D ETERMINACIÓN DE LA LIBERACIÓN DE LOS IONES DE UNA MEZCLA DE RESINAS DE CALCIO , FOSFATO , FLUORURO Y ZINC (NMTD)

According to the literature, this is the first study to be conducted with the aim of providing empirical evidence of trust factors that affect business relationships in Saudi companies. Saudi Arabian employees have little international experience with BRD, which means that this research is expected to be valuable in filling an existing gap in the knowledge. There is a need for this research in order to gain insights into the levels of trust that exist in long- term business relationships in Saudi companies. This research highlights the importance of trust in Saudi companies’ business relationships. It is essential that businesses provide trust factors such as commitment, communication and cooperation. These factors will help them to provide a high-quality services and satisfaction. Thus, trust has a strategic role in BRD.

Commitment is an important factor that needs to be understood in the context of the level of investment within a given relationship. Cooperative behaviour ensures that relationships work and that the parties receive the benefits of the relationship. Communication is a vital concept that businesses understand, not just as the act of speaking or writing, but also as the act of sharing information, enabling the other party to receive the message and respond appropriately. Relationship building is a long process that requires the investment of time, behaviour, emotions and money. Trust plays a significant part in most business relationships and most business activities. In Saudi companies, the negotiation process is a necessary part of relationship building and the contract plays a minor role, simply lowering the level of uncertainly at the outset.

Individual trust is a strategically critical issue in any type of relationship, because it is difficult and risky to build a relationship with a partner without trust. Saudi companies needs to have good relationships with each other and need to engage in business management in order to be satisfied in business and produce high-quality services. Organisational trust can help with business relationship performance in terms of firm- client relationships. Saudi companies need to provide good job satisfaction, commitment and communication to ensure successful long-term business relationships and to increase employees’ engagement with their work.

The national level of trust also affects business relationships. It is related to the public sector and the government and refers to the norms, values and codes of conduct within a society. It can be defined as the general trust in the functioning of the overall political and legal system. Trust at the national level is critical in determining whether the government and society can achieve their business plans.

Saudi Arabian companies can alter their business relationships with partner organisations and influence the trust factors in their business relationships. Business relationships should be developed not just with the future consumers of a company’s products and services, but also with a whole range of other stakeholders who could influence the company’s ability to reach and serve its customers effectively. Trust factors can help to build relationships between individuals and organisations. However, it can be difficult to understand people with different mentalities, behaviours and cultures. It takes time to develop a strong level of trust between individuals and groups. Trust is also an essential element in constructive human relationship. It creates friendship and gives people the confidence to share their business ideas and develop relationships. It provides a secure work environment and reduces risk.

Based on the literature, this research looks at trust factors as the significant drivers of business relationships in Saudi companies. There are several theories suggested that trusting relationships between employees and organisations can create mutual benefits for both. Finally, understanding the national culture makes it easier to communicate with people (e.g. employees) and is crucial to doing business with Saudi companies. However, it is difficult to build trust where there is little work experience, knowledge and skills, which can cause a low level of trust in BRD. The next chapter will discuss the research methodology.

Chapter Three Research Methodology 3.0 Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to explain the technique by which the data will be collected. This section will start with a discussion of the methodology and will justify the research philosophy that will be used. The next stage will discuss the different research approaches, and the research strategy, and will justify the methodology chosen for this research. Primary and secondary methods of data collection are explored and the methods that will be used to conduct the data analysis are discussed and justified.

“Methodology is a systematic approach or framework that is concerned with the research

process from the theoretical foundation to the collection and analysis of data” (Collis and

Hussey, 2009: 73).

3.1 Research Philosophy

The concept of phenomenology stems from the view that reality is not objective and external, but is socially constructed and given meaning by people. In addition, phenomenology focuses on the ways that people make sense of the world (Easterby-Smith et al., 2004). Towards the end of the nineteenth century, social scientists had adopted the natural scientist’s approach of positivism; however, subsequently, some social scientists argued against such an approach. According to Easterby-Smith et al. (2004), research philosophy consists of three different types of task:

 It clarifies the design of the research and its methods and techniques for the collection and interpretation of the data required to answer the questions investigated.  It guides researchers towards the best research designs and indicates the limitations

of these designs.

 It helps researchers to generate new research designs that are outside their previous experience and helps to adapt designs according to the constraints of subjects or knowledge structures.

According to Saunders et al. (2007), a research philosophy is “related to the development of knowledge and the nature of the knowledge, the research philosophy contains important

assumptions about the ways in which the researcher views the world”. The research philosophy refers to the progress of scientific practice based on people’s views and assumptions regarding the nature of knowledge. There are two main perspectives regarding the nature of knowledge, the positivist paradigm and the interpretivist paradigm. Collis and Hussey (2009) suggest that positivism is a paradigm that originated in the natural sciences and that it rests on the assumption that social reality is singular and objective, and is unaffected by the act of investigating it. This type of research involves a deductive process with a view to providing explanatory theories with which to understand social phenomena. Interpretivism, by contrast, is a paradigm that has emerged in response to criticisms of positivism. It rests on the assumption that social reality is in the mind and is subjective. Therefore, social reality is affected by the act of investigating it. This type of research involves an inductive process with a view to providing an interpretive understanding of social phenomena within a particular context (Collis and Hussey, 2009). However, Collis and Hussey (2009) suggest that the main paradigm is to treat people as being separate from their social contexts and holds that they cannot be understood without examining their perceptions of their own activities. Researchers are not objective, but are part of the research study (i.e. they bring their own interests and values to the research). Therefore, attempting to capture complex phenomena in a single measurement can be misleading.

Source: Collis and Hussey (2009: 62)

The above table shows the key features of the two paradigms. The objectives set for the current research require a deep understanding of the context, using qualitative data. Interpretivism explains that social reality is dependent on the research philosophy at work in the mind of the researcher.

Table (3.1) The differences between the two paradigms of Interpretivism and Positivism

Positivism Paradigm Interpretivism Paradigm

Tends to produce quantitative data Tends to produce qualitative data

Uses large samples Uses small samples

Concerned with hypothesis testing Concerned with generating theories Data are highly specific and precise Data are rich and subjective

3.2 Qualitative Data

According to Bonoma (1985), all researchers desire high levels of data integrity and results’ currency. Data integrity describes the characteristics of the research that affect the error and bias in the results, whilst results’ currency refers to the generalisability of the results. In qualitative research, the data do not take the form of numbers (Punch, 2005), and, as argued by Creswell (2003: 198), the researcher “is the primary instrument in data collection rather

than some inanimate mechanism”. Consequently, the researcher is highly involved in the

actual experiences of the research participants (Creswell, 2003), and this allows for the development of a deeper and more complete appreciation of the interpretivism being studied (Collis and Hussey, 2008). Methodologies used by interpretivists, such as case studies, tend to be high in results’ currency because they have contextual relevance across measures, methods, paradigms, settings and time.