Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Nawa (نوى): From Seed to Strategy — A Sustainability Advisory for Aspiring Entrepreneurs(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alqahtani, Rozan; Ramli, KautsarNawa Consulting helps early-stage founders in Saudi Arabia and the GCC build practical sustainability into their businesses. Year 1 delivers fast audits and 1:1 coaching (Arabic/English, digital-first); Year 2 adds ESG-readiness projects; Year 3 offers strategy, impact KPIs and investor-readiness packs. The model is lean, remote and partner-led, using repeatable toolkits to keep prices accessible and delivery quick. Primary customers are aspiring entrepreneurs and micro-SMEs reached via startup hubs, universities, webinars and referrals. Evidence comes from customer interviews, a simple market scan and live experiments; risks and ethics are addressed with clear consent, data-minimisation and no-greenwashing rules. Financially, break-even is ~70 billable hours/month (reached Jan 2026). Year-1 totals: sales SAR 518k; cash in SAR 546k; cash out SAR 417k; year-end cash SAR 129k, with one early cash dip mitigated by spend controls and part-payments. An SDB loan at month 12 funds conversion to an LLC and a first hire; from Year 2, 10% of net cash supports founder-focused initiatives. The plan sets a 24-month path to a resilient, values-led advisory ready to scale or partner for strategic growth.11 0Item Restricted Cybersecurity Governance for Critical Infrastructure in Finance and Energy: Bridging the Compliance–Readiness Gap between Saudi Arabia and the United States (OT/IoT, AI, and Post-Quantum Cryptography)(King’s College London, 2025) Alshuwaier, Abeer Abdulrahman; Urbelis, AlexanderThis dissertation critically examines the cybersecurity governance of critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the United States, focusing on the finance and energy sectors. It explores how regulatory compliance translates into operational readiness against emerging risks from Operational Technology (OT), Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and post-quantum cryptography (PQC). The research applies Digital Security Risk Management (DSRM), the Regulatory Governance and Collective Accountability (RGCA) model, and Calo’s framework on privacy harm to assess the effectiveness of each jurisdiction’s cybersecurity architecture. Through a comparative legal and policy analysis, it identifies systemic gaps that hinder resilience and proposes a governance roadmap for Saudi Arabia to strengthen sectoral coordination, enforce quantum-aware breach disclosure, and institutionalize PQC migration. Ultimately, the study argues that bridging the compliance–readiness gap requires integrated oversight between legal and technical domains, proactive threat modelling, and adaptive regulatory mechanisms that align with technological evolution and interdependent risk environments.9 0Item Restricted Policy, Cultural, Social, and Environmental Barriers to Physical Activity in the Southern Region of Saudi Arabia(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alzahrani, Ali Ahmed; Gebel, KlausPhysical activity levels in Saudi Arabia remain low, contributing to rising rates of obesity and non-communicable diseases, highlighting the need for effective strategies to promote active lifestyles. This thesis explores the policy, cultural, social, and environmental barriers to physical activity in the Gulf region, with a specific focus on the southern region of Saudi Arabia. Through three interconnected studies, it examines the complexities of physical activity promotion at both the policy and community levels. The first study was a qualitative study with semi structured interviews with 19 policymakers from Saudi Arabia and Oman, exploring cross-sectoral challenges and facilitators of physical activity (PA) policies. It identified key gaps in policy implementation and intersectoral coordination. The second study was a qualitative study in which 39 PA policy documents from across the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries were analysed, providing a comparative overview that highlights policy inconsistencies and the absence of systematic evaluation mechanisms. The third study was based on interviews with 15 participants from diverse backgrounds in the southern region of Saudi Arabia. It offers a qualitative perspective on how local norms, safety concerns, and social expectations shape individuals' engagement in physical activity. One of the key findings was the need for improved collaboration among government sectors, particularly between health, education, municipal, and sports authorities, to effectively promote physical activity. The research highlights insufficient financial support and the lack of dedicated budgets for PA initiatives, which limits the scalability and sustainability of current efforts. Additionally, the findings underscore the importance of developing culturally adapted interventions that are sensitive to local traditions, gender norms, and environmental constraints specific to the southern region. Safety concerns, limited access to appropriate facilities, and social perceptions around physical activity, especially for women, emerged as critical barriers. The thesis contributes valuable insights for policymakers and public health practitioners by emphasising the importance of context-specific, multisectoral strategies to enhance physical activity participation and reduce health disparities in the region. Recommendations for future research and policy development are provided to further address the barriers identified and promote a healthier, more active population. Key recommendations include strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration to create more integrated approaches, increasing financial support to ensure sustainable initiatives, and aligning physical activity programs with local cultural norms to foster cultural change and greater community acceptance.19 0Item Restricted Saudi migrant children’s motivation to learn English in the UK and its relationship with their bilingual family language policy and practices(Saudi Digital Library, 2022) Jeehaan, Terngano; Bimali, IndarathneMany parents who travel to Anglophone countries for study purposes take their families with them and as a result their children get exposed to new