Effective Governance Structures Research Articles

Independence from the perspective of the Shari'ah committee

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to gather the perceptions of the Shari'ah committee members on what and how they safeguard and strengthen their independence in fact and independence in appearance during the discharge of their duties.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 13 Shari'ah committee members from 13 different Islamic financial institutions (IFIs).FindingsBased on the Islamic worldview and agency theory, the findings suggest that safeguard measures within the context of the Shari'ah committee are strengthened by the following factors: presence of competencies, personal characteristics of the Shari'ah committee members, board engagement, role of the chairman in the Shari'ah committee and accountability to God. Based on the agency theory, it can be suggested that the characteristics of the Shari'ah committee and the presence of an effective governance structure are able to minimise threats to the independence of the Shari'ah committee and enhance its effectiveness.Practical implicationsThe insights from this study highlight that proper and fit criteria need to be enhanced to ensure the independence of the Shari'ah committee members when performing their roles for IFIs. Moreover, it shows that board engagement and chairman involvement in overseeing the Shari'ah committee in the discharge of its duties is able to improve the independence of the Shari'ah committee both in fact and in appearance.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the evidence on safeguard measures in the Malaysian context, which is highly regulated in relation to the Shari'ah governance practices in IFIs. This evidence could be considered by other Shari'ah committees in different contexts.

Antecedents of good governance of hospitality family firms

This study applies a social identity and social network theory perspective to develop an integrated view of how hospitality firms incorporate family dynamics and tourism specifics as antecedents for good governance in the competitive hospitality industry. Seventeen qualitative semi-structured expert interviews with family hotel owner-managers in the province of Salzburg, Austria are systematically analyzed. The findings highlight the firms’ commitment to their destination as well as regional and social interactions originating both in the family dynamics of the firms and their strong embeddedness within their destinations as central factors for good governance. The results emphasize the need for entrepreneurial behavior and the involvement of family and non-family members in achieving effective governance structures.

Collaborative approach to public service improvement: the Malaysian experience and lessons

PurposeIn 2009, Malaysia saw a unique approach to public service improvement. The National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) was designed to enhance governmental performance by breaking down silos across ministries so that resources could be pooled and a leap in value of service is secured. This paper aims to examine the extent to which the NBOS has catalysed inter-agency collaboration and delivered improvements to public services.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a qualitative approach drawing on data collected through semi-structured individual interviews with key informants complemented with information from other sources. The interview evidence has been triangulated with those obtained through group discussions, personal observations and review of official records and publications.FindingsThe paper shows that despite some teething problems, the NBOS has performed commendably. It has made notable inroads in promoting cross-agency collaboration, demonstrating evidence of improved service delivery and cost savings for the government. In short, it has produced results in areas where previous reforms have performed poorly.Originality/valueThe paper adds to the limited literature on collaborative management in developing countries. The Malaysian experience suggests that leadership and commitment at the highest level, an effective governance structure, participation of key actors at various stages and a blend of top-down and bottom-up approaches to project development and management are among the critical success factors for a collaborative approach.

Contextualizing the Sharing Economy

AbstractThe Sharing Economy (SE) has demonstrated unprecedented capability in large‐scale mobilization of dispersed and underutilized private assets for collective usage. We argue that the SE represents a unique governance structure with dual nature of two‐sided market platform and modular architecture. Although the emergence of the SE is enabled by the rise of digital applications and changes in consumption attitudes, the effectiveness of this governance structure is not uniform across contexts. We analyse the roles of disparate actors in the SE and the relationships among them, in order to identify the contexts under which the SE is most likely to be the effective governance structure compared with traditional governance structures such as markets and firms, and new governance structures such as other platform economies and collaborative ecosystems. Two comparison frameworks are developed to illustrate the contextual factors that determine the effectiveness of the SE vis‐à‐vis other governance structures.

Voluntary adoption of board risk committees and financial constraints risk

To improve risk management processes, policymakers around the world have encouraged firms to invest in improving risk oversight and governance practices, such as adoption of a board risk committee (BRC). This paper examines whether adoption of a BRC improves a firm's access to capital by reducing financial constraints risk. Using a sample of 28,265 observations from listed firms in the U.S. from 2005 to 2017, we find voluntary adoption of a BRC significantly reduces financial constraints risk. This finding is robust to alternative proxies of financial constraints risk, accounting for sample selection bias and controlling for unobserved firm-level heterogeneity. We also find that BRC characteristics including size, financial experts and female directors are negatively related to financial constraints risk. In addition, we document significant indirect effects of BRCs on financial constraints risk through reducing information asymmetry and agency costs. In summary, the findings of this paper indicate that voluntary adoption of a BRC is important for listed firms without an effective risk governance structure at the board level.

