INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMPETITIVENESS OF SAUDI ARABIAN SMEs-BARRIERS AND E-COMMERCE SOLUTION.pdf

1、International trade helps countries to get what they cannot produce by themselves and
　　disposing of their own surpluses.Today's international trade is a complicated process and noteasy for companies, especially for

2、small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to deal with.If
　　SMEs have problems to deal with the international trade process, it brings another series ofproblems such as financial risk, over stock, customer relationship, a

3、nd market reaction
　　problems.Like in many developing economies, in Saudi Arabia, SMEs play a very important
　　role in developing the economy.However, with socio-eultural and economic characteristics
　　of Ara

4、b region, they are facing more challenges and barriers that impact negatively their
　　business generally, especially their competitive advantage in international trade.Nowadays,because of the heavy Internet use, e-co

5、mmerce has great potential, and its role in society is expanding at a remarkable rate.E-commerce has the potential to radically alter economic activities and the social environment.It has redefined the way business is co

6、nducted by
　　replacing the traditional intermediary functions, developing new products, and penetrating
　　new marketplaces.The online economy introduces unique opportunities to SMEs for open
　　and free intern

7、ational trade because it lessens the impact of geographical distances and time,which can separate SMEs from potential opportunity.
　　This study developed two arguments include: Saudi Arabian SMEs are looking for solu

8、tions, such as new business models, new business trends to improve their current business situation.In global economy, besides external challenges, they are also facing many internal problems need to be solved.Especially

9、, worrying much on competitive pressure in international trade and how to improve competitive advantage? And e-commerce seems to be an effective tool which can help them to ameliorate the competitive situation. Consequen

10、tly, a literature review on international trade of Saudi Arabia is discussed sharply, characteristics of e-commerce and research theories on competitive advantage in economic business is introduced.Moreover, a qualitativ

11、e study on the current situation of Saudi Arabian
　　economy and international trade business SMEs, the exporting business processes, and
　　potential problems of Saudi Arabian SMEs is carried out.Furthermore, a qu

12、estionnaire
　　survey was also conducted to identify perceived problems that are believed impact negatively competitive advantage of Saudi Arabian SMEs in international trade.Finally, based on the resource-based theor

13、y the role of e-commerce in Saudi Arabia and whether e-commerce
　　builds the sources of competitive advantage for Saudi Arabian SMEs was analyzed.
　　This dissertation found that most the perceived problems by SEM

14、s in Saudi Arabia
　　are related to finding new foreign customers, getting relevant information, frequency of
　　shipping delays, impact of shipping delay, and export and import procedures.Many new
　　findings a

15、bout the current situation of Saudi Arabian SMEs were discovered.Especially, a
　　worth finding was found that is e-commerce technology seems to be hoped as a good solution
　　that can help Saudi Arabian SEMs to so

16、lve their perceived problems in international trade
　　business by enterprises' executives.Finally, technology resources, managerial skills, and
　　business network of e-commerce technology are the sources of compe

17、titive advantage
　　because they are valuable, imperfectly immobile, and heterogeneously distributed across
　　firms and e-commerce capabilities can be concluded as strategic resources that can confer
　　durable

18、 advantage for firms.
　　A first limitation is the fact that we cannot guarantee that we have been exhaustive in
　　identifying potential problems.The small size of the sample in the field research is also one of t

19、he limitations of this thesis.Another limitation is that we interviewed Saudi Arabian SMEs' executives only from two biggest economic cities of Saudi Arabia.Finally, several recommendations for further research were sugg