Exploring, Examining, and Explaining How Participatory Governance Adds Value to Saudi Foundations' Philanthropic Strategy
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University of San Diego Digital USD Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2019-05-19 Exploring, Examining, and Explaining How Participatory Governance Adds Value to Saudi Foundations’ Philanthropic Strategy Afnan E. Koshak University of San Diego Follow this and additional works at: https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations Part of the Nonprofit Administration and Management Commons, Public Administration Commons, Public Affairs Commons, Social Welfare Commons, and the Strategic Management Policy Commons Digital USD Citation Koshak, Afnan E., "Exploring, Examining, and Explaining How Participatory Governance Adds Value to Saudi Foundations’ Philanthropic Strategy" (2019). Dissertations. 153. https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/153 This Dissertation: Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Digital USD. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital USD. 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EXPLORING, EXAMINING, AND EXPLAINING HOW PARTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE ADDS VALUE TO SAUDI FOUNDATIONS’ PHILANTHROPIC STRATEGY by Afnan Emad Koshak A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2019 Dissertation Committee Robert Donmoyer, Ph.D., Chair Hans Schmitz, Ph.D., Committee Member Marcus Lam, PhD., Committee Member University of San Diego © Copyright by Afnan Emad Koshak All Rights Reserved 2019 University of San Diego School of Leadership and Education Sciences CANDIDATE’S NAME: Afnan Koshak TITLE OF DISSERTATION: EXPLORING, EXAMINING AND EXPLAINING HOW PARTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE ADDS VALUE TO SAUDI FOUNDATIONS’ PHILANTHROPIC STRATEGY APPROVAL: _____________________________________, Chair Robert Donmoyer, PhD- _____________________________________, Member Hans Schimtz, PhD - _____________________________________, Member Marcus Lam, PhD DATE: April 15, 2019 ABSTRACT Foundations’ flexibility, given their independence from fundraising imperatives, competition forces, and accountability pressures, enables them to invest in long-term, high-risk, multi-level experiments to deal with the increasingly complex societal problems. This flexibility, coupled with the growing role philanthropy plays in promoting social welfare across the world, is arguably what makes studies that focus on foundations’ philanthropic approaches of utmost importance. There is a mounting interest among scholars in the governance of foundations, the systems and processes concerned with ensuring the overall strategic direction of organizations. Influenced by agency and stewardship theories, an increasing number of studies address such topics as boards’ internal control, e.g. CEO oversight, and collaborative, e.g. resource development, practices. One topic that has received little attention, both in academia and in a plethora of best practice toolkits, is stakeholders’ participation. Beyond board compositional representation, relatively little research has been conducted about the democratic and collective intelligence approaches of decision making that can create more sustainable social transformations. This study employed a three-phase, mixed-methods research design to study the role of participatory governance in shaping Saudi foundations’ philanthropic strategy. The study started with an initial exploratory investigation of strategy formulation processes among seven diverse foundations. Based on the literature review and exploratory phase findings, a dataset on 54 foundations was developed to statistically examine the relationships between governance practices and philanthropic strategy. A seven-months case study was then conducted to explore potential factors that may explain how participatory practices may influence strategies. Results suggest a significant relationship between participatory governance and philanthropic strategy. Comprehensive, deep and systematic stakeholders’ participation practices are positively associated with more evolved, high risk, multi-level, and resourceful philanthropic approaches. Additionally, while control and stewardship governance practices showed a negative association with philanthropic strategy, their implementation in high levels marginally improve the positive impact of participatory governance on strategy development. Explanatory factors included exposure to broader issues/factors, revelation of alternative solutions, reinforcing trust and commitment, and key players’ identification and engagement. Results may be used to inform the development of participatory forms of leadership, even among society’s most unconstrained organizations. DEDICATION To the empathetic, responsible and continues to be inspiring humanity, Please accept my effort in this study as a gratitude of being one of you. