MICRO-FACTORS INFLUENCING SITE SELECTION FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SMES) IN SAUDI ARABIA: ALHASSA AREA USING ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS (AHP) ANALYSIS

Site selection is a complex task for decision makers. However, this task becomes more complicated with small and medium enterprises. Location selection decision involves selected octal-factors which influence the decision. This paper proposed micro-factors that influence site selection decision with a quantitative tool (AHP analysis) to rank which factor is most significant and vice versa. Outcome of this paper considerably matches perspectives of experts and owners of small businesses in Al- Hassa area who gave an accurate estimation of factors prioritization due to their experience in the region as well as the businesses

The Impact of Pricing on Consumer Buying Behavior in Saudi Arabia : Al-Hassa Case Study

The study of consumer behavior is very challenging task. If a company wants to survive, it should be able to compete well. The main purpose of this research is to measure the impact of pricing strategies on consumers' psychology and on their buying behavior accordingly. A questionnaire has been designed, distributed and filled up by participants from Al-Hassa region. 433 responses were received from participants with 43.3% response rate, where SPSS were used to analyzed the data collected. The findings show that there is a positive relationship between prices and consumer buying behavior. It also showed that there is no statistically significant difference between the responses of  individuals “due to age, gender, marital status, qualification and monthly salary” about the research's questions related to the three pricing strategies (Odd pricing strategy, Bundle pricing strategy and Discount pricing strategy) except there is a statistically  significant difference between the responses of individuals “due to gender” about the odd  pricing strategy. Depending on the founding results, recommendations were set to retailers and dealers. Keywords: Buying behavior, odd even strategy, bundle strategy, discount strategy, Consumer Psychology.

Oil Prices Turn-down and its Effects on Global Economy: A Descriptive Study of Saudi Arabia

This paper highlights oil prices turndown and its effect on the global economy in a descriptive study of Saudi Arabia. The reasons, consequences and an adaptation approach for the current oil crisis in Saudi Arabia have been addressed. Oil prices will most likely maintain the current low prices for at least the next two years as OPEC has not succeeded to offset oil supplies.   Reasons of the oil price turndown were found to be merely politically motivated than purely economic. However, both aspects will negatively affect the oil price and the crude oil sales volume. Consequences of oil price turndown manifest itself in reducing the levels of the currency valuation, business survival, and social standards. As a result, governmental subsides in fuel, water, and electricity will be revised. This will lead to several aggressive decision to stall or completely eliminate costly projects. The consequences are that private industries relying heavily on business with the public sector will be badly impacted, leading to significant layoffs.  Unemployment rate will, therefore, sharply increase, affecting the “Saudization” program.  Inflation would in turn increase and the economic growth decreased. To rectify the oil price crisis, a comprehensive approach has to be taken into consideration. The most important of which is to adopt a sustainable economy approach where dependence on oil export be alleviated. Keywords: OPEC, Oil, Turn-down, Global econom

Searching and Sorting Prioritization of Sets within Dodecagon of Company Departments using: Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Analysis

Dodecagram is a geometric mathematical polygon with twelve sets (sides, arrays) and twelve angles which are polymorphic, homomorphic, and orthogonal. The paper presents twelve sets (arrays of arrays, departments)  which represent typical departments of enterprise. The main purpose of the research is search and sort the sets (arrays) using one of the most popular operational research (OR) /decision science(DS)/management science (MS) tool known as Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Analysis. The connection within the twelve sets are represented using configuration of  abelian graph and complete graphs. The characteristic of abelian graph and complete graphs is that the connection (collection) is without sub optimization with each other (Hussain and Tembe, 2014). It is attractive and interesting to use searching and sorting algorithms because searching and sorting are the two most widely and thoroughly studied, researched, and applied analytic and stochastic mathematical computation topics across many disciplines. It further noteworthy to point out that there are several sorting and searching algorithms. One of the algorithm used in the paper is prioritization using visual programming language with AHP . Sorting and searching can be used specially for interface elements for listed or linked lists(array of arrays). All the set are interlocked via supply chain. The further purpose of this paper is bring analogy that Dodecagram sets are interconnected with supply chain(SC). Keywords: AHP, Dodecagon, Abelian , Supply Chain, Decision Science, Management Science, Analytics, sub optimization

