Audit committee chairman characteristics and corporate performance: Empirical evidence from Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of corporate governance (CG) characteristics, specifically audit committee chairman (ACC) characteristics. (tenure, expertise, and directorship) on corporate performance (CP). The study was executed on 44 firms, which were registered under the finance sector at Bursa Saudi Arabia. In terms of its scope, the study stretched over quite a long period of time and observed a considerable number of firms; more specifically, it lasted from 2015 to 2019, and observed 195 firms. The relationship between the characteristics of audit committee (AC) directors and CP has been studied extensively in the past. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated the ACC's characteristics. To the best of the researcher's knowledge, no study has yet studied the effect of CG's characteristics, specifically, the ACC characteristics on CP. The study’s conclusions indicate that corporate governance (CG) characteristics, specifically audit committee chairman (ACC) characteristics (tenure and expertise) are positively related to the performance of finance companies. However, the audit committee chairman’s multiple directorships, on the other hand, has no relationship with corporate performance. Review of literature on the audit committee chairman characteristics used in this study is offered, the practical implications and the recommendations for future research works is also emphasized.

Central Asia performance review in land governance indices and assessment frameworks

Academic scholarship captures different land governance dimensions while focusing mainly on agrarian, legal, and economic aspects. However, little to no attention is paid to land governance consideration through public policy lenses. In particular, this holds for Central Asian (CA) countries where there is a noticeable lack of academic works on land governance effectiveness and anti-corruption strategies in the land sector. This review paper analyzes the question of how Central Asian countries are presented in land governance indices and assessment frameworks such as the World Bank’s Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF), Global Property Rights Index (Prindex), Global Land Governance Index (LANDex), and The Open Data Barometer. The paper uses the integrative review of academic works and the author’s empirical data on Central Asian performance in land governance indices and assessment programs. The findings revealed that while the Prindex results for the region are promising, the underperformance and lack of active engagement of Central Asian countries in the Open Data Barometer, LANDex, and LGAF are still visible. This fact could be explained by various reasons, including the lack of institutional and legal capacities in CA countries and the limitation in methodology and data collection techniques observed in present land indices. Considering that the subject is understudied, it is anticipated that this review paper will give both scholars and practitioners from the region and abroad the impetus to improve Central Asian performance in global land governance indices and assessment programs.

Ulasan Pementasan Teater Sarah: Paradigma dalam Persembahan, Performance Review: The Paradigm in Performing of Theatre Sarah

The first performance of Sarah was presented at the School of Art, Universiti Sains Malaysia on 16 until 18 October 2019. Sarah’s script is the work of Noordin Hassan and directed by Halimi Mohamed Noh. The performance of Sarah is in-conjunction with the 90th anniversary of Malaysian National Laureate, Noordin Hassan. In critically evaluating theatre Sarah from the staging point of view, the production has achieved performance objectives, especially in terms of designing set and spectacle elements. Thus, this article further discusses Noordin Hassan’s patterns of thoughts through his work as well as the actions of the director in highlighting various aspects of staging Sarah.

A Review of Culbert’s Book “Get Rid of the Performance Review”: An Impractical Suggestion

When selecting my topic focused on leaders recognizing employee contributions during performance reviews for my doctoral dissertation and post-doctoral research and publications, one book continued to appear in my reviewed article file Samuel A. Culbert’s: Get Rid of the Performance Review! How Companies Can Stop Intimidating, Start Managing-and Focus on What Really Matters. Although I cited this book in my dissertation and a subsequent journal publication to substantiate at least one dissenting perspective of the need for employee performance reviews, I struggled to fully understand Culbert’s perspective of this organizational process. A recent re-read of “Get Rid of the Performance Review!” prompted me to write a review and explain why I disagree with 99.9% of Culbert’s now antiquated opinion and why I believe his suggestion is impractical for organizational wellbeing.

Five-Year Performance of an ESE Lightning Protection System for a Large Scale PV Power Plant in Thailand

This article presents a five-year performance review of an early streamer emission (ESE) air terminal lightning protection system for a large scale PV power plant in Thailand. The comparison effect of a Franklin lightning protection system and the ESE lightning protection system was analyzed for the PV power plant. The ESE lightning protection system was selected to be implemented in the PV power plant. The capacity of the PV power plant studied was 8 MWp on an area of 150,000 square meters in the Nong Ya Plong district, Phetchaburi province, Western Thailand. A Franklin lightning rod type was also designed to be implemented in this PV power plant. The Franklin lightning rod type comprised 122 pieces but the ESE lightning rod type consisted of only 11 pieces. The conceptual design of the Franklin rod type followed the standard of the Council of Engineers, Thailand, and the ESE lightning rod type followed the NFC17102 standard of France. The estimated cost of installation was a key comparison to select the lightning protection system; the total installation cost of the Franklin lightning rod type was USD 197,363.80 and the ESE lightning rod type was USD 44,338.06. The lightning system was applied to the lightning arrester in the power plant to provide good protection, in which the balance of the pole to the mounting position is required to optimize the system performance. The result of the simulation also showed that the shading effects of the Franklin rod type were greater than the ESE rod type. The installation cost of the Franklin lightning rod type was 4.45 times more expensive than the ESE lightning rod type. Therefore, the ESE lightning protection system was selected to be implemented in the PV power plant. From the recorded data of the five-year performance of the ESE lightning protection system (2016–2020), there were three occurrences of a lightning strike on the PV power plant. The ESE lightning protection system effectively protected and prevented the lightning strike to the PV power plant. This study can help and support with the selection of a lightning system for the protection of large scale PV power plants in the future.