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Purpose – The paper explains how internal reporting systems, as embedded practices informing organizational actions and “know-how”, contributed to the inertia in implementing a corporate form of governance in a transitional public organization in a developing country – Egypt.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper synthesizes an institutional theory framework in order to capture the case study mixed results. Drawing on DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) notions of isomorphic mechanisms, Ocasio (1999) and Burns and Scapens’ (2000) notions of organizations’ memory, history, cumulative actions and routines, Brunsson's (1994) notion of organizational institutional confusion as well as Carruthers's (1995) notion of “symbolic window-dressing” adoption of new practices, the paper explores the dynamic of a public hospital corporatization processes. Data collection methods include semi-structured interviews, documentary evidence and direct observation.

Findings – The case study evidence shows that the interplay between the new form of “corporate” governance and the intra-organizational power, routines and “know-how” created internal organizational confusion and changed organizational members’ narrative of risk and uncertainties.

Research limitations/implications – The paper does not reveal the role of reformers involved in the public sector “governance” reform in developing countries. Exploring such a role goes beyond the scope of this paper and represents an area of future research.

Originality/value – The paper provides a comprehensive account of public sector “governance” reform in a developing nation, while exploring the role of management accounting and costing systems in facilitating or otherwise that reform processes.

Companies are constantly striving for superior customer service that meets consumers' expectations. Products that do not provide consumers with good service quality are unlikely to meet the expectations of consumers. The aim is to maximize customer satisfaction and achieve financial success by closing gaps to provide high-quality service to consumers. Customers use quality of service to choose a service provider. This does not only include the quality of products or service but also the quality of customer service. The five essential elements (5Es) – experience, emotions, exclusivity, execution and engagement – must be used by companies to ensure that their products and services meet defined standards or customer's expectations. The customer's opinion of a service is formed immediately, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. The result of a negative customer experience is negative word of mouth, which would cause loss in business from dissatisfied customers as well as from potential customers who will no longer use the services. Using the gap model for service quality, this study proposes the essential 5Es of service quality. As a result of the synthesis of this current research, the company's service delivery will be improved by identifying weaknesses. The use of these 5Es for the control of service quality and monitoring of quality defects leads to better understanding and reduction of cost.

It is generally believed that Middle Eastern countries are homogenous. Although this belief holds some truth, Middle Eastern countries have more differences than similarities. They differ in language, race, psychology, perception of threats, historical and colonial backgrounds, and political and economic developments. Realizing these differences, I expect that these countries have varying perceptions and interpretations of external threats and different methods of dealing with those threats. It is theoretically implausible to contemplate a general trend in defense spending across Middle Eastern countries; however, it is theoretically sound to view several broad trends within the region.

In this chapter, I explain the key trends in defense spending and arms procurement in the Middle East and test whether those trends were subject to Louis F. Richardson's action-reaction model. I assessed the “guns-versus-butter” trade-off and the future prospects for peace in the region in light of these trends. I explained the danger of transferring weapons knowledge and technology to non-state actors in the Middle East. I investigate the trend in defense spending based on Richardson's action-reaction model by considering rival pairs in each subregion: Algeria–Morocco in North Africa; Egypt–Israel, Jordan–Israel, and Syria–Israel in the frontline states; United Arab Emirates–Iran in the Arab–Persian Gulf; and Pakistan–India in the Indian subcontinent. I used ordinary least squares (OLS) method in testing those dyads. I used military expenditure data from the SIPRI Yearbook: World Armament and Disarmament published annually by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. I conclude the study with policy implications and recommendations for achieving permanent peace in the region.

Institutional changes, in a historical context, through simultaneous evolutionary and metamorphic processes either deform or reform long-enduring institutions. The chapter delves into the Persian history from the early days of the reign of Nāṣer al-Dīn Shāh-e Qājār in 1848 to the recent years and traces Persian institutions' historical transformations, which culminated to the Persian women entrepreneurship. Thus, the chapter first sets the historical context in each period and then sheds light on the pivotal issues of each period's women. The undergirding base of the discussions is the assumption of the change in institutions as natural metamorphosis in the animate. Finally, the discussions contribute to the conceptualization of the Institutional Triangulation and in the case of Persia, a cultural-driven triangulation, which has paved the way to the formation of a stupendously hegemonic patriarchal and masculine sociopolitical economy in Persia, that has historically affected women's institutionalization, subjugation, subordination, marginalization, socialization, emancipation, and most recently Islamization phases.