The effect of leadership on corporate governance through the integration of corporate social responsibility : perspectives from the boards of directors and chief executive officers of the Libyan commercial banks

Corporate Governance (CG), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and leadership have become such related concepts that each concept is a supplement and/or a complement to the other. CG, for example, has come to govern the principle-agent relationship and ensure the satisfaction of various stakeholders’ interests. CSR demands organisations to provide economic, social and environmental justice where they operate. Leadership is the ability of those with power to influence and guide followers to achieve common goals and simultaneously comprehend and respond bravely and constructively to the most critical economic, social and ecological challenges. Thus, once employed altogether effectively, these concepts establish healthy relationships with various stakeholders, gain competitiveness and generate corporate profits.However, these concepts have been recently under investigation in Libyan society. Scholars and private and public institutions have commenced examining the possible resolutions CG, CSR and leadership can arrange to alleviate the economic, social and environmental concerns the war has produced. Thus far, levels and efforts to apply CG codes have varied in Libyan companies. CSR is a new organisational culture that still designs its route within the Libyan commercial banks (LCBs). Leadership in the LCBs requires transformational and transactional styles to detach itself from any notion of dictatorship and autocratic traits. Therefore, this study tried to link the three concepts CG, CSR and leadership by exploring the impact of the board and executive leadership on CG framework to integrate CSR strategies in the LCBs.To achieve its goal, the study relied on three main questions to examine: First, to what extent does the board and executive leadership involve in the formation and application of CG structure? Second, to what extent does the board and executive leadership, through TSL and TFL styles, facilitate the application of CSR activities in the LCBs in light of the current Libyan crisis? Third, how does the board and executive leadership influence CG regulations to include CSR agendas in the LCBs to manage the issues caused by the current Libyan crisis? To answer these main questions, it was necessary to create a group of sub questions that investigated: First, the meanings, the current situations and challenges of CG, CSR and leadership? Second, the nature of relationship between CG and CSR in the LCBs? Third, the position of the TSL and TFL styles in the LCBs?In regard with the methodology, the study adopted the qualitative approach and conducted semi-structured interviews to collect the required data from 21 BMs and CEOs in 12 public and private LCBs. Then, the data was analysed by using grounded theory approach and thematic analysis method.The study provided some findings that answer the sub and main research questions starting with the sub question the findings showed that CG has narrow and wide definitions in the LCBs. Besides, the findings indicate that CSR is mainly encouraged and directed by religion and is centred on the notion of charity, and hardly touch upon achieving sustainable development. CG and CSR have a mutual relationship. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that Leadership features in the LCBs are under the influence of three factors, including the legacy of the previous regime, the Islamic culture and the Western perspective of leadership. Nonetheless, the leadership’s attempts to make economic and social changes seem difficult due to some challenges such as the weak of knowledge in regard with CG and CSR in the LCBs, the weak CG Enforcement system in addition to the Confusion between CSR and the notion of philanthropy, the transformation from traditional to Islamic banks and the impact of social and tribal culture. Concerning the main researcher questions, the findings revealed that the BoDs and CEOs involved in the establishment of the Libyan Corporate governance code (LCGC) by compromising the CG international guidelines with national laws and regulations, in addition to their crucial role in the application and development of CG policies within their banks. The findings also indicated that BoDs and CEOs applied TFL and TSL styles. Both styles work together as continuum to enable the implementation of CSR activities within and outside the banks. Finally, the finding confirmed that the BoDs and CEOs influence the CG regulations to include the CSR practices in the LCBs to meet the interests of both shareholders and other stakeholders.The study has some limitations, including the lack of literature regarding to the concepts of CG, CSR and leadership in Libya. Additionally, the study did not include leaders from the middle and lower management and also did not cover other stakeholders’ entities. Moreover, this study did not distinguish the differences between the public banks from the private banks. Female participants are absent in this research due to engendered Libyan environment. Finally, the Libyan crisis experienced during the conduct of this research influenced, somehow, the findings of this research

