Entrepreneurship and innovation's role in Qatar's job creation and economic growth

Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Engine for Job Creation and Growth in Qatar Alignment with Research Priorities The 2030 Qatari National Vision attempts at transforming the nation into a developed society that can effectively achieve sustainable growth. The planned growth objectives are grouped under four key pillars, with the majority of national efforts for boosting and fostering business activity falling under pillars I and III: human and economic development. Ambitious educational policies and a countrywide attempt at achieving economic diversity, combined, unsurprisingly places businesspersons at the center of the national vision. The research proposal will prove positively and directly influential as it attempts at determining how invention and entrepreneurship affect the nation’s growth. The chief research goal is exploring the nation’s innovation and entrepreneurship climate, which includes innovation barriers encountered and examining incubators implementable for improving their present situation. This is in line with Qatari national research goals, with findings potentially contributing to improving governmental innovation and entrepreneurship programs, with particular emphasis on incubator centers. The following priority subjects are covered by Qatar University’s research roadmap; (i) Population, Wellness and Health, (ii) Environment, Energy and Resource Sustainability, (iii) Identity and Social Change and (iv) ICT (Information, Communication and Technologies) (Qatar University 2013). This planned research aims at ascertaining how innovation and entrepreneurship will help create jobs and bring about economic growth. This is consistent with all aforementioned roadmap themes, as they, mainly, impact all indirectly as well as directly. Research plan and expected outcomes a. Background or Literature Survey With Arab nations’ continued limited job creation capacity and capability of absorbing fresh labor market entrants, entrepreneurship as a part of employment creation toolkits is acquiring increased focus. Internationally, small-to-mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs are largely regarded as being crucial to the economies of nations, especially as they create more jobs, overall, as compared to other employers. SMEs make up 80-90% of all formal North African and Middle Eastern businesses (Momani 2017; Burns 2016). Studies confirm the broad observation that the entrepreneurship field may be a key employment creator (Audretsch, Belitski and Desai 2015). Entrepreneurial activities certainly create a few fresh jobs for the short run; however, more interestingly, American and European evidence reveals ineffective businesses may be replaced by competition resulting from novel corporations. Unemployment from the former companies and failed startup businesses is balanced by employment generation during the first years of a new company’s life, leading to a long-term net job growth in the economy, in general. In spite of the growing social recognition of SMEs and entrepreneurs’ significance as potential job creators, Arab nations’ public sector continues to be the biggest employer. Public sector has traditionally employed all excess labor, especially the growing population of college graduates, continuing to make up 60-80% of Gulf countries’ overall formal employment (Momani 2017). b. Objectives/significance · Examine innovation and entrepreneurship’s role in improving the economic performance of Qatar · Ascertain Qatari innovation and entrepreneurship sectors’ status · Study the nation’s innovation and entrepreneurship climate · Analyze the share of jobs generated each year in innovation and entrepreneurship Innovation and entrepreneurship’s role in economic development forms part of a nation’s economic system. Considering policies reviewed worldwide, especially Arab policies, the attention to other economic and societal problems and coherence of the innovation and entrepreneurship policy rationale proves strikingly consistent. Thus, this study is pivotal to guaranteeing actualization and maximization of innovation and entrepreneurship’s likely advantages as an economic driver. c. Preliminary Data or Studies The established Qatari business rate stands at 3.096, which is below the North African and Middle Eastern regional average of 6.696. Further, it is not even 50% of innovation-focused economies’ average (6.796). One cause for this poor figure is the lack of new and nascent enterprises for creating a significant early-entrepreneur pool for future established business growth. The nation’s TEA (Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity) rate is 7.896 – roughly thrice that of established businesses’ rate (396) – indicating a mere 33% of its startup firms grow to become established enterprises (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2017). The country needs more intensive entrepreneurial activity beyond mere entrepreneurial intention. Firstly, more startup companies are needed for boosting new and nascent business activity, followed by focusing on business discontinuance, for ensuring better TEA transformation into established enterprises and achieving measurable economic development. Qatar’s Established Business (EB) Rate for 2016 was 3.0%, less than comparable economies’ rates. It is also less than 50% of the regional EB rate (6.6%) and the rate for innovation-focused economies (6.7%), besides being one among the lowest for all participant GEM economies. This rate is perhaps due to new and nascent entrepreneurs’ low incidence (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2017). Qatar lacks a significant early-entrepreneur pool, eventually leading to poor levels of fresh companies that may later become established. d. Research Design and Methods This will be a twofold study involving: 1) Investigation of Qatari innovation activities’ nature and role in its economy; and 2) Determination of incubation’s effect on Business Incubators innovation and policy implications. Researchers will adopt a mixed-methods study design involving primary and secondary data. Population and sample The proposal’s chief objective will be: ascertaining the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in Qatari employment generation and economic growth. To this end, the research will attempt at ascertaining the role of universities as an innovation source in employment generation and economic growth. For this, higher-education institutions will be a study population. Additionally, the research will ascertain the role of incubation centers in employment generation and economic growth. Thus, another population will be the nation’s many incubation centers. Convenience sampling will be utilized to ascertain the study sample. The QTSP (Qatar Science and Technology Park) and Qatar University will, thus, form the samples for incubation centers and higher-education institutions, respectively, because (i) they both are nationwide industry leaders, and (ii) both are situated conveniently for easy principal investigator access (Creswell and Creswell 2017). The Qatar University leads in human resource and innovative solutions while the QSTP incubation center concentrates on technology initiatives, attempting at fostering national technological entrepreneurship. Research methods 1. Systematic literature review A literature review will be performed for both samples through physical, authorized visits and a search of documents with keywords “entrepreneurial innovation,” “tech adoption,” “industry innovative solutions” and “industry solutions”. 1. Interview Information on job creation and economic growth by the institutions through innovative strategy creation, entrepreneurial opportunities, and entrepreneur shaping, will be gathered via interviews of both institutions’ staff members (QSTP’s HR managers and top executives, and Qatar University’s colleges of engineering, Economics and Business, and arts and science). The two institutions are deemed more relevant when it comes to entrepreneurship and innovation. Direct interviews of half-hour durations will be performed by the principal research scholar in interviewee workstations (Creswell and Creswell 2017), after gaining their signed consent and informing them of interview purpose and privacy rights. Interviews will be guided by pre-developed questions and audio-recorded for subsequent transcription. Data analysis Systematic review data analysis will be conducted for emergent information within a given time period of adoption of institutional innovative approaches for industrial usage (Creswell and Creswell 2017). In addition, analysis will be done to establish renowned entrepreneurs who were trained from these institutions. Coding and analysis of interview data for emergent themes will be conducted. Lastly, the principal research scholar will transcribe and analyze the interview’s recording. e. Anticipated Results and Evaluation Criteria Information gathered is anticipated to reveal the role of these institutions’ innovation and entrepreneurship in Qatari economic performance. Study outcomes will offer hard information on inventive approaches adopted or cases in which institutional approaches have helped resolve industrial issues. Furthermore, the outcomes are anticipated to reveal Qatar’s entrepreneurship and innovation sectors’ present status and role in employment generation. As Qatar’s economy relies heavily on revenue from the hydrocarbon sector, this study will reveal innovation’s role in driving this economic sector and the contribution of entrepreneurial revenue to Qatar’s GDP. Finally, research outcomes are anticipate to reflect the nation’s innovation and entrepreneurial climate. Interview data will likely reveal issues restricting the two sectors and the many potential national or institutional approaches for promoting them. Monetary assistance and policy are two potential strategies. f. Impact and Project KPIs 1. Time Schedule It is a tricky task to run the project and predict its date of completion owing to the many factors impacting its timetable. Hours spent against estimated hours against no. of hours left is a KPI capable of ascertaining whether the project is on track, whether any delays will arise, and whether it will be able to meet the established deadline (Parmenter 2015). ii. Productivity Performance Productivity constitutes a key element for the proposed project. Available resources’ utilization forms the key. Profitability and productivity will increase through maximizing resource usage capability and minimizing waste. iii. Budget The chief objective all through the course of this process is balanced budget. For the project in question, precise possible estimation is needed, with proper documentation serving to decrease squandering and ensure appropriate spending. iv. Quality Quality constitutes a salient KPI responsible, largely, for stakeholder satisfaction (Parmenter 2015). An established, convenient key to project success is achieving the highest achievable quality at lowest cost using the resources on hand. v. Safety Safety has a remarkable standing as project KPI. The chief researcher in this study will ensure safety by following relevant authorization when attempting to access interviewees.