environments. This transcultural experience entails a great deal of exposure to the English language and increases the need to learn it. In such a context, a healthy family environment is important. The family language practices shaped by parents can play a critical role in influencing the linguistic attainments of their children. Self-determination theory advocates that parents can create supporting environments and thereby increase children’s motivation to fulfil a task. They can construct an environment in which children do not feel pressured to do a task (autonomy-support), provide guidance to children to do the imposed task (competence-support) and provide emotional support to carry on an imposed regulation (relatedness-support). Such a context tends to increase children’s intrinsic or autonomous extrinsic motivation. This multiple case study explored the language practices of five Saudi families residing in the UK. It investigated parental beliefs on language learning and how they shaped their family language policies and practices. It also studied how children’s motivation to learn English was influenced by parental involvement. Qualitative data were obtained from interviews with five doctoral student parents, one partner of those students and seven children aged 10-17. Reflective journals kept by the participating children were also analysed. Thematic analysis of the acquired data showed that the parents believed that parental involvement was not a need in the UK as the environment would naturally ensure language learning, although they supported their children’s English language learning for extrinsic orientations (such as university study). In almost all cases, parents’ practices were restricted to following up English homework. Many of the children expressed unpleasant feelings about learning English because of the continuous challenges which they encountered in the UK. There was also a rise in controlled extrinsic motivation among the participant children. These results demonstrated that children also played an active role in shaping the family language practices, which highlights child agency in language learning.19 0Item Restricted THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN QUALITY OF WORK LIFE AND HEALTH BEHAVIOUR AMONG NURSES IN HOSPITALS OF SAUDI ARABIA(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Enezi, Anwar Saud; Afaneh, TareqThis study examined the association between Quality of Work Life (QWL) and Health Behaviors (HBs) among nurses working in hospitals in Saudi Arabia’s Northern Border Region. A descriptive, cross-sectional correlational design was used with a sample of 170 registered nurses. Data were collected using the Quality of Nursing Work Life (QNWL) Scale and the Health Behavior Inventory (HBI). Results revealed a good level of QWL (M=188.97, SD=7.48) and HBs (M=43.85, SD=6.28), with a significant association between them (r=-.623, p<.001). The findings highlight the need for workplace wellness programs addressing workload, shift design, and institutional support to promote nurses’ health and retention.19 0Item Restricted Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in Sustainable Infrastructure Development in Saudi Arabia: A Risk-Reward Analysis from a Project Management and Contracting Perspective(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alanzi, Mashal Johim; Hasan, FakhrulThis study investigates the dynamics of risk and reward allocation, governance, and technological enablers in Saudi Arabia’s Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) within the framework of Vision 2030. Using a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis in NVivo, the research identified 13 initial codes consolidated into four overarching themes: risk–reward mechanisms, project management and governance, institutional and technological enablers, and international best practices. Findings reveal that while PPPs are central to infrastructure delivery, risk allocation in Saudi Arabia remains highly government-centric, often undermined by opaque communication and weak project management capacity. Governance reforms, such as the PSP Law, provide a legal basis, yet institutional fragmentation and regulatory overlaps persist. Technology, including blockchain and AI, is recognised as a potential enabler of transparency but remains at a largely symbolic stage. Comparative analysis highlights that international best practices can inform Saudi PPPs only when adapted to the Kingdom’s socio-economic and institutional context. The study advances PPP scholarship by providing a context-specific understanding of governance and risk-sharing in emerging markets, integrating technology as a dual enabler, and offering practical recommendations for policymakers, investors, and project managers.1 0Item Restricted Exploring the Impact of Talent Management Strategies on AI Adoption in Saudi Arabia’s Emerging Tech Startups: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Abuhaimed, Mohammad Saad; Abdoulrahman Aljounaidi Mhd RamezSaudi Arabia's Vision 2030 emphasizes AI-driven digital transformation, yet tech startups struggle to scale AI beyond pilots. Purpose: This study examines how talent management (TM) strategies—attracting-selecting (AST), developing (DT), empowering (ET), retaining (RT), and career succession (CS)—shape AI adoption, and whether knowledge sharing (KS) mediates this relationship. Method: Using probability-based systematic random sampling of employees (n=337, N=2,308) across Saudi AI-adopting startups, the model was analyzed with PLS-SEM (SmartPLS 4). Findings: AST, DT, and ET positively affect AI adoption; RT shows no effect; CS exhibits a negative effect. KS partially mediates AST, DT, ET, and CS effects, indicating TM practices influence adoption primarily through knowledge institutionalization. Implications—Industrial: Startup leaders should integrate KS infrastructures with TM initiatives. Recommended practices: (1) cross-functional AI taskforces with rotating membership; (2) peer-learning sessions where early adopters mentor colleagues; (3) searchable repositories (wikis, Confluence) documenting implementation lessons and troubleshooting guides; (4) succession systems prioritizing collaborative knowledge transfer (mentoring, communities of practice) to prevent silos. Empirical evidence shows succession planning