Assessing the Impact of Increasing Diversity on Boardroom Effectiveness in Saudi Listed Companies

This thesis aims to evaluate stakeholders' perceptions of increasing diversity on corporate boards, and its potential impact on board effectiveness. The study focuses on the component diversity types of gender, age, background education, qualification level, experience, and nationality. This develops the scope of research in the field (indeed, many previous studies focus only on one or two diversity types). Two methods of data collection are used: a secondary data analysis and qualitative semi-structured interviews. The secondary data analysed in this study offers insights into the context of the study and it informs the semi-structured interview questions. The research presents thirty semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders from the Saudi Arabian stock exchange. The findings highlight significant changes in attitude in the country as a whole and improvements in corporate governance. Looking through the lens of institutional logics reveals that the Saudi market comprises two diversity logics, namely, traditional diversity logic and new diversity logic. The findings also demonstrate shifting and resisting pressures in relation to the new logic at different levels: individual, organisational and societal. Change is required, and yet social dimensions such as culture, regulations, religion, and norms, work to resist and slow down the shift to new diversity logic. The study also explores the potential benefits of board diversity on the Saudi Vision 2030, and it offers recommendations to policymakers and stakeholders on ways to enhance boardroom diversity and the governance framework. One of the crucial recommendations highlighted in the thesis is the need to mandate diversity within Saudi boardrooms.