I need 4000 words in influence of finance and technology of the growth of Oman SMEs.

Instructions

Need only 4000 words solution as per detailed requirements mentioned below as well as in the attachment

Presentation is not required for this task.

Requirements are available from page 6 to page 10 in the attached file 

ASSIGNMENT 2 a) Quantitative Research proposal (30%) 

Title: The influence of finance and technology of the growth of Oman SMEs. 

A rough estimation for words would be as: 

· 1.0 Introduction: 350 words 

· 2.0 Literature Review: 1700 words 

· 3.0 Research Methodology: 1500 words 

· 4.0 Significance/Contribution of Research: 550 words 

Research methodology: no need to real data or analyzing, just like show process  

You have to strictly follow the format that mention it in assignment with numbers 

Strictly follow the words segregation for each portion and make it perfect 

Some relevant material files are also available in attachments which can be helpful.

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Attachment 1:

MASTER OF ACCOUNTING & FINANCE

INTAKE 19 [6 Jan – 7 Feb 2020]

 CRM500 CASE & RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

CANDIDATES ARE REQUIRED TO READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS

Candidates shall be deemed to have been notified of these instructions when they commence a subject. There are three (3) assessment items: one open book examination and two (2) assignments. To pass the subject, a candidate is required to obtain at least 50 marks (out of 100) in all assessment items. The official subject grade is awarded based on total weighted marks out of 100, (see weighting below). The seminars and exam dates and time, assignment word limits and submission date are as follows:

Seminars Main Seminar:

Sat. & Sun., 11 & 12 January 2020 Weekday evening seminars dates of which to be confirmed during the main seminar

Assessment Date and Time of Exam/ Assignment Submission Date Duration/ Word Limit Weighting

Open Book Exam

Closed Book Exam Sat., 15 February 2020 Monday, 3 February 2020 2.5 hours

1 hour 20%

10%

Assignment I

Written: 30%

  Mon., 17 February

4,000

30%

Assignment II

Written:30%

Presentation &

Participation: 10% 6,000 40%

The exam will normally be held at HU Exam Centre, 4th Floor, Wisma HELP, Jalan Dungun, Damansara Heights. The specific exam room will be posted at ELMGS on the day of the exam.

SUBJECT ENROLMENT

Enrolment for a subject is based on a candidate’s attendance at the exam and fee payment. Candidates who wish to be enrolled but are unable to sit for the scheduled exam must have a valid reason for non– attendance, (usually, only serious illness -with supporting documentation- will be acceptable). They shall notify ELM in writing of this either before the exam or latest by the next working day, failing which, they will not be enrolled. Candidates with approval for non-attendance shall normally sit for the supplementary exam (at a nominal fee) with candidates of the next intake. The official grade shall be released only after the result for this is determined. Once enrolled, cancellation of subject enrolment can only be made in extenuating circumstances and if so, a cancellation fee of RM 1,000 is chargeable.

ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION

These shall be comb bound with the STANDARD COVER SHEET at the front of the assignment and shall be submitted to ELM’s office in person, by post or courier or deposited into the ELM Post Box on the 10th Floor by the due date. Submission by fax or e-mail is not acceptable. One set of Quantitative + Qualitative Assignment Assessment Forms – with subject and student details at the top, duly completed - shall be inserted beneath the cover sheet of, (not bound together with), EACH assignment. Assignments shall have full citation of references and a selected bibliography. Plagiarism and failure to cite references will attract penalties.

Two days grace is given for assignment submission. Extensions will not be given unless:

1. there is valid reason supported by documentation (only serious illness and compassionate circumstances shall normally be considered but work pressure alone is not be acceptable); and

2. the request for extension is made in writing before the scheduled submission date, and ELM approval obtained.

Unless approved, late submissions shall not be assessed and the candidate may be awarded a “Fail” grade for the subject.

ELM Graduate School

 10th Floor, ELM Business School, Jalan Semantan, Bukit Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur

MAF Intake 19 CRM500 CASE & RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

ASSIGNMENT 1

Due date : 17 February 2020

Word limit : 4,000 words

Weighting : 30%

Facilitator : Dr. Bernard Lew Shian Loong

Email : bernard.lew@help.edu.my

Assignment 1(30%): Qualitative Research

A) Assignment Rationale

You are required to plan a coherent and well-structured exploratory/qualitative research for a chosen and approved research topic/theme. The assignment is intended to prepare you towards being able to commission and execute effective research proposals and ideas for MAF/MCG Research/Project Paper.

B) Assignment Tasks

The following research tasks correspond to the format of a qualitative research proposal detailed in section C. The expectations of the examiner are detailed in Section D below.

1.0 Introduction

First, choose a phenomenon of interest through a preliminary literature review. One way you could go about this is to survey relevant research themes in your domain. Then justify how these research theme and topic is relevant for a context. This brief background provide readers with an idea of relevant research questions connected to the research topic/theme.

(Approx. 500 words)

2.0 Literature review

With the research topic/theme in mind, continue with your literature review, surveying past efforts, and defining valid dimensions to consider for the research problem. The literature review should allow you to specify a research gap and come up with valid qualitative propositions related to it.

(Approx. 1500 words)

3.0 Research Design

With sections 1.0 and 2.0 completed, you have conceptualized your research. What remains is to provide a blueprint for your data collection, measurement and analysis of data. This blueprint is your research design. It seeks to answer pertinent research questions you raised in section 1.0. To accomplish this, you need to focus on data collection related to a level or unit of analysis. Given limited time and resources, choose a data collection method that is feasible eg. Content analysis, focus group or depth interview. Suggest a proper sampling plan that is suited to the method, given the population size and the unit/level of analysis.

Decide on the basic and smallest unit to code. e.g. a text or a response. Plan for the coding and categorization of data as well as a possible way for analysing the relationships associated with categories. Categorizes in turn should be derived or mapped to the propositions stated in section 2.0. All these activities to measure and analyse should be tempered by a sense of ethics and professionalism. In which case if there are any ethical dilemmas or conflict of interests arising from the research, you should highlight them in advance.

(Approx. 1200 words)

4.0 Significance and Contribution

The contribution of the research will be significant for certain stakeholders. In writing this section you need to revisit section 1.0 and consider the questions raised there as well as the statement of the problem in section 2.0. Start from a general contribution to society, right down to finally to a social group that perhaps corresponds to the unit or level of analysis.

