Constraints Facing Creative Enterprises in GCC: Implications for HRD
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the creative enterprise industry play a critical role in a nation’s economic growth, its development of jobs and subsequent wealth creation. However, the constraints facing creative enterprises have been seldom explo
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Introduction While policymakers and scholars have called for more research on the challenges of the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector in Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—research in this area, however, remains very limited (Ibrahim et al. 2017; Karimi 2014). In recent years, the GCC countries have suffered from oil price volatility,
H. Alhejji (*) Gulf University for Science and Technology, Mubarak Al-Abdullah, Kuwait e-mail: [email protected] T. N. Garavan National College of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland e-mail: [email protected] R. Darwish ABQ Educational Group, Muscat, Oman e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s) 2020 M. Loon et al. (eds.), The Future of HRD, Volume I, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52410-4_9
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an increased number of youth population, an over-reliance on immigrants and the increased participation of female in the labour market (Jabeen et al. 2017). This has led the GCC to largely focus on developing their non-oil sectors in order to diversify the economy away from hydrocarbon productions as well as explore other areas of economic opportunities (Carey and Matlay 2010). National visions and new development plans have been set aiming to diversify their national economies from a large dependency on oil and gas productions to economic growth and sustainability driven by the SME sector. One of the solutions eyed by governments is to support local entrepreneurial talent to develop and manage SMEs in the creative enterprise (Dirani and Hamie 2017). Despite large and government spending towards the growth of entrepreneurship and small businesses, recent research reveals that most SMEs within the GCC are saddled with little innovation, weak management, low efficiency and dwindling growth. This chapter analyses constraints that hinder the growth and development of SMEs within the GCC creative enterprise sector and looks at ways to properly address them. It draws on a range of published sources— including reports, GCC-based research studies and academic journals, in addition to publications in the field of SME creative enterprise. Though this study does not evaluate programmes implemented by GCC governments to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship and stimulus packages for venture capital initiatives, it does, however, focus on the generic challenges facing GCC SMEs. It is important to note that criteria for defining SMEs in the GCC slightly differs by nation and is usually based on the number of total employees and the value of assets. In general, SMEs are defined as any enterprise with an independent commercial registration between 10 and 249 employees. As such, this study will not discuss cultural factors that may or may not have defined the concept of creative enterprise in particular nations since the definition of this term is so fluid across the GCC and the rest of the world. For purpose of this chapter, creative enterprise ‘is understood to be generated by the creation o
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