Public PhD Viva-Voce Examination of Mr. Ali Mohammed Zaid Al-Shami

The Public Viva-Voce Examination for the PhD Dissertation hereto entitled, The Impact of Directional and Executional Excellence Practices on Organizational Performance: Knowledge Management as a Mediator (A Field Study on Mobile Network Operators in Yemen), submitted by Mr. Ali Mohammed Zaid Al-Shami, to the Center of Business Administration, was held on Wednesday, 24/06/1446 Hijri corresponding to 25/12/2024. The Viva-Voce Committee, which was formed based on a resolution issued by the Post-Graduate Studies and Scientific Research Council, consisted of the following:

#	Committee Members	Designation	University	Position
1	Prof. Saif Sallam Al-Hakimi	External Examiner	Hodeidah University	Chair
2	Prof. Sinan Ghalib Al-Marhedi	Internal Examiner	Sana’a University	Member
3	Prof. Murad Mohammed Al-Nashmi	Main Supervisor	University of Science & Technology	Member

The study aimed to investigate strategies to enhance the organizational performance (OP) of Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in Yemen by examining the impact of the mediating role of knowledge management processes (KMPs) between the organizational excellence practices according to the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Model (EFQM-EM) in terms of the directional and executional excellence practices (DEPs and EEPs) and OP in MNOY.

The study reached several key findings, including:

The DEPs enhance organizational performance (β = 0.363, t = 3.345, p< 0.000), but there was no direct association between EEPs and OP (β = 0.115, t = 1.089) while KMPs mediate the relationship.
There is a complementary partial mediating role of the KMPs between the DEPs and OP and, interestingly, a full mediating role between the EEPs and OP. The KMPs promote the impact of the DEPs on OP while they reduce the direct impact of the EEPs on OP.
The study confirms that not the entire excellence practices have a direct impact on OP mediated by KMPs.

The study put forward several key recommendations, including:

Future research should focus on various organizational excellence practices and variables associated with KMPs.
It is recommended that MNOs align their KMPs with high-performance enablers, namely DEPs and EEPs, to enhance OP and competitive advantage.
The study’s model established direct linear relationships between the DEPs and EEPs variables and KMPs; however, future research could explore inverse relationships in this context.

The PhD dissertation was examined and recommended by the Viva-Voce Committee for acceptance and approval. The Candidate was recommended to be awarded the degree of PhD in Business Administration.