Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of Shariah board members and managerial networking on zakat observance among executives of Islamic financial firms (IFFs) in Bahrain and Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is based on surveys administered to 106 respondents and personal interviews conducted with individuals holding management positions in IFFs.

Findings

The paper finds that: networking among IFF executives in Bahrain positively influences their observance and perception of zakat in their firms; and higher representation of Shariah on the board of directors increases executives’ favorable perception and observance of zakat in Malaysia. Differences in findings may be explained by Bahrain’s global Shariah institutions where networking offers opportunities for socialization of zakat ethics. In Malaysia, on the other hand, Shariah directorship sets the pace and direction of zakat ethics.

Originality/value

The seminal work of DiMaggio and Powell (1991) on neo-institutional theory has drawn attention to executives’ agency in creating cognitive frameworks that help promote the development of firm standards and norms. However, application of the theory to Islamic finance is largely absent. This paper contributes to an empirical understanding of the theory by highlighting sources of IFFs’ social agency in the development of zakat norm and its observance, namely, managerial networking and Shariah directors as change agents.

中文翻译：

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伊斯兰金融机构的高管遵守天课：来自巴林和马来西亚的证据

目的

本文的目的是研究伊斯兰教法董事会成员和管理网络对巴林和马来西亚伊斯兰金融公司 (IFF) 高管遵守天课的影响。

设计/方法/方法

该方法基于对 106 名受访者进行的调查以及对在 IFF 中担任管理职位的个人进行的个人访谈。

发现

该论文发现： 巴林 IFF 高管之间的网络对他们在公司中对天课的遵守和看法产生了积极影响；伊斯兰教法在董事会中的更高代表增加了马来西亚高管对天课的好感和遵守。巴林的全球伊斯兰教法机构可以解释调查结果的差异，在这些机构中，网络为天课伦理的社会化提供了机会。另一方面，在马来西亚，伊斯兰教法的董事身份决定了天课伦理的步伐和方向。

原创性/价值

DiMaggio 和 Powell（1991）关于新制度理论的开创性工作引起了人们对高管机构在创建认知框架方面的关注，这些框架有助于促进公司标准和规范的发展。然而，基本上没有将该理论应用于伊斯兰金融。本文通过强调 IFF 社会机构在天课规范的发展及其遵守中的来源，即管理网络和伊斯兰教法董事作为变革推动者，有助于对该理论的实证理解。