In recent times, many countries in the developing world, including countries in the Middle East region, have taken positive steps toward restructuring, reforming and modernising their economies to enhance and boost the level of these economies and expand the opportunity for their long-term survival and sustainability. Among these positive steps an increasing interest is given to two matters: corporate governance and ownership structure. The stability and sustainability of the global financial market are, to a great extent, associated with the stability of the banking industry. Undeniably, banks are an important constituent of the world financial market and the engine of economic growth both in the world and individual country levels.

Among the banks’ functions that are crucial for a country’s economic development, the granting of credit facilities, both tangible and intangible, is of the highest significance. In many countries, particularly developing, this vital role is increasingly threatened by an ever-increasing volume of non-performing loans and a decrease in the credit portfolio quality, with alarming consequences for the world financial and economic stability and sustainability. As endorsed by a wide body of empirical and theoretical literature, corporate governance and board ownership structure play a vital role in ensuring the peculiar ‘credit granting’ role of contemporary banking receives due care and attention. As such, corporate governance and ownership structure have received increasing attention in the process of introducing positive reforms in the banking sector, both in the world and individual country level.

In Libya, non-performing loans emerged as a serious problem in the 1970s, a trend that continued through the mid-to-late 2000s and worsened during the mid-2000s. In 2004, a third of the credit facilities extended by Libyan banks were classified as nonperforming/ badly resulting in the tarnishing of the country’s overall credit portfolio quality. As a result, reforming the country’s banking sector and, in turn, its economy, was identified by the country’s then-governing body as the vital step to put the country’s economy back on track and ensure its financial sustainability. Subsequently, in recent years, several reforms were introduced to multiple economic sectors, particularly the banking sector. These reforms included decreased government participation in the country’s economic sector, increased private sector participation, entrance of foreign investors, encouraging the implementation of good corporate governance, and modifying the related legislation and regulations. These changes were introduced with the specific aim of improving the performance of the business organisation, particularly the Libyan commercial banks.

Nevertheless, the impact of these economic reforms on the credit portfolio quality of Libyan commercial banks has not been empirically investigated, particularly from the point of view of the impact different ownership / board structures may have on the quality of their credit portfolio. Additionally, there has been little, if any, empirical investigation of the interrelationship of these variables in the case of developing countries, especially those in the Middle East and North Africa. There is a gap in the literature regarding the connection between different forms of bank ownership structures—private, state-owned and privatised banks—and the credit portfolio quality. As such, this study is devoted to filling this gap. This study is particularly concerned with the evaluation of the Libyan banking reforms and their impact on the performance of Libyan commercial banks, operating under the three ownership types in terms of the quality of credit portfolio, during the period 2005– 2010. This time period was selected for the following reasons:

1. Law No. 1 in 2005 brought significant changes to the banking sector of Libya when the privatisation policy was introduced in to allow the entrance of foreign investors into the sector.

2. The period marked the promulgation of several regulations that were aimed at improving corporate governance efficacy in the sector.

3. The corporate governance handbook was introduced in 2005, approving the implementation of effective corporate governance strategies in the sector.

The cutoff year of 2010 was determined based on the subsequent lack of available pertinent data as a result of the civil unrest and political upheaval in the country that started in early 2011. Further, the data until 2010 sufficiently addressed the study’s core objectives.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of bank ownership structures and board of directors attributes on the credit portfolio quality in the context of Libyan commercial banks operating under the three ownership structures referred to above. To achieve this goal, this thesis covers three related empirical studies:

1. Investigating the impact of ownership structures and attributes of the board of directors on credit portfolio quality of Libyan commercial banks during the period 2005–2010.

2. Investigating the impact of implementing the privatisation policy in the banking sector on the relationship between credit portfolio quality of Libyan commercial banks and the attributes of the board of directors. The study period is divided into pre- and post-privatisation, 2005–2007 and 2008– 2010, respectively.

3. Investigating the impact of the attributes of the board of directors on credit portfolio quality of Libyan commercial banks during the period 2005–2010, under the three ownership categories: public banks, private banks, and privatised banks.

A total of 15 commercial banks operates in Libya. Based on the availability of relevant data for successfully executing the study, a sample of 13 Libyan commercial banks was chosen. The data for the study was mainly extracted from the annual reports of these banks. In addition, annual reports of the Central Bank of Libya and the database of the World Bank were also explored for the period covering the study. Ordinary least squares(OLS) and generalised least squares (GLS) were applied in analysing the data. A combination of agency theory and institutional theory was employed to interpret the results, thus providing the reader with a theoretical lens to view the empirical data and assess how it addressed the objectives.

