http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32627 2026-06-20T13:46:13Z 2026-06-20T13:46:13Z Abdulaal, Abdulrahman Mohammed http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33461 2026-06-19T02:00:31Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Investigating strategic directions and initiatives of green hydrogen, the role of alignment between government and business collaboration: A case of green hydrogen in Saudi Arabia Authors: Abdulaal, Abdulrahman Mohammed Abstract: This research investigates the strategic alignment process that can support the development of Green Hydrogen (GH2) initiatives with a case study in Saudi Arabia. Despite growing global interest in GH2 as a pillar of sustainable energy transitions, this research finds that structured national strategies for GH2 remain fragmented and underdeveloped. This fragmentation limits the potential for coherent deployment and long-term value creation in energy projects. In response, the study proposes a Strategic Alignment Framework to guide the coherent deployment of GH2, aligned with the objectives and needs of stakeholders. The literature review identifies a lack of integrated models to support GH2 ecosystem planning, prompting the development of a multi-phase framework comprising Initiation and Planning, Strategic Development, and Implementation. The proposed framework in Figure 4:7 distinguishes between internal and external environmental dynamics and incorporates key strategic levers such as policy design, infrastructure readiness, human capital development, and industrial localisation. Empirical data were gathered through qualitative expert interviews with senior stakeholders across government, semi-government, and private sectors in Saudi Arabia, and validated through two focus groups consisting of three participants each. Thematic analysis highlights critical enablers, including regulatory clarity, innovation ecosystems, and government-business collaboration, as well as barriers such as investment uncertainty. Key findings emphasise that strategic alignment between national policy, industrial readiness, and infrastructure planning is essential for the GH2 sector’s success. The validated Green Hydrogen Strategic Alignment Framework in Figure 4:7 enables stakeholders to anticipate coordination bottlenecks, assess implementation readiness, and mitigate socio-environmental risks. This research contributes developing a Strategic Alignment Framework for GH2, linking external drivers with internal execution, and serving as a diagnostic tool for policy, investment, and stakeholder engagement. The findings emphasise incentives, regulatory clarity, innovation, and collaboration as key enablers of a competitive GH2 industry. Although grounded in the Saudi case, the study offers insights applicable to other resource-rich countries pursuing energy transition. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Mahama, Muntari http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33434 2026-06-18T14:35:11Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Unpacking climate risk transparency in emerging and frontier markets of sub-Saharan Africa Authors: Mahama, Muntari Abstract: As the impact of climate change continues to draw the attention of global stakeholders, climate risk transparency under emerging climate initiatives has assumed a global perspective. However, very little empirical explanation has been provided on climate risk transparency in emerging and frontier markets whose contribution to climate change is negligible, yet such markets are highly vulnerable to climate risks. This study examines the extent of climate risk transparency in three emerging and frontier markets of sub-Saharan Africa with the aim of determining its quality, determinants, and consequences. Using content analysis, GMM method, and a sample of 1,912 firm-year observations of non-financial companies from Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa over the period 2015 to 2022, the study constructed a 19-item index based on the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the new sustainability standards of IFRS Foundation (IFRS S1 and S2) and examined how coercive, normative, and mimetic forces influence the quality of climate risk transparency. The study finds a low-quality climate risk transparency among non-financial companies in the three markets. The study also finds a cross-market variation and growth in quality of reporting which is associated with the adoption of emerging climate frameworks such as TCFD and IFRS S1 and S2. In addition, the study evidences that climate transparency is influenced by regulatory environment, operating in highly polluting industries, and existing framework adoption, but may not be influenced by affiliation with foreign companies. The results also show that climate transparency has an impact on corporate market value and financial performance. However, corporate financial distress and cost of capital are not impacted by climate transparency. In addition to GMM, additional tests providing further mitigation for endogeneity and self-selection, including the two-stage least squares, propensity score matching (PSM), and fixed effect regression show that the study’s results are robust. While filling a gap in the sub-Saharan African context which is underexplored, the study contributes to the climate change discourse by highlighting the significance of novel climate initiatives such as the TCFD and IFRS S1 and S2 in ensuring the transparency of climate information to investors and capital markets in emerging and frontier market context. In addition, it provides relevant insights for jurisdictions which are preparing roadmaps for the adoption and implementation of emerging climate initiatives. It also offers policy recommendations aimed at strengthening climate transparency and providing relevant institutional frameworks in climate vulnerable emerging and frontier markets. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Ismail, Noor Amy http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33200 2026-04-25T02:00:24Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Catalysing digital adoption in Malaysian SMES: An integrated TOE–RBV–SNT framework for inter-organisational collaboration (IOC) Authors: Ismail, Noor Amy Abstract: This study investigates the mediating role of the IOC in accelerating digital adoption among SMEs in emerging economies, using Malaysia as a case study. Malaysian SMEs are aligned with the broader aim of the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (2021-2025), which seeks to make the country a high-income digital nation by 2030. Although SMEs account for 96.2% of businesses, contribute 39.1% (USD128.8 billion) to GDP, and employ 7.86 million people (DOSM, 2023), digital adoption remains sluggish. Malaysia’s Digital Adoption Index score (0.69) lags behind regional leaders such as Singapore (0.87) and South Korea (0.86), with further challenges stemming from low rankings in SME digital connectivity and skills (World Bank, 2023; Portulans Institute, 2023). This thesis offers three central contributions: (1) advancing theory by integrating the TOE, RBV, and SNT frameworks into an intergrated conceptual model; (2) enhancing methodological rigour through a six-phase sequential mixed-methods design; and (3) presenting the IOC–SMEs Digital Adoption Playbook for Emerging Economies (Playbook), an empirically validated framework tailored