Modelos de evaluación para el sistema de seguridad y salud

In the first section, background information was collected about entrepreneur (owners/managers) characteristics in terms of four main factors: experience, gender, nationality, and training and education.

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6.3.1.1 Gender

The majority (n=211, 78.40 per cent) of the respondents were male entrepreneurs, and the remainder (n=58, 21.60 per cent) were females (Table 6.1). The proportion of females represented in this study was higher than the proportion of female entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia: at a professional women’s conference in Al Khobar in 2012, it was reported that only 8 per cent of sampled SMEs in Saudi Arabia were operated/owned by females. The high female participation rate in the current study might be indicative of the increasing proportion of female entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia. The number of Saudi female-owned enterprises registered at the Chamber of Commerce of Saudi Arabia in 2012 was 72,494 firms (Badir 2012; ArabianBusiness 2012). In 2010, this number was only around 47,400 (UNDP 2011).

Table 6.1: Gender of the Owner

Category Number Percentage

Male 211 78.40

Female 58 21.60

No response 1 0.34

6.3.1.2 Nationality

On the practical side of conducting business, it is relatively difficult for non-Saudis national to do business in Saudi Arabia since they have to find a local Saudi business partners (James, 2013). This poses additional problems like inability to find a business partner, partner not being strong in a certain region of operation, partner not having experience in a certain sector, and difficulties brought about by partner expectations. As far as the nationality of the business owner was concerned in order to find out if there is a relationship between the nationality of the owner /mangers of SMEs and the access to finance from banks and other financial institutions. The survey indicated that the majority (n=172, 63.70 per cent) were Saudi nationals (Table 6.2). This proportion is comparable with nationality responses in similar SME studies conducted by Alfaadhel (2010) and Binzomah (2008), which had 88.35 and 65.8 per cent Saudi national respondents, respectively. According to the Central Department of Statistics and Information

150 (CDSI) (2012), the total number of enterprises owned by Saudis in that year exceeded 750 thousand firms, or around 99 per cent of the total businesses in the Saudi market. However, a large proportion of workers in these firms are non-Saudi nationals. This holds true for the SME sector in Saudi Arabia: most SMEs are owned by Saudis, but the proportion of Saudi workers who manage and operate this sector is less than 9 per cent.

Table 6.2: Nationality of Entrepreneurs Interviewed in this Study

Category Number Percentage

Saudi 172 63.70

Non-Saudi 78 28.89

No response 20 7.41

6.3.1.3 Business Owner as Manager

The management of an SME plays a critical role in determining its success in business. The respondents were asked whether the founder of the business is also the manager of the business. This helps identify the extent to which they would be involved in the strategic decision making of the business (e.g. financing decisions). In almost two-thirds of the cases (n=178, 65.93 per cent), the owner of the business also acts as the manager (Table 6.3).

Table 6.3: Business Owner acts as Manager

Category Number Percentage

The business owner acts as manager 178 65.93

The business owner does not act as manager 91 33.70

No response 1 0.37

6.3.1.4 Experience

The experience of the entrepreneur is one of the factors that plays an important role in the success of the business. The question relating to the experience of the entrepreneur was asked to determine whether this variable has any relation to obtaining funds from Saudi banks. The question asked the respondents about the total number of years of experience that they have in

151 the relevant industry of work. It was hypothesised that there will be a positive relationship between the number of years of experience and success in obtaining bank credit. This hypothesis has been proven correct, as will be evident later in this chapter. More than one-third (n=121, 44.81 per cent) of the respondents indicated that they had 6–10 years of experience when they started the business. A similar proportion (n=109, 40.37 per cent) indicated that they had 1–5 years of experience (Table 6.4). Overall, the responses indicated that the majority of respondents have 6 years or more of experience. These results mirror those of Binzomah (2008) in Saudi Arabia; where 30.6 per cent of the sample had no experience, 28.8 per cent had 1–5 years of experience, 29.7 per cent had 6–10 years of experience, and 10.9 per cent had more than 10 years of experience.

Table 6.4: Experience of the Entrepreneur

Category Number Percentage

≤5 years 109 40.37

6–10 years 121 44.81

>10 years 39 14.44

No response 1 0.37

6.3.1.5 Level of Education

Respondents were asked about their level of education to identify whether there is a link between this variable and obtaining finance from Saudi banks. Table 6.5 shows that more than one-third of the respondents have a bachelor’s degree (n=113, 41.85 per cent) and around one- quarter had only a high school certificate (n=64, 23.70 per cent), and 14.81 per cent (n=40), a diploma. These proportions are similar to those reported by Binzomah (2008) and Alfaadhel (2010), who found that the majority of the people surveyed had a bachelor degree, 14.4 per cent and 26.71 per cent had a postgraduate degree, and 15.3 per cent and 11.64 per cent hold a high school degree. According to the CDSI (2013), only 5.5 per cent of the total population in Saudi Arabia are illiterate: more than 50 per cent of the population that are 15 years old and above have a high school certificate or higher education degree. The trends in level of education in the current sample are consistent with the findings for the general population.

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Table 6.5: Level of Entrepreneur Education

Category Number Percentage

High school 64 23.70 Bachelor degree 113 41.85 Diploma 40 14.81 Postgraduate degree 32 11.85 Vocational diploma 21 7.78 6.3.1.6 Training

In order for SMEs to succeed and develop, the owners/managers need training and investment in developing their managerial and technical skills. This allows them to keep their competitive advantage and improve their business performance. Therefore, a question was included that asked participants whether they had attended any training programmes. Table 6.6 indicates that almost two-thirds (n=170, 62.96 per cent) of the respondents had received some form of training in business management or entrepreneurial development via courses or workshops.

Table 6.6: Training

Category Number Percentage

Have undergone training 170 62.96

Have not undergone training 100 37.04