Strategic Approach of Saudi Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: More of Emergent or Deliberate?

The impact of the strategic planning, especially in promising economies are significant indicators of success for the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Globally, the SMEs sector suffers from a very high failure rate and the most important reason for this is poor capacity in strategic management. The practice of SMEs in unstable environments, especially in oil-based economy like Saudi Arabia (SA), creates the need for more flexibility in building strategies. Therefore, as the aim of this study was to structurally examine the type of strategic management in SMEs, the adaptation of a high flexibility strategic theoretical framework based on the emergent strategy model by Mintzberg might be more suitable for SMEs’ needs and capabilities. In this research, forty-six SMEs were surveyed in SA. Unlike most previous research, whose variables focused on external issues (such as funding issues or government policies), this study focuses on internal issues (such as internal capabilities) that influence the choice of strategy in SMEs. Correlation and factor analysis were used because the data set was appropriate for factor analysis as the KMO value was greater than 0.50. The research concluded that SMEs tend to adopt a deliberate strategy more than the emerging strategy.