Purpose – This study examines whether strategic, organizational, and operational risk-governance practices explain governance performance in an Islamic cooperative bank, addressing the limited integration of these risk domains in prior banking research. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 217 professional employees of Bank Rakyat Malaysia. Four five-item constructs were measured on a five-point Likert scale and analysed using descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple linear regression in IBM SPSS Statistics Version 30. Findings – All three dimensions were positively associated with governance performance. The model explained 59.3% of its variance, with operational risk governance emerging as the strongest predictor, followed by organizational and strategic risk governance. Research limitations/implications – The single-institution, cross-sectional, self-reported design supports association rather than causal or sector-wide inference. Practical implications – Boards, Sharia committees, and regulators should evaluate governance through operational reliability, control effectiveness, employee capability, and resilience outcomes rather than formal structures alone.Originality/value – The study integrates strategic direction, organizational capability, and operational discipline in one empirical model and positions operational resilience as a substantive governance outcome in Islamic cooperative banking.
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