The Impact of Middle Manager Leadership on Strategy Implementation Effectiveness

Strategy implementation effectiveness is a critical component of organizational performance and middle managers play a key role in the implementation process. However, little has been done to identify the critical dimensions of strategy implementation effectiveness and the impact of middle manager leadership on the process of strategy implementation is not well understood. As a result, strategy research often overlooks the impact of middle management leadership as a source of performance heterogeneity. To improve our understanding of the strategy implementation process, I develop and test a theoretical model that investigates the indirect impact of three types of middle manager leadership behaviors on strategy implementation effectiveness through three mediating mechanisms that are influenced by three moderating contingency factors. The findings, based on survey data gathered from top managers, middle managers, and their teams at Houston METRO Transit Authority, confirm various aspects of the model and highlight the importance of middle manager leadership and team coordination on strategy implementation effectiveness, as well as the moderating effect of perceived organizational support on team commitment to implement strategy.Management, Department o

Re-Creating Organizational Routines to Transition Through the Project Life Cycle: A Case Study of the Reconstruction of London’s Bank Underground Station

This article provides new insights into the project life cycle by proposing an alternative image to the predefined time boundary between life cycle stages. It makes a theoretical contribution by identifying how project organizations re-create patterns of action—organizational routines—as they transition through life cycle stages. It presents the findings of an autoethnographic empirical study and, through the lens of routine dynamics, contributes to the project management literature by identifying a five-stage process model of transitioning and the generative mechanisms involved in re-creating patterns of action

Scientists in the principal investigator role

The social and economic contributions of R&D are essential in the development of countries, since they are the motor for their progress. Research can be implemented by companies, but it can also be implemented in universities and research centres. The research process is more and more often conducted in teams and these are increasingly multidisciplinary. This is a double-edge sword because, even though diversity among research team members could increase the generation of innovative and creative ideas, this heterogeneity can also have a dark side for the welfare of the research team. Therefore, when both advantages and disadvantages can emerge in a diverse research team, what can diminish the weaknesses and enhance the strengths is the crucial role of an efficient principal investigator managing and leading the research team. Notwithstanding that there are some studies that have focused on the principal investigator role in the literature, the knowledge about them is somewhat scant, because there is still a need for a deeper understanding of this crucial actor in R&D environments. The research work carried out in this Doctoral Thesis aims to address both principal investigators and their environments. With this research, we will deepen the understanding of what influences principal investigators and what they have an influence on, since principal investigators are a key asset in R&D environments. Therefore, the focus of this Doctoral Thesis is on some of the issues that are in the core of the influence of principal investigators on the activities of R&D teams. Particularly, we focus our research efforts on developing a measurement scale of the principal investigator's human capital whose results could allow us to determine whether different principal investigator profiles exist. We also focus on studying whether obtaining public competitive funding could be influenced by the principal investigator's priorities or their gender. Moreover, we focus on the relationship between the level of conflict within a research team and its performance, as well as on the influence that the principal investigator's transformational leadership has on this relationship

Self-Organising Networks in Complex Infrastructure Projects: The Case of London Bank Station Capacity Upgrade Project

