The impact of board characteristics on firm performance: Evidence from nonfinancial listed companies in Kuwaiti Stock Exchange

The core aim of this study is to examine the relationship between board characteristics and the firm performance of non-financial listed Kuwaiti firms.To achieve the objectives of the study, the data were collected from a sample of 136 companies for the financial year 2009.Variables such as CEO duality, COE tenure, audit committee size, board size and board composition were considered as predictors of the firm performance that was measured employing the return on assets (ROA).By contrast, the effects of CEO tenure and leverage on firm performance were found to be negative and significant at the chosen level of significance.To test the hypotheses of the study, multiple linear regression analysis using SPSS 18.0 was utilized.Using the firm size and leverage as a control variable, the findings of the study support the positive effects of CEO duality and audit committee size on ROA.Other findings of the study were discussed in the discussion section and some other future study directions were provided

Board Characteristics and Firm Performance Among Kuwaiti Companies

The issue revolving around corporate governance has always been an essential and critical element for both private and public sectors particularly in Kuwait. Kuwait's Prime Minister has even stressed for more concentration on the issues of governance for the purpose of overseeing the effective running of the public and private sector through a check and balance system. Moreover, the Prime Minister argued the need of the firms in the country to benchmark to an effective system that emphasizes on positive issues such as ethics, openness, accountability, transparency, and integrity in the public and private sector. Therefore, this crucial issue has to be addressed accordingly in order to enhance the performance of firms. It has been generally believed that good corporate governance is a critical factor in the improvement of firm value in both developing and developed financial markets. However, this belief overlooked the fact that the relationship between corporate governance and the value of a firm varies in developing and developed financial markets owing to the character of the corporate governance structures existing in the markets based on dissimilar social, economic and regulatory conditions. This reality calls for the need to examine and comprehend the differences affecting the firm value for the purpose of academic, financial and management practices and public regulation of markets and corporations. The core aim of the present study is the examination of the relationship between board characteristics and firm performance of non-financial, listed Kuwaiti firms on the Kuwaiti stock exchange. For the purpose of the study, data was collected from a sample of 136 companies for the financial year of 2009. Among corporate governance's various variables, five were chosen to be included in the study namely CEO duality, COE tenure, audit committee size, board size and board composition and one measures namely return on assets (ROA) was chosen as measures of firm performance. Furthermore, regression analysis was utilized for the examination of the relationship between board characteristics and firm performance. The result indicates that the relationship between CEO duality and ROA is positive in the significant level. Therefore, this result found that the relationship between CEO tenure and ROA is negative in the significant level. By contrast, this result found that the relationship between audit committee size with ROA is positive with significant level. In addition to that, this result found that the relationship between board size and board composition is negative but not significant. Furthermore, this study using firm size and leverage as a control variables found that the relationship between firm size and ROA is positively insignificant. Finally, the outcome of the relationship between leverage and ROA is negatively significant

Board of Directors, Audit Committee Characteristics and The Performance of Public Listed Companies in Saudi Arabia

This study examines the relationship between the internal corporate governance mechanisms related to the board of directors, the audit committee characteristics and the performance of listed companies on Saudi Stock Market (TADAWL) in 2010, excluding financial companies. The theoretical foundation of this relationship was provided by the agency and institutional theory. The data on the relationship between the audit committee and internal audit function was collected through a mail questionnaire. Of the 135 questionnaires distributed, 73 questionnaires, representing a response rate of 4.07 percent, were returned of which 62 (45.93 percent) were usable responses. Other information on firm performance, board of directors and audit committees characteristics was obtained from the annual reports of the respective companies (year-ending 2010). By using the multiple regression analysis, the results show that the effect of internal corporate governance variables on return on assets and Tobin’s Q was somewhat different. The results indicate that the proportion of non-executive directors was found to be positively significant to return on assets. However, the board size was found to be negatively significant to Tobin’s Q. For audit committee characteristics, the extent of audit committee reviews of IA proposals variable was reported to be positively significant to both measures of firm performance (return on assets and Tobin’s Q).In relation to the practical and theoretical contribution, this study provides theoretical validity by suggesting that institutional theory may be more appropriate than agency theory in describing the practices of corporate governance in developing countries such as Saudi Arabia. From a practical perspective, the findings of this study provide feedback to the regulators (e.g. Capital Market Authority) and the companies in Saudi Arabia in a number of ways

Role of Time-Driven Resource-Consumption Accounting in Strategic Cost Reduction and Support of Supply Chain Management

The study aims to developResource-Consumption Accounting (RCA) by transforming the activities embodied in this approach fromtherigid multiple driversto aflexible unique time-driven driver by support pf supply chain management (SCM). This developmentis intended to overcome the criticisms directed at RCA,activating its role firstly in real cost reduction according to the production capacity mechanism and, secondly, in supply chain management support. The study adopts a theoretical descriptive approach,conceivingthe positives of RCA, Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing in an attempt to create a new approach that integrates the advantages of both approaches in order to reduce cost. It is concluded that Time-Driven Resource-Consumption Accounting (TDRCA) can lead to a real cost reduction and at the same timesupport supply chain management

