Researcher Mohammed Ahmed Al-Mutawakkil was awarded a PhD degree in Business Administration for his dissertation titled: The Role of Strategic Leadership in Achieving Organizational Excellence through Quality of Work Life: A Field Study of Private Universities in Amanat Al-Asimah – Sana’a, which was submitted to the Business Administration Center for Graduate Studies – Sana’a University. The dissertation defense was held on Sunday, September 27, 2026.
The PhD Viva-Voce Committee consisted of the following:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hamoud Aqlan – Sana’a University – Internal Examiner
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul-Fattah Al-Qurs – Amran University – External Examiner
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tawfiq Al-Sanabani – Thamar University – Supervisor and Committee Member.
The study aimed to investigate the role of strategic leadership in achieving organizational excellence through quality of work life in private universities in Amanat Al-Asimah – Sana’a. To achieve this objective, the study adopted a descriptive-analytical approach and used a questionnaire as the primary instrument for data collection. The questionnaire was administered to a stratified random sample of 206 respondents drawn from a study population of 431 academic and administrative leaders across ten private universities.
For data analysis, the study employed the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), in addition to Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 3.
The findings showed that the levels of organizational excellence, strategic leadership, and quality of work life were relatively high in the private Yemeni universities under study. The results also demonstrated a statistically significant indirect role of strategic leadership in achieving organizational excellence through quality of work life. Furthermore, strategic leadership was found to have direct effects on both quality of work life and organizational excellence, while quality of work life also demonstrated a significant role in organizational excellence.
The study presented a number of recommendations, most notably the need to continuously strengthen strategic leadership practices that promote quality of work life and support organizational excellence. It also recommended enhancing all dimensions of quality of work life to strengthen the psychological and morale-related well-being of employees in private Yemeni universities.
The dissertation defense was attended by a number of academics, researchers, and interested participants, as well as the researcher’s colleagues and family members.