Supply Chain with Operational Research (OR) using Simulation: A Case Study Price of Oil and Production Fluctuation in Kingdom Saudi Arabia (KSA)

Present trends in fluctuations of oil price and production have an impact on supply chain (SC). The study concentrates on the computation on the impact on fluctuation of oil price and production in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The study is attractive and interesting because it uses stochastic simulation as the main and last resort of mathematical operational research (OR) technique and tracking signal. Excel was selected as the main candidate visual object event driven programming (VOEDP) for the computation. Keywords: Simulation, Stochastic simulation, Tracking signal, operational research (OR), Supply Chain

Behavioral Measurement of Young Generation towards Brand Products in Saudi Arabia: Al- Hassa Case Study

Brand products are rapidly prevailing in developed countries. The behavioral measurement and attitude among young generation is vital to understand in order to make a good marketing plan. This paper highlights the behavioral measurement of young generation towards brand products. It specifically measures  demographic variables ( age, gender, income, social status, education, employment status, friendship effect and price) towards the brand products. Methodology used is the quantitative method which is a self-administrated questionnaire  with 170 responses from the online/paper filling survey participation. SPSS is the software tool used for the statistical analysis to test the suggested hypothesis. Results showed that the price of well-known brand products affects the purchase process negatively. Although young people are interested in purchasing brand products, their low income prevents them from the buying process while they are considered as a major segmentation for brand names. Keywords: Young generation, Brand products, Al-Hass

Cement Industry in Saudi Arabia during (2009 – 2012) : Supply and Demand Analysis

The growth of mega projects in Saudi Arabia due to the overflow public budget is considered as major catalyst for cement industry . However, governmental rules contribute critically in monitoring and controlling in cement prices . So, companies can not raise prices even if different factors appear. In this paper, three cement companies are selected as samples of the sector: Southern Cement, Yamamah and Arabian Cement which analyzed by look to supply and demand side with their determinants during (2009 - 2012 ) by applying the law of supply and the law of demand. Also, the black market and the reasons of emergence are discussed. Finally, conclusion and implication are explained at the end. Keywords: Cement Industry, Saudi Arabia, Supply, Deman

ATTITUDE OF SAUDI CONSUMERS TOWARDS ONLINE SHOPPING WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO AL-HASSA REGION (KSA)

Abstract This research presents a study of measuring the attitude of Saudi consumers towards online shopping: Al-Hass

ATTITUDE OF SAUDI CONSUMERS TOWARDS ONLINE SHOPPING WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO AL-HASSA REGION (KSA)

Abstract This research presents a study of measuring the attitude of Saudi consumers towards online shopping: Al-Hass

Sunflower and climate change: Possibilities of adaptation through breeding and genomic selection

Due to its ability to grow in different agroecological conditions and its moderate drought tolerance, sunflower may become the oil crop of preference in the future, especially in the light of global environmental changes. In the field conditions, sunflower crop is often simultaneously challenged by different biotic and abiotic stresses, and understanding the shared mechanisms contributing to two or more stresses occurring individually or simultaneously is important to improve crop productivity under foreseeable complex stress situations. Exploitation of the available plant genetic resources in combination with the use of modern molecular tools for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and application of genomic selection (GS) could lead to considerable improvements in sunflower, especially with regard to different stresses and better adaptation to the climate change. In this chapter we present a review of climate-smart (CS) traits and respective genetic resources and tools for their introduction into the cultivated sunflower, thus making it the oil crop resilient to the extreme climatic conditions and well-known and emerging pests and diseases. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019