From Statecraft to Selfcraft: Producing and Consuming Entrepreneurship in Oman (original) (raw)

Infrastructures of Entrepreneurship: State Reform and Development in Oman

2021

This dissertation explores how under pressure from low oil prices, enormous budget deficits, and a faltering economic model, the Omani state has been renegotiating its relationship with global capitalism in a dawning post-oil era. To apprehend this development, I ethnographically explore how the Omani government has embarked on a multi-sited program of economic reform in which the promotion of entrepreneurship plays an important role. Based on 12 months of archival and field research in London and Muscat, I demonstrate how the state reform project, meant to revitalize the engines of capital accumulation in one country, transcends the “economic.” It explores how emotions, bureaucratic complaints, new ideas about productivity and creativity, foreign experts, and local entrepreneurs are reworking the contours of state capitalism in Oman while seeking to transform the state, society, and the individual. This dissertation provides a glimpse into this complex and contradictory reform process and the exigencies of post-oil development under late capitalism.

A Review of the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem of Oman

This conceptual work critically reviews existing initiatives of Oman for entrepreneurial growth. It focuses on the existing stakeholders of the entrepreneurship ecosystem of Oman, their work and potential for viable interventions for further entrepreneurship. The conceptual information here relates to Oman only. The study disseminates vital information on how entrepreneurs can benefit from the entrepreneurship ecosystem for developing and expanding their existing businesses. This ecosystem is in a developmental stage with recently incorporated organisations in growth. Challenges always remain as a pinnacle, and encouragement is given for opportunity entrepreneurship, rather than necessity entrepreneurship.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP GROWTH IN OMAN: POSITION, PROSPECTS AND GROWTH OF ENTREPRENEURAL EDUCATION

The term ‘Entrepreneurship’ has certain connotations to diverse groups of people. An entrepreneur is identified as one who undertakes to organize, manage, and assume the risks of business. Shane and Venkataraman (2000) define entrepreneurship as involving the study of sources of opportunities; the processes of discovery, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities; and the set of individuals who discover, evaluate, and exploit them. This paper considers the current position and potential of innovative and entrepreneurial thinking for effective problem solving and change management in Oman. The paper explores the initiatives that the government of Oman has sought in building the level of awareness and engagement with the innovation and entrepreneurship agenda within education system, especially tertiary level programs. It reviews the educational aims as well as the uptake of entrepreneurial education and training in Oman. This paper seeks to identify how incorporating entrepreneurship into educational curriculum will contribute to the future growth of entrepreneurship in the country while enhancing the entrepreneurship agenda to include non- educational constituencies, actors and community at large. In recognizing the central role of creativity and innovation in entrepreneurship and in the generation of new ideas, where appropriate the core challenges of protecting those new ideas which have commercial and social value. The paper debunks one of the myths that entrepreneur are academic and social misfits while considering adopting social, economic and academic leadership trendsetter and change agent that the society and country needs at large. The contemporary Omani entrepreneur is to be viewed as a professional, with entrepreneurship education highlighting the issues related to the formation, development, and operations of small-scale and micro enterprises.

Oman Entrepreneurship Highlights: A Case Study of Nawa International

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal

Entrepreneurship in Oman is still relatively on the premature stage of development considering the current conditions within the Omanis business policies and structure that hinders the full potential of the SME sector in the country. Amidst the challenging SME business environment in Oman is a thriving company proving that there is room for growth for entrepreneurs in the country. The discussion will highlight Nawa International and its key entrepreneurial leader and Managing Director Mr. Khalid Al Suleimany in terms of analyzing how the company's entrepreneur and their outlook enabled the organization's growth. Both the challenges and achievements will be highlighted in the discussion with analysis done on the factors affecting the success or failure of the SMEs in the country. In here, the business overview will provide relevant insights regarding the company followed by a discussion on the key characteristics that the organization's entrepreneur have that enables positive output. Furthermore, the discussion will also highlight assumption about the business and the SME sector in Oman as a whole, which also includes discussion on the key issue and analysis of the described factors that drives the failure and success of the SME businesses in the country including that of Nawa International.