Sustainability of Youth Empowerment Projects: The Role of Project Governance in Makueni County, Kenya

The sustainability of projects, as indicated in literature, hinges on the effective governance of projects and their diverse stakeholders. Studies have documented evidence of both significant and insignificant effects of project governance-sustainability outcomes but such studies lack empirical justification in Kenyan context. It is against this backdrop that this study investigated the relationship between project governance and sustainability of youth empowerment project in Kenyan context. From a survey of 196 respondents who were project managers and youth leaders involved in Youth Empowerment Projects, data were collected and thereafter analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings from the analysis revealed that the composite construct of project governance significantly predicted sustainability of Youth Empowerment Projects in Kenyan context (R = .863, R 2 =.745, p = 0.000). In addition, each of the variables that made up the composite construct of project governance had significant effect on sustainability of Youth Empowerment Projects (stakeholder management: β = .173, t = 2.313, p = 0.022; governance structure: β = .659, t = 8.159, p = 0.000; project team diversity: β = .298, t = 3.728, p = 0.000). The study concludes and recommends that stakeholders in Youth Empowerment Projects such as county governments in Kenya and Non-Governmental Organisations to put in place effective project governance structures in terms of stakeholder management mechanisms, properly established governance structures and strategies to improve project quality as these aspects significantly improve sustainability of the established projects. Keywords: Project Governance, Sustainability, Youth Empowerment Projects, Non-governmental Organisation, Kenya. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-20-14 Publication date: October 31 st 2020

Does Debts have any Impact on Governance Bundle and Agency Costs? Over-Governance Hypothesis

The purpose of this article is to extend the bundles of corporate governance theory and propose the role of corporate debt in determining the governance structure of a company. This research intended to answer some questions have been put forward by scholars to explain the inter-relationship between debt, corporate governance, and agency costs: (i) what exactly is the disciplinary role of debts? (ii) how is governance structure influenced by the debt level? and (iii) are extremely high debt ratios required? Previous works have looked at interrelations between debt, corporate governance, and agency costs in isolation result in inclusive findings. However, we argue that debt level is a key determinant of the effective governance structure that maintains agency costs at the optimal level. Based on the governance bundle theory, we contribute to the literature by introducing a new model (over-governance model) that suggests financial leverage as a critical contingency linking governance bundle and agency costs. Also, it provides a clear picture on the different type of agency costs. Our paper provides a theoretical framework to guide further studies and provide important implications for the board, corporate management, and regulators.

Dynamic Analytics of International Port Governance Structure Efficiency: With Comparative Verification Cases of Port Governance in Pearl River Delta

The current multi-lateralization of international trade is facing a critical challenge of dynamic assessing and analyzing port governance structural efficiency, especially in the exploration of effective governance structure and analytics method of inter-nation, heterosystem port regions, such as those along “The Belt and Road” regions. In this context, this paper based on Nobel prize-winning economist Williamson - corporate governance structure theory and founded the dedicated degree of "asset" idea, built suitable for state-owned companies - private hybrid system "assets dedicated degree" of the econometric model, and to a large bay area of Guangdong port governance "transaction costs" of the empirical analysis. This study collects relevant data of key ports in the Asia-pacific region and uses them to scientifically test the measurement model and analysis method we built, empirically determines the main measurement dimensions of "port asset specificity", with the measurement degree reaching over 70%. Finally taking Zhuhai port as the key empirical analysis, this paper puts forward the strategy of Zhuhai port: Firstly, based on the state-owned enterprises - private hybrid system of Shenzhen port, Zhuhai port needs to introduce global strategic partners for in- depth cooperation and innovation. Secondly, Zhuhai port should constantly improve the proportion of container business and give full play to the unique advantages of multi-model transport, reducing "port asset specify". Thirdly, Zhuhai port should complementary interaction with other ports in The Greater Bay Area.