The study revealed three main results. First, among the attributes of the board of directors that were examined, only the size of the board and the size of the audit committee were found to be significantly influenced. It was positively significantly related to the credit portfolio quality for the size of the board and it was significantly negatively related to the credit portfolio quality for the size of the audit committee. While the relationship of the board attributes was positively related to the credit portfolio quality, it was negatively related to the audit committee size. With regard to the ownership structure, the study results revealed that only government ownership had a significant negative relationship with the credit portfolio quality of the Libyan commercial banks. The study also found that the privatisation strategy introduced to the Libyan banking sector had a positive impact on the relationship between credit portfolio quality and corporate governance, which was demonstrated to have a positive impact on the quality of credit portfolios of Libyan commercial banks (the significance was higher in the post-privatisation period compared to the preprivatisation period). Lastly, the results demonstrated that the effectiveness of corporate governance in enhancing the credit portfolio quality was higher in the case of private and privatised banks compared to public banks. Hence, the study results highlighted the significance of implementing effective corporate governance mechanisms in the Libyan commercial banking sector, and endorsed the suitability and value of the privatisation policy for enhancing credit portfolio quality of Libyan commercial banks, in turn ensuring the long-term sustainability of the country’s economy.

Financial crisis have been happening for a long time now with little empirical studies investigating the real causes of these crisis and providing viable remedies. We provide empirical evidence of a three-stage cyclical pattern in an economy, following our investigation of the financial crisis of the past, where a gradual deterioration of financial structures occur that leads the economy into recession: The 'sustained economic activity' stage, characterised by the 'booming economic activity' stage. Unsolicited actions of many of the financial markets' players operate during both of these stages to push the economy into a 'booming economic activity'; the next stage is the formation of a 'bubble' and gradual enlargement of this credit 'bubble' in the sector; in the next stage this bubble ruptures and results in the financial crises in that sector. The economy thus experiences a big confidence shock and failure of financial institutions. The study makes policy recommendations to financial markets players and regulators.

Qualitative and quantitative organizational research methods have been fiercely debated with regards to their 'value' in terms of the 'validity' and 'generalizability' of their respective research outcomes. Qualitative or phenomenological research paradigm requires a 'holistic' approach to analysing a particular phenomenon in order to address 'validity' and 'generalizability' issues, and therefore necessitates more 'intense' and 'comprehensive' approach to data analyses. This conceptual paper adds to the current debate among the positivists and the phenomenologists on the superiority of a particular research method and, resorting to the dialectical analysis, contributes to the current literature on organizational research methods through conditionalising the 'validity' and 'generalizability' of the research outcomes under the qualitative research paradigm to the use of appropriate 'research design'. Using the microfinance sector's paradigm shift of the 1990s as a case, the paper argues that, under the qualitative research paradigm, 'viewing' and 'analysing' a qualitative set of data with a combination of two or three established theoretical constructs would help the researcher overcome the relative 'flaw' or 'incapacity' of a single theoretical construct to address all aspects of a social phenomenon under investigation, and therefore, not only enhance readers' understanding of the issue but also conclude the research with relatively more 'valid' and 'generalizable' outcomes.

Efficient functioning small businesses and their continuance over time, independent of the owner(s), carry high significance for remote regions' long term social and economic sustainability. This empirical investigation of exit planning practices among regional small businesses in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia, provides evidence that the particular environment in which these businesses operate determine and drive owners' strategic exit planning initiatives. Regional SMEs are prone to peculiar internal and external variables with inertial forces that continuously impact on the owners' decision to exit or continue into the business. Resorting to Schatzki's (2002) 'site of the social' theoretical construct, this paper argues that the 'exit planning' social practice among regional SMEs can be efficiently developed and institutionalized at a wider level on their peculiar 'site' of being regional and small. Thus, a borrow from the 'specialised clusters' technique on the part of State government is the best way forward to effectively tackle the phenomenon.

A great body of literature suggests that the poor were better off before the microfinance sector's paradigm shift of the mid-1990s. The sector's 'dependent' constituents' focus changed in an effort to cope with the changes dictated by its 'controlling' constituents. This paper's key finding is that the not-for-profit sector, where beneficiaries' interests are at stake, and the corporate sector, where owners and management are separate, should undergo an externally dictated change only after passing through a regulating agency's scrupulous check, lest the change harm the sector's beneficiaries. The paper attempts to create awareness among policy-makers of the need to be thoughtful of the ultimate beneficiaries in similar cases of externally dictated organisational change.

