Vol. 2 No. 2 (2016)
September 2016: Entrepreneurship: Antecedents and Effects

Articles

Entrepreneurship ecosystem evolution strategy of Saudi Arabia

Published 2016-10-19

  • Muhammad Rahatullah Khan

Muhammad Rahatullah Khan
Effat University

Abstract

In majority of times when a potential start-up strikes a brilliant business idea, he/she has little knowledge of ‘how to move from there’. They lack information on the stakeholders of entrepreneurship ecosystem who can help and assist these startups in numerous ways and help them materialize their concepts. Availability of this information will help the ecosystem stakeholders to avoid replication and duplication of efforts. Similarly, knowledge of status quo helps identify opportunities and supports plan development to endeavor through right strategy for the start-up. Critical review of existing initiatives of Saudi Arabia for entrepreneurship growth and identification of the existing stakeholders of the entrepreneurship in the country is conducted. Similarly their work and potential for practicable interventions to further entrepreneurship reflecting country’s economic development process is examined. This paper benefits from a cross sectional basic study of Saudi Arabia that utilized primary and secondary sources to discover the initiatives, understand entrepreneurship growth and then map the national entrepreneurship ecosystem. A number of interviews from CEO’s, General Managers and other senior executives were carried out to know the role of the different organizations in entrepreneurship growth. It was coupled with a detailed secondary research from existing resources. It has been identified that the ecosystem is swiftly expanding but yet under development and infancy stage where the institutions are prospering. The research is based on country analysis. The paper also shows that the Saudi Arabian government has taken proactive stance in developing the entrepreneurship ecosystem and startup landscape and highlights the transformation of the ecosystem strategy.

Keywords

entrepreneurship, ecosystem, ecosystem evolution, strategy, startups, Saudi Arabia