Credibility-enhancing mechanisms, other than external assurance, in integrated reporting

The purpose of this study is to identify which creditability-enhancing mechanisms other than external assurance are applied and reported on in integrated reporting. Owing to scant research on the assurance of integrated reports, this study adopted a qualitative, explorative research approach consisting of two phases. The first phase entailed a content analysis of the integrated reports of the JSE top 40 companies and seven South African companies which participated in the IIRC pilot programme. In the second phase data were collected from two case studies through semi-structured interviews, field notes and internal company documents. This study deals with a novel interpretation of ‘assurance’; and provides new empirical evidence on how the suggestions of the IIRC and GRI to have non-financial information ‘assured’ are being operationalised. This study presents empirical evidence of the mechanisms other than external assurance used to enhance the credibility of the integrated report. The results of this study support the concept that credibility-enhancing mechanisms, consisting of internal assurance mechanisms such as corporate governance practices, internal audit, management processes, internal control processes and risk identification processes can be genuine, cost-effective alternative assurance mechanisms in IR. Furthermore, the results of this study may inform local and international regulatory bodies of the significance of credibility-enhancing mechanisms consisting of internal assurance mechanisms in the integrated report and call on them to consider combined assurance provisions more seriously. The study was conducted in a South African setting. While limiting the study to a single jurisdiction may be seen as a limitation, JSE-listed companies have started preparing integrated reports since 2011. Furthermore, the local preparers and auditors have had at least 5 years of experience with the application of an integrated reporting framework and are therefore in a strong position to provide detailed insights into other credibility-enhancing mechanisms used in the integrated report. This study gives practical examples of what companies are doing and the insights of preparers and auditors on using credibility-enhancing mechanisms. This study proposes a practical solution to using credibility-enhancing mechanisms starting with the risk identification process as the foundation of assurance with the Board that governs the risk. The risk identification process should be supported by internal assurance measures consisting of a robust internal control process; relevant management assurance; internal auditors who work closely with the audit committee and a strong and effective corporate governance structure.

State-owned Capital Gains, Profit Shifting and State-owned Enterprises’ Profits

In 2015, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the “Guiding Opinions on Deepening the Reform of State-owned Enterprises”, pointing out that by 2020, decisive results will be achieved in the important fields and key links of the reform of State-owned Enterprises （SOEs）. One of the important aspects is to improve the corporate governance structure of SOEs, which is the important task of state-owned enterprise reform at present. Actually, many SOEs in China have not yet formed an effective governance structure, and the level of governance is limited.As the pillar of China’s national economy, the development of SOEs is of vital importance to the sustained and healthy development of China’s economy and the building of the socialist modernized country. However, there are serious agency problems in China’s SOEs, such as on-the-job consumption, excessive investment and profit shifting, which have led to huge efficiency losses. Western scholars generally hold that dividends can alleviate agency problems between business owners and managers effectively, moreover, increase corporate value. Some scholars in China have also found that the dividend payout of SOEs can bring about the reduction of free cash flow and the increase of supervision from external financing market, thus reducing agency costs and increases the value of SOEs. On the realistic condition provided by the fact that SOEs’ profits are increasing sharply, the call for SOEs to pay dividends to the state is getting higher and higher. In this context, China promulgated the “Administration Ordinance of Charging State-owned Capital Gains” （CQ [2007] No.309） in 2007, and began to collect state-owned capital gains.However, the current governance structure of SOEs in China cannot effectively restrain the behavior of management. In such a governance environment, forced gains payout of SOEs may breed new agency problems and enhance the profit shifting behavior of management, which would worsen corporate governance and lead to a decline in the profit of SOEs. This kind of worry is not unreasonable. After the implementation of the “Administrative Ordinance”, the total profit of SOEs did not continue its growth tendency and began to decline. This fact confirms the increase in the profit shifting behavior of SOEs’ management to some extent. But, there is not only no empirical test on this mechanism in the existing researches, but also less literature on the impact of charging state-owned capital gains on the profit of SOEs. So, this paper attempts to verify this mechanism and test the impact of the “Administration Ordinance” on the profit of SOEs.This paper uses the Difference-in-Differences method to evaluate the impact on the profit of SOEs, taking the “Administration Ordinance” as a policy shock with the A-share data of listed companies from 2003 to 2009.The study finds that: First, the implementation of the “Administration Ordinance” has a negative impact on the profit of SOEs, significantly reducing the rate of return on common stockholders’ equity （ROE） of SOEs. Second, through the mechanism analysis, we find that forced gains payout of SOEs and gains’ circula- ting in the body has increased the management’s behavior to turn over profits under the current governance level of SOEs, resulting in the decline in the ROE of SOEs. Third, the “one size fits all” rate of gains payout has made more decrease in ROE of large-scale SOEs than small-scale ones, which is called the unfair punishment of “whipping the fast and hard-working”.The marginal contribution of this paper is mainly reflected in: （1） Most of the existing empirical research studies the effect of dividends payout on SOEs, but little discusses the effect of the “Administration Ordinance” on SOEs, and even more rare about the influence on the profit of SOEs. This paper uses the Difference-in-Differences method to evaluate the impact of the implementation of the “Administration Ordinance” on the profit of SOEs, which will enrich the study in this area. （2） Although some scholars have suggested that forced gains payout may increase the profit shifting behavior of management, thus leading to the decline in the profit of SOEs, there is no empirical evidence to support this mechanism. This paper takes the degree of real activity earnings management as the measure of the profit shifting behavior of management, and empirically tests this mechanism.

