Date of Award

Spring April 2016

Access Restriction

Campus Access only research projects

Degree Name

Master of Science


Systems Engineering

School or College

Seaver College of Science and Engineering

First Advisor

Arnold Galloway


Business Permit System is known as an inefficient system because it is purely bureaucratic and the transactions take an inordinate amount of time to complete. Currently, there is a 3 week minimum time frame which is causing losses to both traders and citizens. It takes at least one week of tracking for every office and then approximately one month in order to get the permit. In fact, this system in Saudi Arabia is considered to be quite a primitive bureaucratic system that has not been changed for decades. The current business permit system is outdated and wastes both money and precious time. Many trips to various government offices are now required to follow the permit through its application process. Business' headquarters are usually located in the main cities. These headquarter offices send their delegates to follow-up their permit procedures which are located in small cities. They pay unnecessary additional expenses for their representatives such as hotel, transportation, and food costs. The system also increases the number of commuters to the city. Traffic jams, car accidents and even deaths may be the unintended consequences. The customers waste copious amounts of fuel and time tracking the pennit applications, while the Government spends millions of Saudi riyals in a fuel anti-consumption program. From the above we could say the current permit system contributes to delaying the citizen and increasing his costs. By using ever increasing amounts of gasoline, the Saudi economy and environment are harmed in many ways. Also, the system contributes to the transportation issues The inspectors have a serious issue with the current system. While they are inspecting the business site, they waste a lot of time by driving long distances. They waste time by driving from the office to the business site and from the business site to other business site in order to inspect them. This affects the inspector's health and shortens the life of the car which used by the inspectors. Also, that leads to increased car expenses such as fuel, car oil and maintenance.

WaelAlmula_Systems_Presentation_2016.pdf (11687 kB)
Oral Presentation