Implementing risk management (RM) effectively in construction projects and organisations has long been recognised as key to ensuring successful project performance. Therefore, it has become increasingly vital for construction organisations to have RM as an integral part of their project management practice. Such necessity has driven significant increase in research on RM practice in the construction industry. However, little research has been conducted to systematically investigate the RM implementation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)’s construction industry. Therefore, this research study was aimed at thoroughly investigating RM implementation in this industry toward developing an appropriate framework for improving existing practice. Specifically, this research study has developed a RM framework for enhancing RM implementation practice in construction firms and an informed list of best practice recommendations, all of which aid as a road map for implementing an effective RM system, thereby contributing to the enhancement of practice. In addition, the research has developed a RM maturity model purposely for measuring firms’ existing RM maturity level and identifying key areas for further improvement. Mixed method approach was chosen for the purpose of addressing the research aim and objectives. The first stage of the approach involved a comprehensive review of relevant literature. Then, a pilot study and two questionnaire surveys were designed and distributed to professionals from construction organisations in the GCC countries. Moreover, six case studies from real-life projects were conducted. The RM framework was validated through a series of experts’ interviews. This research has identified and ranked 62 key risk factors affecting construction project performance, and were categorised under four levels, namely: country level, industry and market level, firm capability level, and project implementation level. Also, this research study has identified 28 RM maturity criteria and 15 critical barriers to RM implementation. These were used to develop a comprehensive RM maturity system, which can serve as a guide for determining the RM capability of construction organisations to enable them decide on the most appropriate implementation strategies. Moreover, the case studies provide rich in-depth qualitative data that explains, among others, the status of RM implementation in practice and the level of maturity displayed by GCC construction organisations on this subject. The cross–case comparison results substantiated the survey findings, and highlighted the influence of the firms’ characteristics on the RM implementation. Also, the findings serve as a case-study from GCC countries from which other countries in the Middle East and developing world can benefit immensely from the lessons learnt, since these countries share a lot in common as far as RM practices are concerned. The empirical results and outcomes of this research are arguably the first to be presented for the GCC construction industry, and therefore have a high potential of contributing significantly to the existing body of knowledge and understanding in RM. The results of this research do not only fill a major gap in the literature on the subject of RM practice in this industry, but also offer greater awareness and understanding of RM implementation in construction firms. Future studies would be conducted to assess the RM maturity in other projects or in other countries and to investigate the relationship between the RM maturity and improvement in project performance. For instance, the case studies would be performed to uncover RM implementation and the associated managerial implications which will allow practitioners to understand the real implementation issues in practice and the experience of firms that is worth learning from.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the profitability performance of Islamic banks (IBs) of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region during 2008 global financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach: Bank-specific data are taken from the Bank Scope database and macroeconomic data are collected from International Financial Statistics. Using a panel data series of 30 banks for the period of 2005 to 2011, the study shows the evidence of structural break for the crisis year as well as the factors that impact the profitability of IBs. Findings: The performance of GCC IBs was significantly influenced during the crisis period by capital adequacy, credit risk, financial risk, operational efficiency, liquidity, bank size, gross domestic product, growth rate of money supply, bank sector development and inflation rate. The study also finds that there is a structural change before and after the global financial crisis. Originality/value: This is an original study that shows that the Sharīʿah-compliant banks have performed better during the crisis and are not affected based on their internal performance records; rather, they have been affected indirectly from the macro shock owing to the overall economic crisis.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / The Persian Gulf region is, in all likelihood, going to remain crucial to American interests through the next several decades. The world depends on the petroleum reserves of the Gulf region to fuel its economic engine. The recent history of the region has been rife with conflict, and the U.S. has had to intervene militarily on several occasions to ensure its vital interests were protected. This thesis examines the strategic circumstances in the Gulf region and ways in which American political, diplomatic, and military policy can help shape the environment to conform to its interests. Several scenarios are developed which attempt to forecast the results of different environments on regional stability. The thesis reaches the conclusion that the United States must take a proactive role if its short- and long-term interests are to be protected. The short-term goal of U.S. policy must be to maintain a balance of power and regional correlation of forces which serves to deter any would-be aggressor nations. In the long run, the United States must seek a comprehensive regional peace. Various methods of achieving these goals are examined. / http://archive.org/details/strategicplanfor00ward / Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

