The main objective of the discourse was to investigate board of director’s effectiveness in commercial public enterprises in Namibia. Various corporate scandal and collapse in many countries has been attributed to board of directors’ ineffectiveness. The study used qualitative method as a research strategy. The research used primary data collected through a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive approach, by conducting a series of detailed semi-structured interviews with participants from two purposive selected commercial public enterprises made up of board of directors, managing director and company secretaries. The data was analysed using thematic context analysis.
The voice records were transcribed from the interview scripts to the diverse codes. The transcription of the intuitive editor enhanced quick changes in formatted format. Coding was data driven. Namely, the researcher commenced out without codes and crafted them through the reading of the discourse. The study focused on skills, diversity, experience, corporate governance, compliance requirements and accountability to shareholder and stakeholder. This was complemented by a comprehensive review of relevant literature. The key findings indicates that board of directors’ effectiveness and factors that influence board of directors’ effectives exist within the board of selected commercial public enterprise.
Participants point out the following factors that contribute to board being effective: Board of director’s cohesion and sufficient time allocated to board issues. Diverse technical skills, good relation, support and cooperation from shareholder plus sufficient funding good governance and Operational effectiveness of management. It is recommended that Board of directors to limit serving in many boards and allocated sufficient time to board packs to be able to lead public enterprises effectively and efficiently. The survey recommends the digitisation strategy and algorithmic business thinking by directors of the two enterprises. Innovative thinking to promote sustainability such as the use of solar power and deployment of nuclear energy.
Table of Contents
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Background of the study
1.3 Board of Directors Effectiveness on Public Enterprises
1.4 Conundrum
1.5 Objectives of the study
1.6 Significance of the study
1.7 Limitation of the study
1.8 Delimitation of the study
1.9 Delineation of key concepts
1.10 Conclusion
2.1 Introduction
2.2. Board of Directors Model
2.2.1 Theories of Corporate governance
2.2.2 The Agency Theory
2.2.3 Managerial Hegemony Theory
2.2.4 The Stakeholder Theory
2.2.5 The Stewardship theory
2.2.6 The Resource-Dependency Theory
2.2.7 Institutional Theory
2.2.8 Theoretical Framework
2.3.2 Board of Directors
2.3.3 The Role and Powers of Board of Directors
2.3.4 The power of the board and its impact on board effectiveness
2.3.5 Effective Boards
2.3.6 Impact of Covid
2.3.6.1 Loss of jobs
2.3.6.2 Restaurant industry
2.3.6.3 Hospitality Industry
2.4 Firm Performance
2.4.1.1 Failure to sustain competitive advantage
2.4.1.2 Failure to Align ICT with objectives
2.4.1.3 Management Challenges of Security and Control
2.4.1.4 Lack of Digital Preservation and renewable energy expansion projects into rural areas.
2.4.1.5 Lack of User Training
2.4.1.6 Lack of Systems Features and Inadequate supply of electricity
2.4.1.7 Lack of NOREED initiatives to Support Grid Integration of Renewable Energy
2.4.1.8 Lack of standby Generators in case of shortage of electricity
2.4.1.9 Challenges with Rural Electrification
2.5 Sustainable Development Information Systems Projects
2.5.1 Establishment of renewable energy such as Gigantic Solar Plant and Ocean Energy which provides energy to other parts of the World
2.5.2 Gigantic supply of Electricity from Nuclear Energy
2.6 Research Gap
2.7 Conclusion
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research design
3.2.1 A case study design
3.2.2 Motivation for a case study
3.3 Research Onion
3.2.1 Saunders Philosophical arena
3.2.2 Feebleness and Robustness of Positivism
3.2.3 Feebleness and Robustness of Constructivism
3.2.4 Researcher Choice of Pragmatism Philosophical Argument applied in this survey
3.2.5 Feebleness and Robustness of Pragmatisms
3.2.6 in deductive Approach and Deductive Approaches
3.4 Sampling strategy
3.4.1 Population
3.4.2 Sample
3.4.3 Sampling techniques
3.4.3.1 Simple random or just random sampling technique
3.4.3.2 Systematic sampling
3.4.3.3 Stratified sampling
3.4.3.4 Cluster sampling
3.5 non-probability sampling techniques
3.5.1 Convenience/Haphazard sampling
3.5.2 Quota sampling
3.5.3 Snowball/Volunteer sampling
3.5.4 Purposive/Judgement sampling:
3.6 Research Instruments
3.7 Procedure
3.8 Data Analysis
3.9 Validity and Reliability
3.10 Research Ethics
3.11 Conclusion
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Presentation of findings
4.2.1 Demographic information
4.2.2 To investigate Board of Directors Effectiveness in Commercial Public Enterprise in Namibia
4.2.2.1 Board membership and board committees
4.2.2.2 How many meetings per year does the board of directors’ hold, including committees?
4.2.2.3 Board of directors’ composition and diversity
4.2.2.4 Corporate Governance requirements
4.2.2.5 An effective board consists of a well-balanced team
4.2.2.6 Mainboard and board committees' effectiveness
4.2.2.7 Board meeting, minutes, and agenda
4.2.2.8 In your opinion is their collaboration, trust, and effective teamwork within the board? (Is there conflict, disagreement among the boards?)
4.2.2.9 How do board monitor organizational performance and ensure accountability to shareholder and stakeholder?
4.2.2.10 Integrated Strategic Business Plan
4.2.2.11 in your opinion, does board effectiveness in your public enterprise correspond to the entity's financial performance?