        (Approx. 800 words)

C) Qualitative Research Proposal Format:

(This format is suitable for this assignment only, but may not be the format used for your research/project paper)

Approximate: 500 words

Approximate: 1500 words

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Research background (preliminary literature review)

1.2 Qualitative research questions

2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Similar research efforts in the past

2.2 Statement of research problem/gap

2.3 Consideration of relevant dimensions/concepts/constructs

2.4 Definitions of valid concepts/constructs

2.5 Qualitative propositions

Approximate

1200 words

Approximate

800 words

3.0 Research Design

3.1 Levels or unit of analysis of the study

3.2 Sources of data (primary or secondary)

3.3 Data collection method

3.4 Qualitative sampling technique

3.5 Data reduction: coding & categorization

3.6 Proposed scheme of qualitative analysis

3.7 Ethics of the research

4.0 Significance and Contribution

C) Rough rubric and marking scheme for assignment 1

Sections Marks

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Preliminary literature review to determine research background

  5

1.2 State three mutually-exclusive research questions

  6

2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Summarize similar research into a literature matrix

(table)

2.2 Write the statement of problem, specifying the research gap.

  16

2.3 Identify and justify relevant dimensions/concepts/constructs

2.4 Definitions of valid concepts/constructs 12

2.5 Formulate three qualitative propositions 6

3.0 Research Design

3.1 Determine units or level of analysis

3.2 Identify possible sources of data

3.3 Proposed qualitative data collection methods

3.4 Outline sampling plan 20

3.5 Proposed coding and categorization process

3.6 Proposed scheme of qualitative analysis 10

3.7 Ethical considerations of the research 5

4.0 Significance/contribution of research

  10

Referencing and citation 5

Grammar and proper form of sentences 5

Total 100

MAF Intake 19 CRM500 CASE & RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

ASSIGNMENT 2

Due date : 17 February 2020

Word limit : 6,000 words

Weighting : 40% (Written: 30%, Participation & Presentation:10%)

Facilitator : Dr. Bernard Lew Shian Loong

Email : bernard.lewi@help.edu.my

This assignment is divided into two (2) parts:

a) Quantitative Research proposal (30%) b) Quantitative Research Proposal Defence presentation (10%)

A) Assignment Rationale

You are required to produce a coherent and well-structured quantitative research proposal for a chosen research topic. Your research requires you to use only secondary data. NO PRIMARY data nor actual data analysis is needed. The assignment is intended to prepare you towards being able to commission and execute effective research proposals and ideas for MAF/MCG Research/Project Paper.

B Assignment Tasks (Proposal)

A research proposal contains:

• Chapter 1- Introduction

• Chapter 2 - Literature Review

• Chapter 3 - Methodology

• Chapter 5- Significance/contribution

First, choose a phenomenon of interest (research area) to research on. And write a brief introduction for it. In the same way that you did for assignment 1. Your choice of research topic or theme should be different from that of assignment 1.

(Approx. 500 words)

Then write a literature review, with suitable objective/s of the study, identify and provide arguments on related theories, identification of theoretical and conceptual definitions of variables/constructs. A literature review is also aimed at formulating a problem statement to that states the gap/s in studies. This review can end with possible research questions, conceptual framework and propositions. This will be your chapter 2. (Approx. 2,500 words) Secondly, propose a quantitative research design to collect secondary data, appropriate data analysis, and ethics that need to be considered during your data collection process. This will be your chapter 3. (Approx. 2,200 words)

Finally, you will discuss your significance and contribution (how your research findings can help managers). This will be your chapter 5 (Approx. 800 words)

C) Quantitative Research Proposal Format:

(This format is suitable for this assignment only, but may not be the format used for your research/project paper)

A rough guideline an approximately 6000 word quantitative research proposal

Approximately 500words

Approximately 2500words

Approximately 2200 words

Approximately 800 words

 1.0 Introduction

1.1 Research background

1.2 Research questions

2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Review and argue on related theories

2.2 Research problem/gap

2.3 Quantitative Conceptual Framework

2.4 Definition of terms/variables

2.5 Research Hypotheses

2.6 Research Objectives

3.0 Research methodology

3.1 Identify population/unit of analysis of the study

3.2 Sources of secondary data

3.3 Sampling technique

3.4 Secondary data collection method

3.5 Propose quantitative data analyses

3.6 Consideration of ethics in data collection

4.0 Significance/Contribution of Research

D) Rough Rubric and Marking Scheme for Assignment 2

Sections Marks

1.0 Introduction:

 1.1 Research background

  5

1.2 Research questions

  5

2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Review and argue on related theories

2.2 Research problem/gap

2.3 Quantitative conceptual framework

2.4 Definition of terms/variables 28

2.5 Research hypotheses 6

2.6 Research objectives 6

3.0 Research methodology

3.1 Identify population/unit of analysis of the study

3.2 Identification of possible source of secondary data.

3.3 Suitable sampling technique

3.4 Secondary data collection method

3.5 Proposed quantitative data analyses 25

3.6 Consideration of ethics in data collection

  5

4.0 Significance/contribution of research

  10

Referencing and citation 5

Grammar and proper form of sentences 5

Total 100

Assignment Task (Presentation) (10%)

This aims to provide the candidate an opportunity to present the quantitative research proposal in powerpoint (pptx) as defence prior to submitting the proposal.

The presentation will be presented during class (TBA). Approximately 12 slides must be presented with 20mins (plus Q&A). The slides should be presented with the following headings:

Slide 1: Title, student same

Slide 2: Introduction

Slide 3: Research objective

Slide 4-6: Literature review (main ones with impact with reference i.e in-text citation)

Slide 7 - 10: problem definition, research questions, conceptual framework, hypotheses Slide 11: Methodology

Slide 12: Proposed Data Analysis

Slide 13: Significance of research

Slide 14: Reference list

Presentation Rubric & Marking scheme (scaled to 10%)

    Poor Excellent

  THEORETICAL CONCEPTS

1. Identification of title with phenomenon of interest, context and the link 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

2. Selection presentation of literature 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

3. Identification of gap in knowledge/presentation of problem statement 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

4. The formation of research questions and hypotheses 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

5. Choice of research approach/ data collection method/sampling etc. under methodology 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

6. Significance of research 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

  Mark

  /15

  Presentation skill and communication

7. Ability to handle discussion during Q&A session 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

8. Verbal and non verbal communication 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

  Mark

  /5

TOTAL PRESENTATION MARK :

............................................................................................................................................................................................

Attachment 2:

The influence of finance and Technology of the growth of Oman SMEs

2 Introduction

Sultanate of Oman is not an exception to it; realizing the fact and considering the role of SMEs in the development of national economic growth,the sector is given utmost priority and importance. SMEs in Oman have spread their wings in various sectors of Oman, striving within the nation, and overseas.These firms are coming up with innovative entrepreneurial concepts adding value to the national economy of Oman, and hence every firm is striving to produce made in Oman goods and services. To promote and support SMEs, lots of programs had been introduced since 2012.

Examples:

*issuing guidelines to all banks to allocate 5% of their total credits to small and medium enterprises (Central Bank of Oman, 2016).

*The government provides a very good technical and financial support and consulting service to youth entrepreneurs (Buhairi, 2014).

1) For example The Fund for Development of Youth Projects, known as ‘Sharakah’ was established by a Royal Decree in the year 1998 and Al Raffd Fund was developed in the year 2013 which shows the on-goingcommitment and support of Oman government to entrepreneurs (Sharakah, 1998 and Al Raffd, 2013).

 2) Moreover, the government has established a specific centre for providing consultancies and funding SMEs like Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises development Fund (SMEF) in the year 2014 and Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises development (RIYADA) in the year 2015 (SMEF, 2017 and Riyada, 2015).

The global report of entrepreneurship of 2018 has shown that Oman occupied the 33 rank internationally and the third among the Arab world in terms of entrepreneurship performance (Acs et al., 2018). Currently, the SMEs sector in Oman is employing 40% of the work force, contributing with 15-20% in the GDP (NCSI, 2018).

Despite all efforts to increase SME's, in Oman there have been reports that the growth of small and medium entrepreneurs have been declining, for instance according to Al Barwani (2014) there was a fall in the number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Oman in the first quarter of 2017, compared with the same period of last year. The number of SMEs inthe Sultanate declined by 31.2%year-on-year in the first quarter of the current year, according to a recent report issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information, Oman's premier statistical agency (NCSI, 2017). Therefore this study was conducted as it was of utmost importance to find the cause of declining of SME’s and understand concerns and challenges of small and medium entrepreneurs in Sultanate of Oman.