Managing large infrastructure projects remains a thorny issue in theory and practice. This is mainly due to their increasingly interconnected, interdependent, multilateral, nonlinear, unpredictable, uncontrollable, and rapidly changing nature. This study is an attempt to demystify the key issues to the management of large construction projects, arguing that these projects are delivered through networks that evolve in ways that we do not sufficiently understand as yet. The theoretical framework of this study is grounded in Complexity Theory; a theory resulted in a paradigm shift when it was first introduced to project management post-2000 but is yet to be unpacked in its full potential. The original contribution of the study is predicated on perceiving large construction projects as evolving complex systems that involves a high degree of self‐organisation. This is a process that transitions contractually static prescribed roles to dynamic network roles, comprising individuals exchanging information. Furthermore, by placing great emphasis upon informal communications, this study demonstrates how self-organising networks can be married with Complexity Theory. This approach has the potential to make bedfellows around the concept of managing networks within a context of managing projects; a concept that is not always recognised, especially in project management. With the help of social network analysis, two snapshots from Bank Station Capacity Upgrade Project Network were analysed as a case study. Findings suggest that relationships and hence network structures in large construction projects exhibit small-world topology, underlined by a high degree of sparseness and clustering. These are distinct structural properties of self-organising networks. Evidence challenges the theorisation about self-organisation which largely assumes positive outcomes and suggests that self-organising could open up opportunities yet also create constraints. This helps to provide further insights into complexity and the treatment of uncertainty in large projects. The study concludes with detailed recommendations for research and practice

Context and change in management accounting and control systems: A case study of Telecom Fiji Limited

This thesis aims to contribute to research in management accounting and control systems (MACS) in a developing country context: that of Fiji. It seeks to gain a theoretical understanding of how MACS reflect the social and political contexts in which they operate by using a case study of Telecom Fiji Limited (a major supplier of telephone communications in Fiji). The definition of MACS for the purpose of the thesis is broad- a social constructivist perspective is adopted in which systems are used to align employee behaviour with organisational objectives and to assist external relationships (with the State, Commerce Commission, aid agencies and customers). The thesis draws on institutional theory while raising questions as to how to refine and extend institutional theory. This theory has often been associated with institutional embeddedness (stability). The social constructivist approach helps to incorporate agency and cultural issues normally missing in conventional applications of institutional theory to accounting change. Telecom Fiji Limited (TFL) was restructured under the Fiji government's public sector reforms. Such reforms were insisted upon by the international financial agencies of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Under the reform policy, TFL was transformed from a government department into a corporatised organisation and was subsequently privatised. The MACS changes which eventuated helped to change TFL management and employees' interpretive schemes. However, employees resisted initial changes to commercial business routines and it took some years for TFL actors to assimilate commercial practices. While the literature dealing with MACS changes has mostly portrayed changes as occurring with little resistance, MACS changes at TFL took several years to become institutionalised, partly because of cultural and political factors specific to Fiji. The study has practice implications as it shows that management accountants can act as institutional entrepreneurs in organisations, shaping new accounting technologies in reformed entities, and changing actors' interpretive schemes. The study has implications for policy makers, consultants and other stakeholders in terms of promoting a need for better understanding of the sensitivity to cultural and political circumstances in Less Developed Countries (LDC's) like Fiji in relation to the introduction of MACS changes. The study has implications for other recently corporatized/ privatised and state-sector organisations in Fiji and elsewhere. It also has implications for other researchers as institutional theory can be refined on the basis of new empirical evidence

