The economic landscape of Saudi Arabia has undergone significant changes in recent years, largely due to various administrative law reforms. The aim of this research paper is to examine the administrative law reforms in Saudi Arabia and their impact on the country's business environment. Based on the findings, the law reforms made in Saudi Arabia include initiating businesses, safeguarding the interests of minority investors, facilitating trade, ensuring contract enforcement, providing access to electricity, facilitating credit acquisition, granting construction permits, and resolving insolvency. Saudi Arabia should take steps to raise public awareness about corruption and establish more robust laws to safeguard whistleblowers. The country should also allocate resources to training programs and establish partnerships with advanced, specialized courts. Creating entrepreneurship programs and workshops to promote an entrepreneurial mindset in schools and the community is crucial. Saudi Arabia can create a favorable environment for economic growth and development by implementing these measures.

This study was, therefore, set to achieve the following objective: to explore the impact of social media on consumers’ buying decisions. The current research was conducted on online consumers through luxury perfume brands' websites. The phenomenon of online sales has recently spread in Saudi Arabia, where the authorized number of those stores reached 1,800 sites at the end of 2021. The target population was online purchasing consumers from luxury perfume sellers. The appropriate sample size in unlimited populations is 385 responses. The research hypotheses were tested using the SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) method, which allows for the evaluation of the degree of dependence of consumers buying decisions on social media marketing. The results of the study demonstrated that social media marketing influences the consumer purchasing decision process. The outcome can be credited to the effectiveness of marketing efforts in the chosen retail via social media.

This study aims at exploring the effect of four elements of an integrated marketing mix. The mix consists of both elements of the 4Ps and SIVA marketing models. These elements are product-solution, promotion-information, place-access, and price-value. A questionnaire was used to collect the required data from a sample of retailing market customers in Saudi Arabia. The total number of the questionnaires used in data analysis was 378. The study found that product-solution and place-access from customers’ perspective had significant effects on customer retention. On the other hand, price-value had a negative significant effect on customer retention, while promotion-information had no effect on customer retention. Hence, companies are called for considering products as solutions, promotion as a source of information for customers, place as an access point for such a solution, and price must be appropriate to the value that the customer gets.

The study aims to investigate the moderating role of Organizational Readiness (OR) in the relationship between Supply Chain Agility (SCA) and Blockchain Adoption Intention (BAI) among these SMEs, drawing on the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory. The study adopts a positivist approach and a cross-sectional design to explore how organizational readiness moderates blockchain adoption in Saudi SMEs. It uses a quantitative methodology, surveying decision-makers from SMEs engaged in supply chain activities to gather data. Data analysis is performed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The study's findings indicate that Operational Supply Chain Transparency (OSCT) impacts Supply Chain Alignment (SCL), Supply Chain Adaptability (SCD), SCA, and BAI. Moreover, there is a positive influence of SCL on SCD and SCA. SCA also significantly influences BAI. Furthermore, the moderation analysis shows that OR significantly affects the SCA-BAI relationship, indicating that higher OR amplifies the positive impact of supply chain agility on blockchain adoption intention, underscoring the critical roles of supply chain factors and OR in blockchain adoption among SMEs. Based on the RBV theory, the study delves into how constructs like SCL, OSCT, SCD, and SCA are influenced by blockchain technology. It assesses the extent to which these factors would impact the propensity of SMEs to implement blockchain yet explores the moderating influence of OR on this dynamic.

Service quality plays an important role in the enhancement of the satisfaction level of customers or consumers and the financial performance of business organizations. Customers expect excellence in service quality and the gap between the expectations and availability of the services determines the level of the service quality of the business organizations. The primary objective of the study is to measure the service quality of Saudi Arabian banks. An online questionnaire containing SERVQUAL dimensions was administered, and responses were analyzed by applying the F test two sample variances, and rank correlation. Financial information extracted from the selected Saudi Arabian banks for the period 2018 to 2022 and ROA (return on assets) and ROE (return on equity) were calculated to get the financial performance. The combined study of rank analysis of financial variables and SERQUAL variables indicates that financial performance is positively and moderately governed by the Tangibility, Assurance, and Empathy dimensions of service. Overall, the expectations of the bank clients are higher than the availability of services in Saudi Arabian banks. There is a need to improve the Reliability and Responsiveness to enhance the level of service quality in Saudi Arabian banks.

This study examines gender differences in attitudes and intentions to adopt artificial intelligence among startup professionals. Utilizing a survey methodology encompassing responses from male and female participants, key constructs including attitude, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and intention to use were analyzed through a comparative lens. The results reveal nuanced disparities between male and female perspectives on AI adoption. While minor differences were observed in the influence of attitude and perceived ease of use on adoption intentions, a significant gender gap emerged in the perception of how ease of use impacts perceived usefulness. These findings underscore the importance of recognizing gender dynamics in shaping attitudes and intentions towards AI adoption, highlighting the need for gender-inclusive strategies in fostering technology adoption among startups. This study contributes to the understanding of gender-specific considerations in AI adoption processes and offers insights for policymakers and industry stakeholders seeking to promote equitable and inclusive technological advancement.