3 Objective:

■ study to critically investigate the challenges faced by SMEs; to analyze SMEs difficulties during adopting new technologies and to critically investigate the difficulties in the form of policies and procedures.

■ Understand the cause of decline in growth of SMEs.

■ Identify the difficulties encountered by SMEs in Oman.

■ To study the relationship between the availability of finance and performance of SMEs.

■ The study further aims at examining possible solutions to problems facing small and medium enterprises.

Literature review:

■ SMEs: Definition.

■ There is no universal definition for SMES as it varies from country to country.

■ In Oman SMEs is defined based on the number of employees and sales turnover, according to the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises.

■ SMEs are any establishment which has less than 100 workers and the sales turnover less than 3 million RO. In addition, SMEs in Oman is divided in three categories as explained in the following Figure:

• Nusrat & Wickramasinghe (2014) found that the SMEs‟ lack in professionalism with respect to financials,administration etc. and contacts with larger firms.

• Okoth (2013) identified that the basic problems faced by SMEs are the lack of a supportive governance framework and SMEs little access to finance.

• Al Bulushi& Bagum (2017) found that the SMEs in Oman mostly struggle to manage their short-term finances such as working capital finance which becomes costly affair in the growth of the business.

• The SMEs struggle to find the source of capital while establishing a new business or expanding the existing one, and this issue distorts remarkably the entrepreneurship development.

• Al Rahbi (2017) stated that the owners of the SMEs like to introduce ICT to their businesses but they could not do as they lack money, expertise and technical assistance.

• Khan (2009) found that most of the establishment of the SMEs and the commencement of their production is delayed due to several reasons, of which the main reason is finance.

• Onugu (2005) confirmed that SMEs face challenges in the form of policies and procedures, infrastructure, bureaucracy, financial constraints, unfair competition, and the non-availability of raw materials.

• Agwu & Emeti (2014) found that the majority of SMEs do not survive beyond five years due to insufficiency of capital, infrastructural inadequacies, inadequate market knowledge, improper book keeping, inexperience, the inability to procure the right plant and machinery, and cut-throat competition.

• Yoshino & Taghizadeh Hesary (2016) showed that the increasing competition is a big challenge for any SME and the cause is its inability to adapt to the rapid changes of market demand, and the technological changes.

 Saleh (2012) claimed that there are plenty of e-business opportunities for the SMEs in Oman towards the growth of their businesses to attract and retain customers for long term purposes.

 Al Barwani et al. (2014) highlighted that the SMEs have huge potential towards the betterment of the country and the responsibility is vested with the government.

 Government must introduce programs to fill up the gaps of financial resources faced by SMEs to pursue the innovations.

 Stevenson and Pond (2016) confirmed that the bank credit to SMEs will trigger the economic growth of a country.

 Opafunso & Adepoju (2014) found that SMEs can become prosperous if the banks adopt good lending practices and facilitate the SMEs.

 Farsi & Toghraee (2014) stated that the Government should introduce proper regulatory policies so that the difficulties faced by SMEs with respect to skills and proficiency in accomplishing new technologies in bringing effective innovation.

 Ashrafi et al. (2014) claimed that SMEs need awareness to introduce Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Problem Definition

 The Government of Oman has shown great concern in the growth of SMEsduring the past few years.

 However, the SMEs in Oman do not possess enough resources to manage the increasingdemand of the customers although they have the skills and manpower.

 The lack of financial sufficiency limiting the production of these enterprises thereby the expansion of their businesses.

 Banks have special schemes for providing loansfor SMEs, but such projects are not fully usedproductively by SMEs.

Research questions

■ What are the common challenges facing small and medium enterprises?

■ What kind of problems faced by the SMEs in Oman. Are they financial?

■ Are SMEs facing difficulty in meeting their financial obligations?

■ What are the obstacles faced by SMEs when obtaining finance through banks and other financial schemes?

■ What difficulties the SMEs encounter during the adoption of new technologies?

■ Which of the procedures and formalities obstructing the SMEs transition?

■ How can challenges facing small and medium enterprises be mitigated?

Conceptual Framework

The SMEs are lacking access to information, finance, technology. These reasons justify the argument of the market failure and the government support to SMEs to make them sustainable.

Sustainability indicators for SMEs include, the annual sales, revenues, growth, and employment (Meher and Ajibie, 2018).

Access to finance

Lack of finance is a key constraint for SMEs (Karadag, 2015).The SMEs sometimes do not have proper funds from the government and approvals for some projects, if on evaluation they are not considered to be not good on return on investment. The access to finance for SMEs is limited as compared to the large firms.

Technology changes

The term technology change itself refers to keeping pace with the current market economic conditions and incurs additional costs in an organization.

Hypotheses

■ There is no significant relationship between policies and procedures and the Growth of SMEs.

■ There is no significant relationship between financial factors and the Growth of SMEs.

■ There is no significant relationship between technology factors and the sustainability of SMEs.

■ There is no significant relationship between the task of challenges facing SMEs and sustainability.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

• After going through all the articles reviewed above, the questionnaire was prepared containing all the factors mentioned above which were affecting the SMEs.

• All the factors were grouped into three variables namely financial factors, technological factors and policy & procedural formalities factors.

• For this research study, purposive sampling methodology was adopted.

• Using a well-defined questionnaire data was collected from the owners / employees of the SMEs.

• They were contacted through social media and after fixing appointment with them, they were personally approached and the questionnaire was explained to get the accurate response.

• The samples were selected from the list of SMEs provided by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) and Ministry of Commerce Industry (MOCI). Probability of 10% samples were collected from each region and a total of 257 samples were collected all over Oman.

• .The data was collected during Aug. 2017 to Oct.2017 and recorded, tabulated, summarized and the tests

               Chi -square tests,

Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests

and regression analysis

Proposed Data Analysis

■ 1 Demographic details of the respondents

■ 2. Factors required to start / survive of the business

■ 3. Finance factors

■ 4. Technology factors

■ 5. Policies & Procedure - factors

6. Challenges faced by SMEs

Reference list

■ Abacademies.org. (2020). [online] Available at: https://www.abacademies.org/articles/Understanding-the-paradoxical-drp-in-growth-of-small-and-medium-entrepreneurs-cause,-challenges-and-concerns-%201939-4675-22-2-163.pdf [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].

■ Anon, (2020). [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338538366_Insights_on_Sustainability_of_Small_and_Medium_Enterprises_in_Oman_A_Conceptual_Framework [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].

■ Anon, (2020). [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328465775_FINANCE_AND_TECHNOLOGY_KEY_CHALLENGES_FACED_BY_SMALL_AND_MEDIUM_ENTERPRISES_SMES_IN_OMAN [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].

■ Pdfs.semanticscholar.org. (2020). [online] Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6f7f/91b9191a0f9ddb21237355e55d09d428377d.pdf [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].

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Attachment 3:

Introduction:

Entrepreneurs are the foundation and backbone of any country. By looking for commercial opportunities and establishing small and medium companies. As there is a global agreement, whether in developing or developed countries, that small and medium-sized companies contribute to the economic development of the country. These companies make significant contributions to the economy, where they reduce poverty, and improve the social and political environment. Small and medium-sized health institutions also offer a feature for local and regional economic development and a sustainable competitive advantage. Small and medium-sized companies play a fundamental role in creating job opportunities, sustainable growth, contributing to the gross domestic product, and making new innovations.