Between Trend and Necessity: Top-Down Entrepreneurship Promotion in Oman and Qatar

The Muslim World, Volume 105, Issue 1, pages 116–138, 2015

In this paper, I examine how the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Gulf is wedged between an international neoliberal policy agenda and a regional economy circumscribed by two interrelated path dependencies that are difficult to correct — national addictions to hydrocarbon revenue and foreign labour. Using primary data from two case studies, Oman and Qatar, I argue that entrepreneurship promotion, although cast in the language of private sector development, has thus far become another vehicle for state patronage. In fact, the mechanization of SME support by familiar rentier patterns may only be delaying a day of reckoning while in fact compounding existing fiscal and social challenges.

Mapping Entrepreneurship Ecosystem of Oman

Paper critically reviews existing initiatives of Oman for entrepreneurship growth. It identifies the existing stakeholders of the entrepreneurship ecosystem of Oman, their work and potential for viable interventions to further entrepreneurship reflecting Oman's economic development process. This framework is designed based on secondary resources to explore the stakeholders of the entrepreneurship ecosystem of Oman. Limited access to in different governmental and private organizations made the task challenging. The conceptual information are related to only Oman not in the whole universe A useful information source for students, academics and policy-makers. This study contributes to the knowledge on how entrepreneurs can be supported by the entrepreneurship ecosystem of Oman to develop and expand their business. Entrepreneurship ecosystem of Oman is under development and infancy stage institutions are prospering. Challenges remain for an effective intervention. Oman requires to encourage opportunity entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship and factors of Intention among Omanis

YMER, 2022

Oman Vision 2040 has a specific emphasis on entrepreneurship development. High quality of entrepreneurial activities, at present generates positive impact on nationals and subsequently determines an improvement on the business environment. The strategy has laid the development of the new enterprise in its priorities to diversify the national economy and reduce its heavy reliance on oil that is witnessing greater price volatility in the global market. The study attempts to assess entrepreneurial intentions among Omanis in relation to independent variable such as personal attitude, professional attraction, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 174 young Omanis from the Sultanate of Oman and was analyzed with Chi Square, Pearson Correlation Test, Spearman Correlation Test and Multiple Linear Regression. However, it is revealed that the regression model is a good fit of the data. There is an increase, and interest amongst the Omanis with respect to entrepreneurship and innovation. The study shall recommend that the focus of government programs should be supporting new entrepreneurs to reach out to global markets, and to extend support to accelerate small business, support, and sustain them. The government should realize the aspirant entrepreneur ambitions to develop a holistic strategy with very clear pathways, outputs, KPIs, and collaborate with other SME ecosystem and key stakeholders to achieve Oman Vision 2040 goals.

Entrepreneurial Growth: Challenges to Young Omani Entrepreneurs

2019

Entrepreneurship plays an important role in economic prosperity and social stability in many developed countries. Entrepreneurship has been adopted as a strategy to promote economic activities among young people. There is a growing interest in understanding the various challenges of youth entrepreneurship. The main purpose of this study was to assess the challenges in entrepreneurial growth of young entrepreneurs in the Sultanate of Oman. This research was set out to investigate the obstacles that young people encounter when setting up their businesses; the current obstacles that prevent the expansion of their entrepreneurial ventures; as well as the prospects for youth entrepreneurship development in this community. The study employed a descriptive survey research type and used convenience sampling technique to collect data. A standardized questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect data to establish the perceptions of 52 young Omani entrepreneurs. This paper is significant in that it brings insights on challenges for entrepreneurship in Oman. The importance of stimulating the entrepreneurial spirit, values, and attitudes of young people and encouraging innovative business start-ups while fostering a more entrepreneur-friendly culture must be translated into actual and effective policy actions in Oman. We consider that supporting youth entrepreneurship must be an Oman's priority.