Governance of the Boards of Directors in the public, private, and non-profit sectors for Dr. Abdullah bin Fahd bin Saif

Corporate governance of boards of directors in the public, private, and non-profit sectors for Dr. Abdullah bin Fahd bin Saif Corporate governance of boards of directors in the public, private, and non-profit sectors: an analytical study in light of the experience of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dr. Abdullah bin Fahd bin Saif First edition: 1447 AH – 2026 AD Number of pages: 402 pages About the book This book as a scientific attempt to liberate the topic of governance of boards of directors from its vague generality, and to restore it to its true position as an independent analytical unit. The book does not refer to governance as a broad concept, nor does it merely compile legal rulings or describe international principles descriptively, but it aims to study the governance of the board of directors itself, in terms of its composition, functions, tools, boundaries of its relationship with executive management, maturity standards, and gaps in its practice. In this sense, the subject of the book is not the institution as a whole, but the board as the center where governance is embodied or falters. The importance of this approach stems from its ability to allow a more precise and realistic reading of governance. Institutional failure does not always stem from the absence of a regulatory framework, but may arise from the board’s weak understanding of its role, or from its composition disorder, or from its fragile independence, or from poor flow of information to it, or from the formalism of its committees, or from its inability to transform its statutory authority into genuine oversight practice. Therefore, this book is based on the hypothesis that the quality of governance is not solely measured by the existence of boards, structures, and policies, but by the maturity level of the board of directors in practicing guidance, oversight, and accountability effectively. This work gains additional value from addressing the topic in light of the Saudi environment, which has witnessed significant development in recent years in regulatory, organizational, and institutional frameworks across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. The book adopts sectoral comparison as a main approach, examining governance of boards of directors in three major sectors: the public sector, the private sector, and the non-profit sector. The aim was not merely to compile related topics, but to reveal that despite sharing the same name, the boards perform different functions, face varying risks, and are subject to different success criteria depending on the sector’s nature. The board in the public sector operates within a space governed by public interest, oversight of public funds, and multiple stakeholders. The board in the private sector functions under the pressures of ownership, market forces, disclosure, and maximizing value while managing risks. The board in the non-profit sector is responsible for protecting the mission, maintaining trust, regulating resources, and achieving social impact. This sectoral difference does not negate the unity of the methodology but enriches it, as it allows testing the same governance hypotheses in different institutional environments.