The past years have been marked by the rapid growth of business and thus the emergence of global competition. As the markets became full and integrated with industries, whether for consumer products or resources such as materials, technology and capital, or industrial services, which led to global satisfaction and sufficiency. In addition to forming trade agreements, setting trade policies, removing barriers and protecting trade that affected all companies. Therefore, there are many factors that have affected the success of SMEs.

The Sultanate of Oman did not differ from other countries in terms of interest and awareness of the importance of the role of small and medium companies in developing economic growth. As the Sultanate gives this sector the highest priority. Omani companies have expanded in the past years in various sectors and various innovations that add to the Omani economy. As these companies seek to expand and produce their products of goods and services inside Oman.

The Sultanate has carried out numerous programs since 2012 to support small and medium-sized companies. The government has launched a program called the In-Country Value Initiative to maintain sustainable development and stimulate the economy by using local resources for services and goods towards local productivity and investment. Also, the value initiative inside the country is a great service for small and medium companies.

Oman is filled with many opportunities in the field of business because of the availability of purchasing power and the market is not saturated with new companies. The country contains 32,441 small and medium enterprises registered according to the statement of the National Center for Statistics and Information (NSCI) in 2018.

Small and medium companies consist of a large number of handicrafts, cafes and restaurants, a small range of export and import companies, the fitness and arts center. However, the strengthening and motivation of these companies is important to enter areas that support sustainable growth and technology adoption.

With ideas that aim to develop modern technology, whether in the field of financial technology, sustainable agriculture, and botany. There are ideas aimed at highlighting the beauty of nature and crafts. The Central Bank estimates that in 2018, small and medium-sized companies contributed between 16-20% of the Omani GDP. That is, 79,29 million US dollars, which is a good figure compared to the countries of the Cooperation Council.

The Sultan also ordered the country by Royal Decree to establish the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, which aims to develop small and medium companies and enhance its role in providing job opportunities through providing financial, technical and administrative assistance to small and medium companies. The Commission also assists project owners in obtaining licenses and related operations for small and medium-sized companies. Finally, the Authority provides assistance to owners of small and medium enterprises to promote their products through exhibitions, call centers, the establishment of an electronic database, and specialized mechanisms to reduce tenders for companies.

One of the old initiatives that helps in entrepreneurship is the Sharjah company, which was established in 1998, which provided many financial support and guidance to projects in various sectors such as manufacturing, services, food, and technology, as the support goes beyond financial support to fulfill financial commitment and commitment. Also, companies or projects funded for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises can pump amounts of 5,000 to 500,000 Omani riyals, according to the INMA website. Recent reports show that the loans that funded small and medium-sized projects amounted to RO 27.6 million from 2014 to 2017. The financed loans in the year 2018 alone amounted to RO 14.5 million. According to Hayya Water Company in 2017, small and medium companies were awarded more than one million riyals in closed tenders. It also granted half a million Omani riyals in open tenders.

Corporate social responsibility increased by joining Khimji Ramdas and shining at the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development. The number of registered institutions in 2018 reached 606 companies with more than 230 institutions in Muscat, bringing the number of small and medium companies in Oman to 32441 according to the National Center for Statistics and Information. Nevertheless, compared to the previous year, there has been a decrease in the number of small and medium-sized companies in Oman, which is equivalent to 29.4% since 2017.

All these initiatives indicate that the Omani government has made many efforts to promote and increase small and medium-sized companies. However, there were reports that the growth of SMEs was declining. According to Al-Barwani (2014), companies decreased the numbers of small and medium companies in the first quarter of 2017, compared with the previous year. It also decreased in the first quarter of 2018 by 31.2%, according to the report of the National Center for Statistics and Information. Muscat alone recorded a decrease of 9.4%, according to the National Center for Statistics and Information in addition to most of the governorates of the Sultanate, Dhofar 43.6%, Buraimi 45. 7%, and it also decreased to 44% in the last year. The decline also continued in the governorates of Ad Dakhiliyah and Al Batinah North to 55.4% and 48.9% until the end of March, and the phenomenon recorded a decrease of 36% in 2017. The North and South East recorded a 15% and 18.3% drop in growth in the first quarter of last year.

Small and medium enterprises in the Sultanate of Oman strive to overcome the growing problems facing these projects from the start of their establishment until the stage of growth and accreditation. Despite the increase in their numbers in various economies, these projects still face many problems that affect productivity and the continuity of the market. Therefore, this study aims to find the reasons that lead to the decline of small and medium enterprises and to understand these challenges and their causes. While these efforts are still being made, there is a need to address some questions, such as.

Were the initiatives presented in line with the needs of entrepreneurs? Does it affect business growth and development?

*How do you see Oman environment as place for SMEs growth and investment?

*1. Are SMEs facing diffi culty in meeting theirfi nancial obligations? (objective 2)

*2. What are the obstacles faced by SMEs when obtaining finance through banks and otherfi nancial schemes? (goal 2)

*4. What factors have a significant impact on SMEs accessing finance? (goal 2)

*5. What are the various sources of funding availablefor SMEs in Oman?

*6. Do the available financing products and servicesmeet the requirements of SMEs?

 *What are the common challenges facing small and medium enterprises?

 *How can challenges facing small and medium enterprises be mitigated?

* What policies can governments enact to protect the existenceof small and medium enterprises?

*2. What difficulties the SMEs encounter during the adoptionof new technologies?

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328465775_FINANCE_AND_TECHNOLOGY_KEY_CHALLENGES_FACED_BY_SMALL_AND_MEDIUM_ENTERPRISES_SMES_IN_OMAN

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3272189

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/economics/small-and-medium-enterprises-in-oman-economics-essay.php

https://www.y-oman.com/2019/07/heres-why-oman-is-becoming-a-hotspot-for-smes/

https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/news/how-private-sector-and-smes-stand-benefit-oman%E2%80%99s-long-term-economic-plans

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/economics/small-and-medium-enterprises-in-oman-economics-essay.php

https://timesofoman.com/article/30430/Business/Omani-small-and-medium-enterprises-facing-tremendous-challenges-CEO-National-Company-for-Projects-an

http://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/Growth-Strategies-of-SME-in-Oman-Issues-and-Challenges.pdf

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40497-018-0125-3

https://www.omanobserver.om/smes-in-oman-need-to-focus-on-strategic-planning/

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Attachment 3:

Introduction:

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of any country as they always look for exploring the business opportunities (Khan, 2014) and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as the strategic boosters for the economy of a country. They impact the economy and the society of the country. Many countries claim that the SMEs play a major role in job creation and wealth generation of their country. SMEs are not limited to any particular type of industry or service, and they involved in manufacturing, processing, trading, import-export, distribution, retailing, rental, services, etc. It is meaningful to say that SMEs play vital role in accelerating the revenue of a country as they serve as power engines. Every country had started paying attention to the growth of SMEs to attain national development and sustainable economic growth through accelerating this sector, and this the prime reason that most of the countries started analyzing the difficulties and constraints of SMEsimpeding their growth.

http://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/Growth-Strategies-of-SME-in-Oman-Issues-and-Challenges.pdf

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the integral part of economic development around the world. It generates value, contribute in country’s GDP, create employment and bring new innovation (Sahar and Ahmed 2013, Aceleanu et al 2014, Doron et al 2018). Few notable among them are to generate profits, utilize the locally available resources and create employment(Keskin et al 2010 , Katua 2018).

