Success Factors Of SMEs In Sharjah: A Study Of Real-Life Industrial Facts And Figures

Key Research Questions

The organizations that are working in the same market are always in a steep competition with each other. Most of the times, it has been seen that the small and medium sized enterprises are the sufferers as they do not get equal amount of opportunities that the multinational companies enjoy. In addition to this, whenever there will be any adverse situation in the market, the small and medium sized enterprises will be the most affected in this case. To survive the adverse situations, the small and medium sized enterprises have to take more preparations than the multi-national companies do. Moreover, they have to keep a check on the opportunities from the market.

However, some of the places give ample of opportunities to the small and medium sized enterprises. One of the places is the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dubai and Sharjah are considered to be the business hub with ample of opportunities for start-ups. Sharjah has been the correct placed for the small and medium sized enterprises as they get help from all aspect. The idea of the government of United Arab Emirates is that the small and medium sized enterprises will ultimately grow to become the future multi-national companies. The research will look into the factors that will help in the growth of the small and medium sized enterprises in Sharjah. The positive aspect of Sharjah will be evaluated from the secondary data and the feedbacks of the managers will be acquired  to complete the research work. 

The key research questions that will be taken into account for the present research are:

• What is the position of the small and medium sized enterprises in Sharjah?
• Do the small and medium sized enterprises get the necessary support to carry out the business?
• What factors help the small and medium sized enterprises in Sharjah to carry out their business in that place?

The key research objectives that will be taken into account for the present research are:

• To study the position of the small and medium sized enterprises in Sharjah
• To evaluate whether small and medium sized enterprises get the necessary support to carry out the business
• To study the factors help the small and medium sized enterprises in Sharjah to carry out their business in that place

According to Pervan, Al-Ansaari and Xu (2015), Dubai has been the epitome of growth and development in the past few years. In addition to the growth, it has helped the entrepreneurs to develop their business in the country. as per the data present in  Sharjah Update (2016), the year, 2016 has witnessed the growth of many companies. The best part of UAE is that they believe that the multi-national companies have emerged from the small and medium sized enterprises (Al-Ansaari, Pervan and Xu 2014). As a result, the small and medium sized enterprises get good opportunities to grow and prosper. Even though every small and medium sized enterprises have to fight it out in the market, those in Sharjah get better opportunities as they have the required infrastructure and an eco-system that helps those organizations to thrive (Gundala and Khawaja 2014).

Key Research Objectives

The partnership between the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurrooq) and Dubai has helped the small and medium sized enterprises to develop (Elbeltagi et al. 2013). The partnership has helped in creating opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises that will further help in the growth and development of the country economically, socially and culturally (Sefiani 2013). Moreover, the constant support from the government helps in development of the small and medium sized enterprises in Sharjah as well as in Dubai.

Sharjah is at an advantage mainly because of its location in the United Arab Emirates (Shahnawaz 2015). The relation between United Arab Emirates and India proves advantageous for the small and medium sized enterprises in Sharjah. The trade relationship between India and United Arab Emirates is noteworthy (Siddique 2014). India is placed at the third position when it comes to the imports in UAE. 9.2% of the imports of United Arab Emirates are from India (Diaa 2016). By 2020, the economic relations between India and United Arab Emirates are expected to take up the trade value to $100 billion (Pressreader.com 2017). Not only with India, United Arab Emirates is experiencing a growth in the trade with the United States as well.

The constant growth of United Arab Emirates and its strong ties with the international countries will help the small and medium sized enterprises to grow and develop in Sharjah (Sharjah Update 2016).

Pervan, Al-Ansaari and Xu (2015) pointed out that Sharjah is again in an advantageous situation due to strong currency of the place. As the currency of United Arab Emirates is strong, it will act as opportunity for the small and medium sized enterprises to flourish their business well (Al-Ansaari, Pervan and Xu 2014). The currency helps in boosting the bilateral trade. It will further help in limiting the risk of fluctuations in the interest rate and reduce the market risk as well.

The public private partnership in Sharjah is another factor that will help the small and medium sized enterprises to prosper (Gundala and Khawaja 2014). The private organizations are joining hands with the government so that they are able to give the perfect platform and the right eco-system that will help the business owners to start up their organization (Elbeltagi et al. 2013). The main point in this situation the established organizations are also helping the small and medium sized enterprises to grow and supporting them with all necessary means.

Relevant Literature

Things are affordable in Sharjah and some of the places are positioned well (Sefiani 2013). The ports in Sharjah are positioned well. The small and medium sized enterprises will find it helpful as it will become easier for them as the ports will help in trading among different places (Shahnawaz 2015).

When the economy becomes weak, the multi-national companies had to cut off a certain amount of employees to face the adversities (Siddique 2014). On the other hand, for small and medium sized enterprises things are going systematically. They would not hire a huge number of employees at once and hence, they would not have to cut off any employees, as there is no extra (Dia  2016). In addition to this, the government of Sharjah supports the small and medium sized enterprises, as they would be still making business during the adverse conditions (Pressreader.com 2017). As a result, the small and medium sized enterprises are  in advantageous positions over the multi-national companies 

To carry out the present research, positivism will be taken into account. according to Baskerville and Wood-Harper (2016), while taking into account positivism, a researcher mainly looks into the data to carry out the research work. The way the individuals feel and think does not matter when a researcher is adhering to positivism as the research philosophy (Nuttin 2014).  For the present research, the managers of the small and medium sized enterprises will be interviewed and the result of the research will be solely based on the facts that they will tell about the market of Sharjah and the way the market has helped the small and medium sized enterprises to grow.