The most essential questions in economics is what determines economic growth? In theory FDI led to economic growth (Mello 1997), but empirical evidences indicate that the relationship is ambiguous (Masahiro & Iwasaki 2014). This thesis uses contemporary growth theories and econometric methods to empirically test for the association between foreign direct investment and economic growth in the six countries that form the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The analysis indicates a positive relationship concerning FDI and GDP growth in the panel of GCC. The result furthermore supports the endogenous growth theory and provide insights on the regions progress towards income diversification whit respect to hydrocarbons.

The aim of this study was to investigate empirically the extent of mandatory compliance with international accounting standards (IASs) by companies in the Gulf Co-Operation Council (GCC) member states - namely, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - between 1996 and 2002, and to explain why some companies comply more than others. Official personnel in the relevant enforcement bodies were interviewed to obtain information about their monitoring and enforcement activities. An index of compliance was devised to quantify the level of compliance. This was applied to the financial statements of 137 listed companies. Multivariate regression analysis was employed to explore the relationships between the level of compliance and particular attributes of the companies and year-by-year dummy variables. This was done to discover if the level of compliance with IASs was influenced only by company attributes or whether there were time trends as well. The attributes were country of origin, size, leverage, liquidity, profitability, auditor, industry, internationality, ownership diffusion and the company’s age. The average level of compliance for all companies and all years was 75% of the items in the index. No company within the examined time period fully complied with all requirements. The average level of compliance increased over time, though, from 68% in 1996 to 82% in 2002. There was significant variation in the level of compliance across the six GCC member states as well, but the level of compliance increased in all states over the sample period. The highest average level of compliance was in Saudi Arabia, where it reached 88% in the last year of the study. The degree of non-compliance with IASs across the GCC member states was partially attributable to limited monitoring and enforcement by the bodies responsible for overseeing financial reporting, and to the limited comprehensiveness of audits by external auditors. In addition to the role of the enforcement bodies and external auditors, several company attributes helped explain the level of compliance with IASs. Compliance variation increased with a company’s size, leverage and internationality. The level of compliance varied by industry too; however, company profitability, liquidity, ownership diffusion and whether the audit was conducted by a major international audit firm were found not to be significant factors.

In this dissertation, I argue that transnational elites within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have been integrated within a Transnational Capitalist Class (TCC) economically, militarily and politically through relationships that transcend the boundaries of the nation-state. These relationships exist within the context of a global capitalist structure of accumulation that is dependent on the maintenance of a repressive state apparatus in the GCC. There have been few attempts to analyze the relationships that Middle Eastern political and economic elites have developed with global elite networks. This work fills an important gap in the scholarly literature by linking the political and economic power of the GCC elites to transnational capitalist class actors in the U.S. and Western Europe. The TCC is comprised of actors who derive their wealth and power from ownership of production or financial activities on a global scale. The embeddedness of GCC elites within the TCC came with the de-centralization of capital accumulation occurring from the 1970s through the present that has linked regional and local capitalists to the ownership activities of transnational capitalist firms. The GCC is an important case study for analyzing the structure and consequences the current phase of globalization due to its relative vi importance in providing resources and financing for transnational globalization. Therefore this project contributes to our assessment of the role played by transnational elites in the GCC and the regional and global consequences of their power struggles based in part on a theoretical framework derived from Neo-Gramscianism.