The governments of developed as well as developing countries have acknowledged the reality that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) form the nucleus of any economy. Green, (2003). There is anuniversal agreement on their major participation to the economic growth, employment creation, social cohesion, poverty alleviation and local and regional development. SMEs are the largest group of enterprises in any economy. According to Matlay, H Westhead, P, (2005), “SMEs make significant contributions to the socio-economic and political environment of most developed and developing nations as well as to countries that are in progression from a command economy to market economy”. Healthy and growing SMEsector is considered to be important in obtaining sustainable competitive advantage and economic development at local, regional, and national levels.

 Experts believe that good management, strong leadership, skilled work and innovation are among the major forces that contribute to the success of this vital sector.Ozgulbas et al, (2006) Despite that the SMEs are playing a positive role in the developing countries through creating job opportunities for all the social classes in the community specially the entrepreneur persons which will contribute in increasing the personal income level and a achieving the self satisfaction partially for some goods andservice necessary for the community, in addition contribution in solving the poverty and who are looking for work problem. Also these projects distinguished from the large firms by the low investment size which reduce its risk, beside that it consider as a good sphere to develop the managerial, technical, productivity, and marketing skills, and open a fertile scope for entrepreneurial individual initiatives, and enhance the self depending culture, to the extent that reduce pressure on the public sector at creating new job opportunities.OCCI, (2006), “SMEs are vital in developing countries, for the economic growth and development. SMEs, through entrepreneurship helps the process of economic development, fosters economic growth, generate employment, and reduces rural unemployment and migration”.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275215083_CHALLENGES_AND_BARRIERS_ENCOUNTERED_BY_THE_SMES_OWNERS_IN_MUSCAT

http://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/Challenges-and-Barriers-Encountered-By-the-SMES-Owners-in-Muscat.pdf

This shows that Oman Government has taken a lot of initiative to promote entrepreneurship in Oman. Despite all efforts to increase SME's, there have been reports that the growth of small and medium entrepreneurs have been declining, for instance according to Al Barwani (2014) there was a fall in the number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Oman in the first quarter of 2017, compared with the same period of last year. The number of SMEs inthe Sultanate declined by 31.2%year-on-year in the first quarter of the current year, according to a recent report issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information, Oman's premier statistical agency (NCSI, 2017). According to NCSI (2017), Muscat governorate had the highest number of SMEs at 930, but marked a 9.4% decline from the number of SMEs in the first quarter of last year, which stood at 1026, even Dhofar registered a significant 43.6% fall in SMEs at 167 as against 296 SMEs during the same period of 2016, while Musandam maintained the numbers at 12. NCSI (2017) further reported that Al Buraimi too witnessed a drastic 45.7% drop in the number of SMEs, which declined to 44 from last year's 81 and the trend continued in the governorates of Dhakhliyah and Al Batinah North, with the number of SMEs shrinking by 55.4% and 48.9% respectively to reach 379 and 399 SMEs by March-end. Dhahirah logged a 36% fall in SMEs at 174 as against last year's 272, while Sahrqiyah South and North saw SME numbers fall by 15% and 18.3% respectively to 164 and 178 as against last year's 193 and 218 SMES in the first quarter (NCSI, 2017). Therefore this study was conducted as it was of utmost importance to find the cause of declining of SME’s and understand concerns and challenges of small and medium entrepreneurs in Sultanate of Oman.

https://www.businessliveme.com/news/special-reports/sme-oman/sme-sectors-growth-in-oman/

https://www.abacademies.org/articles/Understanding-the-paradoxical-drp-in-growth-of-small-and-medium-entrepreneurs-cause,-challenges-and-concerns-%201939-4675-22-2-163.pdf

Sultanate of Oman is not an exception to it; realizing the fact and considering the role of SMEs in the development of national economic growth,the sector is given utmost priority and importance. SMEs in Oman have spread their wings in various sectors of Oman, striving within the nation, and overseas.These firms are coming up with innovative entrepreneurial concepts adding value to the national economy of Oman, and hence every firm is striving to produce made in Oman goods and services. To promote and support SMEs, lots of programs had been introduced since 2012 which in turn are helpful to eradicate the unemployment problem of the country as well. The Government of Oman introduced a program called In-Country Value (ICV) Initiative to trigger the economic growth in the economy and to maintain sustainable development using local sourcing of goods and services, towards productivity and local investments towards value-added opportunities (Al Shezawi & Khan, 2018). ICV opportunities are a big boon for SMEs. The Omani Government has been showing keen interest in the development and support of SMEs. Under the directive of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, a Royal decree was issued for setting up a separate entity for the in- charge of SMEs namely the Public Authority for Small and MediumEnterprises (PASME). The PASME aims at SMEs development, strengthening SMEs role towards generating more employment, andproviding financial, technical, and administrative assistance.It also provides assistance to SMEs in obtaining licenses and the related processes; promoting products of SMEs through exhibitions; establishment of an electronic database and a call center; a specialized mechanism to allot tenders to SMEs.

In Oman, the SMEs sector has attracted considerable attention

from the Government refected in Oman vision strategy 2020 and

2040. The strategy has laid the development of the SMEs sector

in its priorities to diversify the national economy and reduce its

heavy reliance on oil that is witnessing greater price volatility

in the global market. The global report of entrepreneurship of

2018 has shown that Oman occupied the 33 rank internationally

and the third among the Arab world in terms of entrepreneurship

performance (Acs et al., 2018). Currently, the SMEs sector in

Oman is employing 40% of the work force, contributing with

15-20% in the GDP (NCSI, 2018).

The government has launched many initiatives to promote the

role of the SMEs in the economy. This includes: establishing of

a specialized and independent authority for developing SMEs in

May 2013, chaired by the Minister of Commerce and Industry,

creating many financing schemes such as availability of soft loan

through Al Rafud, and providing a lot of training and guidance to

SMEs owners so sustain their businesses (Sanyal and Hisam, 2018).

One example is issuing guidelines to all banks to allocate 5% of their total credits to small and medium enterprises (Central Bank of Oman, 2016). The government provides a very good technical and financial support and consulting service to youth entrepreneurs (Buhairi, 2014). For example The Fund for Development of Youth Projects, known as ‘Sharakah’ was established by a Royal Decree in the year 1998 and Al Raffd Fund was developed in the year 2013 which shows the on-goingcommitment and support of Oman government to entrepreneurs (Sharakah, 1998 and Al Raffd, 2013). Moreover, the government has established a specific centre for providing consultancies and funding SMEs like Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises development Fund (SMEF) in the year 2014 and Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises development (RIYADA) in the year 2015 (SMEF, 2017 and Riyada, 2015).

https://www.abacademies.org/articles/Understanding-the-paradoxical-drp-in-growth-of-small-and-medium-entrepreneurs-cause,-challenges-and-concerns-%201939-4675-22-2-163.pdf

Despite these incentives, the rate of failure of the SMEs in Oman

is quite high (Ashraf and Murtaza, 2008). The total number

of SMEs registered with Riyada in 2018 stood at 5454, which

is a drop of 36.7% compared to that in 2017 (NCSI, 2018).

Moreover, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry pointed

out that the number of individual establishments and business

companies that have canceled their registrations through the

“Invest Easy” portal in 2018 has reached 80,682, about 98% of

them (78,848) are SMEs (Times of Oman, 2018). This situation

raises several questions regarding the challenges facing the

SMEs sector in Oman and the effectiveness of the initiatives

endorsed by the government to promote their growth and

sustainability (Alharthi, 2013).