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to acknowledge several institutions and individuals for their constructive contribution to the research theory, design and methodology and who, unconditionally, helped me navigate the social sector in Saudi Arabia, especially: − University of San Diego, Robert Donmoyer, Hans Schimtz, Marcus Lam, Michelle Ahearne, Crystal Trull, and Elena McCollim, − Institute for Nonprofit Education and Research at the University of San Diego, Laura Deitrick, − Center of Excellence in Development of Non-profit Organizations at King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals, Hattan Tawfiq and Basem Al-Madani, − Qararat Consultancy, Anas Al-khalaf, − International Center for Researches and Studies, Khaled Al-Serihi, and − Saudi social sector activists, Abdullah Al-Sadhan, Huda Hakki, Ayman Al-Gamdi, Elyas Al-Abdulkareem, Ahmad Banemah, Abdulrahman Al-Hathloul, Saied Al- Yazedi, Ahmad Rammah, Shariq Siddiqui, Abdullah Al-Rabea, Firas Al-Jarrah, Hasnaa Al-Kudwah, Hussain Bahri, Abdullah Al-Abbad, Mousa Al-Mousa, Mishari Al-Jowerah, Rawaa Bakhsh, Ibrahim Al-Hidari, Abdulaziz Tabbakh, Mowafag Tayeb, Arwa Al-Dhibian, Abdulaziz bin Tawala, Hasan Shrim, Princess Al-Bandari Al-Saud, Fahad Al-Duailej, Badr Al-Khambashy, Yousef Al-Quwaifli, Yousef Al- Qarawi, Tarek Jamal, Anas Serafi, Mohammed Al-Dabal, Talal Bakr, Mohammed Al-Radi, Ibrahim Al-Fallaj, Khalid Basuraidah, Nahed Al-Jabr, Mohammed Basurrah, Abdullatif Al-Nuqali, Yousef Al-Hazeem, Solafa Batterjee, Khaled Taher, Hatem Al-Arnous, Noura Al-Saedi, Abdullah Al-Hawas, Mohamed Nasser viii Mahmoud, Saoud Al-Nugeithan, Noura Al-Abdulhafiz, Ahmad Binbaz, Khalid Al- Naqi, Abdullah Al-Damkh, Salah Al-Naseef, Abdulkareem Al-Saleh, Fahad Al- Ohali, Ahmed Al-Thnayan, Ayman Abanomai, Yazid Al-Moqhem, Abdullah Al- Duhaishi, Abdullah al-Zughaybi, Rashid Al-Zahrani, Amr Hafez, Shalaan Al- Shalaan, Walid Al-Omran, Tariq Qamash, Mamdouh Al-Harbi, Abbas Hamidaldin, Fawaz al-Seif, Salem Al-Qahtani, Ali Baabdullah, Mohammed Al-Khamis, Rima Al- Abdullatif, Jihad Al-Askar and Saleh Al-Mohaisin. The research project was made possible thanks to funding from King Abdullah Scholarship Program, Salem Bin Mahfouz Scholarship for Social and Nonprofit Studies, and AlSubaie-ARNOVA Arab Philanthropy and Nonprofit Research Award. To my mother Haifa Mussalli, my father Emad Koshak, my husband Omar Murad, my siblings Abdulrahman, Hassan, Bayan and Abdulqader, thank you from the bottom of my heart to your spacious hearts which believed in me and pushed me to achieve more than I ever thought I could. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... viii TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... xiii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY .................................................... 1 CHAPTER TWO AN OVERVIEW OF FOUNDATIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA ............. 7 Historical and Social Roots ............................................................................................. 7 Legal Structure ................................................................................................................ 9 Geographical Distribution ............................................................................................. 10 Scope of Service ............................................................................................................ 11 Expenditure and Revenue Models ................................................................................. 12 Governance .................................................................................................................... 13 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER THREE LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................ 16 Philanthropic Strategy ................................................................................................... 16 Social Change Theories ............................................................................................. 16 Technical and adaptive problems. ......................................................................... 16 Cynefin framework. .............................................................................................. 17 Adapting to the system.........................................................................................