Fassinger and Morrow (2013) have pointed out three types of research designs are available to the researcher. They are:

• Quantitative research design
• Qualitative research design
• Mixed research design

For the current research, the qualitative research design will be taken into account.  The secondary will be collected and analyzed in a descriptive manner. The feedbacks of various authors will be compared to get a better understanding of the topic. The feedbacks of the managers will also be taken in a detailed manner.  The managers will be giving detailed feedbacks about their business and hence, qualitative research design will be best suited for the present research work (Khan 2014).

The research type that will be used in the research paper is descriptive research type. As opined by Custer (2014), when the research objective of the research is known and the researcher has an idea about he types of participants required for the research work, then descriptive research type is being taken into account. For the present research, the situation is known to the researcher and the participants who will be  interviewed to get a better idea of the  topic.

International Ties of United Arab Emirates is Strong

Smith (2015) has pointed out that a researcher can make use of two types of research approaches. They are:

• Deductive approach
• Inductive approach

For the present research, deductive approach will be taken into account. While using the deductive approach, the works of previous authors are being reviewed and the concepts and the theories used by those researchers are used while carrying out another work (Walker et al. 2014). For the present research, as well the works of other researchers will be reviewed to carry out the work.

The secondary data will be collected with the help of online research. The secondary data will be collected by searching the online sources by using the keywords of the topic and the online articles and books (Brinkmann 2014).

 The primary data will be collected by carrying out interview of the managers who are working in the small and medium sized enterprises. The managers will be interviewed so that they will be able to give a better idea of the topic (Literat 2013).

Ten managers of various small and medium sized enterprises of different industries will be interviewed to get an idea of the market of Sharjah.

To carry out the research, interview will be the main technique that will be taken into account. The managers of the organizations will be interviewed so that the issues and opportunities that the small and medium sized enterprises are facing could be evaluated properly to get a proper outcome of the research work.

Rageh, Melewar and Woodside (2013) strongly feel that while performing the research certain ethics need to be followed. Baskerville and Wood-Harper (2016) have further added that these ethics are certain norms or standards for conduct that distinguish between right and wrong and help to determine between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. The ethics will be maintained in the present research as well. While performing the survey, the people surveyed will be informed about the objective and purpose of the survey (Nuttin 2014). At the same time, they will be informed about what type of question will be asked and the approximate time required in fulfilling the survey.

As per the idea of Fassinger and Morrow (2013), the participants of the survey will not be forced to share their information. It is up to them that how much information they want to share. There might be some instances where the participants are not comfortable in sharing certain information, their choice will be respected and the particular question will be avoided (Khan 2014). They will have the right to withdraw from the survey at any time for any reason.

Strong Currency

As the research will require in-depth study, therefore, there will be requirement of recording the answers of the participants for that, consent of the participants will taken beforehand, if they hesitate in recording their voice, their points will be noted down. They will be assured about privacy of the information they will share (Custer 2014). Whatever information they will provide about the enterprises, should not be leaked to the third party. Moreover, they will be informed about the potential benefits of the survey as well as the about the risks and discomfort they might face while the questions are asked (Smith 2015).

Acquiring result for a research with a small sample size pose as a major disadvantage in the area of research (Walker et al. 2014). In order to conduct the research 10 participants are chosen, which might not give an appropriate result. Brinkmann (2014) has supported the issue of limited sample size and  based on that it is believed that if the number of participants is increase, then there might be a possible chance of getting a more accurate result.  

There might be chances that a participant chosen for surveying do not have proper information or knowledge regarding the enterprise, then it would create problem in smooth conduction of the research (Literat 2013). In that case, a replacement will be required, which is again time consuming. Problem can even arise, if the participants purposely shares wrong information or conceal some important information essential for the research (Rageh, Melewar and Woodside 2013).

Being a qualitative research, it is essential to acquire detailed information regarding the enterprises from the participants. There can be instances that a participant might get irritated or impatient in answering the questions because of the long interview, then he might withdraw from the survey, resulting incompletion of the survey and further affecting the research (Baskerville and Wood-Harper 2016).

After going through the secondary data and the opportunities that are being enjoyed by the small and medium sized enterprises, it can be expected that the managers of those organizations will be happy working in Sharjah. The economic conditions of UAE are good. The location of the country and the international ties are the main factors that will help the small and medium sized enterprises to grow and prosper. Another strong support is the support from the government. The government has huge faith on the small and medium sized enterprises and always supportive so that they are able to perform well in the market. Once the business owners will get support from the government, they will be able to perform well even in a competitive market. 

Public Private Partnership

References

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Brinkmann, S., 2014. Interview. In Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology (pp. 1008-1010). Springer New York.

Custer, D., 2014. Autoethnography as a transformative research method. The qualitative report, 19(37), pp.1-13.

Diaa, S. 2016. Sharjah eyes becoming Middle East’s hub for SMEs. [online] https://gulfnews.com. Available at: https://gulfnews.com/business/sme/sharjah-eyes-becoming-middle-east-s-hub-for-smes-1.1912506 [Accessed 19 Jun. 2017].

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Gundala, R.R. and Khawaja, H., 2014. Brand management in small and medium enterprise: Evidence from Dubai, UAE.

Khan, S.N., 2014. Qualitative research method: Grounded theory. International Journal of Business and Management, 9(11), p.224.

Literat, I., 2013. “A pencil for your thoughts”: Participatory drawing as a visual research method with children and youth. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 12(1), pp.84-98.

Nuttin, J., 2014. Future time perspective and motivation: Theory and research method. Psychology Press.

Pervan, S., Al-Ansaari, Y. and Xu, J., 2015. Environmental determinants of open innovation in Dubai SMEs. Industrial Marketing Management, 50, pp.60-68.

Pressreader.com 2017. PressReader.com – Connecting People Through News. [online] Pressreader.com. Available at: https://www.pressreader.com/uae/khaleej-times/20170213/282600262628872 [Accessed 19 Jun. 2017].

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