Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted The Role of Business Intelligence in Supporting The Sustainable Development of the Saudi Arabian Economy A Case Study on The Public Investment Fund(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alanazi, Majed Qaem E; ALMahirah, MohammedThis study examined how Business Intelligence supports the sustainable development of the Saudi Arabian economy, using the Public Investment Fund (PIF) as the case study. The investigation evaluated how the five dimensions of Business Intelligence (data sources, data integration, data storage, data analysis, and data presentation) connect with the three pillars of sustainable economic development: inclusive economic growth, investment and innovation, and financial efficiency. The importance of the study derives from the central position the Public Investment Fund occupies in the Saudi economy and from its strategic role under Vision 2030, the study addressed the following central question: What role does Business Intelligence play in supporting the sustainable development of the Saudi economy at the Public Investment Fund? A descriptive-analytical, quantitative survey design was adopted. Data were collected via a 40-item self-administered questionnaire, measured on a 5-point Likert scale, distributed electronically to PIF employees. A total of 383 valid responses were obtained and analyzed using frequencies and percentages. The analysis led to the rejection of the main null hypothesis and all three sub-hypotheses. Business Intelligence was found to have a statistically significant positive effect on Sustainable Economic Development. The study concludes that Business Intelligence is a meaningful contributor to sustainable economic development at the Public Investment Fund and recommends that organizations, and the senior management of the Fund in particular, strengthen their analytical and data-presentation capabilities, embed Business Intelligence within their sustainability strategies, and continue to align their data infrastructure with the digital transformation requirements of Saudi Vision 2030.97 0Item Restricted How Effective is Saudi Arabia's FinTech Regulatory Framework? Benchmarking Growth and Risk Against the United Kingdom(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alsubhi, Daifallah Khaled; Brand, Ronald AAs the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pursues economic diversification under Vision 2030, financial technology has become a central pillar of the Financial Sector Development Program, advanced through a national FinTech Strategy launched in 2022. This study evaluates how effectively the Saudi regulatory framework fosters the expansion of the FinTech ecosystem while it mitigates systemic and consumer risk, and it benchmarks the developing Saudi framework against the mature Twin Peaks model of the United Kingdom. Adopting a qualitative, doctrinal, and functional comparative legal methodology, it assesses both jurisdictions through a dual-pillar framework that measures regulatory effectiveness in supporting growth and in managing risk. Effectiveness is assessed primarily as a matter of regulatory design, that is, whether the framework's instruments, institutions, and coordination architecture embody sound regulatory principles; outcome evidence is used in a secondary register. The study finds that the Saudi framework is effective at balancing growth and risk. Saudi Arabia has been highly successful in promoting FinTech growth and innovation, exceeding the principal milestones of its national strategy ahead of schedule and matching or surpassing the United Kingdom on several measures, including the responsiveness of its rulemaking and the strength of its cybersecurity and financial-crime controls. Gaps nevertheless remain in customer protection, where the framework lags the mature United Kingdom standard. These gaps include the absence of a mechanism to reimburse victims of authorized push payment fraud, the lack of an enforceable good-outcomes duty that reaches customers across all regulators, and the absence of a single, independent redress mechanism. The study concludes that the framework does not require wholesale reform but targeted completion, and it offers a prioritized set of recommendations, led by a fraud-reimbursement regime, a dedicated fraud-prevention strategy, an independent redress mechanism, and a balanced scorecard of risk and consumer outcomes, designed to close these consumer-protection gaps and complete the measurement and transparency architecture while preserving the strengths that have made the Kingdom one of the fastest-moving FinTech jurisdictions in the world.3 0Item Restricted The Influence of Saudi Women’s Empowerment on Female Characters in Children’s Literature: A Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alomari, Shatha; Bulfin, Scottتكمن أهمية هذه الدراسة في محاولتها فهم التقاطع بين أدب الأطفال والواقع الاجتماعي، إذ تستكشف كيف أثّرت سياسات تمكين المرأة في السعودية على الشخصيات النساء وتمثيلها في قصص الأطفال من خلال مقارنة أربعة قصص: اثنتان نُشرتا قبل عام 2016 واثنتان بعده. تناولت الدراسة ثلاثة أسئلة رئيسية: الأدوار التي أُسنِدت للشخصيات النسائية، ومستوى الوكالة التي مارستها داخل السرد، ومدى اتساق القصص المنشورة بعد مرحلة التمكين مع الخطاب الوطني حول تمكين المرأة. اعتمد البحث منهجًا نوعيا مقارنًا يستند إلى التحليل النسوي النقدي للخطاب، مستخدما نموذج فيركلوف الثلاثي كأداة التحليل الأساسية. أظهرت النتائج استمرار الأدوار الجندرية