Purpose: The impact of a firm’s strategic performance measurement system (SPMS) on its customer-focused strategy, under varying contexts, has largely been documented in the literature. However, the system’s capacity to positively influence the firm strategy through its impact on the firm’s peculiar internal and external capabilities, in the peculiar context of the developing countries’ financial services sector, has so far skipped a thorough academic enquiry. This study, using Indonesia’ financial services sector as its ‘site’, aims to fill this void in the literature. Design/methodology/approach: The authors gleaned the study’s empirical data from financial services sector firms using survey questionnaire and analyzed it using SmartPLS. A total of 107 valid responses from management members of different financial services sector firms in Indonesia were deemed useable. Findings: The study findings support the paper’s main thesis. The findings revealed that the strategic PMS contributes to enhancing firms’ market orientation and robustness by positively contributing to their customer-focused strategy from three distinct dimensions – competitors, customers and organizational learning. Research limitations/implications: The authors posit that an effective customer-focused strategy can be accomplished by purposefully adapting the focus of the firm’s strategic PMS to positively influence the organizational learning, which subsequently translates into the firm’s high competitiveness in the marketplace. Originality/value: The unexplored link between the SPMS, firm’s internal and external capabilities and customer-focused strategy in the particular context of a developing country’s financial services sector will not only fill the current void in the literature but also instigate a new academic debate. The study will also contribute to the management accounting practice in service firms in the developing countries context.

The study aims to investigate the effect of employees' participation in the budget construction process, through voice and trust, on employee self-efficacy and performance, in public sector organizations. Budgetary participation and employees' performance have been extensively researched in both private sector organizations and from the perspective of top management. We investigated the phenomenon in public sector organizations and from the point of view of lower level participating employees. We gleaned empirical data from 114 respondents in public sector organizations in Lampung, Indonesia, and analyzed it using SmartPLS to test our hypotheses. We found that in the course of budgetary participation, employees' expectancy attitude, in the light of the expectancy theory and Maslow's hierarchy of needs, predicted employees' behavior, and had a significant impact on their self-efficacy and performance. Employees' voice and interpersonal trust in the budget construction process would reap optimal benefit for the organization when participating employees perceive their participation to be objectively appreciated and encouraged by top management. The study has implications for top management's role in the budget construction process, and contributes to the management accounting literature in the context of the public sector in developing countries.

Outcomes under the qualitative research paradigm are usually fiercely challenged by academics and practitioners. The method therefore requires a 'holistic' approach to analysing a particular phenomenon in order to address 'validity' and 'generalizability' issues. Looking at an object from more than one angle understandably gives a better look. In this conceptual paper I argue that through my use of the theoretical underpinnings from two established research theories - Institutional Theory and Laughlin's Organizational Change Model, to 'view' the empirical data collected for my case study research for my PhD, I provide evidence that looking at the research issue and the relevant empirical data from the perspective of a combination of two or more established theories would conclude the research with relatively more 'valid' and 'generalizable' research outcomes.

'Adapt or quit', entirely disregarding flexibility, is a blunt statement that does not normally have desirable outcomes. A similar sort of experience has the microfinance sector gone through during the last two decades or so. During the period from the early to mid-1990s the sector witnessed a sharp shift in its approach to handling-poverty. The donor community started emphasizing profitability, self-sustainability, and cost-control on the part of MFOs around the word. This change of approach on the part of the donor community posed a situation to which MFOs had to adapt and reorient. Since these MFOs were highly dependent on the donor community for their sustained operations, they were left with no choice but to submit passively to the demands of their 'sustainers'. This empirical paper argues that the parent organizations - the 'power source', have ethical responsibilities in using their power over their 'dependents'. In the light of empirical data and the Laughlin (1991) Model of Organizational Change, the 'power source' must stop applying further power if it becomes evident the dependent organizations would not be able to retain their overall structure and real identity in the face of further pressure to change. The paper presents the case of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), a pioneer in micro-financing in Pakistan, and argues the Microfinance Organization could not keep its organizational structure intact in the face of externally dictated conditions for change, and that the 'power source' had an ethical responsibility to stop applying further pressure when the MFO started losing its basic coherence in the face of this pressure, and evolved into an entirely different organization with a predominantly commercial setup.

An organization's survival depends largely on its capacity to withstand external "reorganizing" attempts. Little research, if any, has so far been undertaken examining the survival of an entire business sector where its constituents undergo an externally dictated change and as a result it runs a risk of a thorough "jolt" or even "demise". The authors present empirical evidence that a business sector may be subjected to "unwanted" re-organizing by its "parent/controlling" entity, and may cease to exist, in its real essence, if its constituents are forced to undergo a change that will alter the very objectives upon which their existence rests.