Conceptualizing Sustainability Governance Implementation for Infrastructure Delivery Systems in Developing Countries: Success Factors

Infrastructure delivery processes possess the potential to negatively influence sustainability. To curb the incidence of these processes within infrastructure delivery systems, the enthronement of an effective project management and governance framework becomes imperative. This led to the emergence of literature on sustainable project management practice. However, studies seeking to modify existing project governance structures in like manner remain limited. This study contributes to this emerging discourse on the utility of project governance competencies in facilitating sustainable infrastructure delivery. To achieve this objective, this study identifies critical success factors central to the design of effective sustainability governance structures of a typical infrastructure delivery (ID) system with the assistance of a cybernetic system framework—the viable infrastructure delivery systems model (VIDM). Adopting a qualitative multi-case study research design, this study deploys semi-structured interviews for data elicitation through purposively sampled interviewees within the identified cases and a document review. Qualitative content analysis (QCA) was deployed for data analysis. Findings from this study provide success factors for designing effective sustainability governance structures for ID systems. It is expected that the findings from this study will contribute to the emerging discourse concerning sustainability governance of ID systems.

Towards Adaptive Governance in Big Data Health Research: Implementing Regulatory Principles

In this chapter, we will first make the case for adaptive and principle-based governance of big data research. We will then outline six principles of adaptive governance (AFIRRM) for big data research and discuss key factors for their implementation into effective governance structures and processes.

A014 Governance of Research to Achieve Equity in Cardiovascular Health Outcomes: MENZACS

A marked equity gap is acknowledged in almost all health outcomes for Māori and Pacific people in Aotearoa. In CV health, the gap is across all major markers of CVD risk and morbidity and CVD is the largest contributor to the difference in life expectancy between Māori, Pacific and non-Māori, non-Pacific people. All CV research performed in Aotearoa should therefore progress equity for Māori and Pacific people. Achieving equity within any piece of work however requires leadership, and a strategic approach at all stages of the project, guided by an active and effective governance structure that guides and supports the operational research team. The multi-ethnic NZ study of acute coronary syndromes (MENZACS) study is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study embedded within the All New Zealand Acute Coronary Syndrome Quality Improvement (ANZACS-QI) programme in 6 hospitals. Patients with first-time ACS were enrolled and study-specific research data collected alongside the ANZACS-QI registry. The project has a focus for Māori and Pacific people and has had a governance group from inception that has worked closely with the research team through methodological development, results analysis and in problem solving culturally specific concerns. This presentation will walk through the process of set-up and operationalisation of the governance group with a view to outlining a best practice approach. There will also be case examples – including specifically the collection of genetic information - where the governance group and research team worked in an integrative manner to ensure the correct process was established and then implemented.

Corporate social responsibility intensity: Shareholders’ value adding or destroying?

This paper examines whether an intensification of corporate social responsibility activities adds or destroys firms’ value in Nigeria. Fixed effect regression analytic tool was used to analyze the data from a sample of 56 listed firms on Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) between 2009 and 2018. We followed environmental, social and economic responsibility activities rating based on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) disclosure guidelines and Korean Economic Justice Institutes (KEJI) social responsibility efficient interpolation rating formula in the measure of firms’ social responsibility. The study found that firms that engage in intensive social responsibility yielded positive and insignificant effect on firms’ stock value. This implied that an aggressive social responsibility is not the best approach as it possesses the potential to destroy shareholders’ value. On the other hand, we found evidence that medium social responsibility model significantly affected firms’ financial performance (coefficient = 0.165; p-value >0.05), which suggests that the best social responsibility strategy that significantly increases shareholders’ value is the middle course model. A further test showed that generally environmental, social and economic responsibility activities of firms significantly add to firms’ market value (Coefficients = 0.028; 0.216; 0.037; p-values<0.05). However, the degree of the effect is contingent on the intensity of the activities and governance structures. Governance structure and board diversity explained firms’ efficient CSR strategy that promotes middle course strategies while CSR aggressiveness is explained by unitary model of board leadership. Thus, implementation within an industry average performance adds significantly to investors’ value provided that there is effective corporate governance structure.