التقليدية في القصص الأربع، في حين أبدت الشخصيات النسائية درجات متفاوتة من الوكالة تأثرت بالسياق الاجتماعي لكل فترة زمنية. كما كشف التحليل أن القصص المنشورة بعد التمكين عكست الخطاب الإعلامي المصاحب لرؤية 2030، وفي الوقت نفسه أعادت إنتاج بعض الأيديولوجيات الجندرية وقاومت بعضها الآخر. وبناءً على هذه النتائج، يمكن القول إن القصص اللاحقة لمرحلة التمكين تأثرت بسياسات تمكين المرأة. ومع ذلك، تبقى النتائج محدودة بسبب صغر حجم العينة، وهو أحد قيود الدراسة. لكن تفتح هذه الدراسة المجال أمام مزيد من الأبحاث حول تأثر أدب الأطفال بالتحولات الاجتماعية.21 0Item Restricted The Kingdom's Calculus: Saudi Arabia's Strategic Hedging between the United States & China(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Khawaji, Saad; ALJebreen, Hanouf HassanThis thesis examines under what conditions does the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia strategically hedge between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China. Employing neoclassical realism and process tracing across three domains: economic, security, and diplomatic over the 2015-2025 period, this research finds that Saudi Arabia hedges under conditions of economic imperatives, security dilemma management, and multipolar adaptation. The intensity of Saudi Arabia’s hedging across the three domains varies, with the economic domain being the most proactive, the security domain having the most constraints, and the diplomatic domain showcasing the highest level of autonomy. This research extends strategic hedging theory beyond its Southeast Asian origins to the Middle East context.24 0Item Restricted The Reality of the Tourist Guide Profession in Saudi Arabia Challenges and Development Prospects(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alsuliemani, Raghad Naif; Ladkin, AdeleThis study explores the current reality of the tourist guide profession in Saudi Arabia, examining its challenges and future development prospects within the framework of Vision 2030. As the Kingdom undergoes rapid transformation in the tourism sector, tourist guides play a critical role as cultural ambassadors and mediators between heritage and visitors. Using a qualitative research approach, the study investigates the professional identity of Saudi tourist guides and the structural, regulatory, and societal challenges affecting their performance and career sustainability. Drawing on Professional Identity Theory, the research introduces the Saudi Dynamic Identity Resilience Model (SDIRM), which explains how guides adapt to rapid sectoral transformation while maintaining professional authenticity. Findings reveal key issues related to training gaps, regulatory frameworks, seasonal employment instability, and public perception. However, the study also identifies strong opportunities aligned with Vision 2030 reforms, institutional support, and growing international tourism demand. The research contributes theoretically by contextualizing professional identity within emerging tourism economies and practically by offering policy and training recommendations to strengthen the profession and enhance national tourism competitiveness.7 0Item Restricted MAPPING POWER AND POTENTIAL: ENERGY SOVEREIGNTY, SPATIAL OPPORTUNITIES, AND LIMITATIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA—WITH STRATEGIC INSIGHTS FROM THE U.S.(Michigan State University, 2026) Alanazi, Abeer; Nathan, MooreThis dissertation investigates energy sovereignty in Saudi Arabia through an original five-pillar theoretical framework comprising Resource, Economic, Political, Cultural/Epistemic, and Technology Sovereignty. Saudi Arabia presents a compelling analytical paradox: a nation commanding the world's largest proven petroleum reserves and among the highest solar irradiance values on Earth, yet generating less than 1% of its electricity from renewables as of 2023. This research argues that the gap between Saudi Arabia's renewable energy ambitions and actual deployment is not primarily a technical or financial problem but a multidimensional sovereignty problem — rooted in the institutional architecture of the petroleum state, the structural logic of the rentier economy, and the geographic realities of the Arabian Peninsula. The dissertation is organized across an introduction and six chapters. The Introduction establishes the Saudi Arabian context — its geography, population, economy, and the global significance of its energy sector — and outlines the dissertation's analytical architecture. Chapter 2 develops the five-pillar energy sovereignty typology as an original theoretical contribution, derived from comparative analysis of food, water, resource, and political sovereignty literatures, and validated empirically through k-means clustering of 138 countries. Chapter 3 applies the typology to Saudi Arabia's historical and contemporary energy sovereignty configuration, testing its analytical utility against the Kingdom's capable-but-stalled transition trajectory. Chapter 4 operationalizes energy sovereignty quantitatively through the Timmermann and Noboa (2022) values-based framework, evaluating Saudi Arabia across six dimensions using established international indices. Chapter 5 grounds the analysis spatially through a GIS-AHP multi-criteria suitability analysis of seven strategically selected Saudi cities, reframing geographic barriers as sovereignty conditions with direct strategic implications. Chapter 6 synthesizes findings across all analytical layers, revisits the dissertation's three primary