M16 - International Business AdministrationReturn

This study examines the financial implications of business process outsourcing (BPO) in the context of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic diversification agenda, using Miza International Co. as a case study. Drawing on Transaction Cost Economics and the Knowledge-Based View, the research analyzes how BPO selection quality and cost-management practices influence firm-level financial performance. Data were collected from 384 stakeholders and analyzed using multiple linear regression. The results indicate that both effective BPO selection (β = 0.234, p < 0.001) and cost management (β = 0.168, p < 0.001) significantly enhance financial performance, jointly explaining 47.5% of the variance. Strategic alignment emerged as the strongest predictor, suggesting that BPO functions primarily as a strategic value-creation mechanism rather than solely a cost-reduction tool in this emerging market context. The findings provide practical and policy-relevant insights for firms leveraging outsourcing to support national diversification objectives.

The aim of this paper is to scrutinize some aspects of the Uppsala model whose applicability for SMEs' internationalisation is often questioned. This model explains internationalisation as a sequential process based on learning in which an enterprise increases its international commitment in incremental steps (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977). The assumptions of Uppsala model are discussed in conditions of SMEs from different countries, namely the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Austria and Germany. The paper is based on primary data obtained by questionnaire survey performed in 2014. Respondents were small and medium-sized firms from the above mentioned countries. Following assumptions are scrutinized: SMEs start internationalisation by exporting to neighbouring markets, SMEs behave in internationalisation according to the establishment chain, SMEs' risk perception regarding foreign markets with different psychic distance changes with the obtained knowledge and SMEs' risk perception regarding particular foreign markets differs depending on the country which the enterprise comes from.