PDF

References

  1. Abid, A. (2007). The world's largest economy is in worse shape than it cares to ad-mit. Noticias Financiers, (1).
  2. Acs, Z.J., & Audretsch, D.B. (2005). Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technological Change. Foundations and Trends in Entrepreneurship, 1(4), 1-65.
  3. Acs, Z.J., & Varga, A. (2005). Entrepreneurship, agglomeration and technological change. Small Business Economics, 24(3), 323–334.
  4. Ahl, H. (2006). Why research on women entrepreneurs needs new directions. Entrepre-neurship Theory and Practice, 30, 595-621.
  5. Ahl, H. (2011). Women's enterprise – a boost or a detriment to the Scandinavian welfare system? International Council for Small Business (ICSB). World Conference Pro-ceedings.
  6. Chautin, J. (2011). Biz Voices: Vets turn to entrepreneurship: Mentoring program helps young veterans start small businesses. Jobless rate for military a factor in transition. The Atlanta Journal, D.2
  7. Covel, S., & Kelly, K. (2009). U.S. proposal aims to aid smaller companies – some owners are skeptical, say plan focused on SBA loans targets narrow segment of small-business community. Wall Street Journal, B.5.
  8. Covin, J.G., & Slevin, D.P. (1989). Strategic management of small firms in hostile and benign environments. Strategic Management Journal, 10, 75-87.
  9. Drnovsek, M., Wincent, J., & Cardon, M.S. (2010). Entrepreneurial self-efficacy and business start-up: developing a multi-dimensional definition. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 16(4), 329-348.
  10. Dunkelberg, W. (1995). Presidential address: Small business and the U.S. economy. Busi-ness Economics, 30(1), 13-18.
  11. Dyer, B., & Ha-Brookshire, J. (2008). Apparel import intermediaries' secrets to success: redefining success in a hyper-dynamic environment. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 12(1), 51-67.
  12. Green, G., & Ouellette, R.P. (2007). Value creation in business incubation networks: The impact of innovation diffusion on intellectual capital development in start-up com-panies. University of Maryland University College.
  13. Hoffman, K., Parejo, M., Bessant, J., & Perren, L. (1998).
  14. Small firms, R&D, technology and innovation in the UK: A Literature review. Technovation, 18(1), 39-55.
  15. Isenberg, D. (2011). Introducing the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem: Four Defining Charac-teristics. Forbes, May 25. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danisenberg/2011/05/25/introducing-the-entrepreneurship-ecosystem-four-defining-characteristics (10.06.2016).
  16. Kauffman, S. (1995). At home in the universe: The search for the laws of self-organization and complexity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  17. King, M. (2010). Giving women economic freedom; loans circles like the aurora business project provide training, mentoring and microcredit for start-ups. The Gazette, A.16.
  18. Klyver, K., & Grant, S. (2010). Gender differences in entrepreneurial networking and participation. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 2(3), 213-227.
  19. Koga, T. (2005). R&D subsidy and self-financed R&D: The case of Japanese high-technology start-ups. Small Business Economics, 24(1), 53-62.
  20. Malhi, G. (2004). Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canadian economy: My new job is to support and remote entrepreneurship in the Canadian economy. The Hill Times, 23.
  21. Market Information Trading (2012). Saudi Arabia tops 2011 Arab patent list. Retrieved from: http://www.emiratesfactories.com/industry-news/middle-east/56617/saudi-arabia-tops-2011-arab-patent-list (15.02.2012).
  22. Martiz, A. (2010). Networking, entrepreneurship and productivity in universities. Innova-tion: Management, Policy & Practice, 12(1) , 18-25.
  23. Mazanai, M., & Fatoki, O. (2011). The effectiveness of business development services providers (BDS) in improving access to debt finance by start-up SMEs in South Af-rica. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 3(4), 208-216.
  24. Moensted, M. (2010). Networking and Entrepreneurship in Small High-Tech European Firms: An Empirical Study. International Journal of Management, 27(1), 16-30.
  25. Mohamed, A., Alexandre, R., & Freitag, F. (2010). Internationalization of small- and medium-sized enterprises: a multi case study. European Business Review, 22(6), 608-623.
  26. National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce (2016). Retrieved from: http://www.us-arabchamber.org (23.01.2016).
  27. Nickols, F., & Ledgerwood, R. (2006). The goals grid as a tool for strategic plan-ning. Consulting to Management, 17(1), 36-38.
  28. Otto, F. (2005). Help your clients create a useful strategic plan. Consulting to Manage-ment, 16(3), 11-12.
  29. Peltoniemi, M., & Vuori E.K. (2004). Business Ecosystem as the new approach to com-plex adaptive business environments. Proceedings of eBusiness research forum, 267-281.
  30. Praag, M.V., & Versloot, P.H. (2007). What is the value of entrepreneurship? A review of recent research. Small Business Economics, 29, 351-382.
  31. Rahatullah M.K. (2013). Mapping entrepreneurship ecosystem of Saudi Arabia. World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 9(1), 28-54. doi: 10.1108/20425961311315700.
  32. Rahatullah, M.K. (2014). Role of Trust and Commitment in Building Successful Fran-chise Business Relationships. International Journal of Knowledge, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2(1), 90-107.
  33. Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (2016). Retrieved from: http://www.sagia.gov.sa/en/Why-Saudi-Arabia/A-Commitment-To-The-Best/National-Competitiveness-Center (10.06.2016).
  34. SUSRIS (Saudi-US Relations Information Service) (2011). A “SME” authority for Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from: http://www.saudibrit.com/2011/02/04/a-sme-authority-for-saudi-arabia/ (10.06.2016).
  35. Szabó, A. (1995). The role of small and medium-sized enterprises in countries is transi-tion and how to promote them. ECE Advisory Workshop on Industrial Restructur-ing.
  36. Szabó, A. (2005). Business incubation as element of business service institution and SME development infrastructure for creation of new enterprises in CITs report on entre-preneurship and SMEs in Hungary. Retrieved from: http://www.erenet.org/papers/bsi.pdf (10.06.2016).
  37. Szabó, A. (2006). Business incubation as element of business service institution and SME development infrastructure for creation of new enterprises in CITs. Retrieved from: http://www.erenet.org/papers/bsi.pdf (10.06.2016).
  38. The World Factbook (2016). Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html (23.01.2016).
  39. Thurik, R., & Wennekers, S. (2004). Entrepreneurship, small business and economic growth. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 11(1), 140-149.
  40. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (2016). Retrieved from: http://www.unece.org/indust/sme/sme-role.htm (10.06.2016).
  41. Weeks, J.R. (2002). Support for women's enterprise in the United States: lessons learned. Retrieved from: http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/Gender/enterp/women/documents/weeks2.pdf (10.06.2016).
  42. Wikipedia (2016). Entrepreneurship Policies in Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneurship_Policies_in_Saudi_Arabia (23.01.2016).
  43. Wiklund, J., Davidsson, P., & Delmar, F. (2008). Entrepreneurship and growth of firm. Edward Elgar Publishing.
  44. World Resource Institute (2000). World Resources 2000-2001. People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life. Washington D.C.: World Resource Institute.
  45. Zedtwitz, M. (2003). Classification and management of incubators: Aligning strategic objectives and competitive scope for new business facilitation. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 3(1), 176-196.
  46. Zimmerman, J. (2008) Refining the definition of entrepreneurship. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com/docview/304825438 (10.06.2016).

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Similar Articles

1-10 of 114

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.