This study aims to evaluate the effect of efficiency and banking market structure on bank performance in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The relationship between efficiency and bank performance in the countries in the MENA region during the COVID-19 outbreak has not been examined. We use data for 225 banks in 18 MENA countries and find that bank performance strongly depends on the efficiency level and market power of banks. Furthermore, we investigate whether efficiency and market competition effects are significantly different between the two banking systems (Islamic and conventional). Our results indicate that efficiency and competition have a greater influence on the profitability level of conventional than Islamic banks. However, the efficiency impact is only marginally significant during the COVID-19 outbreak. Overall, our results suggest that managing a higher efficiency level leads to improved financial stability but, at the same time, increases the bank's appetite for taking higher risks. These findings deepen the existing notion that efficient banks are more resilient during global financial crises and emphasize the importance of bank regulatory reforms that boost efficiency in standing against the negative consequences of the recent (COVID-19) crisis.

Recent disastrous events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, has amplified the appeal for compassionate leadership in organizations and is viewed as the need of the hour. While compassion is a timeless concept, there appears to be a lack of clarity around the idea of compassionate leadership, and the current understanding appears limited, fragmented, and scattered across the literature. This integrative systematic review of 41 articles during the last 20 years (2002–2021) conceptualizes six critical dimensions of compassionate leadership, namely: empathy; openness and communication; physical, mental health and well-being; inclusiveness; integrity; respect and dignity. These findings enhance our understanding of how organizational leaders can effectively incorporate the dimensions to become compassionate leaders. The review examines how compassionate leadership is defined and understood in the literature, and a contribution in the form of a definition for compassionate leadership is offered. Finally, gaps in the literature are highlighted, offering avenues for future research, along with implications for research, theory, and practice.

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