This paper aims to identify the challenges facing SMEs in

Oman and examine the prospects of the government initiative in

supporting and sustaining the SMEs growth. The remaining of

the paper is structured as follows: Section 2 presents the literature

review, section 3 provides the methodology, section 4 data analysis

and funding, and section 5 concludes.

overall activities of the market within an economy are unable

to achieve the set goals. There are various challenges hindering

SMEs’ to achieve sustainability goals. Commonly known

diffculties are market competition, limited financial resources

and limited managerial capabilities. The SMEs face further

challenges too such as, government administrative bureaucracy,

lack of knowledge and business culture (Crouzet, 2017). Another

cause of occurring market failure lies in the activities that are

inappropriate for a market which in turn lead to ineffective

market fuctuations (Bhat, 2015). The Lack of resources and poor

technological balance also creates tough survival situations for

the SMEs in a competitive market which cultivate inappropriate

working environment. The government offers certain help

through which the infrastructure of the SME industry can be

improved, and appropriate growth and development can be

sustained. In this respect, Williams and Schaefer (2013) further

mentioned that the sustainability of the growth of SMEs need to

be accomplished by experiencing continuous business growth

over a certain time period.

This paper comprises of theoretical concepts and framework, what is an enterprise?definition of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), SME definition in Oman context, .......

Literature Review has been done along with the objectives of the study, research methodology, research design, research questions asked from small and medium entrepreneurs, sampling design, data collection method(s), analysis of data: tools & techniques, results & discussions, statistical analysis-T-Test,data collected from the open-ended questions, like-

What are the various challenges thatyou are facing in your business?

How do you see Oman environment as place for SMEs growth and investment?

How do yousee competition in the market?

What challenges do you face while recruiting Omanis?

On your recommendation, what is the best solution to solve the main challenges faced by the entrepreneurs?

What should the new entrepreneur keep in mind before starting any business?

And finally we discuss on findings of the study along with conclusion.

Recent decades have been marked by the rapid internationalization of business and the emergence of global competition. Markets in many industries, whether for consumer products, industrial goods and services or markets for resources such as capital, materials and technology, are becoming increasingly integrated worldwide (Craig and Douglas, 1996) [1] . At the same time, the formation of various trade agreements and the establishment of liberal trade policies by both developed and developing countries has resulted in the abolition of protectionist measures and the removal of most trade barriers, As result, virtually all firms, irrespective of size, industry or national origin, are now confronted with the consequences of this new commercial reality, and have realized that choosing not to participate in global markets may no longer be an option (Craig and Douglas, 1996) [2] .

 Therefore it is visible that there are several factors which challenge the success of small business. Apart from these challenges, there are several strategic options which will help SMEs to overcome these challenges. Awareness of these issues and challenges and the strategic options in this field is very important factor to these SMEs in Oman for the development of this sector.

This proposal research will discuss deeply the impact of foreign market entry strategies of SMEs on their performance in Oman. In particular, the research will examine several Market Entry Strategies aimed at developing business performance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Oman and focus on evaluating the most appropriate market entry strategies that SMEs should consider prior to penetrating market. The researcher will establish the objectives of the study and will formulate the research statements. Then he will state questions and finally, the methodology to be used is discussed.

Conclusion:

A country’s economic development lies in better industrial growth andadvancement in technology. The faster phase of globalisation has forced statesto concentrate on entrepreneurial development also. Fresh graduates must betaught with an entrepreneurial culture, which will boost the young talents andwill stimulate economic growth and development. Encouraging entrepreneurialactivities will decrease the problem of unemployment faced by many countries.

Adequate training and fi nancial assistance provided to young entrepreneurs willget them on track towards the country’s economic development.

The government takes theinitiative to create employment opportunities and at the same time, encouragesgraduates to start their own business. The government of Oman introducedthe concept of In-Country Value (ICV) for the oil and gas sector in the year2013, which was aimed to create 50,000 jobs by 2020. ICV is the total amountspent, which is retained in the country that can benefi t business development,contribute to human capability and also stimulate productivity in the economy.In short, the products are made and services that are provided by skilled Omanis.(Ms. Halima Ali Al Shezawi, 2018).

Sultanate of Oman is intensively working toreduce its dependency on hydrocarbons and lookingfor adequate economic diversifi cation. Hence the government takes necessarysteps in providing adequate training to upcomingentrepreneurs and even needed assistance in fundingthem through various fi nancial institutions/schemes

There are many challenges faced by them. Themajor problems are:•Lack of basic business knowledge•Lack of market knowledge and information•Lack of adequate fi nance, complicated proceduresand delay in loan disbursement•Limited network, experience and expertise•Reluctant in using modern technology

Small And Medium Enterprises In Oman Economics Essay

Research QuestionsThe research has aimed to find a solution for thefollowing research questions:

1. Are SMEs facing diffi culty in meeting theirfi nancial obligations? (objective 2)

2. What are the obstacles faced by SMEs whenobtaining fi nance through banks and otherfi nancial schemes? (goal 2)

3. What is the effect of fi nancing an inability on theperformance of SMEs? (objective 3)

4. What factors have a signifi cant impact on SMEsaccessing fi nance? (goal 2)

5. What are the various sources of funding availablefor SMEs in Oman?

6. Do the available fi nancing products and servicesmeet the requirements of SMEs?

Despite their increase in number in various economiesthey continue to facemyriad problems that affect their productivity and continued existencein the market. The research was guided by various questions. The questionswere developed beforethe commencementof the study because theywere required to conductthe researcher in the collectionof data. The following questions supervisedthe study:

 What are the common challenges facing small and medium enterprises?

 How government policies are affecting the operationof small and medium enterprises?

 How are big and multinational corporations affecting small and medium enterprises?

 How can challenges facing small and medium enterprises be mitigated?

 What policies can governments enact to protect the existenceof small and medium enterprises?

This leads to thefollowing research questions viz.

1. What kind of problems faced by the SMEs in Oman. Are they financial?

2. What difficulties the SMEs encounter during the adoptionof new technologies?

3. Which of the procedures and formalities obstructing the SMEs transition?

SMEs in Oman striving hard to face the growing issues at every stage – during the initiation, establishment andat the growth and adoption stage etc. Though there has been various research carried out in the past, the problems remain unsolved especially during the startup stage and hence there is a need for the study.

*How do you see Oman environment as place for SMEs growth and investment?

*What challenges do you face while recruiting Omanis?

*1. Are SMEs facing diffi culty in meeting theirfi nancial obligations? (objective 2)

*2. What are the obstacles faced by SMEs when obtaining finance through banks and otherfi nancial schemes? (goal 2)

*4. What factors have a significant impact on SMEs accessing finance? (goal 2)

*5. What are the various sources of funding availablefor SMEs in Oman?

*6. Do the available financing products and servicesmeet the requirements of SMEs?

 *What are the common challenges facing small and medium enterprises?

 *How can challenges facing small and medium enterprises be mitigated?

* What policies can governments enact to protect the existenceof small and medium enterprises?

*2. What difficulties the SMEs encounter during the adoptionof new technologies?

