Corporate governance in Kuwait: An analysis in terms of grounded theory

This study investigates corporate governance in Kuwait from stakeholders' perspective by examining different stakeholder groups' perceptions. The study presents the concept of corporate governance, the current situation, the corporate governance mechanisms, and the impact of legal system and accountability on Kuwait's corporate governance. The study applied semi-structured interviews with several stakeholder groups; grounded theory procedures are also adopted to interpret the results. The findings suggest that the corporate governance concept is well known, yet current laws are irrelevant; several obstacles need to be addressed to implement corporate governance in Kuwait. According to interviewees, board committees are important in Kuwait, and boards of directors and dividends are dominated by major shareholders. Moreover, some corporate governance mechanisms are not well organized in Kuwait. For example, ownership structures produce problems for listed companies, banks have limited roles, and companies have appointed ineffective independent directors, while the legal system, shareholders' and stakeholders' rights, and shareholders' protections are very weak. In addition, accountability is not clearly identified in Kuwaiti rules. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.