Enhancing SME Performance in the UAE Services Sector: Challenges and Strategies

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating within the services sector of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) confront significant challenges, including intense competition, limited resources, client acquisition and retention struggles, trend adaptation difficulties, and talent recruitment and retention issues. This paper undertakes an exploration of strategies aimed at overcoming these challenges and fostering growth within the dynamic UAE market. This exploration is facilitated through a comprehensive review of existing literature and the construction of a conceptual framework for empirical validation. By leveraging technology adoption, organizational factors, environmental factors, and social media adoption, SMEs can enhance their service performance. Additionally, this paper sheds light on the intermediary role played by the mediating role of social media adoption in the relationship between technology, organizational factors, environmental factors, and service performance, which has received little attention in previous research.