without KS scaffolding correlates negatively with adoption (β = -0.182, p < .01), highlighting knowledge-hoarding risks. Academic: The study extends technology-acceptance theory by integrating human-capital antecedents and positioning KS as the pivotal mediating mechanism in resource-constrained startups. Testing 16 structural paths across five TM dimensions addresses three gaps: (1) mechanistic under-specification, (2) construct aggregation bias, and (3) non-Western context neglect. The mediation framework—validated through bootstrapped indirect effects—provides a replicable blueprint for future research examining causality, moderators (industry velocity, founder literacy), and boundary conditions.26 0Item Restricted PERFORMANCE OF FREE-SPACE OPTICS TRANSMISSION SYSTEM USING ADVANCED MULTIPLEXING TECHNIQUES UNDER SAUDI ARABIAN WEATHER CONDITION(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) HAKAMI, ALI HADI; Din, Jafri BiFreespace optics (FSO) communication is a promising technology for high-speed and cost-effective data transmission in both terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks. This research evaluates the performance of advanced multiplexing techniques including orbital angular momentum (OAM), polarization division multiplexing (PDM), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), and in-phase/quadrature modulation (IQM) under representative Saudi Arabian atmospheric conditions. Visibility measurements from the Meteorological Department for Jazan and Riyadh were employed in this analysis. Atmospheric attenuation was modeled using the Kim, Kruse, and Al-Naboulsi approaches. OptiSystem and MATLAB were employed for system implementation and channel modeling, evaluating capacity gain and attainable distance range, with other performance metrics including bit error rate (BER), eye diagrams, and Q-factor evaluated for all objectives. The first objective examined OAM-based FSO systems, showing moderate capacity gains of up to 40 Gbps across 4 km under clear conditions. The second objective assessed OAM–PDM integration, effectively doubling capacity to 80 Gbps without extending the transmission range. The third objective investigated a hybrid IQM–OAM–PDM–OFDM design, achieving the highest performance: up to 640 Gbps over ~15 km under Kim and Kruse models, and ~7.25 km under the Al-Naboulsi model, with additional evaluation of Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) and Forward Error Correction (FEC) to further reduce BER. These findings confirm the sequential achievement of the research objectives and demonstrate that combining advanced multiplexing and modulation techniques, alongside probabilistic performance matrices, significantly enhances both capacity and transmission range. The results provide practical insights for the design of next-generation FSOs that are resilient to atmospheric impairments in Saudi Arabia.4 0Item Restricted Evaluating Cyber Deterrence Strategy at a State Level(University of Aberdeen, 2025) Alqahtani, Nizar; Anagnostakis, DimitriosThe study examines the comparative approaches of the United States, China, and Saudi Arabia toward cyber deterrence, focusing on how each state interprets and applies deterrence theory in its strategic context. A qualitative and document-based methodology was used, relying on public and official strategy documents, policy reports, and academic literature. The analysis draws on classical deterrence theory and its modern adaptations, using a framework of punishment, denial, entanglement, and ambiguity as outlined in the literature. Findings show that the U.S. leans more towards deterrence by punishment in the cyber context, reflecting its institutional maturity, but scholars emphasize that heavy dependence on deterrence by punishment in the cyber domain may lead to the risk of escalations. In contrast, China relies on ambiguity and information dominance, rooted in cultural traditions of deception and indirect confrontation, while Saudi Arabia’s deterrence approach is still developing, emphasizing partnerships and denial. The comparative analysis reveals that deterrence in cyberspace is context-dependent, shaped by each state’s political system, culture, and strategic priorities. The results highlight the challenges of attribution, credibility, and signaling in cyberspace, suggesting that credibility depends less on technical capabilities alone and more on perceptions and communication. This study argues for a more nuanced understanding of cyber deterrence, with implications for policymakers and international organizations navigating cyber conflict.Item Restricted SMART TOURISM IN SAUDI ARABIA: EXPLORING THE INTEGRATION OF AI IN CULTURAL HERITAGE DESTINATIONS(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alotaibi, Hussain; Buhalis, DimitriosIn line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, the tourism sector is undergoing rapid transformation, with smart tourism emerging as a key pillar of innovation and development. This study investigates the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in cultural heritage tourism, with a focus on three significant heritage destinations: Al-Ula, Diriyah, and Historic Jeddah. While innovative tourism technologies such as AI-powered recommendation systems, augmented reality (AR), and sentiment analysis have the potential to enhance tourist experiences, increase visitor satisfaction, and support heritage preservation, their adoption within Saudi Arabia’s heritage sector remains underexplored. This research aims to assess international tourists’ perceptions of AI usefulness, satisfaction, and trust, and to examine their behavioural intentions and willingness to pay for AI-enhanced services. A quantitative survey method was employed, with a sample of 306 international tourists who interacted with AI services at the selected heritage sites. Data were analysed using frequency distribution, descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, ANOVA, and correlation tests. The findings are expected to provide empirical insights into the effectiveness of AI technologies in enhancing cultural tourism experiences while preserving authenticity. The study offers practical implications for tourism authorities, technology developers, and policymakers on how to strengthen innovative heritage tourism strategies in Saudi Arabia.