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Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the relationship between employee training and bank risk to verify whether and to what extent an increase in employee training, as a soft component of total quality management (TQM), affects bank risk. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopts a panel regression, based on a unique dataset of a sample of Italian banks over the period 2011–2018, to test whether employee training affects bank risk, measured alternatively in terms of Z-score, a proxy of bank stability and non-performing loans (NPLs)/gross loans ratio as a proxy of credit risk. Findings: Research findings reveal that increasing employee training leads to growing bank stability. In contrast, credit risk is not affected by employee training. However, by investigating training heterogeneity, this study found that the increase in the number of managerial training hours, as a proxy for soft skills training, negatively impacts credit risk. Therefore, an increase in soft skills leads to a reduction in bank credit risk. Research limitations/implications: This study provides empirical evidence in support of the relationship between employee training and bank risk, which seems novel in the literature. From a managerial point of view, this study highlights the need for banks to pay attention to the skills, particularly soft skills, that banks' employees must possess to effectively manage bank risk and, more specifically, the core bank risk. Originality/value: Empirical evidence on the relationship between employee training, soft/hard skills and bank risk appears limited if not absent. Therefore, the findings provide insights for a more nuanced interpretation of variables that affect bank risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In service, railway tracks must withstand the transverse and longitudinal forces that are caused by running vehicles and thermal loads. The mechanical design that adopts any of the track models available in the technical literature requires that the strength of the track is fully characterised. In this paper, the results of an experimental research activity on the sleeper--ballast resistance along the lateral and the longitudinal directions are reported and discussed. In particular, the work is aimed at identifying the strength contributions offered by the base, the ballast between the sleepers, and the ballast shoulder to the global resistance of the track in the horizontal plane. These quantities were experimentally determined by means of an ad hoc system designed by the authors. Field tests were carried out on a series of track sections that were built to simulate scenarios in which the ballast was removed from the crib and/or the shoulder. The results of this study indicate that the strength percent contributions from the crib, the sleeper base, and the shoulder are, respectively, equal to about 50%, 25%, and 25% in the lateral direction, and 60%, 30%, and 10% in the longitudinal direction. Moreover, the comparison of the acquired data with literature results reveals that a detailed knowledge about the testing conditions and the activated ballast failure mechanisms is needed in order to correctly use the test data for the design purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dimensioning of the locking device of a switch is made essentially as a function of the applied loads during the switch rails movement or considering a false route. The phenomena related to the vibrations induced by the track are therefore normally not taken into account. Such vibrations are particularly accentuated by the ballast bed deconsolidation in the sleeper panel supporting the locking device. Unfortunately, there is no specific technical reference in order to control these aspects, even though the most frequent cause of locking device components failures is relied to the vertical oscillations induced by the trains, rather than to the effort to commute the switch rails. In this study, the results of a field investigation carried out at two levels of ballast tamping are reported and discussed. It is found that the ballast compaction plays a fundamental role for the component to be prone to the early attainment of critical mechanical conditions. Procedures for the monitoring of the stability and efficiency of the ballast bed to ensure the required reliability of the locking device are also envisaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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