This study aimed to assess the moderating effect of strategic planning on the relationship between career path planning and job performance among employees in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Kingdom of Bahrain. A convenience sample consisting of 249 participants was selected. The study used SPSS and Smart-PLS to analyze the data. The findings of the study revealed that strategic planning and career path planning affected SME employees’ performance. In contrast, it was found that strategic planning substantially moderated the relationship between career path planning and job performance. Moreover, the results showed that SP and CPP had the greatest impact on JP. Based on the obtained findings, it is shown that the proposed hypotheses are accepted. The study revealed the impact of the moderator on the relationship between CPP and JP. The results of this study may serve as a guide for the owners and managers of enterprises and decision makers who aim to develop strategic planning and enhance employee performance.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the characteristics of audit committee chairman (ACC) (tenure, age, gender, ethnicity, accounting expertise and directorship) on earnings management (EM) practices.Design/methodology/approach: The Jones model and modified Jones model by Dechowet al.(1995) were used to determine the discretionary accruals (DA) of 288 Malaysian listed firms with lowest positive earnings for the years 2013‒2015.Findings: The results of the ordinary least squares regression indicate that only tenure, gender and ethnicity of the ACC are associated with DA. A further test was conducted by dividing firms into two groups: firms whose boards are chaired by a family member and firms whose boards are chaired by a non-family member. The results reveal that it is possible for firms whose boards are chaired by family members to cause the corporate governance (CG) mechanisms, particularly the audit committee, to lose their effectiveness in overcoming the EM problem. In addition, robustness tests were conducted by using panel data regression, where the results were found to be similar to the original regression results.Originality/value: This study alerts policymakers, firms and their stakeholders, as well as researchers, regarding the importance of having an independent board chairman, who has no relationship with any directors or major shareholders, as this may hinder the effectiveness of CG mechanisms in curbing EM, especially in emerging countries, such as Malaysia, where it is very difficult to stop members of the family from becoming board directors.

The study aims to examine the effect of employee loyalty on job performance in Bahrain. Further, it investigates the mediating effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between employee loyalty and job performance. One hundred two participants employed by Zain company were selected through an online convenience sampling technique. The study chose Zain, a telecommunication company in Bahrain, due to easy access to employees, interest in studying company culture/methods, collaboration opportunities, and Zain’s reputation for innovation. SmartPLS4 was used to investigate potential correlations between employee loyalty and job performance and how job satisfaction indirectly affects employee loyalty and job performance. Findings show that employee loyalty significantly influences job performance and job satisfaction. Further, job satisfaction is significantly associated with job performance. In terms of mediating effect, the study found that job satisfaction significantly influences the relationship between employee loyalty and job performance. Every variable studied had an impact on job performance. As a result, the current study’s hypotheses are all confirmed. The model of the study is well fit, as the R-square is greater than 51%. The main contribution of this study is the insight that job satisfaction is a substantial mediator of the relationship between employee loyalty and job performance. Through theoretical and practical contributions, this study offers valuable implications that might benefit managers at companies, including Zain company, as well as interested readers and researchers.

Market turbulences and their impact on the financial market, particularly on the stock market, is a financial topic that has received significant research attention recently. This study compared the characteristics of stock return and volatility in selected developed and emerging markets between the 2008 financial crisis and the 2019 worldwide pandemic. In this sense, we seek to answer two concerns. First, do the developed and emerging markets behave similarly during crisis periods? Second, does economic strength always shield markets from poor economic circumstances? For this purpose, the daily return data of E7 (Emerging 7) and G7 (Developed 7) countries for two sample periods—namely, the financial crisis period of 2007–2009 and the global pandemic period of 2019–2021—were chosen. By using univariate GARCH models, namely GARCH, EGARCH, and TGARCH, the study discovered that developing and developed markets reacted differently to these two financial crises. While emerging markets responded similarly to these two crises, developed economies acted differently, being more volatile and sensitive to the worldwide pandemic of 2019 than the financial crisis of 2008. Moreover, a country’s economic prowess does not always shield it from economic turmoil. This study will help investors identify diversification opportunities among the developed and emerging markets during a crisis period. Additionally, this will help portfolio and fund managers understand the behaviour of stock markets during times of market crisis and thus give advice to investors.

A board with high equality is expected to play a significant role in corporate governance. This study aims to examine the influence of impactful women directors on constraining the level of earnings management (EM). Impactful women director is a new concept examined by the study, where women directors on board must be serving in the audit committee (AC). Having women on the board who also serves on the AC will strengthen the role and power of women directors in mitigating EM. The study covers companies with the lowest positive return on assets. Based on the regression, the results of the study seem to be in line with the theories of agency and resource dependence. There is a significant negative relationship between the impactful women directors and the level of EM, accrual, and real earnings management. Having at least one female director who also serves on the AC enhances the effectiveness of the board and then, significantly constrains EM. Likewise, having at least two female directors and at least one of them serving on the AC could improve their participation in decision-making and effectively monitor the managers’ behavior toward engaging in EM. The study is very useful for policymakers, stakeholders, researchers, and society. Firms should appoint more women directors on board and at the same time appoint at least one of them at the AC to strengthen their role in monitoring and supervising the management.

This study examines the association between the board chairman’s (BC’s) characteristics (independence, age, ethnicity, tenure, family membership, dual chair with nomination committee (NC), dual chair with remuneration committee (RC)) and the firm’s financial stability. The Altman (1993) Z-Score indicator was used to determine the financial stability of Malaysian suspect-listed firms, i.e., firms with lowest positive earnings for the years 2013–2015. Ordinary Least Square regression indicates that only the age and tenure of the BC are associated with high financial stability. This means that the chairman’s age and tenure could protect the company against financial distress. However, the results showed a negative effect of the BC’s ethnicity, family membership and dual chair with the NC on the firm’s financial stability. These results, in general, are similar to the Feasible Generalized Least Squares regression and other robustness tests. This study is the first to investigate the influence of the board chairman’s characteristics on the firm’s financial stability. Thus, it alerts policymakers, firms and their stakeholders, as well as researchers, to the importance of strengthening the board chairman’s characteristics to protect the company against financial distress, especially in emerging countries such as Malaysia, where it has been observed that the board chairman attempts to dominate the entire firm’s decisions.