AI, on the Law of Being | from Non-Embodiment, Mechanized Embodiment, and Transhuman Embodiment to Human, What is a Person? [Abstract

Mary Shelley’s vision in Frankenstein brought forward perplexing questions: What does it mean to be alive? Is being only defined by its tie to the carnate born? Or can life be created from the dead? Can being spring from non-being? What is a person? Two centuries on, these questions persist. The search now for their answers in law, in ethics, in science, in society is critically urgent. Humans are giving birth to artificial intelligence systems with untold capacities to aid us and other incarnate creatures and the sphere we inhabit. We bestow mechanized embodiments upon them as robots. We merge our own flesh with dead device, sensate, haptic, connected. Mere mortals, we have long sat at the deemed evolutionary peak. But have we now created our own apex predator, our own Modern Prometheus? Much, our future, will depend upon how we come to see and reason in law about a person. We created fictions to bestow personhood upon corporate and other non-living forms. Doctrinally cohesive, or at least convenient, such fictions visit injustices upon us. Animals as sensate beings with rights, irrespective of our capacity to understand their views; our blue planet as a living organism that hosts us, for now; robots as citizens where women are largely possession; historic peoples once chattel, then persons, but not citizens, now citizens, but AI subjects with victimhood propagated by algorithmic injustices. What must we understand to identify and value in law so as to recognize the core of personhood? How do we circumscribe boundary conditions when our AI progeny, like Shelly, are exponentially exceeding the progenitors’ comprehension? How does law reconstruct itself with a far future vision to create sustainable, protective, and effective doctrines and governance structures around an evolving notion of person? These are questions to answer. Perhaps the only questions.

Commonwealth of common mental health: the need for a comprehensive overhaul of corporate governance in mental healthcare in Australia.

We aim to spark renewed discussion of the need for a more effective corporate governance structure for mental health services in Australia. While acknowledging clinical governance faces challenges, we focus here on corporate governance as the overarching level of administration, which profoundly influences delivery of mental healthcare in Australia. Australia's mental health services are ineffectively governed. Improved corporate governance, including psychiatric expertise, is fundamental to create a comprehensive, effective mental healthcare system in Australia.

The Impact of Family Governance on the Sustainability and Continuity of Family Businesses in Botswana

Academic discussion on corporate governance and its related issues are clearly visible in any country with active capital markets. This suggests that good governance is a crucial factor for ensuring economic development. Of concern is the lack of continuity after the first generation of ownership and control. However, few studies can be found relating to smaller family businesses. With the aim of contributing to this knowledge gap, this study aimed at identifying the impact of family governance on the sustainability and continuity of family businesses in Botswana. A sample of 144 family-owned businesses based in Gaborone and Francistown participated in the study. Pearson r correlation was used to measure the relationship between the variables of the study. The results showed that there is a weak positive relationship between family governance and the sustainability and continuity of family businesses in Botswana. It was recommended that mechanisms must be put in place in order to enlighten the benefits of having Board of Directors and to implement effective governance structures and systems to sustain the businesses in the market beyond generations.

A Holistic Approach to Beach Development in Badagry Local Government in Nigeria: A Case of Whispering Palm Beach Resort

The study was carried out to investigate the issues surrounding the planning and management strategies adopted in Badagry Local government Area for coastal tourism development, with a view to recommending appropriate sustainable measures that will facilitate effective coastal zone development. This work was based on primary data and supported by secondary data. The primary data were collected during field investigation in Badagry Local Government Area of Lagos State with the aid of questionnaire and interview methods. The secondary data were obtained from both official sources (government agencies) and non-official sources (libraries, the internet and newspapers), to include, population statistics, tourist inflow, etc. In this research, both in-depth interviews and informal interviews were conducted amidst staff of tourism related institutions, such as, hotels, beach development offices, tourism boards and agencies to investigate the different impacts of coastal tourism in Badagry, opinions of tourists and agencies (stakeholders) and the need for proper planning and management. As the sample size of this study is large, the questionnaires were specifically used to gather views from a large number of tourists regarding beaches and coastal zones in Badagry. In order to effectively assess the impact of tourism activity management on the stakeholders, the likert scale pre-coded responses were included in the questionnaire. A total of 100 copies of the survey questionnaire were administered within the Badagry community among host members, tourists, the hospitality related outfits, government and private agencies operating within the area. Data from the questionnaire were analysed by various statistical tools in the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS Version 20.0, 2011). Data were further analysed using correlation analysis and the one-way ANOVA.The study found that, there is significant relationship between coastal tourism management and tourism planning at Whispering palm. It, also, found a positive correlation with all the independent variables. This reveals that any possible change in socioeconomic factors will lead to development of the local community. The study concluded that, any increase in the economic wellbeing of individuals in the community or any significant social change through tourism activities will directly have positive influence on local community development. The study recommended sustainable coastal zone management and planning; provision and implementation of policies and plans for sustainable tourism;effective governance structures and relationships;sustaining coastal tourism development through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA); and supporting host community livelihood through coastal zone products.