The increasing worldwide focus on sustainable development has drawn significant attention to environmental issues. The focus is on minimizing energy usage to lessen environmental harm. However, conversations regarding this subject have raised worries. Sustainable development is gaining respect from economists and policymakers due to its potential impact on productivity. The reason for conducting this research is to evaluate the effects of energy consumption, economic growth, trade liberalization, and urbanization on carbon emissions within the context of Saudi Arabia. The data was collected longitudinally from 1980 to 2022 and comes from World Development Indicators and Our World in Data. The study found cointegration among the variables using the ARDL model Short-term CO2 emissions were inversely related to previous delays, economic growth, and trade liberalization, but directly connected to energy consumption and urbanization. Long-term data demonstrates that the usage of energy, urbanization, and trade liberalization have a positive correlation with CO2 emissions, but economic development and previous CO2 emissions have a negative correlation. The study's results are briefly discussed, and several recommendations are made accordingly.

This study aims to present further evidence of cost stickiness by employing Selling, General, and Administrative (SG&A) costs. It also provides empirical evidence on the effect of audit committee meetings and audit quality on cost stickiness. The study used data from listed companies on the Saudi Arabian stock exchange during 2015–2019. Based on pooled panel data regression, the study proves that the SG&A costs are sticky. The results show the level of SG&A costs increases more with an increase in sales revenue (activity) while it decreases less with an equivalent reduction in sales revenue (activity). Also, this study finds that the frequency of audit committee meetings decreases the magnitude stickiness of SG&A costs, which supports the view that frequent meetings of AC significantly enhance its overseeing function and effectiveness. The study further reveals that audit quality “by BIG4 audit firms” is not related to reduced cost stickiness. This result implies that there is no difference in CS between companies audited by BIG4 or by non-BIG4. In general, the research highlights the importance of AC diligence (i.e., meetings) in improving its effectiveness and controlling management’s discretions affecting the cost structure in the context of sticky cost behavior.

Global competition and economic globalization are forcing countries' governments to devise encouragement support programs and formulate exporting policies to help SMEs export, compete, and survive in foreign markets. This study examines the mediating role of national export support and encouragement programs (NESEPs) in clarifying the impact of determinants of market environment information on the SMEs' export financial performance (EXFP) and SMEs' export strategic performance (EXSP) based on a resource-based view, which helps understand novel holistic relationships between them. Data from 106 exporting SME firms working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were collected using an online questionnaire survey. Regression path analysis from structural equation modeling was used to test the study's model relationships. The most important positive findings that emerged from this study are: Determinants of market information acquisition (DMIA) will positively influence SMEs' EXFP and NESEP. Determinants of market information dissemination (DMID) will positively influence SMEs' EXSP. Determinants of market information responsiveness (DMIR) will positively influence NESEP. NESEP will positively mediate the effect of DMIA and DMIR on SMEs' EXSP. The study’s theoretical and social implications and limitations are discussed in the concluding sections. Furthermore, directions for future research are provided.

Cement & material sector is instrumental in infrastructural development of any economy. The same holds about Saudi cement sector which has contributed substantially to the economic and construc-tion boom in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The cement sector of KSA holds the highest place among other GCC countries. Though, during the last couple of years, the sector seems to be grap-pled with capacity and weighted down due to certain reasons. Nevertheless, almost all of the cement companies in KSA are underplaying their actual capacities. Still, plenty of untapped growth oppor-tunities for cement sector are available in KSA and other GCC countries. Henceforth, considering the growth potential and taking cue from the current scenario of KSA cement sector, the current study endeavors to measure the efficiency of listed cement companies in KSA. The study endeavors to be engrossed in identifying a set of companies which plays on efficiency frontier. Therefore, the technical efficiency performance of fourteen listed cement companies in KSA was measured using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology. Two basic models of DEA methodology (i.e. CRS & VRS) were used to estimate the pure and technical efficiency of identified DMUs over a pe-riod of four years from 2016 to 2019. The study reveals that over a period of four years and on an average efficiency scale, only 23% of the firms were purely technically efficient on a CRS scale, while 46% of the firms were technically efficient. Only 23% of the firms were scale and technically efficient. Though, companies in the sector have a vast potential to outperform on efficiency front. Yet, the overall efficiency level among Saudi cement companies are remained depressing. Moreo-ver, the study has noticed that the companies which are inefficient did not have a considerable dis-tance from the efficiency frontier. The study also provided significant insights on the input factors causing inefficiency and suggestion to achieve the total technical efficiency. Furthermore, the effi-ciency analysis also provided benchmarking firms, which are efficient under several criteria for oth-ers to imitate their best practices for becoming a significant player on efficiency frontier.