Beyond busy board members: a comparative analysis of the impact of remote board meetings on the profitability of banks in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract This research aims to investigate the impact of the remote board meeting mechanism on the overall profitability of banks in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Hence, this research adopted resource dependency theory as the proposed theoretical framework to investigate the impact of remote board meeting mechanisms on the profitability of banks in the MENA. By exploring the interplay between the banks’ resource dependencies and the adoption of remote board meetings, a generalized linear model has been conducted to test the influence of remote board meetings on the banks’ profitability. In addition, it examines the mediating effect of remote board meetings on the association between busy board members and banks’ profitability. Therefore, the main results of this research confirm that remote board meetings significantly boosted the banks’ overall profitability. Furthermore, remote board meetings allow busy board members to join the meetings and share their great experiences, significantly promoting banks’ profitability.