This study provides additional evidence on information technology (IT) governance and its relationship to firm performance in emerging markets. It aims primarily to determine the level of IT governance in Saudi Arabian companies; it also aims at examining the impact of IT governance on the firm performance. The study target sample is 131 companies taken from 20 sectors of the Saudi financial market; during the year 2017. The researchers have used the IT-related backgrounds of the members of the board of directors as an indicator of IT governance. The researchers have also used another group of corporate governance indicators in addition to a set of control variables. The performance of the companies has been referred to as the operational performance which is represented as Return on Assets (ROA) and the financial performance as the Return on Equity (ROE). The descriptive results have been shocking. The study has shown a sharp decline in IT governance in Saudi companies; only 15% of companies have members of the board of directors with IT-related backgrounds, and the IT governance is not adopted or used in many important sectors. However, the regression analysis shows that there is a positive impact on IT governance only on the operational performance of Saudi companies. The results of this study provide a significant indicator of IT governance in Saudi companies. These results can be also used to develop the corporate governance code to focus more on IT governance.

This study examines the structure-profit relationship in the Qatari banking industry. The study sample consists of all the local banks operating in the market (13 banks) listed in Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) over the 2009-2014 period. The hypotheses related to the market power structure which includes the traditional Structure-Conduct-Performance Hypothesis (SCP), and the traditional Efficiency Hypothesis (EH). The empirical results generally support the (SCP) Hypothesis in Qatari banking industry. Thus, the main implication of these results for the policymakers, of Qatari banking sector, is to expand the ongoing deregulation efforts with the aim of reducing the industry concentration and enhancing the market competitiveness.