Corporate Governance and Financial Performance in SMEs: A Case of the Kapenta Industry in Kariba

The argument of corporate governance is SMEs has assembled much momentum over recent years. Corporate governance is broadly defined by many scholars as the way in which business are run or the way business is conducted in an ethical manner. Although a considerable corporate governance knowledge base exists in Zimbabwean SMEs, there have been no comprehensive studies on corporate governance which has been conducted. In Kariba, Zimbabwe SMEs have not been adhering to corporate governance. Corporate governance has become a strategic issue in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Kariba. However corporate governance practices by SMEs in Kariba, Zimbabwe are currently unknown. It is against this background that this study investigated Corporate Governance and financial performance in SMEs: A case of the Kapenta Industry in Kariba. This study sought to investigate the impact of corporate governance practices on the financial performance of SMEs in the Kapenta fishing industry of Kariba, to assess the current state of corporate governance structures within the Kapenta fisheries SMEs, to assess the role of corporate governance practices in enhancing the financial performances of the SMEs in the Kapenta industry, to assess corporate governance weaknesses within the existing SMEs in the Kapenta industry in Kariba and to recommend strategies that can enhance effective corporate governance structures to the SMEs in the Kapenta industry in Kariba. The literature on corporate governance presented that the following areas have not been deduced: the meaning attached to corporate governance by SMEs in Kariba, Zimbabwe is currently unknown, the impact of corporate governance in enhancing the performance of SMEs in Kariba, Zimbabwe is currently unknown, and corporate governance weaknesses within the existing SMEs in the Kapenta industry in Kariba are currently unknown. Data for this study was collected through 29 questionnaires in the Kariba Region of Zimbabwe. The systematic random sampling method was used to select respondents. The SPSS version 21.0 was chosen to analyze quantitative data while the reduction method was also chosen for qualitative data. Findings reveal that there is the current state of corporate governance is improving. Structures in SMEs can be seen as frameworks which are helping organizations to achieve long-term success for their stakeholders. This study also concluded that corporate governance practices play a pivotal role in enhancing the financial performances of the SMEs in the Kapenta industry. The study recommended that the organization should mount relevant workshop to educate the employees on how corporate governance systems should be adopted.

Anatomy of an Informal Transit City: Mobility Analysis of the Metropolitan Area of Lima

Lima, as the capital of Peru, has become its first megacity with more than 10 million people in an area that extends over 80 km in a North-South direction. As a city of this size, it faces complex mobility issues with a strong reliance on informal transport modes (buses, minibuses, and paratransit vehicles) due to the deterioration of its transit system quality during the 20th century. This paper examines the current urban situation in Lima through an analysis of the city’s structure, with an emphasis on its transport history and the resulting types of walking, transit, and car-oriented fabrics that can be identified. The mobility analysis was made through data collection, including daily trips by public and private modes, annual passenger kilometers and vehicle kilometers of travel, length of exclusive lanes for public transport and freeways, car and paratransit modes ownership, transport emissions, and safety. These data are used to position Lima in a comparative global context showing its relative strengths and weaknesses in urban form and mobility and providing suggestions for a more sustainable transport and land use system. It is asserted that Lima is an informal transit-oriented city, as distinct from recognized transit metropolises (e.g., Tokyo or German cities such as Berlin or Munich), which often involve private companies, operating under an umbrella of strong government regulation, fare setting, and high service standards. Lima is shown to have some important qualities such as a high density, comparatively low car ownership and freeway provision and still healthy levels of transit and non-motorized mode use despite non-ideal conditions for either. These qualities, if combined with effective governance structures, government commitment to higher quality formal transit systems, which better integrate the important informal transit sector, cessation of high capacity road building, greater protection and encouragement for non-motorized modes and some effective controls over growing car and motorcycle ownership, would see Lima develop a more sustainable transport system.