THE IMPACT OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IMPLEMENTATION ON FIRM'S PERFORMANCE IN THE GULF COUNTRIES (GCC) BASED ON STEWARDSHIP ASSUMPTIONS

In recent years, corporate governance issues have received increased attention among scholars, practitioners and regulators worldwide. It is important to note that there are many players with vested interests in Corporate Governance (CG). These are the shareholders, the management and board directors as well as employees, suppliers, customers, banks, regulators and the general community at large. One can view CG as an overall structure within those companies are directed and controlled. Within this structure, each body has its own commitments and obligations: the boards of directors, for instance, are accountable for the governance of their companies. The shareholders’ role in governance is to select the directors and the auditors. The responsibilities of the board include setting the company’s strategic aims, putting them into effect, supervising the management of the business and reporting to the shareholders on their stewardship. The board’s activities are susceptible to laws, rules and regulations and to the shareholders’ performance in general meeting (Arsalidou & Wang, 2005). Boards that are empowered by a strong CG system exercise better control over the various risks the business encounters (Darmadi, 2013). The members of the board have to ensure high levels of transparency since that help reduce the risk of fraud or theft due to the increased accountability and the likelihood that fraud or theft will be discovered; they should adopt clear procedures and responsibilities for taking important decisions since that guarantees that major decisions are made on a well informed and objective basis; strong CG standards help ensure that the company is acting in the best interests of the shareholders. The concept of corporate governance refers to the set of principles and rules that govern the design, integration and operation of the governing bodies of the company, such as the three powers within a company: Shareholders, Board of Directors and Senior Management (Arora & Sharma, 2016). Good Corporate Governance provides incentives to protect the interests of the company and shareholders, monitor the creation of value and efficient use of resources by providing information transparency. "The important thing is to emphasize that corporate governance is not an individual instrument but rather a concept that includes the debate on the appropriate management and control structures of companies, as well as the rules that regulate the power relations between owners, the board of directors, management and, last but not least, stakeholders such as employees, suppliers, customers and the general public" (N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman of the Committee on Corporate Governance, Board of Securities and Exchanges of India, 2003). Nowadays, Corporate Governance is as important as efficient financial performance. It is said that around 80% of investors would pay more for a company with a good GC; since this element provides greater security to your investment by ensuring sound corporate practices. The greater the transparency and the more information there is, the greater the confidence of investors in the market (Azeez, 2015). Therefore, the GC is far from being a fad, considering it a necessary concept for the sustainability and growth of companies. The sharp depreciation of oil price globally has driven the oil and gas sector in GCC to adapt the new situation. Most of these sector members have realized that tapers are a signal of risk, which required proactive decisions for re-position itself within the market. Aramco as one of the Information of Article