2.2 Research Problem

Statement of the Problem

SMEs are gaining importance and play asignificant role in increasing domestic production and providing employment opportunities. The government is taking necessary actions to bring outa businessman attitude in all graduates. The changesin the curriculum to teach entrepreneurial skills ingraduates is the best example of it. The governmenthas also taken steps for providing adequate fi nance tothe SMEs but are these facilities reaching the requiredbenefi ciaries and are the funds used productively. Asa result, the primary reason for choosing this studytitle was:

•Banks have special schemes for providing loansfor SMEs, but such projects are not fully usedproductively by SMEs.

•Lack of employment opportunities tends to start anew business. Thus such business entrepreneursdo not have adequate knowledge and expertise toovercome the challenges and run the market foran extended period.

Even though there are many challenges faced bySMEs, fi nance plays a vital role in any business, soa comprehensive study on SMEs are fi nancing is theneed of the hour.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

 The Government of Oman has shown great concern in the growth of SMEsduring the past few years. However, the SMEs in Oman do not possess enough resources to manage the increasingdemand of the customers although they have the skills and manpower. The lack of financial sufficiency limiting the production of these enterprises thereby the expansion of their businesses.

4. What challenges do you face while recruiting Omanis?

Majority of the respondents answered that they faced challenges related mostly to the employee turnover, technical skills and hiring of local manpower because of their demand for higher salaries. Some specific questions were asked to them like whether they preferred to recruit locals or the expatriate, they responded that locals lacked technical knowhow and experience and also demanded higher salaries, whereas while recruiting expatriates, they faced problems from Ministry of Manpower related to Omanization. Omanization is the process of “replacing expatriates with trained Omani personnel” and has been in operation since 1988 (Omanuna, 1988)

2.1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

 Khan (2015) stated that the eradication of poverty and unemployment has been the major target of SMEs in most developing countries. Al Barwani et al. (2014) highlighted that the SMEs have huge potential towards the betterment of the country and the responsibility is vested with the government.

They also argued that SMEs need training so as to produce better owners and employees. Christina, Neelufer and Al Amri (2014) hinted that SMEs are responsible for employment creation, poverty alleviation in a country and therefore recommended that directorate of SMEs should formulate a committee that can prepare framework for SMEs. Okoth (2013) identified that the basic problems faced by SMEs are the lack of a supportive governance framework and SMEs little access to finance.Gulani &Usman (2013) pointed out that the SMEs struggle to find the source of capital while establishing a new business or expanding the existing one, and this issue distorts remarkably the entrepreneurship development. Khan (2009) found that most of the establishment of the SMEs and the commencement of their production is delayed due to several reasons, of which the main reason is finance. Uddin (2014) claimed that even a small source of finance will be helpful to a SME towards its development. Kambwale, Chisoro & Karodia (2015) suggested that there is a lack of management skills and the financial support that is required to strengthen the backbone of SMEs. It is also recommended that the role of Government must support them to avoid the failures of SMEs, who are self-employed so that they can perform at their potential and provide economic development. Eniola & Entebang (2013) stated that SMEs are in dire need of technical expertise and support, and the main challenge faced is managing their resources. Farsi & Toghraee (2014) stated that the Government should introduce proper regulatory policies so that the difficulties faced by SMEs with respect to skills and proficiency in accomplishing new technologies in bringing effective innovation. Khan and Krishnamurthy (2016) claimed that the policy makers should draft policies to retain the entrepreneurial spirit in the minds of the youth, and to overcome the difficulties faced by SMEs.Ashrafi et al. (2014) claimed that SMEs need awareness to introduce Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in their businesses and the owners of such SMEs struggle to obtain simple ICT solutions and the related guidance for the same. Saleh (2012) claimed that there are plenty of e-business opportunities for the SMEs in Oman towards the growth of their businesses to attract and retain customers for long term purposes.Tarute& Gatautis (2014) found that there is a need for SMEs to adopt ICT and the main challenge is in organizing and preparing such structure, create internal changes such as personnel training etc.Al Rahbi (2017) stated that the owners of the SMEs like to introduce ICT to their businesses but they could not do as they lack money, expertise and technical assistance.

OECD (2004) found that SMEs in Oman are striving hard to attain risk-free finance and suggested that the Government must introduce programs to fill up the gaps of financial resources faced by SMEs to pursue the innovations. Stevenson and Pond (2016) confirmed that the bank credit to SMEs will trigger the economic growth of a country. Opafunso & Adepoju (2014) found that SMEs can become prosperous if the banks adopt good lending practices and facilitate the SMEs. Nusrat & Wickramasinghe (2014) found that SMEs avail loan from banks and develop their businesses creating employment opportunities. They also found that the SMEs‟ lack in professionalism with respect to financials,administration etc. and contacts with larger firms.Al Bulushi& Bagum (2017) found that the SMEs in Oman mostly struggle to manage their short-term finances such as working capital finance which becomes costly affair in the growth of the business.Onugu (2005) confirmed that SMEs face challenges in the form of policies and procedures, infrastructure, bureaucracy, financial constraints, unfair competition, and the non-availability of raw materials.Al Barwani et al.(2014) claimed that while SMEs play leading role in solving societal issues, they lack in business knowledge, incur high cost of finance, face unfair competition & non – availability of skilled staff, and limited usage of modern technologies. Agwu & Emeti (2014) found that the majority of SMEs do not survive beyond five years due to insufficiency of capital, infrastructural inadequacies, inadequate market knowledge, improper book keeping, inexperience, the inability to procure the right plant and machinery, and cut-throat competition.Yoshino & Taghizadeh Hesary (2016) showed that the increasing competition is a big challenge for any SME and the cause is its inability to adapt to the rapid changes of market demand, and the technological changes. Further they have also reported that the SMEs face higher transaction costs and lack in resources – finance, technology, skilled labor and networks.

2.3 Theoretical Framework

 In Oman, the small entities are establishments that are having five to nine workers with annual sales between RO 25,000 and RO 250,000, while the medium - sized enterprises are employing between 10 and 99 workers, with an annual sale of RO 250,000 and RO 1.5 million (Khan, 2012). It is widely perceived that SMEs are operating in unfavorable market environment compared with large scale enterprises (Hosseininia and Ramezani, 2016). In most cases, the SMEs are lacking access to information, finance, technology and not utilizing large-scale economies (Gumel, 2017). These reasons justify the argument of the market failure and the government support to SMEs to make them sustainable. Sustainability indicators for SMEs include, the annual sales, revenues, growth, and employment (Meher and Ajibie, 2018). There are several theories addressing business sustainability particularly in the context of SMEs. Stakeholders theory is necessary for the growth of the business organization through which high amount of sustainability can be seen and appropriate strategies can be introduced (Gunasekaran, 2015). The theory stresses on the duties of firms towards the benefits of their stakeholder that can affect or be affected by the firm’s long-term sustainability. Thus, the stakeholders can be said to act as a support to the organization (Rainnie, 2016). The SMEs consider the needs of important stakeholders just like any other large firms. Market failure is another argument taken to support SMEs and sustain their performance. Market failure occurs when the overall activities of the market within an economy are unable to achieve the set goals. There are various challenges hindering SMEs’ to achieve sustainability goals. Commonly known difficulties are market competition, limited financial resources and limited managerial capabilities. The SMEs face further challenges too such as, government administrative bureaucracy, lack of knowledge and business culture (Crouzet, 2017). Another cause of occurring market failure lies in the activities that are inappropriate for a market which in turn lead to ineffective market fiuctuations (Bhat, 2015). The Lack of resources and poor technological balance also creates tough survival situations for the SMEs in a competitive market which cultivate inappropriate working environment. The government offers certain help through which the infrastructure of the SME industry can be improved, and appropriate growth and development can be sustained. In this respect, Williams and Schaefer (2013) further mentioned that the sustainability of the growth of SMEs need to be accomplished by experiencing continuous business growth over a certain time period.

