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Construction project life-cycle processes must be managed in a more effective and predictable way to meet project stakeholders’ needs. However, there is increasing concern about whether know-how effectively improves understanding of underlying theories of project management processes for construction organizations and their project managers. Project planning and scheduling are considered as key and challenging tools in controlling and monitoring project performance, but many worldwide construction projects appear to give insufficient attention to effective management and definition of project planning, including preplanning stages. Indeed, some planning issues have been completely overlooked, resulting in unsuccessful project performance. There is a lack of knowledge of, and understanding about, the significance of applications of project planning and scheduling theory in construction projects. Thus, improving such knowledge should be incorporated with new management strategies or tools to improve organizational learning and integration in the context of project planning and scheduling. This implies a need to assess project stakeholders’ understanding on the application of project planning and scheduling theories to practice. The main aim was to study and describe project stakeholders’ perspectives regarding a set of identified criteria comprising aspects assumed to be significant in successful project planning and scheduling. The main research question was developed as follows: What level of understanding do project stakeholders have about the application of project planning and scheduling theories in practices of construction projects? This key question is divided into a number of specific questions concerned with various aspects of project planning and scheduling. Three different questionnaire surveys were considered and designed in order to collect and analyse data relevant to the empirical studies presented and discussed under the scope of this thesis. The stud

The discovery and subsequent commercial exploitation of oil in the Arabian Gulf region has brought profound and far-reaching change to the peoples of the area. What has happened has been nothing short of a transformation from desert sheikdoms into modem nation states;The Sultanate of Oman is one of those states. Although Oman is not a major oil producer in world terms, it has been able to use its oil revenues over the past three decades to finance the establishment of a modem infrastructure and to develop its social and economic systems. Notwithstanding the success of Oman's national development efforts thus far, significant challenges lie ahead.

Overweight and obesity in Oman have increased dramatically in recent years and are associated with increases in cardiovascular disease and diabetes. This project explored the food choices, dietary intake and physical activity of Omani adults. The effectiveness of smartphone apps on physical activity behaviours in Omani adults was also investigated. In study 1, a survey was conducted on 500 healthy adults living in Oman during the period from December 2013 to April 2014. Eligible participants completed questionnaires, specifically designed for this study and administrated by trained health educators in all governorates in Oman. 55% of the population studied were either overweight or obese (particularly those over 30y of age). BMI was significantly (p<0.05) affected by gender and age group but not by residential area (urban vs rural). Dietary analysis indicated a high consumption of ‘fast food’ but total energy intakes failed to explain the high incidence of obesity. However, the questionnaire indicated a high level of physical inactivity within the population. Study 2, implemented in two phases, aimed to investigate the efficacy of three smartphones apps (MapMyFitness, Lose it, and Pacer) on improving physical activity in Omani male and female adults. Phase1 studied male and female Omani citizens living in the UK while phase 2 specifically investigated females living in Oman. Both phases showed significant increases in physical activity amongst the participants though, due to the short period of intervention (4 weeks), this was associated with only modest changes in BMI. The prevalence of overweight and obesity amongst adults highlights the need for intervention strategies, targeting unhealthy lifestyle behaviours, to curb the prevalence of NCDs in Oman. Smartphone apps, represent potential tool to facilitate changes in lifestyle factors associated with the high prevalence obesity in Omani adults. Key words: Obesity, physical activity, energy intake, MapMyFitness, Lo