Critical Success Factors of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Saudi Arabia: Insights from Sustainability Perspective

Ahmad Al-Tit,Jalel Euchi,Anis Omri

doi:10.3390/admsci9020032

Ahmad Al-Tit, Jalel Euchi + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci9020032

Copy DOI

Abstract

: The aim of this study is to explore the critical success factors (CSFs) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire was developed using 28 factors/indicators identified from the previous researches. From 500 respondents, a total of 347 questionnaires were returned. By conducting exploratory factors analysis, these indicators were categorized into six factors, namely: Individual factors, business characteristics, management factors, business support, capital availability and business environment. Using IBM SPSS and AMOS, the results indicated that business support was the most critical factor that significantly affects the success of SMEs in Saudi Arabia, followed by individual factors, capital availability, and management factors. They also indicated that business characteristics and business environment factors had no significant impacts on the success of these enterprises.

Highlights

IntroductionSmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the modern economy
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the modern economy.What determines their success of SMEs is a topic of much academic debate
The main objective of this study is to identify the success factors of SMEs that contribute to sustainable development in Saudi Arabia by exploring the critical success factors (CSFs) of 347 SMES by using structural equation modeling

Summary

Introduction

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the modern economy. What determines their success of SMEs is a topic of much academic debate. A review of the peer reviewed literature on critical success factors (CSFs) showed that these factors have been and continue to be the focus of many researchers in several areas, such as CSFs for business start-ups in several countries, such as China and Malaysia (Watson et al 1998; Huang et al 2011; Chong 2012; Chawla et al 2010; Omri et al 2015; Pletnev and Barkhatov 2016; Lampadarios et al 2017), total quality management (Yusof and Aspinwall 1999, 2000), business intelligence implementation (Olszak and Ziemba 2012), business models for sustainability of food and beverage companies in Netherlands (Long et al 2018), women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises in UAE (Gupta and Mirchandani 2018), environmental manufacturing (Jabbour et al 2018), adoption of e-commerce by SMEs in Nigeria (Agwu and Murray 2015), implementation of lean six

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion