were returned, and the response rate was 73 percent. The respondents were project managers. The study identified four competence dimensions, namely, knowledge competence, functional competence, personal/behavior competence, and value/ethical competence. Each dimension is measured by several constituents. Knowledge dimension includes technical knowledge, management knowledge, general knowledge, communication knowledge, computer knowledge, financial knowledge, and legal knowledge constituents. Functional competence dimension includes seven constituents, namely, organizing project initiations, developing a project plan, managing human resource functions, managing project quality health safety and environment, managing design development and contract administration, tracking and controlling system, and administering project close out. Personal competence dimension has two constituents, namely, social-vocational and intraprofessional. Values/ethical competence dimension consists of two constituents, namely, personal values and professional values. Thus, personal competence is in the top ranking followed by functional competence, knowledge competence, and values competence. Finally, a mixture of knowledge, functional, personal, and values competences must be considered to produce a competent project manager in the Palestinian construction industry. This study recommends that the Palestinian Contractors Union and the Palestinian Engineers Association improve the competencies of their members by conducting continuous and up to date construction management training programs by targeting competencies included in this research.

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