STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT, DEC 2
Oman Vision 2040 posits entrepreneurship as a strategic driver for economic growth, emphasising its role in creating jobs, fostering innovation, and shifting the economy away from a reliance on oil. Therefore, the curriculum taught at the Omani universities should be tailored to the specific needs of Oman and contextualised to the local business environment to promote entrepreneurship and create jobs in the country. A research study entitled 'Sustainable entrepreneurship development in Oman: a multi-stakeholder qualitative study', by Syed Mujahid Hussain and Sami al Kharusi from Sultan Qaboos University, Ahmad Arslan and Obinna Alo from the University of Oulu and the University of Sunderland Business School in the United Kingdom, urged the educational institutions to incorporate practical and entrepreneurial skills in the curriculum. Published in the International Journal of Organizational Analysis (2023), the findings were drawn from in-depth interviews with policymakers, educationists, and key stakeholders representing entrepreneurial skills development institutes in Oman.
From a skills development perspective, one of the key takeaways from the study is a shift from a traditional approach to a practice-based approach in imparting education with clear benchmarks. Also, the incorporation of context-specific elements (unique opportunities as well as challenges of being a sustainable entrepreneur in Oman) should be part of such skills development initiatives. In this regard, cross-sector partnerships with clear goals and benchmarks between public bodies, universities, firms (entrepreneurs) and the financial sector (particularly FinTech) can be very useful.
The findings of the study revealed that most educational curricula at the Omani universities generally focus on generic business skills, which have fewer applications for such ventures. An emphasis on practical skills, including opportunity recognition, opportunity utilisation, acquiring and retaining human capital, financial management and marketing for startups, was highlighted as areas that should be significantly supplemented in the skills development initiatives and educational programmes.
The authors note that despite some positive improvements in the business landscape in Oman, several critical challenges remain, which hinder sustainable entrepreneurship development. The authors further found the role of FinTech to be critical in this concern by all stakeholders, though its usage and acceptance remain low. Additionally, the costs associated with the post-carbon (sustainable) economy and different profitability evolution have resulted in a slow change in policy development in this regard.
From an educational perspective, a lack of context-specific training programmes and culture-based hesitations appeared to be hindering the achievement of sustainable entrepreneurship possibilities in Oman. The nascent entrepreneurial ecosystem, bureaucracy and lack of human capital (attraction as well as retention) appeared to be significant challenges for entrepreneurs. Finally, the findings highlighted the need for cross-sector collaboration with clear benchmarks for effective policy development concerning sustainable entrepreneurship in Oman.
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