PhD Degree Awarded to Researcher Omar Qasim Mohammed Al-Muzallam in Business Administration
Researcher Omar Qasim Mohammed Al-Muzallam was awarded a PhD degree in Business Administration for his dissertation titled: The Role of the Board of Directors in Implementing Banking Governance through Banking Risk Management: A Field Study on Yemeni Banks, which was submitted to the Business Administration Center for Graduate Studies –Sana’a University. The dissertation defense was held on Sunday, September 13, 2026.
The PhD Viva-Voce Committee, which was formed based on a resolution issued by the Graduate Studies and Scientific Research Council, consisted of the following:
- Saif Salam Al-Hakimi – Hodeidah University – External Examiner and Committee Chair
- Prof. Abdulaziz Al-Mekhlafi – Internal Examiner
- Jamal Derhim Ahmed Zaid – Supervisor and Committee Member.
The study aimed to investigate the role of the Board of Directors, in terms of its dimensions of supervisory commitment, oversight commitment, and ethical commitment, in implementing governance principles represented by transparency, accountability, fairness, and responsibility, through banking risk management encompassing credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk, and operational risk in Yemeni banks.
The study adopted a quantitative approach using descriptive and analytical methods. The primary data collection instrument was a questionnaire administered to a sample of 443 administrative and supervisory leaders at the Yemeni banks under study.
The findings showed that the boards of directors of the Yemeni banks under study demonstrate a high level of commitment to their role in implementing banking governance. The results also indicated a high level of attention to banking risk management practices, alongside a relatively high level of attention to implementing governance principles across their various dimensions.
The study further demonstrated that banking risk management plays a pivotal role in explaining the relationship between the Board of Directors and the implementation of governance principles in Yemeni banks, underscoring the importance of integrating effective board performance with risk management practices to strengthen banking governance.
The study recommended that banks and their boards ensure the genuine independence of board members, strengthen the Board of Directors’ ethical commitment, reinforce ethical values within the board, and promote an ethical culture across banks.
It also recommended strengthening banking risk management by developing a comprehensive and integrated framework covering various types of risks, and enhancing whistleblowing policies through improved incentive mechanisms and continuous evaluation, as well as establishing secure mechanisms for reporting violations and conducting annual evaluations of the performance of the Board of Directors and its committees based on clear and objective criteria.
The study recommended that the Central Bank of Yemen require banks to publish their annual financial statements and regularly publish corporate governance reports on their websites, in addition to updating the Banking Governance Guide to align with modern banking and regulatory requirements.
The study also recommended that the government update the Companies Law and Banking Law to include explicit provisions requiring banks and their boards of directors to implement governance and risk management principles, thereby contributing to strengthening transparency, accountability, fairness, and responsibility in the Yemeni banking sector.
The dissertation defense was attended by a number of academics, postgraduate students, researchers, as well as the researcher’s colleagues and family members.