research questions, and identifies future applications of the five-pillar framework to other resource-dependent economies. The central finding is that Saudi Arabia occupies a capable-but-stalled configuration — possessing the institutional capacity, financial resources, and physical endowments necessary for energy transition, yet structurally constrained by rentier political economy dynamics that suppress deployment urgency. The 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis, which unfolded during the completion of this research, provides unplanned empirical validation of the dissertation's core spatial argument: geographic exposure is not merely a cost factor but a sovereignty condition with direct strategic implications for Saudi Arabia's energy future. The insights developed extend beyond Saudi Arabia to all resource-dependent economies navigating the transition from fossil fuel dependency to renewable self-determination.4 0Item Restricted ESSAYS ON THE IMPACT OF BOARD GENDER DIVERSITY AND A FEMALE AUDIT COMMITTEE CHAIR ON FINANCIAL REPORTING QUALITY: EVIDENCE FROM VISION 2030 IN SAUDI ARABIA(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alshammari, Hasnah; Carter, Kelly EIn light of Vision 2030, this research investigates whether gender-based corporate governance practices enhance financial reporting quality using two essays. The first essay investigates the effect of board gender diversity on financial reporting quality among Saudi Arabian listed firms. Using a sample of 41 firms from 2013 to 2024 and analyzed using multiple regression models, the findings confirm an average discretionary accrual, and board size is positively associated with financial reporting quality. The main finding of this paper is that the contribution of female board membership to financial reporting quality is statistically insignificant, suggesting that the presence of women on the boards in Saudi Arabia does not affect earnings management. In case of non-executive directors, however, there is a significant positive impact on financial reporting quality, emphasizing the importance of board independence. The second essay examines the impact of female audit committee chair on financial reporting quality among Saudi Arabian listed firms. Using a sample of 49 firm-year observations from 2013 to 2024, the findings indicate sustained variation in discretionary accruals across firms, reflecting heterogeneous earnings management practices. The result also reveals an insignificant impact of audit committee chair gender and female board representation on earnings management, and the interaction between these two governance mechanisms is also insignificant. In contrast, audit committee’s financial expertise is significantly associated with improved financial reporting quality. Overall, the results suggest that while female leadership in audit oversight remains an important objective under Vision 2030, its effectiveness in improving financial reporting quality may be constrained by institutional and contextual factors within the Saudi corporate governance environment.19 0Item Restricted Internal and External Determinants of Adaptive Capacity in Saudi Large Companies(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alotaibi, Suwaylih; McMurray, Adela J; Rasel, SharifPurpose: This thesis identifies the key determinants (internal and external) of the adaptive capacity needed by Saudi Arabian large companies to facilitate a sustainable performance. The thesis examines the differentiation of adaptive capacity from other related concepts, as well as its application challenges and benefits. It further highlights the internal and external factors affecting adaptive capacity, with a specific focus on the Saudi Arabian context. In this context, the thesis identifies the key factors influencing the adaptive capacity of business organisations. It also examines internal factors such as leadership, organisational culture, innovation and employee skills (RQ1). Additionally, this thesis focuses on analysing external influences, including socioeconomic shifts, regulatory frameworks and technological changes (RQ2). It further explores limitations to adaptability (RQ3) and strategies for enhancing it (RQ4). This forms a critical foundation for the study’s empirical investigation and contributes to both academic discourse and practical implementations. Methodology: The methodology employed in this thesis adopts an interpretivist philosophy. Semi-structured interviews are used to collect textual data from 25 managers working in the supply chain and human resources departments in eight different companies in the Saudi food and beverage industry. A thematic analysis is conducted to extract the themes and patterns from interview transcripts. In this context, NVivo 14 is used to extract codes from the interview transcripts for further thematic analysis. Results: The findings reveal that adaptive capacity in Saudi food and beverage companies is driven by strong leadership, an innovation-focused culture and skilled employees interacting with socioeconomic, technological and regulatory forces. Novel insights reveal that external drivers act as both enablers and constraints, while barriers such as resistance to change, skill shortages and resource limitations persist. By addressing the internal and external determinants, identifying challenges and proposing strategies, the study answers the research questions, extends the adaptive capacity literature