Access to finance

Lack of finance is a key constraint for SMEs (Karadag, 2015).The SMEs sometimes do not have proper funds from the government and approvals for some projects, if on evaluation they are not considered to be not good on return on investment. The access to finance for SMEs is limited as compared to the large firms. The appropriate access to finance is vital for the development and survival of SMEs. It is also identified that the policymakers try to pursue the financial sector in order to extend huge credit to the small businesses. The access to capital market is also limited for SMEs in Oman and there are certain issues in direct market access and liquidity problems. In addition to this, it is required for SMEs to make changes in the level of perception and estimate the impact of limited finance on the growth of business and economy.

Technology changes

The term technology change itself refers to keeping pace with the current market economic conditions and incurs additional costs in an organization. But this change also could prove as curse for the small and medium sized business due to its impact on the productivity and efficiency of employees with changes in the environment of business. The main challenge faced by most of the SMEs nowadays involves the rapid change in technology. Further, SMEs in Oman need effective system of information in order to deliver services among the different users and customers. However, using technology in SMEs is one of the most important factors for the expansion in productivity and services offered by the businesses in marketplace (Al Buraiki and Khan, 2018).

A Conceptual Framework for the Role of Government in Supporting SMEs

Figure 1 provides a conceptual framework for the role of government in sustainability of SMEs in Oman. It was based on the literature review, and the current development in SMEs sector in Oman. The conceptual framework is developed based on the relationship between both the dependent as well as the independent variables. Sustainability of SMEs is the response (dependent) variable measured by sales turnover, profit, capital, and employment. Among the independent variables; the government support which includes the financial assistance, marketing assistance, technical assistance, advisory assistance, infrastructural assistance along with the entrepreneurship policies.

2.4 Definition of terms/variables

SMEs: Definition and Relevance

    There is no universal definition for SMES as it varies from country to country. The definition of small and medium industries differs from one country to another. It is easy to describe SMEs but difficult to give them a unified definition which is acceptable at international or even regional level due to thedifferences in the social and economic structures of the each country, as well as the differences in the criteria determining the basics of the enterprises such as: the statistical data used in the definition. Due to lack of data, the definition of SME will remain mixed.

Definition of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

 But all the definitions are mostly depending on the number of employees, capital size and the existence of certain legal or institutional conditions. The country has three main categories of SMEs: Micro Enterprises (1-4 workers), Small Enterprises (5-14 workers), and MediumEnterprises (15-49 workers) (Trade, 2003).

In Oman SMEs is defined based on the number of employees and sales turnover, according to the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises-Oman-SMEs are any establishment which has less than 100 workers and the sales turnover less than 3 million RO. In addition, SMEs in Oman is divided in three categories as explained in the following Figure (SMEF, 2017).

2.6 Research Objectives

Purpose: The objectives of the study were to critically investigate the challenges faced by SMEs; to analyze SMEs difficulties during adopting new technologies and to critically investigate the difficulties in the form of policies and procedures.

Significance of the Study

Small and Medium Enterprises are significant to developing and developed countries by contributing effectively to the promotion of economic growth and development of the country. The importance of this study is to discuss the challenges faced by owners ofsmall and medium enterprises in Muscat and find ways to overcome the barriers and secure the support of institutions in assisting the SME to be an engine of creating the job opportunities and experience the regional balanced country.

Objectives oftheStudy

To examine the challenges faced by the SME owners in Muscat .

To analyze the relationship of the demographic profile with the challenges faced by the SME owners

To provide recommendation based on the analysis

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study was to understand thecause of decline in growth of small and medium enterprises, their challenges and concerns apart from SME’s contribution in creating employment.

Research objectives

The research aimsto determine the commonchallenges facing small and medium enterprises. The studyfurther aims at examining possible solutions to problemsfacing small and medium enterprises. The role of small and medium businessesin the growth and development of an economy cannot be underestimated.

Research Objectives

The following study objectives were framedto fi nd clarifi cation for the above-stated researchquestions.

1. To identify the diffi culties encountered by SMEsin Oman.

2. To identify and understand the diffi culties facedin accessing fi nance by SMEs in Oman.

3. To study the relationship between the availabilityof fi nance and performance of SMEs.

2.5 Research Hypotheses

H03. There is no significant relation between age of the SME owners and financial challenges.

H04. There is no significant relation between age of the SME owners and technical challenges.

H07. There is no significant relation between education of the SME owners and financial challenges.

H08. There is no significant relation between education of the SME owners and technical challenges.

There is no relationship between Policies & Proceduresfactors and the choices of the respondents.

There is no relationship between Finance factors and the choices of the respondents.

There is no relationship between Technology factors and the choices of the respondents.

There is no relationship between Challenges faced by SMEs and the choices of the respondents.

3.0 Research methodology

Design/methodology/approach: For this research study, purposive sampling methodology was adopted. Using a welldefined questionnaire, 257 samples were collected from all over Oman. The data collected was recorded, tabulated, summarized and the tests – Chi-square tests, Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests and regression analysis were carried to obtain the results.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 After going through all the articles reviewed above, the questionnaire was prepared containing all the factors mentioned above which were affecting the SMEs. All the factors were grouped into three variables namely financial factors, technological factors and policy & procedural formalities factors. For this research study, purposive sampling methodology was adopted.

Using a well-defined questionnaire data was collected from the owners / employees of the SMEs.  

They were contacted through social media and after fixing appointment with them, they were personally approached and the questionnaire was explained to get the accurate response.  

The samples were selected from the list of SMEs provided by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) and Ministry of Commerce Industry (MOCI). Probability of 10% samples were collected from each region and a total of 257 samples were collected all over Oman.  

.The data was collected during Aug. 2017 to Oct.2017 and recorded, tabulated, summarized and the tests  

– Chi -square tests,

 Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests

and regression analysis

were carried to obtain the results. From the results obtained the conclusions and suggestions were drawn.

Conclusion:  

Financial assistance

Financial needs and modes of Financing of SME business keep changing and accordingly effective policies and modes have been developed over the years. Previously, the major sources of funds for providing financial supports at industrial levels came from personal savings and contribution from peer network of the business owners and managers. As the view of doing business got changed, each perspective associated with business including financial support has also changed (Sharma, 2015). There are many e-finance facilities available nowadays through which enoughfunds can be collected which in turn will ensure the smooth functioning of a business. In Oman Initiatives such as the Al Raffd Fund, funding through Oman Development Bank as well as other financial institutions are a great help for SMEs in Oman. In addition, five per cent minimum lending target imposed on Banks by the Central Bank of Oman. The Fund for Development of Youth Projects, known as “Sharakah,” established by a Royal Decree in 1998 shows the on-going commitment and support of the government to entrepreneurs (Al Buraiki and Khan, 2018).

Conclusion:  

According to official statistics published by The General Authority for Manpower Register 2016, number of activated job seeker was around 42,000 Omani, and 75%of thosewere under 29 years of age, 67%of them were females (Rajab, 2017). In addition, the same statistic represented that the average waiting period for jobs was about 3.5 years (Rajab, 2017). Therefore this research also aimed to study the importance of small and medium enterprises to be as a source of recruitment for job seekers in Oman.