4.2.2.12 Factors that contribute to board effectiveness and company performance
4.3. Effects of factors that influences the effectiveness of board of directors in Commercial Public Enterprise
4.4 Conclusion
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Findings
5.2.1 Board membership and board committees
5.2.2 How many meetings per year does the board of directors’ hold, including committees?
5.2.3 Board of directors' composition and diversity
5.2.4 Corporate Governance requirements
5.2.5 An effective board consists of a well-balanced team
5.2.6 Mainboard and board committees' effectiveness.
5.2.7 Board meeting, minutes, and agenda
5.2.8 in your opinion, is their collaboration, trust, and effective teamwork within the board? (Is there conflict, disagreement among the committees?)
5.2.9 How do board monitor organisational performance and ensure accountability to.89 Shareholder and stakeholder?
5.2.10 Integrated Strategic Business Plan
5.2.11 To investigate the factors that influence the effectiveness of the board of directors' energy in Commercial Public Enterprises in the Khomas region
5.2.12 To determine the effects of factors that influence the effectiveness of the board of directors’ effectiveness in Commercial Public Enterprise in the Khomas region, Namibia
5.3 Conclusions
5.4 Recommendations
5.5 Directions for Future Research
Research Objectives & Core Topics
The primary research objective is to investigate the effectiveness of the board of directors within commercial public enterprises in Namibia, specifically focusing on Nampower and Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR). The research examines how board characteristics, composition, and decision-making processes correlate with organizational performance, aiming to identify strategies to enhance corporate governance in the public sector.
- Board of directors' effectiveness and corporate governance
- Impact of board composition and diversity on company performance
- Strategic role of boards in monitoring and accountability
- The influence of regulatory frameworks like the Public Enterprises Governance Act (PEGA)
- Challenges to effective board operations in public enterprises
Excerpt from the Book
1.2 Background of the study
The Ministry of Public Enterprises (MPE) came into existence in March 2015, and the Public Enterprises Governance Act, Act 1 of 2019, henceforth PEGA, repealed the State-Owned Enterprises Governance Act 2006 (PEGA, 2019). As of March 2015, seventy-two (72) enterprises were classified as state-owned enterprises under Schedule 1. These enterprises were not categorised until 2019 when they were categorised into three enterprises: commercial, non-commercial, and extra-budgetary public enterprises.
Twenty-two (22) public enterprises were classified as commercial enterprises and defined by the Public Enterprises Governance Act (Act No. 1 of 2019) as those public enterprises that provide a product or render a service, can make a sustained profit, and do not perform a regulatory function or administer a fund in the public interest. The state solely owns these public enterprises as a shareholder. Section 9 and 10 of the PEGA require that the board of directors be appointed to govern and direct all public enterprises on behalf of the shareholder. According to Higgs (2003), creating a board of directors monitors the firm's performance.
Furthermore, it is predicted that if the board of directors perform their duties effectively, the shareholder's wealth would be enhanced accordingly. Koortz (1967) posit that the board of directors is a body that epitomises the interest of shareholders and is responsible to them for a series of specific duties, encapsulating the delineation of the company's strategy and philosophy, oversight of executive management and implementation of internal controls. This thesis will only focus on the board of directors of two commercial, public enterprises, namely Namibia Power Corporation (Proprietary) Limited, henceforth Nampower and Namibia Wildlife Resorts Company henceforth NWR.
Summary of Chapters
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION: Outlines the research problem regarding board effectiveness in Namibian public enterprises, establishes the background of selected case studies (Nampower and NWR), and defines the objectives and significance of the study.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW: Analyzes theoretical foundations of corporate governance, including agency, stakeholder, and resource dependency theories, and examines literature regarding board attributes and their impact on firm performance.
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS: Describes the qualitative, exploratory research design utilized, including the sampling strategy, data collection via semi-structured interviews, and thematic context analysis applied to the findings.
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS: Presents the primary findings from the empirical research, providing demographic data of participants and analyzing themes such as board composition, governance compliance, and factors contributing to board effectiveness.
CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Synthesizes the overall conclusions derived from the study and provides actionable recommendations for the Ministry of Public Enterprises and boards to enhance performance and ensure sustainability.
Keywords
Board Effectiveness, Corporate Governance, Public Enterprises, Namibia, Nampower, NWR, Agency Theory, Board Composition, Strategic Planning, Accountability, Financial Performance, Stakeholder Management, Board Meetings, Regulatory Compliance
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The study focuses on the effectiveness of boards of directors within commercial public enterprises in Namibia, aiming to understand how governance structures influence company performance.
Which specific organizations were studied?
The research uses a multiple case study design, focusing on the Namibia Power Corporation (Nampower) and Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR).
What is the primary objective of this work?
The main objective is to investigate the factors that influence the effectiveness of boards of directors and determine the impact of these factors on the financial performance of the chosen public enterprises.
What research methodology was employed?
The researcher utilized a qualitative research method, conducting semi-structured interviews with board members, managing directors, and company secretaries to gather primary, exploratory data.
What are the key themes addressed in the main chapters?
The work covers theoretical frameworks of corporate governance (such as Agency Theory), the role and powers of boards, board composition, the impact of COVID-19 on operations, and the link between board activities and organizational outcomes.
Which concepts are vital for characterizing this research?
Central concepts include board cohesion, technical skills, transparency, accountability to shareholders, corporate strategy, and the balance between monitoring and management roles.
How does this study contribute to the current literature?
This is one of the few empirical studies conducted in the Namibian context regarding board effectiveness in public enterprises, bridging significant knowledge gaps identified in local corporate governance practices.
What conclusion does the author reach regarding the effectiveness of these boards?
The study generally finds the boards to be effective, citing their diverse expertise and adherence to governance requirements, while also noting that external ministerial intervention and lack of board continuity can hamper performance.
- Arbeit zitieren
- David Rewayi Mpunwa (Autor:in), Martha Ndinelao Simasiku (Autor:in), 2022, Board Effectiveness in Namibia’s State Owned Enterprise, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1173971