Event experiences: design, management and impact

The papers submitted for this PhD by publication represent research centered on event experiences and their design, management and impact. They are the result of research projects that have produced seven published peer-reviewed papers and one book. The body of work has made an original, significant and sustained contribution towards the development of an emerging field of study in events. The work has made a major contribution towards furthering understanding of the human experience that results from the management of events, their design and their impact. At the heart of this submission is a consideration for how events are experienced and what factors and components contribute to the depth of that experience. The majority of papers analyses and reflects upon the construction of experience settings (their design) and essentially seeks knowledge to identify the variables that shape any experience of events (Ryan, 2012). In doing so the research undertaken has embraced a less restrictive set of methodologies usually afforded by statistical exercises in favour of a more embodied, immersive and participative approach. This has included not only observation and autoethnography, but also reflection on that which has been observed. In turn this reflection and analysis has drawn upon a range of theories and models to advance understanding of the social occasions that we call events where human interactions with the designed programme and environment illicit a range of responses that may culminate in a memorable and unique moment in time. The research therefore touches upon the emotional response to event experiences, the study and interpretation of the meaning of events, and notably their signification to an intended audience. In the course of this research I have evaluated and reflected upon the study and practice of event management across a range of event types and genres. Seeking to initially clarify the role of design in creating event experience led me to questioning the paradigmatic model for event management and resulted in the development of an alternative consideration for event planning and management - Event Experience Design Framework (EEDF). Unlike existing models this places design as the central and pivotal driving force that inhabits all areas of the event management process and upon which all events should then be based. The contribution of this body of work can therefore be summarised as follows: 1. Development of a paradigmatic concept that places design as the central and essential practice that underpins the planned event experience. 2. Theoretical positioning of how designing event experiences impacts on stakeholders 3. Recognition and application of theoretical models and tools relevant to event design and creativity, and further use of conceptual models to analyse experiential outcomes 4. Identification and awareness of the broader socio-cultural impact of planned events This submission provides evidentiary material that I have made a positive and meaningful contribution to raising the profile of events through research, teaching and learning by an acknowledged excellence in events management education and as a recognised (and first) National Teaching Fellow in Events. Furthermore, the submission provides a reflection on this research and development that has enabled me to make such a pivotal contribution to the field. It concludes with an outline of plans for the future

Developing the scales on evaluation beliefs of student teachers

The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to investigate the validity and the reliability of a newly developed questionnaire named ‘Teacher Evaluation Beliefs’ (TEB). The framework for developing items was provided by the two models. The first model focuses on Student-Centered and Teacher-Centered beliefs about evaluation while the other centers on five dimensions (what/ who/ when/ why/ how). The validity and reliability of the new instrument was investigated using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis study (n=446). Overall results indicate that the two-factor structure is more reasonable than the five-factor one. Further research needs additional items about the latent dimensions “what” ”who” ”when” ”why” “how” for each existing factor based on Student-centered and Teacher-centered approaches

Diverse workgroup functioning and transformational leadership

Two theoretical perspectives guide workgroup diversity research: information processing and social identity. The information processing perspective suggests that cognitively diverse groups benefit from increased task-related knowledge, skills and abilities of members with diversified information sources, positively affecting group performance. The social identity perspective suggests that homogeneous groups are more productive as their members are mutually attracted by similar attributes, resulting in efficient group processes and performance. Contrastingly, it is argued that heterogeneity undermines communications and cohesion within groups, resulting in conflicts; and homogeneity offers limited potential for learning and problem-solving, hampering the development of creative ideas and innovative solutions. Despite the appeal of these theoretical perspectives, meta-analyses examining main effects relationships between diversity and group effectiveness have reported inconsistent findings. Research also offered mixed results over the influence of intragroup conflicts and the dysfunctional effects of their inevitable co-occurrence on workgroup functioning. Furthermore, although the literature points to the potential of transformational leadership in limiting dysfunctional conflicts and enhancing diversity’s positive impact on group effectiveness, this field remains under-researched. This study aims to develop a conceptualisation that addresses the associations between diversity and group effectiveness, the effects of intragroup conflicts and their co-occurrence on this association, and the potential influence of transformational leadership in decreasing this effect. By doing so, the researcher hopes to provide an explanation for the reported inconsistencies and fill a gap in the literature. To achieve this aim, the literature was analysed, and a model of relationships derived. A concurrent mixed methodological approach was used. and questionnaire data was collected from 56 academic workgroups in three private universities in the Middle East, a total of 354 questionnaires were returned. Twenty interviews were also iii conducted. Results from hierarchical regression confirmed the model, displaying linear and non-linear relationships, with the co-occurrence of task and relational conflicts mediating the relationship between diversity and group effectiveness, and transformational leadership moderating these relationships. Findings from thematic analysis of the interviews offered insights which supported the model and triangulated with the results from the questionnaire. The findings add to the literature by explaining the inconsistencies of previous research. Implications of the findings were discussed, and limitations of the study highlighted which offered potential opportunities for further research