Research proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Research Proposal Example Gulf areas in general, and Saudi Arabia in particular, are oil rich regions with the economy being driven by the large oil producing organizations. The required financial support for the SMEs, in order to strengthen their capability to further contribute towards the progress of Saudi Arabia’s economy, is however somewhat lacking. This is despite the fact that SMEs have evidently exhibited great developmental potential. The current research aims to determine the role that SMEs play in the development of Saudi Arabia; as well as to identify any governmental and other business organizations’ support provided towards sustaining continued operations and growth of SMEs in the region. This paper be presented with a brief overview of studies and researches previously conducted on the subject through a literature review of SMEs, in general; the financial support of the government for SMEs in Saudi Arabia; and the role that SMEs play towards the development of the country. The ne xt section would focus on the research questions and methodology, which would identify the required method which would achieve responding to the main concerns identified within the discourse. Likewise, any limitation to the study would be presented; prior to delving into the ethical considerations, as required. Finally, the time scales which detail the tasks and time frames for the specific research portions would be detailed in the last section. 2.0 Literature Review There have been several studies conducted on the subject that aimed to determine the role of SMEs, in general; and SMEs within the Saudi Arabia region. Their definitions would be explored, including financial support and development role in the economy of Saudi Arabia. 2.1 Small and Medium Enterprises Though SMEs exist all over the world and in large numbers, there is still no concrete definition for SMEs due to various practical reasons. Fu (2011) suggested that defining SMEs differs from country to country and are ba sed upon different variables such as number of employees, revenue, nature of trade etc. (Fu, 2011). Normally, the number of employees for SMEs are defined at less than or equal to fifty for relatively small organizations whereas for medium organizations, the upper limit of number of employees is normally between 100 to 250 (Capitas, 2013). Thus, SMEs were clearly classified according to the number of employees, as well as the amount of sales revenues generated within a stipulated time frame. Within Saudi Arabia, various organizations define SMEs according to different criteria and are followed by different organizations. There are two important criteria used in defining SMEs within Saudi Arabia. One criteria followed by the SME Development Center is to have less than or equal to 20 employees for small organizations and 21-100 employees for medium organizations. However, Shalaby (2004) concentrated on suggesting that different criterion is being followed by Saudi Industrial Developme nt Fun, and it defines SMEs based upon the revenue criteria