to the Malaysian context and broader emerging economies. These contributions directly address gaps identified through a comprehensive SLR, which include (1) integrating previously fragmented technological, organisational, and network perspectives through an integrated conceptual framework that combines TOE, RBV, and SNT, thereby overcoming the methodological limitations of single-theory studies; (2) adopting a sequential mixed-methods approach that captures adoption patterns and evolutionary processes, thus mitigating the primary emphasis on quantitative studies; and (3) providing comprehensive empirical evidence from Malaysia's unique business environment, encompassing manufacturing and service industries, unlike most studies that focus on manufacturing, thereby enhancing the understanding of digital adoption in emerging economies rather than extrapolating from European contexts. The six-phase methodological design encompasses (1) a SLR of 109 peer-reviewed articles; (2) the development and validation of research instruments through four expert panels and pilot testing (n=40); (3) quantitative data collection from 396 SMEs across various sectors; (4) qualitative interviews with seven stakeholders (five CEOs and two academic experts); (5) synthesis of findings into a practical Playbook for emerging economies; and (6) validation within the Malaysian context through three industry forums involving 530 stakeholders and follow-up structured interviews (thirteen industry players and two academic experts). There are five findings from the research, which have been clearly outlined as design principles in the Playbook: (1) Technological Integration (with relative advantage and trust as drivers of adoption), (2) Organisational Transformation (focusing on leadership and internal readiness), (3) Collaborative Networks (where the IOC acts as a mediating force), (4) State-Level Integration (which addresses regional disparities), and (5) Resource Optimisation (employing blended support strategies to address capacity gaps). This thesis offers a theoretically integrated and empirically validated framework for understanding digital adoption in Malaysian SMEs, emphasising the mediating role of ICT Orientation. By employing the TOE, RBV, and SNT frameworks, it reinterprets IOC as a strategic instrument enabling SMEs in emerging economies to tackle resource, trust, and capability hurdles. The research confirms key adoption drivers through a six-phase mixed-methods approach, highlighting their different roles within emerging economy contexts. The result is a practical, context-sensitive model of SME digitalisation, executed via a national Playbook that has influenced policy initiatives such as the MVCR and UNCBF, led by the researcher.This study shifts the emphasis from firm-specific models to a broader, ecosystemic, relational, and policy-focused perspective on digital adoption in resource-constrained environments. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Pillai, Mani http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33199 2026-04-24T11:26:43Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: ‘You play the game that is to be played’ Conditional legitimacy in the London Insurance Market: the experiences of minority ethnic knowledge workers Authors: Pillai, Mani Abstract: This thesis provides a qualitative investigation into the careers of minority ethnic knowledge workers within the London Insurance Market, a historically exclusive and male-dominated financial sector. Despite its technical expertise and global reach, the Market remains socially opaque and reputationally stigmatised, with entrenched hierarchies that shape access to opportunity. Against this backdrop, the thesis asks how minority ethnic professionals navigate, resist, and accommodate this institutional environment in their pursuit of legitimacy and career progression. Drawing on 76 in-depth semi-structured interviews across underwriting, broking and support functions, the study offers rich empirical insights into the lived experiences of minority ethnic workers in the Market. Its theoretical analysis integrates Bourdieu’s and Goffman’s sociological concepts, justified by their shared analytical concern with power, legitimacy, and the social constraints that shape both individual and institutional actions and reproductions. Bourdieu’s field theory conceptualises the London Insurance Market as a structured space with its own institutional logic, hierarchies, and deeply embedded habitus that governs both formal and informal professional practices. Dominant groups—particularly underwriters and brokers—control access to resources and information, while minority ethnic professionals face challenges in accumulating and converting cultural capital into economic and symbolic capital. However, the changing broader socio-economic and regulatory environments can create spaces to circumvent these structures. Goffman’s dramaturgical approach complements this by foregrounding the everyday, interactional dimension of career navigation. It highlights the performative management of stigma, impression, and self-presentation as professionals negotiate frontstage and backstage behaviours to maintain credibility. The thesis also draws on Goffman’s concept of total institutions to interpret how the London Insurance Market’s assimilative and institutional culture exerts disciplinary and regulatory pressures on identity performances. This dual theoretical framework reveals that legitimacy within the London Insurance Market is conditional. It is dependent not only on the accumulation of valued forms of capital but also on skilled identity work that manages both visible and invisible dimensions of social identity in a context resistant to change. Findings reveal that career progression depends not only on technical competence or ambition but also on participants’ ability to read, negotiate, and respond to the field’s tacit rules. Participants encountered reputational stigma, symbolic misrecognition, nepotism, and exclusionary social capital structures. Yet they also exercised agency through strategies such as moral distancing, strategic concealment, performative belonging, and adapting their self-presentation to manage the aesthetics and politics of fit. Such identity work carries significant emotional and moral costs, revealing the affective dimensions of conditional legitimacy. By foregrounding the interaction between structural conditions and individual agency, this thesis critiques mainstream career theories for underestimating institutional logics, gatekeeping practices, and the affective demands placed on minority ethnic professionals. It advances a relational and contextuality grounded approach that accounts for how legitimacy is conditionally conferred and must be continually negotiated. Beyond its empirical and theoretical contributions, the thesis also offers practical implications for organisations in the London Insurance Market, recommending interventions that move beyond individual adaptation to address structural gatekeeping, increase transparency in hiring and promote meaningful cultural reform. It concludes with suggestions for future research to explore intragroup differences, longitudinal trajectories, and multi-actor perspectives that can further illuminate how careers unfold in elite, exclusionary fields. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London

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