is study investigates and explores the adoption of information communication technology by the universities and the impact it makes on the university students' academic performance. e study also examines the moderators' effect of gender, GPA, and student majors on the relationship between ICT and academic achievement. By using a quantitative research approach and a sample size of 1000 students, data were collected about the ICT adoption in universities and the relative performance of students belonging to four Saudi universities. Structure equation modelling was chosen to determine the validity of the research model. e Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS), specially used for structural equation modelling and path analysis, was used as the research tool. e findings reveal that there exists a relationship between ICT adoption and academic performance in a conservative environment. An additional finding also stated that ICT adoption resulted in the improvement of the performance of female students more than the male. However, students' IT major was found to be making no impact on students' academic achievement. A discussion of findings, limitations, and suggestions for future research has been provided in the study. Finally, it also provides implications of the current study to the existing knowledge.

A B S T R A C TPurpose: To examine the impact of artificial intelligence-assisted social media marketing (AISMM)on the performance of startup businesses of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach: A survey technique was employed whereby primary and secondary data was collected, analyzed, and interpreted. Participants involved business operators or employees of start-up businesses and SMEs in the Saudi Arabian context. Data were analyzed by using partial least squarestructure equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings: AISMM, which exhibits an increasing trend among start-up businesses and SMEs in Saudi Arabia, accounts for an overall increase in the number of customers and customer bases-and an additional tertiary effect of increased profitability. AISMM increases the effective business management and SMEs performance (SMEP). Moreover, effective business management increases the SMEP Originality/value: This study is quite unique as it is investigated that AISMM practices has significant role to enhance SMEP in which effective business management playing a mediating role. Implications: The practitioners can get help from this study to increase the performance by decreasing various problems of marketing by using AISMM.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of social media and corporate communication as a key success factor of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Arab world. This is a conceptual study and has shed light on the notable existing literature on these issues and particularly of Arab context. The social media has emerged as an opportunity for marketing communication, and it is the easiest cheapest way of advertising products and services. Social media provides a platform wherein a company or firm can target a diverse audience and can create an effective communication strategy. The sustainability agenda has emerged as a key as well as a sensitive issue for the global as well as local organizations. The inclusion of corporate social responsibility and incorporation of sustainability initiatives have changed the corporate landscape and merged as key determinants of business success. The social media for many firms has emerged as a major outlet of internal and external corporate communication for sustainability. The uniqueness of social media is that it not only conveys a message, rather it also provides an opportunity for direct feedback from users. This study will be helpful for practitioners, policymakers and researchers in understanding the link between social media, corporate communication and sustainable performance of the SME sector. The paper adds to the literature on the role of social media and corporate communication as a key success factor of SMEs operating in Arab world.Design/methodology/approachThe paper will highlight significant and relevant findings generated from previous scholarly and commercial research on the subject. Thereafter, the discussion will focus on the unique relationship between the social media and the Arab world in social, political, religious or cultural and economic spheres. Thereafter, the paper will progress to the central theme of the discussion, reviewing social media’s impact on the Arabian market in such areas as offering a marketing platform for the new age, being an avenue and forum for increased sales, and as a public relations front line (a benchmark of direct client communication). Ultimately, the paper will provide a succinct conclusion to the discussion.FindingsThe paper affirmed that the social media is influencing/impacting the SMEs in the Arab region in numerous ways. Findings generated from recent empirical studies, strengthened by a resounding theoretical and scholarly literature, helped identify four of the main impacts of social media on SMEs in the Arab world. These four significant impacts, as discussed in the paper, include offering a marketing platform for the Information Age, offering an avenue and forum for increased sales, giving an innovative edge to SMEs in a bid to reduce expenditures/cost and increase profitability and creating a benchmark of direct client communication in modern PR. These fours ways constitute the most significant impact of social media, as demonstrated by SMEs in the Arab world, and in many ways they are congruent with the social media impact beyond the Middle East.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is very limited in Arab countries, and researchers could not use this study with female.Practical implicationsInformation technology and gender are linked with the usage of social media.Originality/valueThe core focus of the present paper was to provide a brief literature-based review of how the social media affects SME in the Arab world (largely in nations within the Middle East region). Not only is the social media enabling positive “societal and cultural change” in the Arab world.

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