Audit Committee Characteristics and Firm Performance: Evidence from Malaysian Finance Companies

This study examined the effect of audit committee characteristics including competence of the audit committee members, the member of the professional body, and the frequency of audit committee meetings, on the finance companies performance.The study was conducted involving 33 companies that were included in the list of the Bursa Malaysia, covered in the period from 2011-2015, a total of 165 firmyears observations. The study made use of Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Regressions analysis.The findings revealed that the variables of audit committee independence, audit committee finance literacy and Audit committee member of accounting professional body influence significantly the performance of finance companies.Specifically, audit committee finance literacy has been found to be the most positively significant variable to influence finance companies performance. However, audit committee size may not contribute to enhancing finance companies performance. Moreover, this study conducted a review of literature relevant to the topic of audit committee characteristics and it presented practical implications as well as suggestions that future studies can follow

The relationship between demographic characteristics, personality traits and users’ seek values in multiple service industries in Saudi Arabia

This study is an attempt to examine the relationship between demographic characteristics, personality traits and users’ seek values in multiple service industries in Saudi Arabia.The sample is comprised of 400 sampling where data is obtained through a distributed questionnaire.This study used multiple regressions to test the relationship between independent variables and dependent invariable.The results found that there is a positive relationship between demographic characteristics and users’ seek values.In addition, there is a positive significant association between personality traits and users’ seek values.Finally, this research provided some limitations and suggestions for future researchers at the end of the study. © 2014, Mediterranean Center of Social and Educational Research. All rights reserved

The effect of board of directors characteristics, audit committee characteristics and executive committee characteristics on firm performance in Oman: An empirical study

This study is an attempt to achieve the main objective by examining the association between the board of director’s characteristics, audit committee characteristics and the executive committee characteristics and the performance of the Oman companies.This study used many assumptions to test the relationship between independent variables and dependent variable as discussed in the section explaining the study method.The data comprised of 162 non-financial companies because financial and non-financial companies employ different methods and they have different structures.As this study attempts to bridge the gap in the existing literature by investigating the association between corporate governance mechanisms and firm performance in the emerging market of Oman, it focuses on adding new important variables of corporate governance mechanisms like board change, the role of secretary on the board, the legal counsel and the executive committee characteristics that improve firm performance.The findings indicated a significantly positive relationship between board size, board meeting, audit committee independence and executive committee independence, and the Tobin`s Q. On the other hand, board independence and legal counsel are significantly and negatively related to Tobin`s Q. Moreover, a positive but insignificant relationship is found between CEO tenure, CEO compensation, audit committee size, and the firm performance (Tobin`s Q). Furthermore, board change, the role of the secretary on the board, audit committee meeting, executive committee size and executive committee meeting are revealed to have a negative but insignificant association with firm performance (Tobin`s Q). Finally, this study provides recommendations for future research

The impact of the users’ seek values on consumer intention to use SST in multiple service industries in Saudi Arabia

This study investigated the effect of users’ seek values on consumer intention to use SST in multiple service industries in Saudi Arabia.The sample consists of 400 sample units where data is gathered with the help of a questionnaire.The study employed regression analysis to examine the independent variables-dependent variables relationship.Moreover, the outcome of the study revealed that a positive and significant association is present between user’s seek values and consumer intention to use SST.The research provides limitations and suggestions for future research before the study is concluded

Uniting Science and Faith: A Re-STEAM Interdisciplinary Approach in Islamic Education Learning

This study explores the effective Re-STEAM (Religion, Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) interdisciplinary approach in teaching Islamic Religious Education (PAI) at SDIT Al-Khawarizmi and SDN 031 Tanah Grogot, Indonesia. The research addresses the need to revitalize PAI learning by integrating it with other disciplines, particularly science and technology. Using qualitative methods with a phenomenological approach and Multi-Site Design, the study investigates the impact of Re-STEAM on student learning outcomes. Results indicate that this approach significantly enhances students' learning motivation, critical thinking skills, and understanding of PAI materials. Integrating science and faith through Re-STEAM helps students apply Islamic values daily and prepares them for 21st-century challenges. Moreover, it demonstrates that modern science complements religious teachings, fostering a balanced development of intellectual, emotional, and spiritual intelligence. The findings suggest that the Re-STEAM approach effectively combines academic competence with strengthened faith and character, aligning with the core principles of Islamic education

The relationship between prosocial voice and the patient safety culture in the Saudi public hospitals

This study examines the direct linkage between pro social voice and patient safety among public hospitals in Saudi Arabia.The researcher employed the quantitative survey design for data collection, where 127 out of 251 healthcare firms were chosen in Saudi Arabia with the following division-70 organizations from the central region and 57 from the western region.The hospitals comprising the sample all operate under the oversight of the Saudi Ministry of health. The researcher distributed 30 questionnaires in each of the 127 Saudi hospitals to staff workers working in the nursing units in both regions. A total of 1793 questionnaires were returned and the rate of response was calculated by dividing the number of returned questionnaires with the total number of participants.The present study made use of regression analysis to examine the relationship between pro social voice and patient safety culture. The findings revealed a positive and significant relationship between the two. Some recommendations for future studies were provided at the end of the study