This research study will critically examine views and definitions of the term corporate governance according to leading researchers in this field. The theoretical development of this field of research will be considered in terms of its treatment of internal and external governance conditions. The study will explore a specific category of corporate governance developed in relation to hospitals called ‘hospital governance’. This research aims to make a contribution to the evidence supporting the development of hospital governance through a detailed examination of a sample of Lebanese hospitals. It will explore what constitutes ‘good’ hospital governance in such settings.
It will study hospital governance in Lebanese hospitals, reflected by the nature of the agency problem in hospitals and its effect on performance and performance management in private hospitals of the Mount Lebanon province in Lebanon. It will target a sample of private Lebanese hospitals using them as focused examples of the hospital governance conditions prevalent in Lebanon today. It will compare the governance structure between hospitals and test the influence of external factors on internal hospital governance. It will critically examine agency theory as an approach to understanding hospital governance. The study will also explore how managers and clinicians are incentivised and the relationship of this incentivisation on hospital performance.