Although several multi-dimensional models of strategic decision-making processes (SDMPs) have been examined in the literature, these studies have paid insufficient attention to the public sector context and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. SDMP in the public sector and the State of Qatar can vary to SDMP in the private sector due to institutional and socio-cultural differences respectively. Therefore, more research is urgently needed to better understand SDPM within this context. To contribute to filling this void, this study develops and tests a multi-dimensional SDMP model including SDMP dimensions, implementation, and outcome. The study model examines (𝑖) the impact of four SDMP dimensions—procedural rationality, intuition, constructive politics, and participation—on the implementation success of the strategic decision; (𝑖𝑖) the impact of the successful implementation of SD over the SD quality; (𝑖𝑖𝑖) the mediation role of the implementation success of SD; (𝑖𝑣) the moderation effect of stakeholder uncertainty. The model was analysed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and tested using data from multiple informants on 170 strategic decisions in 38 Qatari public organisations. The study finds that procedural rationality, constructive politics, participations, and the implementation Success of SD plays a significant and positive role on SDMP and its overall outcome. Finally, the study provides substantial and original contributions to the knowledge of SDMP in the public sector; implications for decision-makers and directions for future research.

This exploratory research is based on an objectivist epistemology with a positivist theoretical perspective that deployed concurrent mixed methods (MMR) design through a quantitative administered survey alongside an in-depth qualitative analysis through interviews exploring the perspectives of leaders on EHS leadership and governance. The research literature review focused on EHS leadership, corporate governance and strongly related topics. This MMR research employed both an expert panel-validated survey and a semi-structured interview protocol which explored 9 themes which emerged from the literature review including EHS/Safety Leadership; Risk Management; Influence and Accountability. Due to pragmatics relating to the number of leaders accessed (N=30) the statistical analysis is limited to descriptive type statistics. Almost all respondents supported the monitoring role of the Board of Directors (BoD), but disagreed that the BoD should play an active role in risk management. Comparisons are drawn between the Oil and Gas and non-Oil and Gas organizations with interesting results especially in matters relating to risk management. Structured thematic content analysis yields that Safety Culture; Leadership; Influence and Accountability were the three leading themes accounting for just over 50% of the responses analysed. Many sub-themes have also emerged and are discussed. A Model of EHS Leadership and Governance was created and is presented which positions themes and factors that influence monitoring of EHS performance and ultimately risk management. The research can be considered as a unique contribution as a relatively small body of currently published work in this subject area, both globally and more so in the GCC.

The Health Sector at the state of Kuwait is facing many challenges. One of which is public expectations in health are high, and thus, the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Kuwait has amplified the health expenditure by 86% since 2007. And since the medicine budget represents half of the total MOH budget, it is proposed that the development in health policy might be a suitable tool to control the inflation within the health budget. This thesis examines the opportunities and challenges of introducing an EML in Kuwait and the factors influencing its effectiveness. A mixed-methodology approach has been used to enhance and validate the data, in the form of interviews, comparative studies and questionnaires. One major limitation to the research was the lack of previous data relating to this work, and the information should be gathered in person in the form of hard copies, and later, the data was analysed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. It has been attained that, the EML might be a valuable tool if adopted and implemented appropriately, EML adjustment to country health situation is crucial for successful utilisation and fulfilling the concept objectives. Standard Treatment Guidelines are fundamental part of EM selection process, in Kuwait there were lack in the uniformity of the local STG, but fortunately, there is an eagerness to innovate, and the medicine situation might benefit from a type of organisation, overall, if the EML implemented efficiently in Kuwait, it might help in improving the general health and control the inflation in MOH budget.

This thesis deals with the developmental assistance and humanitarian aid from the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Kosovo. The goal is to understand what role plays a religion plays in developmental assistance and humanitarian aid in Kosovo. This thesis investigates the forms in which the process of Islamization of development assistance occurs, and how civil society and states cope with it. Methodologically, the author employs the principles of a case study: qualitative research was conducted in Kosovo using the methods of participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The thesis covers the development projects of GCC organisations and agencies and will show that religion has a key influence on these efforts. Regarding the practices used in Kosovo, the author shows that the states of GCC use development assistance and humanitarian aid as a mean of spreading religious teachings and beliefs of the Gulf region. Kosovo society has not been immune to these activities and Salafism (and in minority Jihadism) has gained followers in the Muslim community. However, the thesis shows that since 2014 with the help of the state structures, radical Islam has been on the decline while the GCC organisations spreading it, are no longer operational in Kosovo. Key words: development assistance,...