Free Essay: A Study of How Much Saudi Organizations Spend On Information Systems

The field of information system is focused on the study of systems that relate to information and a complementing network of hardware and software employed by persons and organizations. In an organizational setting, such systems are used to collect, create, process, filter and distribute data. Information systems, today, have become an integral part of all business operations. This is because they facilitate a seamless flow of operations and also enhance the scale of productivity in various organizations.

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Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, which is also referred as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is an Arabian nation that is situated on the western side of Asia. It is a desert nation that contains most of the Arabian Peninsula, Persian Gulf coastlines and Red Sea (Encyclopedia, 2007). The nation is often regarded as the home of Islam since it is home to two of the globes most sacred mosques and also the believed burial ground of prophet Muhammad. The nations capital is known as Riyadh, and it is a skyscraper-dominated metropolitan city. According to the CIA World Fact Book, the nation has an oil-based economy as well as strong government controls over all the nations major activities (CIA, 2016). In addition, the nation possesses approximately sixteen percent of the globes proven petroleum deposits, and it also has a major influence in the OPEC. Today, it is considered to be the largest exporter of petroleum products in the world and its petroleum sector accounts to over eighty-seven percent of the national budget. The sector also accounts for approximately forty-two percent of the nations GDP and ninety percent of its export earnings (CIA, 2016).

Saudi Arabia Organizations

In Saudi Arabia, foreign entities can invest in three forms of business organizations. These include the limited liability corporations, the joint-stock corporations and through technical and/or scientific services office. In addition, so as to operate, all organizations must attain the necessary licenses from the nations ministry of commerce as well as from other appropriate agencies. The limited liability companies (LLCs) are the most common forms of business organizations used by foreign investors in Saudi Arabia. In most cases, such organizations contain a minimum of two persons and a maximum of fifty persons (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2016). In addition, such institutions are not permitted to deal in insurance or other forms of financial operations.

They are also required by the Saudi Law to have an operating capital of at least half a million Riyal (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2016). The joint stock corporations in the nation are organizations that are either privately or publicly held limited liability corporations. Joint ventures, on the other hand, are unincorporated business organizations that closely resemble a partnership business organization. Nevertheless, each party in a joint venture holds a certificate or title of his/her total contribution into the business. For such organizations to be permitted to operate in Saudi Arabia, they must be listed with the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Commerce. In addition, the organizations must present their objectives, liabilities, rights and procedure of the division of profits and/or losses to the nations Ministry of Commerce.

Business organizations in the nation have increased tremendously due to the governments efforts aimed at encouraging the growth of business in the private sector with an aim to diversify the nations economy. The move is also focused on employing more of its citizens in the business organizations. The move was aimed at reducing the large disparity in the unemployment numbers between the foreigners working in the nation and the Saudi nationals. Today, it is estimated that approximately six million foreigners are employed in various organizations in the nation. The move to adopt this initiative by the government has been facilitated by the nations move to adopt information systems in all organizations in the nation. There are four types of business information systems used by organizations in Saudi Arabia.

The transaction processing systems are employed to facilitate a smooth flow of business transactions by varying organizations in the nation. In addition, the customer relation management systems by the nations organizations are used to synchronize sales as well as enhance the organizations marketing efforts. The business intelligent systems, on the other hand, are used by the organizations to identify, extract as well as analyze information for various business operation needs. In Saudi Arabia, such systems provide the analyzes of future sales patterns, creates a summary of the current costs and also creates a forecast of an organizations sales revenues. Knowledge management information systems, on the other hand, organizes and dissects organizational knowledge and later redistributes it to the various parties that are members of the organization (Davoren, 2016).

Knowledge management information systems in an organization brings innovation, improves the employees performance, creates integration and also aids in retaining knowledge within the business organizations. The national estimated revenue for the nation in 2015 were approximately one hundred and ninety-three billion dollars (CIA, 2016). The level of government expenditure for the same year was three hundred and eighteen billion dollars (CIA, 2016). This shows that, despite the nations vibrant economy, there is a need for the nation to have more business organizations that could aid in boosting the nations level of collected revenue every year. Arguably, the success of such organizations can be aided by the adoption of effective information systems in the nation.

Information On Using Technology in Saudi Arabia

KSA is one of the leading Arab countries in the process of modernization. This move by the nation has been marked with an emphasis on the use of technology in various fields of the nations economy by the government. Today, the use of information systems technology in most organizations have increased tremendously. Consequently, this has greatly enhanced the flow of operations in the institutions and also greatly increased the level of productivity in various organizations. In addition, the nation has created KACST, which is a science and technology research organization that is concerned with proposing, developing as well as the implementation of effective science strategies in the nation (Science-Engineering, 2012). In addition, the organization reports directly to the KSA prime minister.

The Aim of This Research

The aim of this research will be to investigate the level of investment that organizations in Saudi Arabia make to information systems. The paper will illustrate the methodology section of the research and a discussion of the level of spending on the information system by organizations in the nation. It will also feature an evaluation of the spending decisions made by organizations on the information systems as well as a literature review of publications focused on information systems expenditure by various organizations in KSA.

Reference List:

CIA, 2016. The World Factbook. [Online] Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html[Accessed 5 September 2016].

Davoren, J., 2016. Types of Information Systems in an Organization. [Online] Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/types-information-systems-organization-43097.html[Accessed 5 September 2016].

Encyclopedia, 2007. Location, Size and Extent. [Online] Available at: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Saudi_Arabia.aspx[Accessed 5 September 2016].

Science-Engineering, 2012. Science and technology in Saudi Arabia. [Online] Available at: http://www.science-engineering.net/science/asia/science-and-technology-in-saudi-arabia[Accessed 5 September 2016].

U.S. Department of Commerce, 2016. Saudi Arabia Business Organizations. [Online] Available at: http://www.the-saudi.net/business-center/business_organizations.htm[Accessed 5 September 2016].