| Abstract |
This paper highlights the main elements of a doctoral research regarding risk mitigation and business management decision-making conducted by authors in the Research Centre of Business Administration, Bucharest University of Economic Studies. The main objective is to identify the main threats affecting plans for the implementation of the cyber city project Neom in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, assessing the external risk-related issues to be managed by the responsible project managers. The first part of the paper provides an overview about the chosen analysis framework, while research results and recommendations form the second part. This paper is founded on extensive review of existing literature from professional associations and recognized publisher. Hence, a total of 50 publications and data sets were assessed to provide for an holistic overview of the risks and opportunities associated with the prestigious and ambitious project along political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal lines. Our joint research highlights that the key management challenges of the project are based on three key components requiring particular management attention going forward. These include the current insecurity regarding the funding side of the project, the necessity for implementing a working prototype given the early stage of most technological advancements to be featured, as well as the requirement for properly moderating and managing the change process in Saudi Arabia. In this context, the country represents a challenging market environment for the project, while high disposable incomes and the need for non-oil sector growth promise high rewards for finding the right strategies going forward. |