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This study seeks to investigate perceptions of the role of location on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Tangier, as understood by local owner-managers.

To explore perceptions of the performance/location relationship for SMEs in Tangier, 20 in-depth online semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected owner-managers of SMEs. The judgement sample was selected to explore their experiences, beliefs and attitudes with respect to their performance and location.

Findings of the study revealed that “location” is a salient factor that, in the minds of respondents, materially influences the performance of SMEs in Tangier. Location was mentioned extensively in the interviews, in relation to the “free zones”. Findings showed that firms located within the free zones enjoyed favourable economic conditions, in particular those related to taxation and competition, compared to their counterparts located outside the free zones, which were excluded from these benefits. Furthermore, perceived unfair competition (financial and fiscal incentives in the free zones) damages the performance of the SMEs in Tangier. These findings suggest that the placement of the business in relation to the free zones and in respondents' perception thus became an important financial and emotionally significant perspective on equality in relation to success.

The findings of the study could encourage the government to adopt policies that will assist indigenous firms to benefit from advantages that are comparable to those that are available to those in the free zones. Greater attention to the perceptual effects of location would be advantageous. However, the exploratory nature of the study means that results cannot necessarily be generalised beyond the setting in which the data were collected. Future research should examine the impact of location for SMEs in a broader sample of countries.

This study is among those few studies located in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region that explore the performance of SMEs from the perceptions of owner-managers themselves and not based on aggregate or economic data. It supports previous findings of several studies and contributes additional evidence that suggests the significance of levelling the playing field and its impact on SME performance in the contemporary African business context.

This study seeks to develop a clearer understanding of the motivational factors affecting Saudi female business undergraduates' choice of pursuing entrepreneurship.

The research adopts a quantitative approach to gain general understanding of the students' perceptions with regard to their motivations to pursue entrepreneurship. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire survey administered to 214 female business undergraduates at Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University (PMU) in Al-Khobar, to investigate their perceptions of entrepreneurial motivations. Descriptive statistics and factor analysis were used to identify the motivational factors. Multiple regression analysis was used to reveal relationships between the motivation factors and entrepreneurial motivation of female business undergraduates.

The study revealed four generalised entrepreneurial motivations among Saudi female business undergraduates: personal motivational factors with an emphasis on freedom and social status; business motivational factors such as financial rewards and security; social motivational factors manifested in the influence of the community, roles and family; and environmental motivations which were mainly associated to education, the market knowledge and ability to access finance.

The study was restricted to female students at PMU University. Thus, generalisation of the results could be limited. The findings of the study could be useful to relevant authorities to enhance and boost entrepreneurship for female students and hence to contribute to the national Vision 2030.

This study is among those few studies located in the MENA region that explore Saudi female university students' attitude towards entrepreneurship. It adds to the authors' understanding on the four generalised factors by highlighting the importance of the family's role and entrepreneurship education in motivating Saudi female students towards entrepreneurship engagement. It also contributes to the understanding of these motivations that could be applied in other similar contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of networking on business performance by uncovering particular and significant methods of pursuing business connections, for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Tangier.

A two-stage design, which incorporated both quantitative and qualitative approaches, was employed in this study. Approaches were employed in succession with the findings from the quantitative phase informing the qualitative phase. Initially, a paper and online survey questionnaire was administered to a population of 365 industrial SMEs to gain some insights on the perceptions of owner-managers of the impact of networking on business performance. Following the quantitative phase, 15 in-depth face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected owner-managers of SMEs, forming a judgmental selection, to explore their experiences, beliefs, and attitudes with respect to networking factor.

Both quantitative and qualitative phases of the study found that networking was a significant factor in influencing the success of SMEs. The concept of wasta, the Arabic word for connections, emerged from the qualitative phase. Findings show that using wasta, through politico-business networks is important since it enables access to current information that is crucial for the success of SMEs. The concept of wasta was also mentioned in relation to financial resources and suppliers. Findings revealed that strong relationships with suppliers enable firms to get financial resources in the form of trade credits. Furthermore, the relationship between wasta and human resources was also revealed. Findings showed that owner-managers use their network relations through wasta in order to recruit their staff.

The findings of this study add to the understanding of networking in Arabic countries with the importance of wasta in an economy that functions on relationships. The findings of this study could therefore be useful to international managers to assist their intercultural effectiveness by adjusting to culture-specific networking in Tangier.

This study is among those few studies located in the Middle East North Africa region that explore the performance of SMEs from the perceptions of owner-managers themselves, and not based on aggregate or economic data. It supports previous findings of several studies and contributes additional evidence that suggests the significance of wasta and its impact on SME success.

This study refines theory of social capital by nesting it within a cultural context. More specifically, it aims at describing, explaining, and predicting the role of wasta, a social capital concept, as a moderator in the relationship between employees' ethical idealism and work engagement in Lebanon.

Based on a survey questionnaire translated from English into Arabic, 317 responses were collected from employees in Lebanon. Confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were employed to test the hypothesized relationships among the examined variables.

Ethical idealism was found to be positively related to work engagement, and wasta was found to moderate the relationship between ethical idealism and work engagement. Work engagement levels of employees who displayed high levels of ethical idealism were less influenced by the negative effect of wasta than work engagement levels of employees who displayed low levels of ethical idealism.

Human resource managers, international negotiators, and global executives in Lebanon may use the findings of this study to update corporate human resources systems, such as employee recruitment and selection, handbooks, orientation, training programs, and performance appraisal, to better address employee attitudes toward the practice of wasta.

The study adds ethical idealism as an antecedent of work engagement, demonstrating the significant impact that wasta, with its positive and negative characteristics, has on the engagement of employees from the Arab world.