and provides practical guidance for Saudi firms. Contribution: The study concludes that adaptive capacity depends on the interplay between internal factors, including leadership, culture and employee skills, and external forces, such as socioeconomic shifts, technological change and regulation. It contributes to the literature by providing novel, context-specific evidence from Saudi Arabia, extending adaptive capacity theory beyond Western-centric studies. For the industry, it recommends leadership, an innovation culture, learning and collaboration to strengthen resilience and competitiveness33 0Item Restricted Developing incentive based ecosystem to empower Saudi Arabia Industrial SMEs in Machinery, and equipment components(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Almuqbil, Osama; Blackburn, OutiSMEs' importance comes as they contribute toward economies' GDP. In some countries, manufacturing SMEs have also been a major contributor to GDP contribution. In Saudi Arabia, the transformational vision for the oil-based economy is diversification. The industrial sector is one of the transformation programs, with a strategy to reach 36,000 in 2030, up from a base of 10,000. The mining sector, as part of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, has also created investment opportunity for various sectors. This report investigates how SMEs in Saudi Arabia can be part of the machinery manufacturing within the mining sector value chain. Findings reveals that there are multiple supportive entities that enable small businesses with industrial sector. The dimensions of the enablement are across policy, financial, and development. The gap is integrating the current dimensions into a complex machinery manufacturing. The report proposes establishing an ecosystem for the SMEs led by a synergy of collaboration between entities.7 0Item Restricted Exploring the Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in Achieving Saudi Vision 2030(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Alessa, Abdulaziz; Dhakal, Subas; Bayerlein, LeopoldVision 2030 of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia involves significant institutional developments related to corporate social responsibility (CSR), aimed at transforming the economy into a more sustainable one. The private sector is expected to play a central role in achieving the Vision 2030 goals, and consequently, many Saudi companies have begun adopting CSR practices. However, the extent to which these initiatives—particularly in the banking sector—contribute to achieving these goals remains unclear. More importantly, studies on the link between CSR practices and Vision 2030 remain scarce. According to Carroll (1991), CSR involves conducting business in economically profitable, law-abiding, ethical and socially supportive ways. Grounded in this understanding, this thesis contends that CSR implementation in the Saudi banking sector can meaningfully support the Vision 2030 goals by serving as a mechanism for sustainable development. The study used a mixed methods approach: a document analysis of annual reports from 10 banks, semi-structured interviews with 10 CSR policymakers and a survey of 204 branch managers. This approach was used to assess the magnitude of these banks’ CSR initiatives, their policy formulation at the corporate level and their CSR initiatives at the branch level. The results revealed a multilayered picture of CSR within the Saudi banking sector. Document analysis showed that although banks are actively engaged in CSR initiatives—particularly in areas such as supporting small and medium enterprises, housing and charitable giving, environmental sustainability remains a peripheral focus. Further, the interviews with the CSR policymakers revealed that CSR policy formulation is centrally controlled and follows a top-down approach, often shaped by Vision 2030 priorities, board directives and alignment with Vision 2030. Some banks involve regional managers in the consultation process, but corporate management makes the final decisions, limiting input from operational staff. Moreover, governance plays a pivotal role: some banks have strong board oversight and structured CSR committees, while others rely on more ad hoc approaches with less formal integration. In addition, the survey results indicated a moderate alignment between branch-level practices and CSR policies, but also highlighted gaps in CSR-specific training, the insufficient allocation of financial resources and limited decision-making autonomy. Notably, statistical analysis showed that factors such as managerial experience, awareness of CSR policies and the availability of institutional support strongly influence branch-level CSR initiatives. These findings are supported by institutional and attitude–behaviour theories and offer in-depth insight into the multi-level dynamics of CSR policy and practice within the Saudi banking sector. This study provides valuable implications for policymakers, government regulators and banking professionals by highlighting the importance of aligning corporate-level CSR polices with operational initiatives to effectively support Vision 2030. In particular, regulatory bodies and CSR departments may use these findings to enhance policy communication, standardise reporting frameworks and strengthen branch-level capabilities, which would ensure that CSR becomes a more impactful, integrated tool for achieving the Vision 2030 goals.23 0